Brisbane (Queensland Australia)

Brisbane cruise port is located in Southeastern Queensland. It is the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast gateway. The city is Australia's 3rd most populous - after Sydney (New South Wales) and Melbourne (Victoria) and is followed by Perth (Western Australia) and Adelaide (South Australia). Trends show that the Australian cruising market is growing at a rapid pace. It has some of the industry's highest penetration rates nationally. The Australian cruise ports' strongest competition today comes only from Singapore and Hong Kong (China).

Brisbane is geographically the only cruise port from which can be operated 7-day roundtrip Queensland cruise itineraries that visit 2-3 Australian ports (like Airlie Beach, Cairns, Port Douglas). The shorter the itinerary - the lower the price, which means more potential customers able to afford a Queensland cruising vacation. The city's location additionally gives year-round good weather, plus a large number of local residents living within 4 hours drive from the cruise port.

Port Brisbane

The seaport is located in one of city's suburbs and on Fisherman Island - man-made, with land reclaimed from the islands group at Brisbane River's. Brisbane is ranked Australia's 3rd busiest and also Queensland's largest and fastest-growing cargo port (followed by Gladstone and Townsville) with annual international shipping trade over AUD 50 billion. The port is managed by the private company Port of Brisbane Pty Ltd under a 99-year lease from the state's government. The port has a total of 29 berths including 9 deep-water (for container ships) and 3 deep-water (for bulk carriers), plus 17 other for bulk and general cargo ships. The annual traffic is over 2600 vessels, with handled over 28 million tons of cargo.

The port area also includes the shipping channel across Moreton Bay - extending 90 km (56 mi) north to Mooloolaba. Port's channels and berths are dredged annually to maintain the 14 m (46 ft) depth at lowest tide.

Beside its cruise terminals, the port has facilities to handle cargo ships (oil tankers, bulk carriers and container ships) and dry-dock facilities for major marine vessel refurbishments and repairs.

• UN-LOCODE (United Nations location code) - AUBNE
• supported by excellent road, rail and air infrastructure
• deepwater berths
• sheltered harbor area
• access unrestricted by tides
• Gateway Bridge restricted access (185 ft / 56,4 m clearance)

In bad weather (15+ knot winds - 17 mph / 28 kph) turning around cruise ships in the Brisbane River is impossible since the ship's side acts as a sail).

capability to accommodate 2 vessels at a time

Port pilot assistance is provided by "Brisbane Marine Pilots Pty Ltd" (privately-owned company). Port pilotage is compulsory for vessels of 164 ft / 50 m LOA length or more and also for any vessel when directed by Harbour Master.

The Brisbane cruise ship terminal doesn't provide shore-to-ship power (shore-side electricity supply) which could reduce significantly the levels of emissions, noise and vibration in port.

The cruise port is accessible the whole year round – 24/7, 365 days a tear.

Cruise ships usually arrive in Brisbane in early morning (6 or 8 am) and depart from Brisbane in the late afternoon and early evening (at 2, 4 or 5 pm).

Among the Port's main cargoes is coal, of which roughly 60% originates from the open-pit mining site New Acland Mine. Cruise wharves are two. Portside Wharf (2006-opened) is the international terminal for smaller cruise liners. The facility has restaurants, coffee bar, gift shops. Due to Gateway Bridge's height restrictions, larger liners dock at the industrial Multi User Terminal.

In January 2008, Port of Brisbane Corporation signed an agreement with Brisbane Container Terminals (subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa) to operate cargo berths 11 and 12 for 42 years (until 2050).

The completed in 2 years and inaugurated in August 2018 "Port Drive Upgrade" was Brisbane Harbour's ever-biggest infrastructure development project (budgeted AUD 110 million). The project was crucial as 3,1+ million vehicles use its roads annually.

On April 5, 2018, the new China-built gantry crane (by ZPMC / "Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries") started operations at Brisbane Container Terminal. Same ZPMC cranes were also delivered and installed in Sydney (one, in April) and Melbourne (two, in March).

• The equipment (all 9 gantry cranes) was ordered by DP World Australia (Australia's main and largest container port and supply chain operator) ’to serve the country's container terminals. By this USD 180 million project were also delivered 20x straddle trucks, 4x RTGs (rubber tyred gantry cranes), 38x forklifts (industrial trucks).
• Each of the 9x ZPMC cranes costs USD 14 million, has rated capacity 65 tons (under spreader) and 75 tons (under heavy lift beam), rail gauge 25,3 m, above rail hoist height 38 m, hoist speed 90 m per min (loaded) and 180 m / min (unloaded).
• In June 2018, Port Brisbane launched a pilot project for recycling garbage from international vessels. Before that, crews separated recyclable garbage on the ships, but have limited options to offload the materials for recycling at Australian seaports. Upon offloading, any garbage is combined and either incinerated, autoclaved or deep-buried, without any recycling alternatives, thus creating a disincentive for vessels to discharge it in Australian ports.

Brisbane cruise port

(statistics) In 2006 (first year of operation), the cruise port handled 55 ships and 45000 passengers, making it Australia's second largest - after Sydney. In 2014, passenger numbers increased by 207% in comparison to 2006 - up to 138000.

(statistics) in the period between October 2013 and April 2014, the cruise port was visited by 24 unique ships (from a total of 71 ship calls). Those cruise ships disembarked here over 138,000 passengers plus over 50,000 crew.

(statistics) Queensland is Australia's second-largest cruise market that supports over 2100 jobs. In 2015 it generated around AUD 590 million in direct/indirect local expenditure from 239 ship calls and 442253 passenger days at port.

In March 2013, the City Council approved a new cruise port terminal plan at Myrtletown Precinct. It will be capable to welcome the world's largest cruise vessels. In November 2014, "Portside Wharf Hamilton" cruise terminal welcomed its millionth passenger.

During season 2015-2016, Queensland was visited by a record number of cruise ships - 329, ranking it Australia's most visited state. In April 2015, Princess Cruises (second largest Carnival Corporation brand) announced that for season 2016-2017 the company homeport 5 ships in Australia - Emerald, Golden, Sun, Sea and Dawn. The new deployment expanded the company's capacity by 20%. The vessels were deployed for departures from Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. Each of the Princess Cruises Australia deals offers two optional "Land and Sea Vacation" packages. The "Australian Outback" package offers the opportunity to immerse in the Aboriginal culture and tradition on cruises to Great Barrier Reef and Uluru (aka Ayers Rock, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park). The "Ultimate Australia" package includes Sydney city tour, visiting Great Barrier Reef, port Darwin, plus the "Australian Outback" package inclusions.

In February 2016, PBPL ("Port of Brisbane Pty Ltd") confirmed the Queensland Government's approval for building the new Luggage Point cruise ship terminal. The new facility (at the mouth of Brisbane River) allows longer ships to dock in a location closer to the city. Bigger vessels currently berth at the multiuse (grain) terminal, which is a cargo area. Currently, the port has no place where large ships (longer than 885 ft / 270 m) can be berthed. By year 2020, the port's new passenger terminal Luggage Point will be able to accommodate even the world's biggest cruise vessels, which will represent ~60% of all calls. The new terminal will also act as a gateway to South East Queensland for many thousands of additional tourists every year.

In 2016, Royal Caribbean (the world's second-largest cruise ship owner) increased its Australian passenger capacity by 20%. Scheduled were more than 90 AU departures (by the company's 3 brands - RCI, Celebrity and Azamara). RCI deployed Legend of the Seas (now Marella Discovery 2) in Brisbane. However, in mid-April 2016 was announced that with the Legend's re-deployment from Australia to Europe (2017), Royal Caribbean will discontinue offering Brisbane departures as the bigger-sized RCI ships can’t dock at the Portside terminal. The company will not offer cruises out of Brisbane until the new "Luggage Point" terminal (east of Gateway Bridges) is constructed. Also, due to a lack of appropriate transportation to downtown, many passengers prefer to stay on the ship rather than going downtown. Unfortunately, Legend was the only RCI ship small enough to berth at Portside.

In December 2016, here arrived RCI's newest Quantum-class ship Ovation of the Seas. In 2017, NCL Norwegian homeported Norwegian Star for regular departures out of Brisbane and Auckland NZ.

For season 2017-2018, the cruise port handled a total of 78 ship calls. For season 2018-2019, their number grew to 94 (out of Queensland's total 520 calls). The port plans to create a new (bigger) cruise terminal by relocating the current terminal to a permanent building part of a retail precinct (adjacent to Portside Wharf) where can be found fine dining venues, cafes, supermarket, fashion boutique, beauty services.

In February 27, 2018, ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) made a proposal to allow port development arrangements between Port Brisbane and Carnival Cruise Line for AUD 158 million (USD 113 million) port development project that will result in building a new cruise terminal. By this 15-year lease deal, Carnival will pay a fixed price to use the facility, and in exchange will receive preferential berthing. ACCC's conditional authorization for the deal was granted in May 2018.

In 2018, the port handled 151 cruise ship calls. For 2019 were booked 155 calls. Most operations are homeport (roundtrips). Nearby-located tourist attractions include Australia Zoo (Sunshine Coast), Gold Coast Theme Parks (Australia's largest theme park), Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary (in Brisbane's Fig Tree Pocket suburb).

In 2018 started works (AUD 650 million project) for upgrading Kingsford Smith Drive (boulevard and esplanade) connecting Pinkenba suburb to the city's central business district (Breakfast Creek). The boulevard was upgraded from 4-lane to 6-lane and a riverside boardwalk was added. The project resulted in easier cruise terminal access, improved parking and public transportation.

In December 2022, the Brisbane Cruise Terminal was temporary closed for conducting a USD 20 million (~AUD 30M) revamp of the Portside Wharf. During the renovation works, Port Brisbane accommodated ships at Pinkenba Wharf's new Brisbane International Cruise Terminal (2022-opened/inaugurated). Between 2006-2022, Portside Wharf's Brisbane Cruise Terminal handled 1250+ vessels (of various types) and around 3,3 million cruise tourists.

Cruise itineraries to and from Brisbane Australia

Follows a list of destinations visited by cruise ships leaving out of Brisbane:

• World Cruises – from Brisbane are offered around the world voyages by bigger luxury lines (mainly by Cunard, P&O, Princess). Full-length itineraries (eastbound or westbound) can be up to 110+ days round-trips and usually start from the UK (out of Southampton). On those, Australia is only a mid-itinerary destination offering one-way departures from Fremantle-Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney or Brisbane back to Southampton (disembarkation port). The length of such segment itineraries is up to 2 months (UK disembarkation). Smaller segments offer between 14-30+ days long itineraries to ports in Asia (Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai) or eastbound to USA (San Francisco, Los Angeles). Longer segments may end in some of the biggest Mediterranean ports (Piraeus-Athens, Venice, Civitavecchia-Rome, Barcelona) and on eastbound routes - in the USA (Miami, Fort Lauderdale, NYC New York).
• Eastbound world cruise segments from Brisbane may include Panama Canal transition and even Transatlantic crossing to Europe (UK). Segments with westbound routes may include Suez Canal transition.
• Longer (up to 2-weeks) itineraries between Brisbane and Singapore (or extensions to Hong Kong) usually visit ports in Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines.
• "Circle Australia" cruises are longer (up to 15-days) one-way itineraries between Brisbane and Fremantle.
• "Around Australia" cruises with round-trips from Brisbane are up to a month long and do a full circumnavigation of the continent. The itinerary includes most of Australia's big ports plus Hobart Tasmania (overnight stay), New Guinea, and often Indonesia.
• Themed "Barrier Reef Discovery" and "Queensland Cruise" itineraries are round-trips from Brisbane to Airlie Beach, Yorkey's Knob, Cairns, Willis Island (Coral Sea), Hamilton Island, Port Douglas, and of course - the Great Barrier Reef itself.
• Round-trip Australia to New Zealand cruises out of Brisbane are 14-days in length, with Auckland NZ as turnaround port.
• "South Pacific Islands" itineraries are mostly 7-day round-trips (some up to 12-days) visiting ports in New Caledonia, Fiji, Vanuatu, Espiritu Santo, Papua New Guinea.
• Cruise to Nowhere Brisbane deals are on 3-day round-trip itineraries without any ports of call along the route. Generally, these are themed voyages with themes like "food and wine", comedy, sports, wellness, music, "Australia Day", etc. There are onboard pre-scheduled theme events and activities like parties, concerts, meetings, presentations, tastings, etc.
• Short-break ("Mini Cruises") visit Moreton Island (3-4-day), Airlie Beach (4-day), Hamilton Island (4-day), Moreton Island and Gladstone (4-day).

Australia's ship relocations (RepositionCruises.com) are considered most of the one-way itineraries between Australia and Asia and the USA (Hawaii-Alaska-California), and also when ships change their Australian homeports. The latter include short one-ways between Sydney-Brisbane-Melbourne, also Adelaide and Fremantle. Brisbane to Sydney mini-cruises are offered as 2-day relocation voyages.

Brisbane cruise terminal

Brisbane tours, shore excursions, hotels

City Tours and Shore Excursions

River cruise: explore the city with a tour by City Cats. The trip is 19 km from Lucia to Hamilton and you can bargain the price.

Riverlife Adventure Centre: a lot of sun and adventure activities in Kangaroo Point (Brisbane’s inner city).

Moreton Island: get wild or just laid back, the Island won’t disappoint you.

Cuddle a koala: go to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and catch a cutie, located half an hour from downtown Brisbane.

Brekky Creek Hotel: Queensland’s most popular watering hole. Try amazing steaks and taste “beer off the wood.”

Stradbroke Island: quiet place with beautiful sand. Explore amazing nature and lakes with fresh water.

Story Bridge Adventure Climb: you will need two hours and a half to climb to reach the bridge’s eastern side. The view from the top will take your breath away.

Go to a park: 25% of the area in Brisbane is green. The city is proud of its public gardens and parks (nearly 1,500). Visit the City Botanic Gardens, walk along Energex Brisbane Arbour to South Bank Parklands or just smell rose aroma at New Farm Park.

The Museum of Brisbane: explore the people, the culture and the heritage of Brisbane. The museum is located at the King George Square in the City Hall, ground floor.

Queensland Art Gallery/ Museum of Modern Art: you will find one of the biggest Aboriginal and Asian art collections in the world.

The Brewery at Milton: you will go through all the process of beer making and you will have the opportunity to try it at the Ale House bar.