White Bay has no long-stay parking and no railway station. That combination is why almost everyone sailing from Rozelle arrives by car, and why the drop-off arrangement matters more here than at Circular Quay. From this district it is usually the quicker of the two terminals, because it is reached from the west rather than through the city.
The terminal
White Bay Cruise Terminal sits at Rozelle in Sydney's inner west, on the harbour but well away from Circular Quay. It handles a good deal of Carnival's Sydney programme and ships that are too large for the Overseas Passenger Terminal, which is a category that has grown steadily.
For anyone travelling from Wollondilly, Macarthur or the Southern Highlands the approach is from the west, which usually makes it the faster of the two terminals to reach — you are not crossing the city or fighting the Circular Quay traffic to get to it.
The two facts that catch people out are the absence of long-stay parking and the absence of a station. There is no equivalent of leaving the car at the airport for a fortnight, and there is no train you can take with your luggage. Commercial parking exists in Rozelle and the surrounding streets but has to be arranged separately, is not cheap for a two-week sailing, and still leaves you walking to the terminal with cruise cases.
The practical consequence is that a drop-off is the normal way to arrive, and the only real question is who does the dropping.
On the day
Sydney has two cruise terminals on opposite sides of the harbour and being at the wrong one on embarkation morning is close to unrecoverable. Your booking confirmation names the berth; if it does not, the cruise line's departure schedule will.
Most lines board across a window of several hours in a set order rather than all at once. If your ticket gives you a boarding time we time the pickup to it; if it does not, we aim at the earlier part of the window.
Not in a car park and not several streets away. The driver takes the cases out at the entrance, which matters when you are carrying a fortnight's luggage rather than a cabin bag.
Book the return leg at the same time as the outbound. Disembarkation puts several thousand people onto one wharf inside a couple of hours, and a booked car is the difference between leaving and queueing.
Fares
One published price per suburb, the same to White Bay or Circular Quay. Twelve towns shown; every suburb is on the fares page.
| Suburb | 1–2 pax | 3–4 pax | 5–6 pax | 7–11 pax |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Picton | $275 | $295 | $315 | $375 |
| Tahmoor | $275 | $305 | $335 | $415 |
| Bargo | $275 | $295 | $315 | $375 |
| The Oaks | $259 | $279 | $299 | $359 |
| Camden | $219 | $239 | $269 | $319 |
| Narellan | $199 | $219 | $239 | $299 |
| Campbelltown | $199 | $199 | $219 | $299 |
| Oran Park | $199 | $219 | $239 | $299 |
| Mittagong | $315 | $345 | $375 | $455 |
| Bowral | $315 | $345 | $375 | $455 |
| Moss Vale | $335 | $365 | $395 | $475 |
| Bundanoon | $365 | $395 | $425 | $505 |
One way, tolls and GST included, sized for cruise luggage. Click a town for its own cruise transfer page.
Luggage
Because cruise luggage is a different problem from airline luggage. A fortnight at sea means full-size cases rather than cabin bags, often one each plus a shared one, and frequently formal wear that nobody wants creased into a corner.
The result is that a party which would fit comfortably in a sedan for an airport run needs a larger vehicle for a cruise. Two people with four full-size cases are a people-mover booking, not a sedan one, and the morning you sail is the wrong time to discover the difference.
This is why we ask for the case count as well as the head count on every cruise booking. Tell us both and the right vehicle is allocated before it leaves the depot.
Everything else
Not long-stay. There is no long-term car park at the terminal, which is the single most common surprise for first-time cruise passengers. Commercial parking in Rozelle and nearby streets exists but must be arranged separately, is expensive across a fortnight, and still leaves you walking to the terminal with your cases.
No. There is no railway station at White Bay, so rail is not a realistic option with luggage. This is a genuine difference from the Overseas Passenger Terminal, which sits next to Circular Quay station.
Your booking confirmation names the berth. Carnival and the larger ships generally use White Bay; most P&O, Princess and Royal Caribbean departures use the Overseas Passenger Terminal. If you are not certain, tell us the ship and the sailing date and we will confirm it with you before the day.
Usually, yes. It is approached from the west, so you are not coming through the city. From Wollondilly and Macarthur especially the difference is noticeable.
No. The fare is set by the suburb you are travelling from, not by which side of the harbour the ship is on. White Bay and Circular Quay are the same published price.
To your ticketed boarding window if you have one. Most lines board by deck across several hours rather than all at once, so arriving at the exact moment boarding opens usually just means queueing. If your ticket gives no time, we aim at the earlier part of the window.
Yes, and book it with the outbound leg. On disembarkation we time the pickup to the luggage group your cabin is called off in rather than to the ship's scheduled arrival, because those are not the same thing.
Keep reading
The pages people usually open next.
Tell us the ship and the sailing date and we will confirm the terminal, the fare and a vehicle sized for the cases. Nothing is charged until the morning you sail.
Available every day of the year, at any hour; set fees apply for pickups before 6am or after 8pm. See the full fare list, the fleet or our frequently asked questions.
Private, fixed-fare airport and cruise transfers from 75 suburbs across Wollondilly Shire, Macarthur and the Southern Highlands. A published fare per suburb for each destination, tolls and GST inside it, no deposit and no weekend loading — you pay the driver on the day of travel.
Sister services run by the same local team.