Now Carnival Australia’s chief strategy and external affairs officer, Teresa Lloyd, has weighed in, saying a river connection from the new terminal to the city would work.

“We would be happy to work with river ferry operators on what a suitable service might look like to improve the guest experience and add to the visitor economy for Brisbane,” Lloyd said.

She said visitors needed more than just a cruise ship terminal.

“Many key attributes are required of an international cruise terminal apart from the facilitation of the operation of the ship itself,” Lloyd said.

“CBD and tour operator connectivity is key in ports where vessels call in for a day or so.

“A river-based connection to Brisbane City would certainly be well-supported for this purpose and for ‘on vessel’ calls, where this is the nature of their visit.”

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Just before Christmas Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said tourism “green shoots” might make a river link viable for a commercial operator.

A spokesman said as more cruise ships add Brisbane to their itineraries and overseas visitor numbers increase, “a Fast Cat to Brisbane’s CBD might become a viable proposition for commercial operators”.

Carnival has a 25-year lease at the $177 million terminal, which was developed by the Port of Brisbane and opened in June 2022 after the pandemic.

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