Question re Princess Guernsey Tenders

Hi, I have read the horror stories about tendering in St Peter Port/Guernsey, any guidance or advice from anyone who has visited recently? We were not planning to book a excursion and figured that with the ship docking so early and the excursions not starting until later in the morning tendering in should be manageable, is that true? Does booking an excursion get you priority to tender back to the ship, or do you queue up with everyone else? I am sure that the solution is to get in line early, but I hate to cut an already short day in port even shorter, so if it means that we just need to be prepared to wait a long time then at least we will be be prepared! Thanks--

There's no priority for anyone tendering back to the ship. Longest line I waited in was close to an hour in Kirkwall when doing the BI itinerary. Going out, you will have priority if you're Elite, in a full suite or on a Princess tour.

Our tenders never even made it ashore in Guernsey due to the weather. We docked in the harbor and just sat there most of the day. :loudcry: At the end of the day once you're in line for the tenders, the ship won't leave with you on the dock. Get in line toward the end of the time you have allotted there and they'll get you back to the ship.

Our tenders never even made it ashore in Guernsey due to the weather. We docked in the harbor and just sat there most of the day. :loudcry: .

Were there other ports that you missed due to weather? Will be there this Sept.

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There's no priority for anyone tendering back to the ship. Longest line I waited in was close to an hour in Kirkwall when doing the BI itinerary. Going out, you will have priority if you're Elite, in a full suite or on a Princess tour.

At Sorrento, we were a bit late back, but there were still people queuing for the tender. By the time we caught the last boat, we were over 45 minutes after the deadline.

Were there other ports that you missed due to weather? Will be there this Sept.

 

 

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We missed Holyhead last Spring. I have read that missing that port is not unusual.

We tendered in Guernsey 3 weeks ago. This was on Crown Princess. We didn't attempt to go ashore till after 10.00 am but it still took about an hour. Coming back a couple of hours before boarding time there was a long, long queue on the pier. This despite the fact they had 'borrowed' a small ferry type boat to use as well as the ship's tenders. We waited 40 mins to board a tender and the line was even longer when we left. At least the sea was calm, so we did actually get ashore. It's a port that's often missed because of rough weather.

Just off the May 13 sailing of the Caribbean Princess. No problems tendering into Guernsey - beautiful day. On the other hand, we missed Cobh/Cork the next day due to weather. We had a bit of rain, including days where we had both sun and rain. The weather can be unpredictable in the British Isles.

The weather in the British Isles is always unpredictable, not just sometimes!

Thanks, we won't have any suite or status priority so we will just bring our patience. With a scheduled 6am arrival and many excursions not leaving until 9am hopefully we can get ashore in between and we will bring our patience for the return trip, if we are lucky enough to be able to make it in!

Were there other ports that you missed due to weather? Will be there this Sept.

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No, we were lucky. Guernsey was the only one we missed. This was a May sailing and those that say weather is unpredictable are so right! We arrived to record lows, but left to record highs. You just never know what you're going to get and when you get good weather and no missed ports, you consider yourself VERY lucky. :D

No, we were lucky. Guernsey was the only one we missed. This was a May sailing and those that say weather is unpredictable are so right! We arrived to record lows, but left to record highs. You just never know what you're going to get and when you get good weather and no missed ports, you consider yourself VERY lucky. :D

We should be in Guernsey next Tuesday, don't have any excursion booked, we plan on taking the bus to the German Occupation museum, visit Victor Hugo's house and then walk around and explore St Peter Port. Fingers crossed for calm seas...:)

When we arrive off shore in Guernsey, the waters were a bit choppy with a strong current, nevertheless, we were able to tender ashore and meet our guide, Annette, for a small group tour.

I later heard that Princess stopped taking passengers ashore for about a half hour due to strong winds, then resumed. When we completed our tour, we were tempted to explore an open air food market adjacent to the tender area, but then saw the line to return to the ship. It was slow moving, people were constantly cutting in when they saw "friends" but Princess reps were monitoring the lines and attempting to keep the cutting under control. Of course, passengers who were standing in line for close to an hour did an excellent job of identifying those who attempted avoiding the line. Yes, it was close to an hour to board the tender and another 10-15 minutes on the tender.

The only other port that was an issue for us was Belfast. Seems the captain didn't want to attempt to dock due to tide, currents and high winds. So we sat most of the day in the river, docking close to 5PM instead of the anticipated 8AM. All Princess tours were cancelled, but they did offer ONE substitute tour to Giants Causeway, for only 200 passengers - Yikes, you should have seen that line and livid passengers. I felt sorry for Shorex staff as they attempted to calm passengers over something beyond their control. For Belfast, we booked a private, tour and our land-side guide kept in contact with us while we waited on the ship. He was able to fit in quite a bit, so we saw the Giants Causeway, Rope Bridge, and assorted Game of Thrones sites, captured beautiful sun sets and had a quick photo op in Belfast before we got back to the ship. Princess extended our time to return to the ship until 11:00PM.

Darcy

The problem that Princess in particular has is timing. Although the ship arrives early, most people do not want to get off before 8am. Leaving mid afternoon, means that most people are wanting to board the tenders at the same time rather than spaced out over a longer period to say 6pm.

My advice would be to get off as early as possible, and take a bus to the Occupation Museum or the Little Chapel (or both if you are organised). Every day there is a walk from the tourist information centre at 10:30am, and on a Tuesday and Thursday there are also afternoon walks at 14:30 as well. These are run by accredited guides and cost GBP8 per person.

I would try to spend the first half of "your time" visiting something "outside of town" and the second half "in town". Castle Cornet is also worth a visit, and if possible try to be there at midday when the cannon is fired.

When we arrive off shore in Guernsey, the waters were a bit choppy with a strong current, nevertheless, we were able to tender ashore and meet our guide, Annette, for a small group tour.

I later heard that Princess stopped taking passengers ashore for about a half hour due to strong winds, then resumed. When we completed our tour, we were tempted to explore an open air food market adjacent to the tender area, but then saw the line to return to the ship. It was slow moving, people were constantly cutting in when they saw "friends" but Princess reps were monitoring the lines and attempting to keep the cutting under control. Of course, passengers who were standing in line for close to an hour did an excellent job of identifying those who attempted avoiding the line. Yes, it was close to an hour to board the tender and another 10-15 minutes on the tender.

The only other port that was an issue for us was Belfast. Seems the captain didn't want to attempt to dock due to tide, currents and high winds. So we sat most of the day in the river, docking close to 5PM instead of the anticipated 8AM. All Princess tours were cancelled, but they did offer ONE substitute tour to Giants Causeway, for only 200 passengers - Yikes, you should have seen that line and livid passengers. I felt sorry for Shorex staff as they attempted to calm passengers over something beyond their control. For Belfast, we booked a private, tour and our land-side guide kept in contact with us while we waited on the ship. He was able to fit in quite a bit, so we saw the Giants Causeway, Rope Bridge, and assorted Game of Thrones sites, captured beautiful sun sets and had a quick photo op in Belfast before we got back to the ship. Princess extended our time to return to the ship until 11:00PM.

 

Darcy

Darcy, would you mind sharing the name of the private tour company you used in Belfast? Have you considered doing a review of your trip?

The problem that Princess in particular has is timing. Although the ship arrives early, most people do not want to get off before 8am. Leaving mid afternoon, means that most people are wanting to board the tenders at the same time rather than spaced out over a longer period to say 6pm.

 

My advice would be to get off as early as possible, and take a bus to the Occupation Museum or the Little Chapel (or both if you are organised). Every day there is a walk from the tourist information centre at 10:30am, and on a Tuesday and Thursday there are also afternoon walks at 14:30 as well. These are run by accredited guides and cost GBP8 per person.

 

I would try to spend the first half of "your time" visiting something "outside of town" and the second half "in town". Castle Cornet is also worth a visit, and if possible try to be there at midday when the cannon is fired.

Thanks so much I think this sounds like a great plan, and it confirms my thoughts about planning to be off the ship early! The early departure time did sound like a recipe for disaster, but again we will be patient, I would be more frustrated having to wait a long time to get off the ship and feeling like I was missing my chance to see a lovely town than having to wait to get back on.

Darcy, would you mind sharing the name of the private tour company you used in Belfast? Have you considered doing a review of your trip?

http://www.cityandcausewaytours.com/

Found them through both Cruise Critic and Trip Advisor. [Alister & Stevie] Alister was fantastic, great sense of humor and very informative. What should have been a full day tour was some how compressed into the evening trip. We saw most of the things on our tour list, just not stopping for coffee, drink or lunch. At the end, he adjusted the total cost pp downward due to the shorter time in Belfast. The six of us on the new Mercedes van looked at each other, nodded, and gave him not only the original rate, but a little extra for his waiting all day and keeping us informed as we sat on the ship. In fact, it was he who called us to say we would not be docking - an hour later the captain made the announcement from the bridge.

We are thinking about another British Isle cruise next year, this time with close friends. You can be sure, I'll book with Alister. Next week we are heading to England for a one-week road trip, then 14 night cruise to Norway with Princess.

Darcy

Thanks! Enjoy your next adventure!

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