Should P&O stop going to St Peter Port?

[Eglesbrech]

11 minutes ago, CHAMON said:

I live in Guernsey, it is a wonderful place and I do hope you are able to come.  (Also a p and O Cruiser)

 

Yes it is a lovely island with friendly people and an interesting history. We have been lucky enough to get in several times.

 

It’s just unfortunate that passengers miss out on this quite so often as they do.

[Harry Peterson]

Love the idea of a few days in Guernsey to replace one of the cancelled P&O cruises.

[sidekick180]

We were on Ventura last May and it was scheduled to go to Guernsey. When we saw the queue of people waiting to get on the Tenders we decided not to bother. Really glad we didn't bother because when people came back on board later that day, most of them were complaining about the ridiculous waiting time for Tenders. One guy said that over a period of 5 hours, he had only spent one hour ashore, the rest of the time was waiting for tenders to Guernsey and then waiting to get back to the ship. not my idea of fun, partly because I hate queueing up for anything at the best of times.

We are booked on Azura in 3 weeks, which again is scheduled for a Guernsey stop, but to be honest, I don't know if I can be bothered. If we do book a future cruise, it will definitely not include Guernsey.

I know it's probably a lovely place to visit, but not exciting enough for me to waste 4 or five hours of my life in a queue.

[jh1809]

I take it that St. Peter Port in Jersey lacks the facilities to be an alternative Channel Islands destination, since it never seems to feature on itineraries.

[john watson]

25 minutes ago, jh1809 said:

I take it that St. Peter Port in Jersey lacks the facilities to be an alternative Channel Islands destination, since it never seems to feature on itineraries.

 

I think you mean St. Helier in Jersey as opposed to St. Peter Port Guernsey.  I think the Jersey problem is not being able to accept large ships.  I went there recently on Pacific Princess on a British Isles cruise unfortunately the small ships P&O has had in the past have been moved on.

 

Regards John

[jh1809]

1 hour ago, john watson said:

 

I think you mean St. Helier in Jersey as opposed to St. Peter Port Guernsey.  I think the Jersey problem is not being able to accept large ships.  I went there recently on Pacific Princess on a British Isles cruise unfortunately the small ships P&O has had in the past have been moved on.

 

Regards John

Thanks. Yes, I did mean St. Helier.

[Selbourne]

It’s a great shame that P&O can’t get to Jersey. Guernsey is nice, but Jersey is significantly better IMO. 

[Spike11]

2 hours ago, Selbourne said:

It’s a great shame that P&O can’t get to Jersey. Guernsey is nice, but Jersey is significantly better IMO. 

I agree, and it would appear that St Helier is in a large bay - possibly sheltered from the worst currents and that might make tendering easier. It could  be that Jersey are not keen on attracting large cruise ships of course.

[happy v]

I'd always wondered why Jersey wasn't available.

[Bazrat]

The cruise ships cannot get as close to the harbour at Jersey than they do at Guernsey. 

[the english lady]

I was also of the impression that it's not in the EU. So its put in in the hope they will be able to tender. I assume if the dock elsewhere there will be no duty free for sale on-board. I don't think flights always make it either. My sister used to go on holiday there and a few times flights were delayed due to fog.

[Britboys]

I think the issue is part practical and partly the wishes of locals.  You might find this article of interest:

 

https://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2015/05/30/cruise-industry-is-on-our-radar-say-visit-jersey-but-100-million-berth-could-be-required/

 

[D C]

On 4/11/2019 at 9:11 AM, CHAMON said:

I live in Guernsey, it is a wonderful place and I do hope you are able to come.  (Also a p and O Cruiser)

How lucky you are!   I only visit as much as possible, which is every 2-3 years or so.  My GG-Grandfather does spend all of his time in Vale, though.  :)

 

 

I think tendering to Guernsey gets a bad rap on CC.  The number of ships that DO tender is far greater than those that are adversely affected by weather.  I'm trying to get the information, but I think that the success rate is something in the 85-90% range.

 

 

[Eglesbrech]

1 minute ago, D C said:

How lucky you are!   I only visit as much as possible, which is every 2-3 years or so.  My GG-Grandfather does spend all of his time in Vale, though.  🙂

 

 

I think tendering to Guernsey gets a bad rap on CC.  The number of ships that DO tender is far greater than those that are adversely affected by weather.  I'm trying to get the information, but I think that the success rate is something in the 85-90% range.

 

 

I would be very interested to see those statistics as we have missed S Peter Port summer and winter, P &O and other lines (so not a P&O issue, a weather or wave one).

 

Based on my personal experience, 85 to 90% sounds high but it may well be that we have been in the wrong place at the wrong time numerous times?

 

Where are the figures reported?

[D C]

Just now, Eglesbrech said:

I would be very interested to see those statistics as we have missed S Peter Port summer and winter, P &O and other lines (so not a P&O issue, a weather or wave one).

 

Based on my personal experience, 85 to 90% sounds high but it may well be that we have been in the wrong place at the wrong time numerous times?

 

Where are the figures reported?

They're less "reported" than logged on the Guernsey harbour website.  Not easy to find, by any means.

 

I was able to locate the year-end schedule for 2017.   http://www.harbours.gg/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=105643&p=0

10 weather misses out of roughly 100 scheduled visits.

 

2018 started out rough (pun intended).  There were quite a few missed visits early in the season.  This is the 2018 schedule, but was updated in June, so it isn't reflective of the entire year.  http://www.harbours.gg/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=112503&p=0

 

[Eglesbrech]

7 minutes ago, D C said:

They're less "reported" than logged on the Guernsey harbour website.  Not easy to find, by any means.

 

I was able to locate the year-end schedule for 2017.   http://www.harbours.gg/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=105643&p=0

10 weather misses out of roughly 100 scheduled visits.

 

2018 started out rough (pun intended).  There were quite a few missed visits early in the season.  This is the 2018 schedule, but was updated in June, so it isn't reflective of the entire year.  http://www.harbours.gg/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=112503&p=0

 

Thanks, that’s really interesting information. I can see some of my cruises in red!

 

For example we were on Brittania in July 2017 (as was Dai b) when it was cancelled for the weather.

 

Its official, I’m a jinx.

[D C]

3 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

Thanks, that’s really interesting information. I can see some of my cruises in red!

 

For example we were on Brittania in July 2017 (as was Dai b) when it was cancelled for the weather.

 

Its official, I’m a jinx.

Now I know who to check with before booking a cruise that includes Guernsey.  😄

 

Unfortunately, the success rate means little when you're ship isn't one of them.  😞

[Tablelamp]

The main reason why cruise ships do not come to Jersey is because the waters in the bay are not so deep as they are in Guernsey.  If you go to Guernsey or Jersey be aware that the larger shops, fortunately will not open on a Sunday.  So we do have one day of quiet.

[D C]

3 hours ago, CHAMON said:

The main reason why cruise ships do not come to Jersey is because the waters in the bay are not so deep as they are in Guernsey.  If you go to Guernsey or Jersey be aware that the larger shops, fortunately will not open on a Sunday.  So we do have one day of quiet.

That takes such getting used to when coming from the US where stores are open 24 hours a day, 364 days of the year.  Sundays in the islands are so peaceful though!

 

Is Guernsey continuing the "festival" days on the waterfront on Sundays this year?  I believe they were scheduled to coincide with cruise ships.  

[sogne]

On ‎4‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 8:31 PM, Spike11 said:

I agree, and it would appear that St Helier is in a large bay - possibly sheltered from the worst currents and that might make tendering easier. It could  be that Jersey are not keen on attracting large cruise ships of course.

 if you saw the very difficult passage into St Helier  at low tide you would soon see the problem many rocks and difficult currents

been in there  professionally  more than once

[Spike11]

9 hours ago, sogne said:

 if you saw the very difficult passage into St Helier  at low tide you would soon see the problem many rocks and difficult currents

been in there  professionally  more than once

That probably explains the lack of cruise calls then. Presumably there must be lots of ferries that make it in at low tide though - or can they only dock at high tide?

[Tablelamp]

The ferries are able to dock at any time.  However, they are very much at the mercy of the weather, and we constantly have cancelled ferries, a problem for people travelling.   Also those shops who rely on goods shipped from England often have some empty shelves.     Solution: shop local.   And a note to Sogne.  At a really low tide it is possible to see the old tree stumps on the west coast.

[mrsgoggins]

On 4/11/2019 at 3:18 PM, sidekick180 said:

We were on Ventura last May and it was scheduled to go to Guernsey. When we saw the queue of people waiting to get on the Tenders we decided not to bother. Really glad we didn't bother because when people came back on board later that day, most of them were complaining about the ridiculous waiting time for Tenders. One guy said that over a period of 5 hours, he had only spent one hour ashore, the rest of the time was waiting for tenders to Guernsey and then waiting to get back to the ship. not my idea of fun, partly because I hate queueing up for anything at the best of times.

 

The above tale is similar to my son’s experience on Thursday, 11th April on Ventura.  They went for the tender at 11.30 - as the information leaflet advised ‘11.30 onwards approximately: We expect few delays at this time and invite guests to disembark at their leisure’.  It was green on the traffic light system P&O uses. It was noon before they got tickets for the tender and almost 2.30 pm before they reached St Peter Port.  They then queued for more than an hour for the return tender!  And this with 2 children in tow.  What an ordeal.  

 

We, on the other hand, went for tickets at 9.20 and were on the tender for 10.30. On reaching St Peter Port, we took bus 91 (I think) for a great circular tour lasting one and three quarter hours, popped into Boots and Marks for a few things and joined a queue for around 5 minutes to be back on the ship shortly after 2 pm.  

 

Sidekick180, I can recommend our approach.  The sea was not especially rough but the return journey did get a bit choppy.

 

At the very least I think that P&O should revise their leaflet for this port, given our experiences as a family and what I have read here.

Edited April 13, 2019 by mrsgoggins

[Dermotsgirl]

We are 50/50 with getting in to Guernsey - once we did and once we didn't.

 

St Peter Port is on our next cruise itinerary, so I'm hoping we'll improve our average.

 

[D C]

14 hours ago, mrsgoggins said:

 

The above tale is similar to my son’s experience on Thursday, 11th April on Ventura.  They went for the tender at 11.30 - as the information leaflet advised ‘11.30 onwards approximately: We expect few delays at this time and invite guests to disembark at their leisure’.  It was green on the traffic light system P&O uses. It was noon before they got tickets for the tender and almost 2.30 pm before they reached St Peter Port.  They then queued for more than an hour for the return tender!  And this with 2 children in tow.  What an ordeal.  

 

We, on the other hand, went for tickets at 9.20 and were on the tender for 10.30. On reaching St Peter Port, we took bus 91 (I think) for a great circular tour lasting one and three quarter hours, popped into Boots and Marks for a few things and joined a queue for around 5 minutes to be back on the ship shortly after 2 pm.  

 

Sidekick180, I can recommend our approach.  The sea was not especially rough but the return journey did get a bit choppy.

 

At the very least I think that P&O should revise their leaflet for this port, given our experiences as a family and what I have read here.

They recommend staying on the ship instead of going ashore sooner? 

 

Given the relatively short time the ship is in port, and the amount to see on Guernsey, I would think a "first tender ashore, last tender back" approach makes sense. 

 

We did that on Key West in Feb. First off the ship and among the last 6 to re-board.  

 

 

The 91/92 bus is a nice (and inexpensive) trip around the island, but they now have a special "Guernsey Explorer" bus that is narrated and makes some stops.  It's £10pp.

  https://www.icw.gg/guernsey-explorer