Aurora, tomorrow - late change to itinerary!

In the last hour we have received late notification of an itinerary change switching the days we visit Zeebrugge (Bruge - Friday) and St.Peter Port (Guernsey - Saturday) due to high winds. Saturday being the 70th Anniversary of the islands Liberation with day long festivities and a grand firework finale planned.

The forecast for Friday is 9mph which is described as a gentle breeze - leaves and smaller twigs in constant motion. On Saturday it's 21mph - fresh breeze, branches of a moderate size sway. I'm no ancient mariner or expert as to how choppy this would make delivery by Tender but i'm sure this will disappoint many people.

In fact P&O attempted to change the itinerary a couple of months back and had so many complaints from people who wanted to visit Guernsey as planned they had to revert back to the original.

Yours

Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells

PS: If P&O's PR dept are reading this, to suggest that the full programme of Saturdays Liberation Day celebrations can be compared with 'Normandy markets and see visiting RNLI Lifeboats dating back to 1933 on the Friday' is rubbing salt into the wound!

Guernsey is always a difficult place to tender. Ventura had to abort her visit last Sunday due to a high swell. They got as far as dropping the anchor but then decided the conditions were too bad for tendering.

Brian

I imagine that they are doing it for safety reasons. They can't take any pleasure in changing plans when people are excited about an itinerary, but better safe than sorry. I always think that if it was an aeroplane I would be MORE than happy to adapt my plans .....

Guernsey is always a difficult place to tender. Ventura had to abort her visit last Sunday due to a high swell. They got as far as dropping the anchor but then decided the conditions were too bad for tendering.

Brian

Might be an idea for P&O to mention that when booking......?

In the last hour we have received late notification of an itinerary change switching the days we visit Zeebrugge (Bruge - Friday) and St.Peter Port (Guernsey - Saturday) due to high winds. Saturday being the 70th Anniversary of the islands Liberation with day long festivities and a grand firework finale planned.

 

 

 

The forecast for Friday is 9mph which is described as a gentle breeze - leaves and smaller twigs in constant motion. On Saturday it's 21mph - fresh breeze, branches of a moderate size sway. I'm no ancient mariner or expert as to how choppy this would make delivery by Tender but i'm sure this will disappoint many people.

 

 

 

In fact P&O attempted to change the itinerary a couple of months back and had so many complaints from people who wanted to visit Guernsey as planned they had to revert back to the original.

 

 

 

 

 

Yours

 

 

 

Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells

 

 

 

PS: If P&O's PR dept are reading this, to suggest that the full programme of Saturdays Liberation Day celebrations can be compared with 'Normandy markets and see visiting RNLI Lifeboats dating back to 1933 on the Friday' is rubbing salt into the wound!

Anyone who thinks that P&o have changed this cruise to suit themselves is way off the mark. With the seas around Guernsey you do not need a lot of wind to make it impossible to tender.

We have only managed 1 out of 3 cruises to get in. P&O are doing people a favour, they are going on a day on which there is a fair chance that you will actually land.

BTW the only reason Guernsey is on any cruise is so they can sell things on the ship duty free.

Might be an idea for P&O to mention that when booking......?

It is in the booking conditions under "Alteration and cancellation by P&O Cruises Prior to Departure".

Might be an idea for P&O to mention that when booking......?

I think when you book a cruise you are putting your trust in the line to ensure you are safe throughout the time you're onboard and that is what P&O are doing here. I think it shows foresight and consideration in changing the days around so you're not missing either port. A couple of years ago we were doing a short cruise on RCI and when we arrived in Southampton they told us that due to the bad forecast we'd be missing one port and heading straight to the other for two nights. The other one happened to be Le Havre which we'd visited many times before and the one that we missed was Bruges - the reason we booked the cruise. That's life and at least we were safe in port when there were storms all down the Channel.

When the itinerary shows that you'll be visiting a port where tenders will be used, you know there's always a risk. Last year there were a couple of occasions here where ships couldn't tender passengers into South Queensferry so Edinburgh was missed and in the past we've not been able to get into tender ports in a couple of Greek islands (on Celebrity and Princess) and a port in Iceland, again on Princess, so it doesn't just affect P&O.

We arrived home from Ventura today. We were due into Guernsey last Sunday (this already being a change to our original booking) but unfortunately the winds were to strong and the swell looked too much for tenders. However, P&O did their best and whilst found nothing for the Sunday we got into Le Harve on Monday so in all we still had 2 stops albeit not the ones planned.main thing though is we all remained safe.

It appears the previous cruise also had problems as a couple of the ships excursions headed off again the winds picked up and all tendering operations ceased only resuming to collect the excursion passengers on their return.

It is in the booking conditions under "Alteration and cancellation by P&O Cruises Prior to Departure".

I'll take it that your comment is made in jest?

I posted on here a couple of years ago that a cruise advertised as 'to Bruges' should actually have been advertised as to Bruge via train from Blankenburg and shuttle bus from Zeebrugge. Now P &O do.

If as suggested above it can be difficult to deliver passengers to this port via tender then surely its not unreasonable to suggest that people are made aware up front? Of course there is always the risk of choppy seas but if Daib has managed just 1 landing in 3 and Brianl describes Guernsey as 'always difficult' it's obvious that this is a known situation. Just not known to customers!

Anyone who thinks that P&o have changed this cruise to suit themselves is way off the mark. With the seas around Guernsey you do not need a lot of wind to make it impossible to tender.

 

We have only managed 1 out of 3 cruises to get in. P&O are doing people a favour, they are going on a day on which there is a fair chance that you will actually land.

 

BTW the only reason Guernsey is on any cruise is so they can sell things on the ship duty free.

Not suggesting P&O have changed the cruise for anything other than safety reasons Dai. Described in earlier email (below) as a significant occasion I visualise a lot of old soldiers rueing the day they booked Aurora as their mode of transport to Guernsey;)

Following feedback we have received, we have reconsidered our decision. It is

clear that many of you were looking forward to visiting St Peter Port on the

70th anniversary of the island's Liberation day and joining the islanders for

their celebrations. We agree this is a significant occasion.

Strong southwesterly winds Friday evening across all parts will reach gale-force at times across Lundy and Fastnet. Winds ease for a time by midday Sunday but then increase to a strong southerly overnight into Sunday across Sole and Shannon but ease again by midday

The met office appears to have a slightly different weather forecast to yours.....Forecast is for Niton area.

I'll take it that your comment is made in jest?

 

I posted on here a couple of years ago that a cruise advertised as 'to Bruges' should actually have been advertised as to Bruge via train from Blankenburg and shuttle bus from Zeebrugge. Now P &O do.

 

If as suggested above it can be difficult to deliver passengers to this port via tender then surely its not unreasonable to suggest that people are made aware up front? Of course there is always the risk of choppy seas but if Daib has managed just 1 landing in 3 and Brianl describes Guernsey as 'always difficult' it's obvious that this is a known situation. Just not known to customers!

Like I said in my post, it is not just Guernsey or P&O that is prone to these problems but this is the case for most tender ports round the world. I think P&O have done a good job changing the days around. You say there is always a risk of choppy seas and people know that, but they might not know that it can be really rough in the Mediterranean where we've encountered some of the worst weather ever on a cruise and had to miss a port of call. The cruise line cannot possibly give you all the variables up front.

Also as regards Bruges by train example, I can think of endless examples where you don't actually dock in the 'town' named like Florence (Livorno), London (Southampton), Athens (Piraeus) or Rome ( Civitavecchia).

Everyone seems to want to be given all the answers these days before anybody's even come up with the question.:D

In the last hour we have received late notification of an itinerary change switching the days we visit Zeebrugge (Bruge - Friday) and St.Peter Port (Guernsey - Saturday) due to high winds. Saturday being the 70th Anniversary of the islands Liberation with day long festivities and a grand firework finale planned.

 

The forecast for Friday is 9mph which is described as a gentle breeze - leaves and smaller twigs in constant motion. On Saturday it's 21mph - fresh breeze, branches of a moderate size sway. I'm no ancient mariner or expert as to how choppy this would make delivery by Tender but i'm sure this will disappoint many people.

 

In fact P&O attempted to change the itinerary a couple of months back and had so many complaints from people who wanted to visit Guernsey as planned they had to revert back to the original.

 

 

Yours

 

Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells

 

PS: If P&O's PR dept are reading this, to suggest that the full programme of Saturdays Liberation Day celebrations can be compared with 'Normandy markets and see visiting RNLI Lifeboats dating back to 1933 on the Friday' is rubbing salt into the wound!

Dear Disgusted

I think if you want to guarantee going somewhere then you should not book a cruise.

No port of call is guaranteed. They will always do their best to get you to where they said they would, on the day they said, but that may not happen due to many reasons.

the ones we have encountered

Swell/rough seas Guernsey (should add my family know from experience how many times their flights there have been cancelled due to strong winds/fog)

Bad storms hitting our return stop on Caribbean transatlantic-stopped at the same island we stopped at going out (Azores)

Pilot strike (meant we missed out on Bergen)

Haifa etc (they started throwing missiles at each other out there, and still people complained when we did not still go to the port!!!!)

Am I annoyed--no never annoyed, maybe disappointed.

Please tell me you are not going to cruise again....

I was going to suggest a river cruise to you....but you don't always stop where you should with them.

I was going to suggest the "Lord of the Glens" cruise to you...east to west in Scotland, then I remembered we did not make all of our stops with that either.

Now disgusted please go and book a land holiday.

Not suggesting P&O have changed the cruise for anything other than safety reasons Dai. Described in earlier email (below) as a significant occasion I visualise a lot of old soldiers rueing the day they booked Aurora as their mode of transport to Guernsey;)

 

Following feedback we have received, we have reconsidered our decision. It is

clear that many of you were looking forward to visiting St Peter Port on the

70th anniversary of the island's Liberation day and joining the islanders for

their celebrations. We agree this is a significant occasion.

If I wanted to go to Guernsey on that day I certainly would not go there on a cruise.

As I have said there is only one reason any cruise line out of the UK goes to Guernsey is to allow them to sell the drinks on board at tax free prices.

We've missed ports in the past due to a number of circumstances and though we were disappointed we felt confident that the cruise lines don't make these decisions easily (particularly when it is going to cost them more money) and there is a health and safety risk.

It has been suggested that cruise lines should point out the ports that can cause problems in the brochure. If they did that then they open themselves up to someone saying, "Well, you mention other ports, but not this one". Better to make a blanket statement. Yes, some ports are more difficult than others - that's where doing your homework comes in.

Having said this I do hope that P&O do a good job of looking after everyone and sorting ports etc. From what I've seen in the past they do seem to do a good job in an emergency.

Wishing everyone a safe and happy cruise.

An update to this thread....Aurora made it to Guernsey yesterday..... But couldn't dock in Zeebrugge today as it is too windy!!! It looks like (on marine traffic) they are having a slow cruise home.... What a disappointment for those on board....including my daughter and boyfriend on their first cruise!

We had a stop at Guernsey on our short Aurora cruise last August. I went down to the tender and it was very choppy - very windy. The officers were helping everyone to get on board the tender - one officer on each side - they were practically lifting people on board. When it got to my turn I stepped forward and the officer said, "Go back". Then I was motioned forward again but no had to step back. Then the officer decided to move the tendering further back as it was more protected. We could see the tender that still remained in the original position bumping up and down - looked most uncomfortable. I got on the second, empty tender and eventually we set off and had a most bumpy journey into St. Peter Port. Apparently the people who were on the first tender had to be helped off back onto the ship. The tender had banged against the ship and was damaged apparently.

When it was time to return to the ship we were put on one of the St. Peter Port ferry boats rather than one of the tenders. The ferry was much more stable and we made the journey more quickly. Obviously the Captain wanted people to get ashore if was safe. I would think that if it had got any rougher, had the swell increased we wouldn't have been able to stop at St. Peter Port.

Some people on our table had been on two previous cruises where a stop had to be cancelled due to the weather in St. Peter Port. We have been on other cruises where we have missed stops due to the weather - Pireaus on an Eastern Med. cruise and Jamaica on a Caribbean cruise. It does happen and the cruise companies try very hard not to have to miss a port but they are at the mercy of the weather and it's not always possible to alter the stop to a different port in the case of bad weather. As has been said, I would never go on a cruise because I desperately wanted to visit a specific port - go on a land holiday if that's the case.

Delighted to report that we have arrived home after enjoying a wonderful mini-break on Aurora. It was our first time aboard and it won't be our last. We were relieved of our vehicle and luggage outside the Mayflower Terminal at 11:35am in a very slick two-pronged 'assault'. At 12 noon sharp we were relaxing in Carmen's enjoying our first glass of wine, toasting our umpteenth wedding anniversary.

Our cabin was very clean and comfortable, and our luggage arrived in good time. We unpacked and went to explore. Throughout the ship, we found our fellow passengers to be an amiable bunch; and the crew (to a man) were fantastic. Nothing too much trouble; very professional and knowledgeable. Although we had Freedom Dining, we decided to dine in the Glass House, Sindhu and The Beach House respectively. No venue disappointed. The food and service were consistently excellent in all three venues.

The weather on Friday and Saturday was not great, but why worry? There are no guarantees of great weather any time of year in the English Channel, and a holiday at sea brings its own challenges. The entertainment team rallied on Saturday for the unexpected sea day, and the day passed happily. This was not the case on our last cruise when we couldn't drop anchor at Tortola - the entertainment team ran for cover!

Disembarkation this morning was again slick and smooth. First class job P&O; we'll be back!

What can I say?

Not only did we not get to St.Peterport on Liberation day but neither did we make the key destination of Bruges (Zeebrugge) on the revised Saturday date! Whilst a day running up and down the English Channel may be acceptable to some and i'm sure the decisions that led to this situation were well intentioned the reality is that P&O took a gamble using our holiday booking as the stake.

In an ironic twist I spent the first few hours aboard Aurora before departure trying to sort out a delayed delivery for one of my customers caused by a road traffic accident that was beyond mine and the couriers control. That didn't release me from my obligation to provide goods and services as ordered and I look forward to hearing what P&O's take is on the situation.

Dear Disgusted

I think if you want to guarantee going somewhere then you should not book a cruise.

No port of call is guaranteed. They will always do their best to get you to where they said they would, on the day they said, but that may not happen due to many reasons.

the ones we have encountered

Swell/rough seas Guernsey (should add my family know from experience how many times their flights there have been cancelled due to strong winds/fog)

Bad storms hitting our return stop on Caribbean transatlantic-stopped at the same island we stopped at going out (Azores)

Pilot strike (meant we missed out on Bergen)

Haifa etc (they started throwing missiles at each other out there, and still people complained when we did not still go to the port!!!!)

Am I annoyed--no never annoyed, maybe disappointed.

Please tell me you are not going to cruise again....

I was going to suggest a river cruise to you....but you don't always stop where you should with them.

I was going to suggest the "Lord of the Glens" cruise to you...east to west in Scotland, then I remembered we did not make all of our stops with that either.

Now disgusted please go and book a land holiday.

Thankyou for your advice. Most helpful;)

I'm pleased to hear that your family have great experience of the weather conditions around Guernsey and am sure that they'd agree that notification of such would be well received if it formed part of the P&O promotional literature and booking form.

You might want to consider, whilst looking up the word empathy, that a lot of people work hard and save hard to get a few days away each year and what you can smugly brush off as a mild disappointment is for them of somewhat greater significance.:D

Thankyou for your advice. Most helpful;)

 

I'm pleased to hear that your family have great experience of the weather conditions around Guernsey and am sure that they'd agree that notification of such would be well received if it formed part of the P&O promotional literature and booking form.

 

You might want to consider, whilst looking up the word empathy, that a lot of people work hard and save hard to get a few days away each year and what you can smugly brush off as a mild disappointment is for them of somewhat greater significance.:D

I'm sorry you missed Bruges, Tarquin. I can understand people will have been disappointed.

I have to say, however, that I think you've been a bit disingenuous on this whole thread Tarquin. Apparently when the change was first notified, you said (on another thread):

Received notification that our cruise to Bruges - Friday and St Peter Port - Saturday were to be switched to avoid congestion as Guernsey celebrates Liberation day on Saturday. Received notification today that its been switched back due to passenger response. To be honest we're not bothered either way but curious as to what events if any are planned for St Peter Port's special day?

Also can I ask how you think P&O "took a gamble using your holiday booking as the stake"? As the English Lady said, no port of call is guaranteed. You've cruised previously and you'll know that. It doesn't matter where you go in the world, that's the nature of cruising. Is it any different from air or rail travel anyway, both of which are also subject to the vagaries of the weather?

I'm sorry you missed Bruges, Tarquin. I can understand people will have been disappointed.

 

I have to say, however, that I think you've been a bit disingenuous on this whole thread Tarquin. Apparently when the change was first notified, you said (on another thread):

 

Received notification that our cruise to Bruges - Friday and St Peter Port - Saturday were to be switched to avoid congestion as Guernsey celebrates Liberation day on Saturday. Received notification today that its been switched back due to passenger response. To be honest we're not bothered either way but curious as to what events if any are planned for St Peter Port's special day?

 

Also can I ask how you think P&O "took a gamble using your holiday booking as the stake"? As the English Lady said, no port of call is guaranteed. You've cruised previously and you'll know that. It doesn't matter where you go in the world, that's the nature of cruising. Is it any different from air or rail travel anyway, both of which are also subject to the vagaries of the weather?

In no particular order...

If my train is delayed or my flight cancelled I am compensated accordingly.;) I don't yet know what P&O's take on this situation is?

Yes i've cruised before and never experienced or been made aware of tendering problems. Of course I can make certain judgement's such as if we sail in mid winter it will be cold but we booked for May and I don't think it should be necessary to have access to a seasonal worldwide calendar of weather conditions and subsequent tendering problems before making a calculated decision on which cruise itinerary to choose.

I assume nothing. If you re-read my earlier posts which quote other forum members experiences and indeed those of Nautical Miss it is clear that Guernsey is not 'just another port' but one that is subject to a higher than normal failure rate.

*on the P&O website it simply states 'after getting a tender ashore'.

I don't see what's disingenuous about my posts? P&O gambled on the weather being ok for the visit to Bruges (Zeebrugge) - the key destination and got it wrong. Had the itinerary remained as booked then what will be will be.

Thankyou for your advice. Most helpful;)

 

I'm pleased to hear that your family have great experience of the weather conditions around Guernsey and am sure that they'd agree that notification of such would be well received if it formed part of the P&O promotional literature and booking form.

 

You might want to consider, whilst looking up the word empathy, that a lot of people work hard and save hard to get a few days away each year and what you can smugly brush off as a mild disappointment is for them of somewhat greater significance.:D

Trust me I know how lucky I am to have had the holidays we have been on.

However I also use my own common sense to not just take everything about a cruise holiday on face value-otherwise I would expect the ship to be filled with beautiful people, always smiling, all sticking to the dress code.

Do you not think we had to work and save hard for our holidays??

From our first cruise I realised that maybe more so than planes cruise ships can be seriously effected by local weather conditions and other things happening that that can mean we don't get to all the places we though we would.

Whilst you are moaning about what is/isn't put in the brochure about Guernsey, you might want to have some empathy with people who are booked on cruises that are due to call at somewhere like Easter Island or the Falkland Islands.

Trust me those sort of cruises are not cheap at all. For some people ,due to the cost it is a once in a lifetime thing. You have bad weather/swell on the day, and that's it, you don't go there. How do you think they feel? I am sure you will agree that sort of thing is of greater significance.

Cruising I really don't think is for you-yes I know you have been a few times. You have also been lucky not to have problems tendering.

Do you suggest that for Eastern med cruises they should put in the brochure, we are going to Haifa etc, unless there are missiles flying around, then we will not.

No one is expecting anyone to know what the world weather is all the time. (the BBC weather app though is very good ) We are talking about one port, close to home. If you did your homework you would have read on CC that getting into some ports is very weather dependent.

Trust me I know how lucky I am to have had the holidays we have been on.

However I also use my own common sense to not just take everything about a cruise holiday on face value-otherwise I would expect the ship to be filled with beautiful people, always smiling, all sticking to the dress code.

Do you not think we had to work and save hard for our holidays??

From our first cruise I realised that maybe more so than planes cruise ships can be seriously effected by local weather conditions and other things happening that that can mean we don't get to all the places we though we would.

Whilst you are moaning about what is/isn't put in the brochure about Guernsey, you might want to have some empathy with people who are booked on cruises that are due to call at somewhere like Easter Island or the Falkland Islands.

Trust me those sort of cruises are not cheap at all. For some people ,due to the cost it is a once in a lifetime thing. You have bad weather/swell on the day, and that's it, you don't go there. How do you think they feel? I am sure you will agree that sort of thing is of greater significance.

Cruising I really don't think is for you-yes I know you have been a few times. You have also been lucky not to have problems tendering.

Do you suggest that for Eastern med cruises they should put in the brochure, we are going to Haifa etc, unless there are missiles flying around, then we will not.

No one is expecting anyone to know what the world weather is all the time. (the BBC weather app though is very good ) We are talking about one port, close to home. If you did your homework you would have read on CC that getting into some ports is very weather dependent.

Haifa, Easter Islands? Cost is relative and the fact that you suggest that one persons expectations and the significance of such should be less than others because of money spent speaks volumes.

Your surely not suggesting that conflict in a certain area should be compared with long standing weather conditions. Oh hang on, I think you are;) In this respect, yes I would expect there to be notification that i.e. the hurricane season may lead to disruption to the itinerary but the break out of war in the Ukraine? I think we all know the answer to that one.

Let me help you out with this.... Amongst other products my company sells clothing some of which is 'American Sizing'. Hell, everbody knows what american sizing is don't they? Well if they done a little research, made a few visits to a forum, possibly even bought stuff before then they would and we wouldn't need to tell them. But we do! We make it clear on the website, clear when ordering and if a new customer will email or call to advise. That's whether they spend $3 or $300! Clearly we have our customer service all wrong;)

Tarquin, I can't seriously believe that you would have advocated going ashore despite dangerous conditions and risking lives just because you have worked hard for your holiday.

And I do agree with the others that if you can't accept adverse weather conditions changing your plans in the interest of safety - which I believe is clearly stated in the terms and conditions somewhere - then cruising is really not for you.