Tenders into Guernsey

Chose this short cruise as a first cruise to encourage our sister in law to take up cruising. Very Disappointed, sailed out on Wednesday should have gone by tender to St Peter Port on Thursday, only to be told whilst having breakfast that weather (clear skies with clouds wind 15 mph) was too severe to take tenders in or to hold present position. Therefore sailed out to French coast for an extra day at sea. Got the impression that this could be a common occurrence because of weather conditions in this area. I believe that cruise liners should make this information clear to passengers before booking so that passengers can make a choice knowing that they may not be visiting Guernsey and may have an extra day at sea. There is a further impact of not visiting as because of this this ship does not leave EU waters and therefore cannot sell duty free goods Double Disappointment

It is common at Guernsey, in my experience there is a 60% dock rate. Sometimes you get to go to France instead. This happened to us on our very first cruise too, but we still got the bug and have had many happy cruises since then. I agree a warning would be helpful.

Guernsey is hit and miss as regards actually landing passengers ashore. The small print on all cruise itineraries says that the ship may not call at one or more ports including all ports. in addition they can call in at different ports instead.

Last time we visited Guernsey we got ashore in the tender and it took about 15 minutes. The return tender trip to re-board the ship was a different matter as the sea conditions had changed a lot. It took about an hour and there were five tenders circling and trying to stay apart to avoid collisions. When we got near to our turn to approach the tender dock another tender nipped in ahead of us. A lady started to have a medical incident so we headed for the tender dock which we hit hard. People were terrified and the crew were in a bit of a panic. There was a bit of screaming going on and another tender ran out of fuel. Tendering can be chancey!

Regards John

yes there are massive 40 foot tides in the Channel Islands and although the weather may look good, the swells can be big and therefore dangerous for boarding tenders.

The problem with Guernsey is that the ship has to anchor a long way from shore. This can make tendering hazardous if sea conditions are not so good. In my own experience the island is missed on about half of cruises due to land there.

Such a shame for you. The only port we've missed so far is Guernsey! But that was on a 7 day cruise, we were lucky as we were sent to Cherbourg instead. That was in 2012 and I notice more cruises are calling at Cherbourg now.

It's the reason I would never go on a 2 nighter to Guernsey as you just don't know.

Believe me, if the Captain decides it's too rough to tender, you wouldn't WANT to!

I was on Azura last month and we tendered to Guernsey. Captain Camby announced that the tender operation, although perfectly safe, was a bit like riding a corkscrew, and advised anyone who was likely to be seasick NOT to go for their own comfort and that of other passengers. Many people went down to the pontoon and thought better of it, turning round and going upstairs again.

I went because I wanted to see Guernsey and I am never seasick, but I cannot say I enjoyed the ride. Corkscrew was a very accurate description once out of the shelter of the ship. As we had to go slowly due to the swell, the ride took half an hour and felt like one of those extreme fairground rides but you couldn't get off. It felt as if the tender could go over though I don't doubt the Captain's word that it was actually perfectly safe. One woman cried all the way across as she was so scared. The children loved it of course!

Coming back was even worse. The staff were absolute stars and made everyone feel better. I wasn't seasick (quite a few were, with bags being handed out) but I felt very frightened.

So if the Captain says it's too rough to tender, accept it! I spoke to a lady onshore who told me that the current between the ship's anchor point and the island is what causes the problems. I can well believe it!

Why do P & O bother scheduling Guernsey if landing there is so problematical? We are on the Oriana in 2 weeks, first port of call Guernsey.

Why do P & O bother scheduling Guernsey if landing there is so problematical? We are on the Oriana in 2 weeks, first port of call Guernsey.

I think if you stop there, they can sell duty free. Stopping in France would not enable them to do that. Same reason they do quick stops at Gibralter.

Remember its getting back to ship too.

I read a trip report recently where tenders took passengers to Helsingborg, but during the day the winds increased, waves became too high for tenders and everyone was bussed back to Copenhagen!

An inconvenience, but imagine the chaos if this happened in Guernsey.

Like you Jules, we're on Oriana on 10 June - and looking forward to exploring on Guernsey. We've booked the RIB ride round the coast there too, so sounds like we might need good sea legs (and stomachs!) quite a few times that day - in the hope that we can get ashore in the first place. Laps of the Gods and all that...!

We have been very lucky I think - tendered at Guernsey 4 out of 4 times and never very choppy.

Like you Jules, we're on Oriana on 10 June - and looking forward to exploring on Guernsey. We've booked the RIB ride round the coast there too, so sounds like we might need good sea legs (and stomachs!) quite a few times that day - in the hope that we can get ashore in the first place. Laps of the Gods and all that...!

Let's hope the seas are kind to us and we are able to enjoy Guernsey.

We have been very lucky I think - tendered at Guernsey 4 out of 4 times and never very choppy.

That's reassuring. Fingers crossed the seas will be kind to us as well.

We have been unlucky a few times with Guernsey at different times of the year. The water may look calm but it is quite a long tender ride and I have experienced a couple of bumpy rides when we were lucky enough to anchor off and call at Guernsey.

We never had an alternative port put in at short notice on the occasions when Guernsey was abandoned.

Hope you manage to get in on your cruises.

We've booked the RIB ride round the coast there too, so sounds like we might need good sea legs (and stomachs!) quite a few times that day - in the hope that we can get ashore in the first place. Laps of the Gods and all that...!

We booked the RIB around the coast trip with P&O on one of my recent two nighters. You get to the tender drop off point where you transfer to the RIB. They issue you with waterproof, thermal jackets and life preservers which you wear. They are the mini type which dockworkers wear and then inflate when immersed in water. Seating is double benches down the centre of the craft.

My perception of this trip was "whale watching", but other wildlife might be spotted as you cruise around the smaller rocky outcrop islands. The only wildlife we saw was a seal; just it's head, puffins by the hundred and sea gulls. The speed of the craft is controlled near the islands so as not to disturb the wildlife which the guide talks about when the engine is cut to idle. However to increase excitement when you get away from the speed control areas, the driver opens it up to maximum and does 360 degree spin turns and excessive slaloming. At one point during the best spin I noticed that the level of the sea water had reached the top of the side of the boat and thought it might ingress. "Ingress"; yes, that's the word I thought of at the time!

There are toilet and washing facilities in the Marina Building near the tender drop off station. These are free of charge but an access code might be needed to open the door. They put a sign up giving the number.

Regards John

Thanks for the Guernsey RIB info John. Fingers crossed we get ashore to go on it at St Peter Port. We've done RIb rides before in the fjords on Azura - and a fab place to do it is the Menai Straits, Anglesey, especially with the infamous currents there. Brilliant hour of sightseeing plus the thrill of the power bursts, doing donuts (and yes, being very close the the water if you're sitting on the inside of the turn!) and screaming like kids with the sheer thrill. Would highly recommend the RIB ride wherever you get the chance. Not cheap - but worth it for the memories!

We have been unlucky a few times with Guernsey at different times of the year. The water may look calm but it is quite a long tender ride and I have experienced a couple of bumpy rides when we were lucky enough to anchor off and call at Guernsey.

 

We never had an alternative port put in at short notice on the occasions when Guernsey was abandoned.

 

Hope you manage to get in on your cruises.

We considered ourselves very lucky to be sent to Cherbourg, and were very impressed at the list of exursions they managed to get together. The people of Cherbourg were very pleased to see us too :) Many of them lining the docks to wave!