Round Britain Itinerary problems

[Sherbidashus]

Has anyone else done one of the 'Round Britain' cruises where you are supposed to be tendered ashore and missed several destinations? We recently only made 1 out of 4 such stops, despite fairly average weather. We were unable to disembark at the Outer Hebrides, The Isles of Scilly or Guernsey (and by the day we'd have been in Guernsey the weather was lovely, calm and sunny). Alternatives were arranged for 2 of the days and we spent an additional day at sea. It was still a nice holiday, but we heard a lot of people on the ship saying they had been before and not landed on at least one of those destinations. A lady at my WI told me she'd done the same cruise and just sailed around Guernsey. One person was supposed to have done the trip 3 times and not made it to Scilly once! Has anyone any experience of this cruise, is not landing at all the destinations really that common? We would not do the cruise again in hopes of going anywhere specific, in any case!

[LHT28]

I have heard Guernsey is often missed

we missed Holyhead twice

[John Bull]

Sadly, missed ports are a fact of life, especially tendered ports.

For that reason folk should never choose a cruise for one specific port-of-call.

 

Glorious sunny weather doesn't come into it - it's more about high sea swells (transferring between a big rock-solid ship and a little tender boat that rises & falls on the swells).

And even berthed ports can be missed due to unfavourable winds & tides (which actually affect big ships more than the little tiddlers).

 

Yes, Guernsey is one of the world's less-reliable tender ports.

Apart from being a great place to visit, I suspect it's still on itineraries in order to get around EU tax regulations - it's not in the EU tax area, and on European cruises which don't include a non-EU port EU tax is added to purchases on-board like drinks - as some cruisers out of Barcelona discover. :eek:

 

Holyhead used to be equally-unreliable, but it's now a berthed port. Still not reliable in windy conditions because of the difficult approach, but better than it was.

 

And I actually wonder whether San Blas (Panama) even exists. :rolleyes:

it was certainly missed every time season-long by one ship that we sailed.

 

Yes, there comes a point when cruise lines should really remove the most unreliable ports.

But at least your captain was able to fit in a couple of substitutes. :)

 

JB :)

[Sherbidashus]

We were very grateful for alternative ports of call on our cruise. We visited Mull a day early and then went to Liverpool, where we'd never been so that was OK - except I can't recommend the Maritime museum to cruise ship passengers, it is full of tales of ships sinking! :D Then instead of Scilly and Guernsey we spent a day at sea (saw some Dolphins at least) and then went to Rouen, up the river Seine. Actually, cruising back up the Seine was amazing. So, no complaints overall, but I think worth noting that although they do tell you itineraries can change, when it comes to tendered ports in particular, passengers should not set their hearts on those places. We have learnt this lesson. If you can go with the flow, you will be a happier passenger.

[flamomo]

A few months ago, we missed Holyhead because of sea conditions, but made it into Guernsey just fine a few days later.