One day cruise to St Peter's Port, Guernsey on a Sunday!

[s&gsjollies]

We've booked a two-night mini trip from Southampton to Guernsey to use up some credit I was issued after big cabin/noise issues I had on a two week cruise. I normally plan my travels carefully but though a day in St Peters Port would be lovely and would play it by ear. Now I am reading horror stories about tenders, and then we've just noticed our visit is on a Sunday (10th May) and most of the shops and some sites are going to be shut - why would they do that for a one-day trip and how did we miss it before booking?  

 

So, I have a couple of questions ...

 

1 How to meet a timed non-P&O tour? 

As a lot of things are going to be shut, we would maybe like to pick up a tour of some sort to get a flavour of the island, but we don't usually take ship tours preferring to pick up things with smaller groups on shore (or go it alone). How do you go about getting off the ship for a timed tour that's not P&O? We once made the mistake of being honest on our first Norwegian cruise in Russia and suddenly got sent from the middle to the very back of a very long line! Seems the tender system is v poor here and don't want to spend the day stressing

 

2 If we don't pick up a trip, can anyone recommend anything they've done on a Sunday that they've enjoyed besides sitting in the pub

 

Fingers crossed for fair weather and thanks for your ideas

Sarah

 

 

[davemorton]

Not sure of the number, but there is a local bus service that does a great tour of the island. 

Edit:  From 2 years ago on a different site that advise about things to do with trips.

The 91 service goes round the island clockwise, 92 anticlockwise. The complete circuit takes about 90 minutes and costs £1. The problem with that is that it is only an hourly service and busy on crusie ship days. For £7.50 on cruise ship days, the bus company run a special service with photo opportunity stops at places such as the Little Chapel. 

Edited January 29, 2020 by davemorton

[AndyMichelle]

7 minutes ago, s&gsjollies said:

We've booked a two-night mini trip from Southampton to Guernsey to use up some credit I was issued after big cabin/noise issues I had on a two week cruise. I normally plan my travels carefully but though a day in St Peters Port would be lovely and would play it by ear. Now I am reading horror stories about tenders, and then we've just noticed our visit is on a Sunday (10th May) and most of the shops and some sites are going to be shut - why would they do that for a one-day trip and how did we miss it before booking?  

 

So, I have a couple of questions ...

 

1 How to meet a timed non-P&O tour? 

As a lot of things are going to be shut, we would maybe like to pick up a tour of some sort to get a flavour of the island, but we don't usually take ship tours preferring to pick up things with smaller groups on shore (or go it alone). How do you go about getting off the ship for a timed tour that's not P&O? We once made the mistake of being honest on our first Norwegian cruise in Russia and suddenly got sent from the middle to the very back of a very long line! Seems the tender system is v poor here and don't want to spend the day stressing

 

2 If we don't pick up a trip, can anyone recommend anything they've done on a Sunday that they've enjoyed besides sitting in the pub

 

Fingers crossed for fair weather and thanks for your ideas

Sarah

 

 

The best view of St Peter Port is from the top deck of the ship sipping a cocktail... 

As you know, getting into Guernsey is hit and miss and the tender system is not good. Personally I would not book anything private in advance. 

The problem is, you just can't tell. We had a very bad experience when everything looked fine. 

I'm sure you will have a great time anyway. 

Andy 

 

[jeanlyon]

Yes Andy, lots of cruises don't make it into Guernsey.  Bad weather and huge tides round there make it very difficult.

[Eglesbrech]

The reality of Guernsey is that:

 

1. You may not actually get in, it’s about 50/50 in my experience. Other views are available😀

2. If the tenders do run they always prioritise their own tours first.

3. Tender queues can be very long, the later you go usually the longer the wait. There is no way to accurately time this for a tour unless you are prepared to go for the very early tenders then hang around for the private tour.

4. The tourist board may be able to assist. https://www.visitguernsey.com

5. If all else fails there are nice walks.

 

Have fun whatever you decide to do.

 

[bee-ess]

We have been lucky and tendered in OK 4 times out of 4, but I believe the success rate is only about 50/50.  There  are lots of walks you can do with maps available from the Tourist Information. One that is very good on a nice day is along the coast to Fermain Bay, just walk from the tender drop off with the sea on your left pass Castle Cornet until you come to an old fort on your left, from here you can take the coast path to Fermain Bay with great views back to St Peter Port where there is a small beach and good Tearoom looking over the sea.

You can also get a map from the Tourist Board for a walk around St Peter Port with various points of interest.

Or you could try a ferry to Sark or Herm, both are very nice, Sark is bigger and no cars. These might be safer timewise with a ship's tour but they only use the same ferries as you would independently.

The circular bus is very good but they can get a bit packed on cruise ship days.

I hope you get ashore and some good weather as St Peter Port is a nice stop with plenty to do.

[brian1]

15 minutes ago, bee-ess said:

We have been lucky and tendered in OK 4 times out of 4, but I believe the success rate is only about 50/50.  There  are lots of walks you can do with maps available from the Tourist Information. One that is very good on a nice day is along the coast to Fermain Bay, just walk from the tender drop off with the sea on your left pass Castle Cornet until you come to an old fort on your left, from here you can take the coast path to Fermain Bay with great views back to St Peter Port where there is a small beach and good Tearoom looking over the sea.

You can also get a map from the Tourist Board for a walk around St Peter Port with various points of interest.

Or you could try a ferry to Sark or Herm, both are very nice, Sark is bigger and no cars. These might be safer timewise with a ship's tour but they only use the same ferries as you would independently.

The circular bus is very good but they can get a bit packed on cruise ship days.

I hope you get ashore and some good weather as St Peter Port is a nice stop with plenty to do.

We had those odds for the Falklands a few years ago,almost the other side of the world.We were lucky and saw thousands of penguins on the best golden beach I've seen,but the coldest and windiest even in their summer,lol.

[P&O SUE]

Castle Cornet is good if it’s open, very close to where the tenders drop you.

[D C]

The success rate for tendering into Guernsey is in the 80-90% range according to the Ports of Guernsey.  

 

Your visit falls the day after the 75th anniversary celebration of Guernsey's Liberation Day   I've not been able to find if any events are continuing over from Saturday. 

 

I can certainly make recommendations for non-tour activities when I have a bit more time. 

Edited January 30, 2020 by D C

[Bazrat]

We did St. Peter’s port tendered no problem there was a steady flow of people but no hold up,our trip was moved from the Sunday to the Saturday because of bad weather coming in,we took the mini train tour than just had a walk around the town than we had a cream tea in Victor Hugo’s gardens.

Edited January 31, 2020 by Bazrat

[john watson]

The tenders are a bit rougher than the P&O official website shows.

 

Regards John

 

 

 

[Bazrat]

44 minutes ago, john watson said:

The tenders are a bit rougher than the P&O official website shows.

 

Regards John

 

 

 

When we went it was as smooth as you could wish and the lady sitting next to us said it was a bit rough today.

[Eglesbrech]

2 minutes ago, Bazrat said:

When we went it was as smooth as you could wish and the lady sitting next to us said it was a bit rough today.

You were lucky then. It can go from millpond to fair ground ride in the blink of an eye.

[AndyMichelle]

2 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

You were lucky then. It can go from millpond to fair ground ride in the blink of an eye.

I concur.. 

Our last one started fine, within a short time, they were throwing passengers off, then was suspended for ages. 

Andy 

 

[Bazrat]

3 hours ago, john watson said:

The tenders are a bit rougher than the P&O official website shows.

 

Regards John

 

 

 

What they should say according to cruise critic you only have a 50/50 chance of stopping there and it can be really rough to tender.

[john watson]

The plus side of two nighters to Guernsey is that duty free cigarettes become available.  Not so with Bruges because of the EU, hang on a minute....

 

Regards John

[Eglesbrech]

1 hour ago, Bazrat said:

What they should say according to cruise critic you only have a 50/50 chance of stopping there and it can be really rough to tender.

That would at least be a bit more honest if they did however marketing is never quite  that blunt, for any company.

[Bazrat]

12 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

That would at least be a bit more honest if they did however marketing is never quite  that blunt, for any company.

But according to ports of Guernsey it 80 to 90% so who is correct cruise critic contributors or the port of Guernsey,as for the sea conditions causing problems every cruise line has the same problem when they tender so they all should be honest and say that there is a 10/20% chance you cannot get ashore not just p&o.

 

Edited January 31, 2020 by Bazrat

[Eglesbrech]

11 minutes ago, Bazrat said:

But according to ports of Guernsey it 80 to 90% so who is correct cruise critic contributors or the port of Guernsey,as for the sea conditions causing problems every cruise line has the same problem when they tender so they all should be honest and say that there is a 10/20% chance you cannot get ashore not just p&o.

 

I would not dispute those figures as I have no reason to do so however if you are one of the 20% every time you happen to go there then you still don’t get in. My comments above were based on my experience as I made clear. I do however wonder if they don’t count ships that don’t even make the attempt due to advance notice of bad weather?

 

And  yes I agree, the sea state does not just affect P&O , it can affect them all.

[brian1]

Do those stats include ferries who may be more "geared up" for those conditions.

[Harry Peterson]

8 hours ago, Bazrat said:

But according to ports of Guernsey it 80 to 90%........

 

Do you have a link to that please? I can’t seem to find what they say about tenders.

[Bazrat]

Eglesbrech like you say if your one of the people who cannot go ashore it’s obviously disappointing,but if your saying someone is constantly not getting ashore please name them so the rest of us can avoid there cruise.

brian/Harry I was referring to a previous poster who gave those figures so I gave them as much credence as the figures of 50/50 that was quoted by some on here.

As anybody got any official information on the often quoted figure of 50/50  per chance of tendering.

Edited February 1, 2020 by Bazrat
Spelling

[Eglesbrech]

2 minutes ago, Bazrat said:

Eglesbrech like you say if your one of the people who cannot go ashore it’s obviously disappointing,but if your saying someone is constantly not getting ashore please name them so the rest of us can avoid there cruise.

brian/Harry I was referring to a previous poster who gave those figures so I gave them as much credence as the figures of 50/50 that was quoted by some on here.

I was referring to individual passengers, not to a particular cruise line. As an example we have not got in the last two cruises and before that it has been one, two miss a few.
 

Also the time of the year has makes no difference either. It’s all down to sea state on the day.
 

The 50/50 I mentioned was purely my experience as I made abundantly clear above.

The hit rate for getting in may be high according to the figures (which I can’t  find on the Guernsey port site) but if you happen to be the passenger that happens to not get in several times in a row then yes it is disappointing.

 

[Harry Peterson]

So probably there are no publicly available statistics for the percentage of cruises that can't access Guernsey.  I imagine they exist, but I doubt they can be got at.

[Les_ldh]

It’s 0% for me ☹️, albeit from only one attempt... better luck next time 🤞