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Disappointment at St Peter Port.


Bridget31
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Oriana and Ventura were both in St Peter Port today. Windy conditions kept both ships' tenders out of use in the morning, but Ventura's twin hulled tenders were able to be deployed in the afternoon while Oriana's passengers watched her tenders being lifted back into place unused. Sailaway for Southampton was three hours early.

Edited by Bridget31
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We didn't drop anchor there a couple of weeks ago on Britannia. Too windy and sailed home straight away.

 

 

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It was frustrating as Ventura's passengers went ashore, but our passenger profile is no doubt rather different as an adults-only ship with a good proportion of people with mobility issues.

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Strange this morning Marine Traffic was showing Venturas ten ders going to and fro.... Shame for those on Oriana. Have to say,re comments re folk on Oriana. You can be elderly, a couple and infirm but you can still want to get off and explore.

 

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I have always said Guernsey successful tendering is 50/50 but not thought this applied to the same day. I spent an hour in a tender trying to re-board a Grand Class vessel along with five other stranded tenders, and the seas had got up ridiculously. Crashing into the side of the ship's tendering platform very hard a few times made people scream. So how it was for the Ventura folk might not have been the best situation.

 

Regards John

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I agree with John re the 50% from my personal experience.

 

Given the amount of times we have been stuck with an extra sea day (with limited or repeat entertainment because it is unscheduled) I think it's about time P&O thought about a regular contingency plan or stop adding it to itineraries, perhaps a southern English port or even France.

 

On Brittania a couple of weeks ago the Captain announced through the cabins at dinner time the night before that we were unlikely to be able to get in the next day. We didn't get in and they knew that by 7am.

 

We got stuck with a cobbled together and frankly poor IMO programme of entertainment. Even the evening show was lacklustre and a cobble together as the actual entertainers for the night were due to get on in Guernsey and could not board as no tenders.

 

If this has happened with other lines and they were aware that it was going to happen in advance they have always provided another port. On the Brittania cruise we ended up with 4 sea days on a six day cruise and while I like the odd sea day I did not choose to have that many.

 

If they can't get in in July and August then there is no guarantee at any time. I suspect that once there are no tax benefits to going there it will get dropped as a port as the tenders are a lot of extra work for the crew as well.

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We were on Oriana yesterday. This is my 5th "visit" to Guernsey and have managed to get ashore twice. Interestingly never with P&O but twice with Celebrity.

 

Captain on Oriana used some very poorly chosen words yesterday saying that a key reason that we were unable to tender, unlike Ventura, was due to the passenger demographics of Oriana. As you can imagine that landed like a lead balloon with huge stereotyping.

 

More worrying, for safety, was his other justification. The tenders / lifeboats on Ventura are safer and more stable. That doesn't feel great for any real emergency on Oriana.

 

I do like a previous chain on this subject that suggests a conspiracy theory. P&O only let you tender here if they have hit their bar revenue target for the cruise [emoji23].

 

 

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The main demographic difference with passengers on Ventura to those on Oriana is that Ventura's list would include babies, toddlers, young children and teenagers all of whom would easily transfer to the tenders in their baby seats, prams, pushchairs and strops, listening carefully and following the crew's instructions, allowing the operation to go ahead much more safely.

 

Regards John

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"Captain on Oriana used some very poorly chosen words yesterday saying that a key reason that we were unable to tender, unlike Ventura, was due to the passenger demographics of Oriana. As you can imagine that landed like a lead balloon with huge stereotyping." Stu UK

 

 

I think I would have actually challenged that one on the ship if it was quite so blatant. No one would argue with safety as a reason but to imply that it's the passengers is not acceptable if this was what was implied.

 

The ship may have technically been in British jurisdiction at the time so the Equality Act 2010 might apply. (interestingly age related holidays are not covered by the Act but as P&O have not declared the ship one for old crocs incapable of getting into a tender, they are not excempt).

 

 

We haven't had a good conspiracy theory for a while and I must protest as I fully did my bit to meet the bar bill quota 😀

 

 

All joking aside they must make a lot more money when passengers are stuck onboard for an extra day, they can crawl back to Souhampton at a snails pace and there are no tender running costs.

 

 

Again, why not make contingency plans when it happens so very often.

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Strange this morning Marine Traffic was showing Venturas ten ders going to and fro.... Shame for those on Oriana. Have to say,re comments re folk on Oriana. You can be elderly, a couple and infirm but you can still want to get off and explore.

 

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Tenders from both ships were out and about in the morning, testing the conditions, apparently. It seems that the "weakest link" decides what will happen, unfortunately. Many of us would have been able to use the tenders, I suspect, and we were not even allowed to enjoy the view of the port in the sun, as a fellow passenger pointed out. Once at sea, it was chilly!

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Why do they always choose Guernsey? Is jersey not suitable?

 

In a nutshell, just so. Jersey harbour isn't big enough. The Condor Ferries get in and out but even that is a close fit. St. Aubin's Bay, wherein sits St Helier harbour, is also quite shallow until quite a long way out and there are lots of rocks. The Channel Islands only separated from France about 10,000 years ago (I think that's right) and the whole area is comparatively shallow with vicious currents: very fast and high tides (that is large difference between high and low water). I was always surprised at just how rough the water could be between Guernsey and Jersey on even a reasonable weather day. Navigation around the islands is never easy.

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Captain on Oriana used some very poorly chosen words yesterday saying that a key reason that we were unable to tender, unlike Ventura, was due to the passenger demographics of Oriana. As you can imagine that landed like a lead balloon with huge stereotyping.

 

Perhaps they ought to have announced that they were going to do the 'step over the gap' test properly for once, and anyone that genuinely passed could go ashore.

 

Do you think that would have gone down better?

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Having used a tender when the seas were not being that helpful (cant remember where it was now) I would never complain if they decided conditions were such that they were not going to run tenders ashore.

Smooth going out, but wind/swell was getting up when we came back. Took quite a few attempts to get the tender tied up safely.

To all who complain maybe let them do an iffy transfer, and see if they are happy to repeat it. A lot lot different being on a large ship than a small tender.

To those who say cant we go to another port..24 hours notice to see if there is space to dock somewhere...try and arrange tours....arrange shuttle buses....for a couple of thousand people. easy peasy ??

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I quite agree with you The English Lady. A couple of years ago we had a transfer ashore by tender at St Peter Port whilst on the Grand Princess. It was a beautiful day but then the sea conditions changed and we ended up having to queue for about two hours before we were able to be tendered back to the ship on the worst tender transfer ever experienced in over 30 plus cruises. When will some passengers accept that the Captain really does know best?

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Having used a tender when the seas were not being that helpful (cant remember where it was now) I would never complain if they decided conditions were such that they were not going to run tenders ashore.

Smooth going out, but wind/swell was getting up when we came back. Took quite a few attempts to get the tender tied up safely.

To all who complain maybe let them do an iffy transfer, and see if they are happy to repeat it. A lot lot different being on a large ship than a small tender.

To those who say cant we go to another port..24 hours notice to see if there is space to dock somewhere...try and arrange tours....arrange shuttle buses....for a couple of thousand people. easy peasy ??

 

Yes it is easy peasy, other lines manage it perfectly well (a bit like they manage embarkation better IMO)

 

It's particulalrly easy to arrange contingency when it happens virtually ever other cruise so you are well aware in advance that you need alternatives.

 

They don't need to offer tours, I am sure pax would be perfectly happy with just not being stuck with an extra day at sea with repeat entertainment. Oh but I forgot that would eat into their profit whereas leaving people on a ship adds to them.

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Who are these other lines that have alternative arrangements if they cannot get in a certain port.

Just done a quick trawl through the other boards and found the same comments about missed ports as on here.

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Who are these other lines that have alternative arrangements if they cannot get in a certain port.

Just done a quick trawl through the other boards and found the same comments about missed ports as on here.

In April Independence of the seas couldn't go to Le Havre because of a strike so they took us to Rotterdam.

 

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Who are these other lines that have alternative arrangements if they cannot get in a certain port.

Just done a quick trawl through the other boards and found the same comments about missed ports as on here.

 

Missed port Gibralter - alternative Malaga (Thomson) weather related

 

Missed port San Sebastián - alternative Santa Cruz (Thomson) weather related

 

Missed port La Rochelle - alternative port of Le Verdon for Soulac Sur Mer (Celebrity) port workers strike

 

We have had missed ports with these companies as well, I am not saying that they always provide an alternative if it happens on the day but they can when they know the day before that there is an issue.

 

The point I am making is that in the case of Guersey P&O must know that it happens virtually every other cruise so they should have plenty of time to plan ahead. I am sure that there must be some of the less popular ports of call that would love to have thousands of extra people spending in their shops and restaurants etc and boosting the local economy.

 

Just out of interest does anyone know, are there any ports on the South coast of England that could either berth of provide tender facilities for ships as large as the P&O fleet?

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Perhaps they ought to have announced that they were going to do the 'step over the gap' test properly for once, and anyone that genuinely passed could go ashore.

 

Could you clarify what you mean by this comment? We have always found P&O staff to be scrupulous about the gap test. So much so that my wife has sadly given up on any chance of disembarking in a tender port, which is a great shame as we are doing a USA / Cananda cruise next year and she really wanted to see all the locations but won't be able to.

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