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Should P&O stop going to St Peter Port?


Eglesbrech
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Last week we missed out on Guernsey yet again, that’s the third time in a row.

 

The average for getting in, for me at least, is less than 50%.

 

Missing this port meant we had just 2 stops on a seven day cruise and an additional (very boring) day on an overcrowded ship.

 

Given how often this port is cancelled, is it now time to remove it from sale?

 

 

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4 minutes ago, galeforce9 said:

Mine is 0% success although I have only tried once on p&o. We ended up in Cherbourg for the day.  Don’t book cruises containing guernsey now! 

 

I would have been happy to go to Cherbourg. Every time we have been stuck on the ship with nothing to do. They “enhanced” the programme but (as I was bored) I checked the new one against the old one and there was a few extras but not much and some of them for a charge eg Bingo which is not my thing at all.

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I must admit I like Guernsey, but have had it missed out. This also meant the entertainment couldn't board so an extra show by the 'singers'. I was going to suggest maybe just going in summer when I remembered that's when our cruise was! Perhaps a back up plan so we are not just sailing aimlessly around.

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We’re due in June on Britannia. Fingers crossed. 

 

Just over a year year ago we couldn’t get docked in Ibiza and turned away for an extra day at sea. Disappointing but not a big problem. We enjoy being on the ship as much as anything. 

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1 minute ago, BarneyCat said:

We’re due in June on Britannia. Fingers crossed. 

 

Just over a year year ago we couldn’t get docked in Ibiza and turned away for an extra day at sea. Disappointing but not a big problem. We enjoy being on the ship as much as anything. 

 

Sea days are good and bad weather happens but St. Peter port is notorious for its tendering issues. 

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1 hour ago, Eglesbrech said:

Last week we missed out on Guernsey yet again, that’s the third time in a row.

 

The average for getting in, for me at least, is less than 50%.

 

Missing this port meant we had just 2 stops on a seven day cruise and an additional (very boring) day on an overcrowded ship.

 

Given how often this port is cancelled, is it now time to remove it from sale?

 

 

 

My average is just over 50% success now.  It is an unfortunate part of cruising and cruise lines should have a good alternative port back up plan in my opinion.

 

This is cruising but your experience is not as bad as I have experienced.  I have done an eighteen day cruise with just one stop, unfortunately this port was missed giving eighteen consecutive sea days.  Another cruise I went on was scheduled for five days.  The ship failed to turn up on the first day in Southampton (first night was changed by cruise line to a hotel in Southampton) second night cruise line organised coaches to Dover (second night was changed by cruise line to a hotel in Dover)  We embarked the following morning.  The first scheduled port Amsterdam was changed to Ijmulden with coaches available.  Nobody got off the ship.  Was advised we would be in Hamburg in the morning as we would sail overnight. Woke up in Ijmulden ship had not moved.  Next day we sailed to Hamburg. The overnight plus extra day arrangements at the festival were missed and we were rushed to the airport and were just in time to catch the plane back to Gatwick.  My taxi was booked for Heathrow (cruise line managed to change this successfully).  Finally my car was in secure parking and I pointed out that you cannot pick up cars around midnight to 2am.  (Cruise line managed to get car moved to the security guards building at Marchwood Industrial Estate).  Got to the Travelodge just outside Southampton on the A34 and the guy was waiting for me to check in.

 

People from the start were trying to get a complaints group going but I said no if you go down that route it gets you depressed and everything looks bleaker and bleaker.  I felt sorry for the guy that got to Gatwick and had a taxi to get home but lived on the Isle of Wight but Red Funnel did not run at the time he would arrive.

 

Regards John 

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39 minutes ago, arendale1 said:

We’re meant to be docking in Guernsey next week - this doesn’t bode well 😞

 

It never docks, it anchors.

 

If you get ashore look out for the "HARBOUR MASTER" he has a little rowing boat with the aforementioned sign on it.  It looks ridiculous.

 

Regards John

Edited by john watson
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3 minutes ago, john watson said:

 

My average is just over 50% success now.  It is an unfortunate part of cruising and cruise lines should have a good alternative port back up plan in my opinion.

 

This is cruising but your experience is not as bad as I have experienced.  I have done an eighteen day cruise with just one stop, unfortunately this port was missed giving eighteen consecutive sea days.  Another cruise I went on was scheduled for five days.  The ship failed to turn up on the first day in Southampton (first night was changed by cruise line to a hotel in Southampton) second night cruise line organised coaches to Dover (second night was changed by cruise line to a hotel in Dover)  We embarked the following morning.  The first scheduled port Amsterdam was changed to Ijmulden with coaches available.  Nobody got off the ship.  Was advised we would be in Hamburg in the morning as we would sail overnight. Woke up in Ijmulden ship had not moved.  Next day we sailed to Hamburg. The overnight plus extra day arrangements at the festival were missed and we were rushed to the airport and were just in time to catch the plane back to Gatwick.  My taxi was booked for Heathrow (cruise line managed to change this successfully).  Finally my car was in secure parking and I pointed out that you cannot pick up cars around midnight to 2am.  (Cruise line managed to get car moved to the security guards building at Marchwood Industrial Estate).  Got to the Travelodge just outside Southampton on the A34 and the guy was waiting for me to check in.

 

People from the start were trying to get a complaints group going but I said no if you go down that route it gets you depressed and everything looks bleaker and bleaker.  I felt sorry for the guy that got to Gatwick and had a taxi to get home but lived on the Isle of Wight but Red Funnel did not run at the time he would arrive.

 

Regards John 

Nightmare!

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12 minutes ago, tartanexile81 said:

I've only ever booked one cruise which included Guernsey and we got in successfully on Ventura. It was a beautiful day on a  beautiful island and I'd love to go back 

We’re on Ventura so I’ll keep my fingers crossed 😉

Flown over it many times, would be nice to actually visit 🙂

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20 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

Nightmare!

 

On a positive note, every time there was a bodge an unlimited "Free Drinks" policy was introduced by the cruise line at the hotels and on board.

 

The eighteen sea days cruise was hit by a storm.  One American guy just got a plate of breakfast when the ship rolled  at an incredible angle.  He ran down the hill across the ship chased by about fifteen chairs smashed himself into a pillar and stopped breathing for a couple of minutes.  Doctor resusitated him bandaged his chest up, broken ribs, I think.  He spent three days in bed with his cabin door propped open.  We all took turns of going in for a chat with "Bob".   Eventually he was back out and about.  The final day doctor consoled him and said he thought he might have died earlier.  Bob was a bit irritated apparently as he could not get his chosen airport.  He had a four flight schedule organised by the cruise line back to where he had parked.  The real gripe was other passengers had his preferred airport on a two flight schedule organised by the cruise line.  His cruising buddy emailed me after the cruise was over and said Bob's wife had left him for another man whilst he was away.

 

I always am of the opinion that it could be a lot worse. KLM upgraded me to Premier Economy on the flight to St. Maarten.

 

Regards John

Edited by john watson
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2 minutes ago, arendale1 said:

We’re on Ventura so I’ll keep my fingers crossed 😉

Flown over it many times, would be nice to actually visit 🙂

 

6 minutes ago, Bazrat said:

We are going on our first cruise to St. Peter’s port so hoping for the best.

It is really nice I hope you both get there.

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We could have visited St Peter's port if we had risen early! We were on Ventura a few years ago and decided to let the rush die down before we boarded the tender.However the captain decided it was too rough and stopped tendering after the first boats had taken people ashore.WE had to just view it from afar! We are due to visit again in June so really hope to explore the island- it looks lovely

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We successfully got ashore on a Princess cruise at Guernsey.  The weather changed later in the day and the sea became incredibly choppy.  The tender was going up and down by a metre.  Tendering was suspended at the ship's tender dock leaving five tenders circling just off the ship for over an hour.  One tender ran out of fuel.   Our tender had an elderly lady on it who suggested she was having a heart attack.  She was sitting very close to me.  Apparently her GTN spray was on the ship.  I asked her if she had any aspirin, another passenger did so that was handy.  She had no drink but a returning crew member had a mineral water thus sorting the short term problem out.  The guy driving the tender announced a "medical emergency" over his radio which was on speaker mode.  As soon as the ship's tender dock reopened he announced our tender was coming in.  Unfortunately another tender beat us to it due to positioning at the time of reopening.  So we rushed in second and hit the tender dock so hard it was like airbags should go off.  People were screaming, the guy came down from the steering wheel position and pulled out a huge plastic ball shaped fender to put between us and the ship.  He then returned to the driver's seat and we came alongside.  There was still a couple of feet difference going up and down and we all got back on the ship safely.

 

There have been fatalities in the transfer phase of tendering with other lines, so even if you do have tenders operating you have got to assess your own capabilities regarding agility.

 

Regards John

 

 

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10 minutes ago, john watson said:

We successfully got ashore on a Princess cruise at Guernsey.  The weather changed later in the day and the sea became incredibly choppy.  The tender was going up and down by a metre.  Tendering was suspended at the ship's tender dock leaving five tenders circling just off the ship for over an hour.  One tender ran out of fuel.   Our tender had an elderly lady on it who suggested she was having a heart attack.  She was sitting very close to me.  Apparently her GTN spray was on the ship.  I asked her if she had any aspirin, another passenger did so that was handy.  She had no drink but a returning crew member had a mineral water thus sorting the short term problem out.  The guy driving the tender announced a "medical emergency" over his radio which was on speaker mode.  As soon as the ship's tender dock reopened he announced our tender was coming in.  Unfortunately another tender beat us to it due to positioning at the time of reopening.  So we rushed in second and hit the tender dock so hard it was like airbags should go off.  People were screaming, the guy came down from the steering wheel position and pulled out a huge plastic ball shaped fender to put between us and the ship.  He then returned to the driver's seat and we came alongside.  There was still a couple of feet difference going up and down and we all got back on the ship safely.

 

There have been fatalities in the transfer phase of tendering with other lines, so even if you do have tenders operating you have got to assess your own capabilities regarding agility.

 

Regards John

 

 

Yes tenders can be difficult. We were on another line when a lady missed her step and got her leg between the platform and the tender, a real mess. 

 

While I don’t like to see anyone hurt themselves, in my opinion she was not agile enough to be going on to a tender in the first place so it was an accident waiting to happen. I felt sorry for the crew who were devastated by the accident.

 

You are absolutely correct, people need to assess their own capabilities and do their own personal risk assessment.

 

Tenders are generally very safe as Captains tend to be cautious and cancel them if the weather is questionable. 

 

Last week the weather was forecast to be bad so it was clear the day before that we would probably not get in (that and the tiny clue of them giving out the duty free the day before). I wish they had contingency planned and taken us somewhere else.

 

 

 

 

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