Aurora

The last Cruise Liner of the 2014 season and no guests came ashore. It was a conference cruise with suppliers "networking" with their clients to do business with them over the coming years. The first of the autumn gales came to Guernsey while the Aurora was in Guernsey, but it was still a good time to enjoy the sunshine between the rain on the moorings at Fermain Bay.

With no tenders to run the Aurora was on the southerly anchorage instead of the normal ones outside of St Peter Port, she looked very lonely Some shops in St Peter Port offered a discount to Aurora guests, I should think they did not have many takers.

Hanseatic

The Hanseatic arrived in Guernsey this afternoon less than a month after making international news as the first non-Russian cruise ship to sail the North West passage. The Hanseatic has the highest ice class for passenger ships enabling her to travel to many destinations that are unreachable by other liners. With the Zodiacs on board the experience is very up close and personal. Not quite so demanding was her approach to the anchorage at St Peter Port, passing the Condor Rapide outbound to St Malo.

The guests on board have had a intense introduction to the Channel Islands with Jersey this morning and Guernsey this afternoon. She left at tea time bound for Bilbao. Next month she will start her season cruising Antarctica before spending Spring in 2015 cruising the Amazon. For such a small liner she does offer many destinations.

Crystal Symphony

It's the time of year when the cruise liners migrate to different destinations. The Crystal Symphony arrived late morning from Ijmuiden, the port for Amsterdam,  and spent the day at anchor in glorious sunshine off St Peter Port Harbour. The photo is taken from the cliff path on the east coast of Guernsey which affords views of the other Channel Islands. In the foreground are the outlying works of Fort George, and on the horizon is the island of Alderney.

The liner dominates the view of Castle Cornet, a popular visit for cruise liner guests on short visits to Guernsey. It's a 15 minute walk along the sea front to the entrance of the Castle. In the foreground is the "Noonday Gun", fired at noon every day when the Castle is open. In two weeks time the liner will be sailing past South Beach, Miami taking home the American guests on board.

MSC Opera & Fiat 500

Final visit of MSC this year with the MSC Opera visiting Guernsey for a short half day visit. The mist of the morning had cleared to a wonderful sunny afternoon where we said goodbye to the liner with a rare original Fiat 500 and one of the crew, creating a Italian scene in St Peter Port.

The MSC Opera sailed just as dusk was falling with the St Peter Port pilot boat leading her away from the anchorage.  Many of the guests remained on deck to see their last views of Guernsey before they enjoy the dining rooms on board the liner.

Clear of the pilotage zone off St Martins Point the MSC Opera settles down on her two day voyage to the next port of call of Vigo in Spain. During the middle of October she will pass Guernsey by as she heads for Cape Town in South Africa, her destination at the end of the month.

MSC Opera

The sun shone at the start of the weekend as all the commuters were going home, with St Peter Port Harbour bathed in sunshine and looking rather busy. With the MSC Opera at anchor, the Commodore Clipper is about to leave for Jersey, the Herm Trident is taking some lucky visitors to Herm and the French vedette, Granville, is also in the harbour.

The breakwater leading to Castle Cornet is overshadowed by the MSC Opera as the last tenders make their way back to the liner. She is bound to the Mediterranean when she leaves Guernsey before returning at the end of the month on her northbound journey.

Adonia

The season is slowing right down for visits to Guernsey by Cruise Liners and the Island takes on a less summery feel. The days are still sunny but the breeze is enough to give the sea some white horses. The Adonia spent a long day at St Peter Port today. It should have come tomorrow for the Guernsey Air Display, but there were some rehearsals during the day for the guests to enjoy. A careful lookout for tenders to the Adonia as the Condor fast ferry leaves St Peter Port for St Helier, a short 50 minute journey.

The Adonia was the last of the 8 identical liners built for Renaissance Cruises named R8. She is a small liner by today's standards, only 30,000 tonnes, the Allure of the Seas is 225,000 tonnes. Adonia joined P&O in 2011 and is their smallest ship, enjoyed by those who find the resort ships too big and too restrictive for destinations. Some of the guests are enjoying afternoon tea on the rear deck with their last views of Guernsey.

MSC Opera and Marco Polo

The Marco Polo arrived today from the Scilly Isles on a British Isles Discovery cruise and spent the day on the westerly anchorage. The visitors to Castle Cornet, in the foreground, certainly had a good view of the liner.  So will visitors over the next few day of the National Powerboating races and the Guernsey Airshow taking place off the Castle, one of the better spots to view both.

The MSC Opera arrived at lunchtime for a half day visit on the way to Lisbon and had the Sarnia Cherie for company, a oil tanker, part of a pair which Guernsey owns to safeguard its fuel supplies. This is necessary as St Sampsons harbour dries out at low tide, and these ships can sit on the harbour bottom.
The Herm beaches look inviting in the background, with temperatures still in the mid 20's, warm enough to sunbathe and swim.

MSC Magnifica

After what seems many aborted visits to Guernsey the MSC Magnifica finally arrived on a calm Sunday morning appearing out of the early morning mist before the sun had risen.

With her anchor ready to let go the liner comes up to the most easterly anchorage on this calm morning. This is the final visit of the MSC Magnifica this year with the season starting to wind down, as well as MSC pulling out of the U.K market next year. As the sun rose the guests on board will have a gauntlet of events to run as they leave their tenders in St Peter Port, from  "Taste Guernsey" along the sea front to a motor sport competition on North Beach.

This must be one of the last warm weekends before autumn brings its colour to Guernsey so the ferries to the outer islands of Herm and Sark have been busy. This is the Bon Marin making her return from Sark on the Sunday service that only runs in the summer. The MSC Magnifica looks massive compared to the ferry as she prepares for her departure to Le Havre. I gather some of the guests have bought some Guernsey fridge magnets, let's hope they return to add to their collection.

Black Watch & Crystal Serenity

Two liners arrived in Guernsey this very misty Saturday. The Black Watch is on "Wine Stops and Tax Free Shops" cruise, sailing from Le Havre overnight, having departed from Edinburgh. The guests would have had a very calm short trip on the tenders as can be seen in this image of Salarie Battery.

Crystal Serenity is another liner making her way back across the Atlantic for our European winter. She left Southampton last night and in two weeks' time will be entering Boston on the Eastern Seaboard of the USA, where she will spend the rest of September cruising to Quebec City. She was anchored further out than the Black Watch and is only just visible in the morning mist as the Sark Belle makes her first trip of the day to Sark, a 50 minutes journey to the east of Guernsey.

Nine hours later the Sark Belle is on her last trip of the day to Sark, with only the Black Watch left at the anchorage. The liner left at tea time and is heading south to Bilbao on the north coast of Spain.

Astor

The Astor arrived this Friday. Her last port of call was Milford Haven, once again showing that these small cruise liners visit ports that are not on the regular itinerary of the larger ships. They spent a  long day on the island enjoying the late summer sun. The liner caters for German speaking guests who can enjoy a ship small enough to get to know. The island of Sark lays in the mist behind the Astor.

I'm not sure the fish that he caught made it to the guests tables but it certainly would have been "GuernseyFresh".  I don't think the guests on the deck above know their evening meal may be being caught!

Crystal Symphony & Saga Sapphire

Two cruise liners today for St Peter Port with the Saga Sapphire arriving from Falmouth, and the Crystal Symphony arriving from Dover on a scheduled visit instead of her recent change of itinerary from Jersey two days ago. The guests must be all ashore as the decks of the Saga Sapphire look strangely empty.

One of the last tenders heads backs to the Saga Sapphire as the workboat from the nearby island of Jethou brings the workers home at the end of their day. The liner has not had a good 2014 with a loss of power off the Island of Mull and then another power problem a few days later as she was starting a transit of the Kiel Canal. She does look rather immaculate though in this later summer sunshine, shortly before her departure to Dover.

This Crystal Symphony left just ahead of the Saga liner heading for Bordeaux on the west coast of France, she should arrive their tomorrow teatime

Aurora

On the last day of August on a 48 hour cruise from Southampton the Aurora's destination was St Peter Port. The clock on Castle Cornet shows 20 minutes until departure time, with all the tenders back on board she will be preparing to leave for her overnight journey back to Southampton.

With the guests enjoying the last of the summer sunshine and local boat owners making the most of the warm days in Herm, Aurora catches the sun as she leaves the anchorage.

Sarah-P returns from a day's fishing, passing The Peastacks on the south coast of Guernsey, as the Aurora clears the pilotage zone for St Peter Port Harbour. There is a cliff path all the way along the south coast of Guernsey running along the heights, as well as dropping down to the bays, some of which can only be reached on foot or by boat.

Crystal Symphony & MSC Opera

Unexpected visitor to St Peter Port today was the Crystal Symphony. She arrived from St Helier after being unable to launch tenders due to the weather in Jersey. The ship arrived at the Lower Heads buoy at breakfast time and after picking up her pilot headed for the anchorage. The past 6 days have been spent visiting Ireland and this afternoon she will head for the end of her cruise in Dover.

There must have been a lot of phone calls being made for tour buses and guides to enable the surprise guests to enjoy their unexpected visit to Guernsey. The sun shone on the liner as she passed the islands of Herm and Jethou, not too sure if it would continue for the rest of the day.  In a few hours time the  MSC Opera will join her in Guernsey.

Once the MSC Opera arrived the anchorage seemed busy with the two liners, the tenders, as well as the B-Gas Lydia awaiting orders for her next sailing. Although the MSC Cruise Liners have been frequent visitors to these waters they will disappear next year when MSC leaves Britain in 2015 and the MSC Opera will spend next summer with cruises out of Venice.

Shortly after the MSC Opera dropped anchor the St Peter Port lifeboat was alongside for a medical evacuation.

MSC Magnifica

A unlucky visit for the MSC Magnifica as the swell was too great to launch tenders, although she stayed on the anchorage for two hours to see if it would moderate. Just after 1030 she left the anchorage for her next port of  Le Havre. She will be back once more this year before heading to South America in November to spend our winter cruising in the waters of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay.

Ruby Princess, Leopard 3

Chasing yesterday's visitor, the Celebrity Infinity, around the west coast of the British Isles is the Ruby Princess on her last visit of the year. She will leave Southampton on the 8th September heading for Norway, Iceland and then on to New York for the end of September. After rounding Cape Horn during January 2015, she will spend the summer of next year cruising from Seattle, North to Alaska. Guernsey in 2015 will see the Royal Princess as a regular visitor. The guests on board had a good view of the luxurious yacht, Leopard 3, as she left St Peter Port at midday.

The Leopard 3 stretched her legs after she cleared the south coast of Guernsey and hoisted those vast sails, maybe heading towards her record breaking 40 knots.

Celebrity Infinity

It's been quiet in Guernsey recently as the season starts to slow down and the cruise liner visits get less, however this week sees visits of the regulars. The Celebrity Infinity arrived this morning from Le Havre on a 14 night cruise around the British Isles. This is her last visit of the season, and in early October she will head over to the other side of the Atlantic. Once there she will cruise the Caribbean, journey through the Panama three times, then head down to South America, and in December sail eastbound around Cape Horn, a well traveled ship!

The liner had some company in St Peter Port today with the luxury yacht Leopard 3.  Her website describes her as a "luxurious signature charter yacht, a passage record breaker and a race winning super maxi yacht." The mast is 47 metres tall and can carry 15,000 square feet of sail. Her next major event is the world renowned "Les Voiles de St Tropez" in late September.

Azamara Journey

The Azamara Journey arrived this morning from the Scilly Isles and spent a full day at anchor before leaving for Southampton just after tea time. Compared to a few weeks ago the temperature has dropped and there is more wind about, but any day is a good day on Guernsey.

More chimney pots in St Peter Port.  Near this viewpoint is Victor Hugo's house, owned by the City of Paris, and frequent destination for the many Cruise Liner guests that visit.  Azamara Journey is one of two liners which Azamara Club Cruises have, the other being Azamara Quest, also a frequent visitor to Guernsey. They are owned by Royal Caribbean Cruises and have recently become a partner for Saga Holidays through a third party cruising programme.

Crystal Symphony

A busy week for Guernsey with cruise liners visiting most days this week. It was the turn of the Crystal Symphony today on her cruise from the port of Dover up the west coast of the British Isles. It was a short half day visit where just under a 1,000 of her guests enjoyed a sunny, blustery visit on the island. Castle Cornet is in the foreground of the image below with some visiting yacht buoys beginning to empty as the summer days shorten.

Just after midday the last tenders were being taken on board, as the Guernsey Pilot boat stands by to start the liner on her way to Waterford in Southern Ireland which she should reach early tomorrow morning.

Ruby Princess & Arcadia

A busy day for the island today, with the Ruby Princess and the Arcadia visiting. The Ruby Princess is going around the British  Isles having left Southampton last night, with the next port of call Cobh. Tenders were in the water early from the Ruby Princess with the first guests ashore before 8.00 a.m.  The Arcadia arrived at the anchorage about 40 minutes later.

This Guernsey fishing boat must have felt a bit intimidated as he sailed under the bows of the liner.

St Peter Port harbour was a hive of activity this Saturday lunchtime with the two liners at anchor and Condor's fast ferries arriving and departing for England. In the foreground are the many chimney pots of St Peter Port which tumbles down from the high ground in the west towards the harbour. The Ruby Princess left mid-afternoon, with the Arcadia returning to Southampton early evening on her two night cruise.

FTI Berlin

FTI Berlin arrived at the anchorage to a late summer sunrise for a half day visit to Guernsey. She left the River Thames early on Wednesday morning with just under 400 guests on board. On her departure she headed for the Spanish port of Vigo.

Being a half day visit some guests chose to spend their time in St Peter Port or take guided tours which included a visit to Castle Cornet. The eastern part of St Peter Port towers above these guest as they walk the southern arm of the harbour on their way to the Castle.

Despite a sunny arrival at St Peter Port, by the time the late morning departure beckoned, the weather had taken a turn for the worse with rain showers and grey skies. Here the Condor Vitesse heads north to Weymouth with the south coast of Alderney on the horizon. One of FTI Berlin's claims to fame is that she starred in a popular German TV show, the translation meaning "Dreamship".

Oriana

On her way south from Southampton to the north coast of Spain, as well as calling in at La Rochelle, the Oriana spent the day at St Peter Port. South of the town there is a steep winding hill where the trees grow bigger and bigger each year, the liner just about shows above them, with the north coast of Herm and the distant coast of Normandy in the background.

Just before 6.00 pm the last tenders are aboard as the liner prepares to leave. The Sark Belle is just leaving St Peter Port and will make the last return of the day from Sark to Guernsey.  In the summer months there is the opportunity to spend almost 12 hours on a day trip to the Island of Sark, 9 miles east of Guernsey.