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.