Ocean Princess

Ocean Princess is back in today at the start of her cruise from Dover going around the British Isles the other way to last week. She was in Guernsey for a full day before her tea time departure to Falmouth. The Model Yacht Pond at the Castle Emplacement was full of young sailors today gaining their first experiences at boat handling,. Maybe in the future one will be an officer on the liner at anchor.

The Ocean Princess was getting its last tenders aboard as the sun still shone. Some guests were taking advantage of the deck areas to enjoy the end of season weather as Guernsey heads towards the first day of September.

Clouds over the island blocked out the sun on the Castle Breakwater but the sun still shone on the Ocean Princess on its last visit to Guernsey this season.

Ocean Princess

Yesterday was a summer's day, very hot, hardly any wind; this morning brought fog, and with the Ocean Princess having arrived from Milford Haven it was not the best welcome to the shores of Guernsey. The Ronez was at anchor awaiting the tide for St Sampson's harbour, Guernsey's tidal commercial port.

The Ocean Princess was on the westerly anchorage which gave a shorter tender ride for the guests on their 8 day cruise from Dover, visiting Milford Haven, Dublin and Edinburgh as well as Guernsey. Before the sun is up tomorrow they will have arrived back at Dover at the end of the cruise.

At anchor off Belgrave Bay on a low tide, this is not the tourist picture of Guernsey. For the population of the north of the Island this is the view they see on their commute every day of the year with low tides, high tides, beautiful sunrises, views of the other Islands - it does beat the M25 queues every day!! When somebody wanted to reclaim this bay, the local population marched in protest, most people like it as it is.

Ocean Princess, Azamara Quest

After a quiet few days the Ocean Princess came back for her second visit in a week from Dover and the Azamara Quest arrived from Honfleur. The Ocean Princess was on the fashionable short day visit and with calm seas all morning the tenders were soon operating.

The Azamara Quest was on the more easterly anchorage and had the longer ride in to St Peter Port on tenders. The passengers on the Bon Marin had a closer look at the liner on the their trip to Sark. The journey takes about a hour and passes close by the other Channel Islands of Herm and Jethou.

Arriving and leaving St Peter Port harbour by tender gives one of the best views of the capital of Guernsey that you can have. With the landmark Town Church and other buildings that formed the sea front over a 100 years ago. the rising hill forms a natural harbour that was developed over the years.

7th August 2013 and then there were 3

After the past few sunny days it was wiping the rain off the lens this morning as the Celebrity Infinity and Ocean Princess arrived from Le Havre and Dover respectively. Both are on cruises around the British Isles with only the Infinity putting into a port on mainland England, the Ocean Princess staying with Ireland and Scotland. The pilot boat, Golden Spur, having put the pilot on board the Ocean Princess, heads for the anchorage.

The Ocean Princess was renamed from Tahitian Princess, rather more exotic sounding than its current name. Celebrity Infinity was launched in 2001 and in the United Kingdom is based at Harwich. Both were on the anchorage before 8.00am ready for their guests to enjoy the rather soggy day in Guernsey.

Then there were three liners off St Peter Port. The MSC Opera arrived from Ijmuiden on one of her regular visits on the way to the Iberian peninsula with some "nose in parking".

Condor Express on her approach to St Peter Port from the north gave her passengers a good look at the Ocean Princess and the MSC Opera as she manoeuvred her way around the many tenders operating at the time.

A very congested scene off the harbour with the THV Patricia on one of her regular visits to Guernsey in the background. The three liners were not all together for long as Celebrity Infinity left mid afternoon with the Ocean Princess leaving just before tea time leaving the MSC Opera all alone.

Snowy does not seem too interested in the Celebrity Infinity. Perhaps he is thinking about the parma ham roll he will have a bit of for lunch, as well as the walk exploring all the angles on three liners.