Oceana and Emerald Princess

With over 5,500 guests on board the Emerald Princess and Oceana, St Peter Port harbour was a busy place to be today. Tenders were running all day with Emerald Princess calling on the services of the Herm Trident, and Oceana coping on her own. Once the morning mist cleared the sun shone all day so the guests could enjoy their time ashore, before leaving in the early evening for Southampton.

St Peter Port gives plenty of photo opportunities with the old harbour forming the sea front of the capital. These guests from the Emerald Princess are enjoying themselves, but seem oblivious to the German gun position on the left from the Occupation.

Tenders always seem busy at lunchtime, even on a full day's stay.  This one returns to the Emerald Princess as the Condor Vitesse heads north on her fast passage to Weymouth. Both liners have been chasing one another on a 7 day cruise from Southampton to Spain, the Gironde in France, and then via Guernsey back to Southampton.

Bremen and Azura

The Azura spent a rather soggy wet day in Guernsey on her arrival from Zeebrugge with Alfie Boe on board as the 'star turn'. Some of her guests spent a even soggier day by going for a RIB ride which picked them from the pontoon and took them back directly to the tenders. The RIBs take locals and visitors for high speed rides out to see seals and puffins off the Island of Herm, as well as longer rides to Sark and Les Hanois  Lighthouse.

Some guests who would probably prefer not to get wet on a tender ride were those who on the boutique German liner Bremen which arrived from Jersey and she wasted no time getting her Zodiacs into the water. She is currently on a cruise of Europe's Heritage from Tenerife to Hamburg, next port Rouen. Autumn will see her head south to South America and Antarctica via the Corinth canal.

Dwarfed by the Azura, the Bremen is not outshone in her destinations, the Arctic and Antarctica, where she will feel at home in with her ice hardened hull. She has the highest ice classification for passenger vessels.
With a length of 366ft compared to the Azura's 951ft and her 155 guests compared to over 3,000 on the Azura the cruise experience must be somewhat different.

Serenissima

Looking a bit small and lonely outside St Peter Port today was the Serenissima, one of the more interesting visitors to Guernsey this year. Carrying a similar number to yesterday visitor, the Island Sky, this 1960s built workhorse of a ship started her career as a Hurtigruten ship sailing the Norwegian coastal waters until her retirement in 2001.

She became a hotel ship, then a cruise liner before the company owning the ship went bankrupt in 2009. The ship's history was well known and followed by her many fans which led to her being bought by Volga Cruises and having a complete restoration before being put into service in April 2013. "La Serenissima" is the name of the Republic of Venice from the word Serenissimo meaning most serene.

Not quite so serene will be the guests ride on the Zodiac tenders as they return to the ship to leave on their short journey to the Island of Herm, just to the east of Guernsey.

Island Sky

With a strong south westerly wind blowing early this Friday morning, as most of Guernsey was thinking about getting out of bed, the St Peter Port pilots brought the Island Sky into No 1 berth for a short half day visit. In the foreground is the St Peter Port lifeboat, the Spirit of Guernsey, a Severn class lifeboat.

The Island Sky, with a capacity for only 114 guests, is one of the smaller liners to visit Guernsey. It has the advantage of coming into port when the weather may have stopped larger liners' tender transfers. Built in 1992 and refitted in 2003 she provides a unique experience.

Mein Schiff 1

After a quiet Monday the Mein Schiff 1 arrived from Cobh on one of her regular early summer cruises. It was 99 years ago this month that the Lusitania was sunk after being torpedoed by a German submarine, just outside Queenstown ( now known as Cobh. )  May 7th next year will be the 100th anniversary.

By late afternoon the dull weather of earlier had cleared as the last of the tenders headed back to the ship for  her departure to Southampton, and then Hamburg as part of a round Britain cruise.

Silver Explorer and Aurora

Today Aurora was back again, this time on a closer anchorage to St Peter Port giving her guests a short tender ride into the harbour. Along the seafront was the first of this year's "Taste Guernsey" food festivals with celebrity chefs, as well as a market which was enjoyed by locals as well as the many liner guests.

Visiting Guernsey also on Sunday was the Silver Explorer, a boutique-style liner, with only 60 or so cabins and a ice hardened hull. The guests on this liner had a even shorter ride ashore in their Zodiacs.

Viewed from Victoria Tower with the island of Jethou in the background, , both liners compliment the view. Victoria Tower, on the outskirts of St Peter Port, can be visited by anyone by picking up the key from the museum in Candie Gardens and then climbing the steps to enjoy the magnficent views. Aurora left St Peter Port at midnight on Sunday heading for La Rochelle in France, then onto Spain, with Silver Explorer making the short crossing to St Malo.

Aurora and Voyager

Today the Voyager arrived in St Peter Port, almost a year since its aborted drive-by at the anchorage when 2 other liners were at anchor but the Captain decided not to stay. This view was taken from Castle Cornet as the pilot boarded ready for a early evening departure back to Portsmouth. The weather has been hot and sunny for the past few days, good for the liner's guests and islanders.

On the southerly anchorage off Fermain Bay the Aurora has spent Thursday and Friday at anchor. The moorings at Fermain, the steps in the photo, are a favorite spot for fishing as well as enjoying the view of the bay. The cafe here is popular with local and visitors and is accessible only on foot.

With her overnight stay, the Aurora gave the chance for night time photos, here "balanced on top" of Castle Cornet, viewed from La Fregate Hotel, with its award winning restaurant.

Ruby Princess

Today the wind moderated and there were not quite as many showers as the Ruby Princess paid her first visit to Guernsey. Having left Fort Lauderdale on the 27th April, she has followed in the footsteps on her sister ship the Emerald Princess which recently visited. She is currently on a British Isles Cruise and after leaving St Peter Port will head for Cobh in Southern Ireland and then to the Scottish Islands. The roofs of Hauteville show in the image below, home to Victor Hugo's house.

The Ruby Princess was in St Peter Port only for a short half day visit and for her 3,000 plus guests had her tenders running as well as local ferries.

Many of her guests took the opportunity to visit Castle Cornet as well as take a walk on the Castle Breakwater for some picture opportunities with the castle and St Peter Port as a background.

Costa Classica

Not a good day for the Costa Classica visiting Guernsey. Arriving off the pilot station early this morning the continuing high winds made the transfer of guests by tender not a feasible option. After going up to the anchorage to see if conditions eased, which they didn't, she set course for Dunkirk in northern France.

The Costa Classica with its twin funnels is a unforgettable shape. She entered service in 1992 and brought Costa into the "cruising world" and is now one of 14 ships operated by the company, which is part of the Carnival Corporation. The strong swell from the west shows in the spray off the bow of the Costa Classica as she rounds St Martins Point.

Emerald Princess

Today, May the 9th, is Guernsey's National Holiday celebrating when the island was liberated from occupying forces at the end of World War II. Greeting the sunrise this morning was not the Royal Navy and Force 135, (the British Army liberating force), but the Emerald Princess with over 3,000 guests on board for a day visit. She left Fort Lauderdale on the 18th April on a positioning cruise to spend the summer in Europe. Twenty two days later on the 10th of May she will dock in Southampton after her "Western Europe Grand Adventure Cruise".

Shortly after arriving on the easterly anchorage in a strong south westerly wind, tenders were soon in the water for the shore party and the first guests. With the large number of guests on board numerous tenders were launched as well as a charter of the Herm Trident ferry.

Guernsey turns out in force for Liberation Day and with the extra numbers of guests from the Emerald Princess the parade for the Service of Remembrance had a large audience. The parade included  representatives of the crew of HMS Daring (Guernsey's adopted ship) and a number of Gurkha Rifles, and they were joined by Chelsea Pensioners for the church service.