sleepingcat

British cruise companies do this : they fly passengers from the UK down to Tenerife and then do a cruise of the islands. check out Marella/Tui, P and O may have this as well. All the British companies do cruises to the Canaries out of Southampton and some other ports, especially in winter. on a two week cruise you ll get a week in the Canaries with calls at several islands. We ve done this I think 3 times, its the easiest way to get a bit of sun during the British winter. The German cruise lines also have departures in the Canaries in winter, based out of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Ive also seen itineraries departing from the UK which do the Canaries and go on to the Azores, try Fred Olsen and Saga.

how about no driving at all? Lisbon is par excellence the city to just wander off the ship and start walking, then take a tram or a cab or a local train. we ve been there a few times because departing from the UK Lisbon is often a port stop, and its one of my favourites, I will never be bored in Lisbon. I had my 70th birthday there, we went to the modern art museum then ate lunch on a restaurant terrace , outdoors in the sun (it was January) . make sure you taste some port (well, unless you have Porto as a port call also), and buy some of those unusual decorated Portuguese sardine tins as souvenirs. also note that the only time we did a ships tour, we spent most of the time in the bus stuck in traffic, Lisbon is busy and the Portuguese driving style takes a little getting used to (I m being tactful).

portland is the harbour for the seaside town of Weymouth, which is on the main UK rail network. In the event something does go horribly wrong for you, head to London Waterloo from which trains depart hourly direct to Weymouth rail station. From there a short taxi ride will get you to Portland.

Your other option, not for this time but for the future is to book with a cruise line which offers a door to door pickup as part of their price. We have travelled with Saga which offers this, and it is a great feeling to know once you are in the taxi that someone else is taking care of everything. Depending where you live you could also look at the coach companies which offer a service from mostly the midlands to your cruise terminal. they pick up from motorway services at strategic points. we havent used this but some former neighbours found it ideal for them.

Oh! I m just catching up here. So Saga not using Southampton at all any more? That is a pity as its a half hour longer journey for us, and as pointed out above, embarkation and leaving the ship and the port are very smooth there. Like FannyLiz above we know that stretch of tarmac in Portsmouth very well from numerous times in queues and sleeping there before embarking a ferry in our motorhome. Not a particularly nice place to spend time or negotiate on foot, I had no idea that cruise departures were from the same place.

If you are on discovery right now you are about to get the treat of a lifetime as the ship crosses the path of the Tall ships flotilla leaving Falmouth for A Coruna! Tall ships departure was delayed from yesterday by the stormy weather they have just set out now. Watch out and please take photos or video. We were in Falmouth on thursday but couldn't stay for the sail away.

We had a good experience when misfortune struck but it was several years ago now (2014). MY OH had to undergo an emergency operation which was performed at a hospital in Singapore. It was unusual because instead of being repatriated after the operation, we flew to catch the ship up and reboarded to complete our cruise back to the UK. This was down to the ship's medical team being willing to accept my husband back on board - in fact not just willing, the doctor on board suggested it would be better than flying home. Between our insurer and P and O everything was arranged as well as one might hope. Not to say that I didn't find it pretty stressful though. The ship's doctor advised with the port agent which hospital. A hotel was booked for me. We were in Singapore for 3 or 4 days. Every day someone from P and O support phoned me to find out if I was okay and processes were happening. She was in direct contact with our insurer. When my husband left the hospital they took the £100 excess off my card and the rest of the bill went direct to our insurer (phew). With appropriate medical approval, we flew on to Colombo, staying in a hotel booked and paid for by our insurer. We then reboarded Arcadia when she arrived. And someone from the Ship's reception team phoned me several times to find out how we were and give instructions for meeting up with the port agent. The port agent in Colombo was amazing, as the bureaucratic procedure for reboarding was complex. When we got back on board there were flowers in the cabin for us. and ongoing care from the ship's medical team for my husband.

Not really, I just buy what they have in my local pharmacy. I m just looking at the packaging of the last ones I bought over the counter. They are Stugeron 15. they make you drowsy, but I think that is true for all of them.

The kinds of local small businesses that sell for example the best ever crab sandwich, fish and chips, pick your own strawberries, street markets, roadside vendors, may well want, or at least prefer, cash. So here in coastal south Devon I always have a bit of cash with me so that I can support these people and take advantage of something unexpected that I come across. Some places you still need coins for parking, though the machines increasingly take credit card payments, but I wonder about overseas credit cards (??), so if you are hiring a car you might want pounds or euros. We ve also had a few bad experiences in France where some machines do not like our British credit and debit cards. And I agree about tipping. last week a group of us went by coach to the lost gardens of Heligan in Cornwall and someone passed a hat round to collect pound coins for a tip for our driver (if you ve seen the roads in Cornwall you will know that it was well deserved, they are mainly fit for a horse and cart. Ireland is similar).

On our first cruise, Christmas in the Caribbean in 2012, not just some passengers but also members of the team were on board because they knew the CD and wanted to be there. the craft lady said to me ' when I knew it was Anthony, I said I would do this cruise'. Anthony was really good at his job, well willing to muck in with the team, always there for a chat, and hardly ever tried to be funny. Except when he appeared brilliantly as the pantomime dame in the crew pantomime. On our second cruise, RWC on Arcadia, several passengers were on board because of the CD, and some of his family were on as passengers. I am sorry I cannot remember his name because he was also great. Since then... well, no one really memorable, and too much of people who are not funny putting on events which I m not attracted to. so yes, a good cruise director makes a huge difference, especially on a longer cruise.

I m ready to be corrected on this, but I think that on Fred its for a passenger or passengers to request with the cruise director team and set up a specific meet up which then gets advertised in the daily news. our first time on Fred, my oh who is a Rotarian, attended a meet of Rotarians which had been organised by a fellow Rotarian passenger. And if you've taken part in the roll call for your cruise you can also organise a meet up that way. some people did that last year when we were on Saga S of A.

Hi Sarah again, one of the pleasures of European cruising is that the cruise dock in so many ports is right by the city, for example Vigo, La Corunna, Lisbon, Cadiz, Malaga, Malta. you just step off the ship and wander. Also to know that because in Spanish towns and cities most people live in apartments there is generous provision of kids playgrounds often in a green tree shaded park, and these are well used by locals. A lovely time in a Spanish town is early evening when multigenerational families will be out walking, in cafes, and at the playground.

Me again. La Palma is the least developed of the Canary Islands. The absolutely best thing to do there is to go up the National Park , its absolutely beautiful. And probably the quietest place I ve ever been to on earth. You are on the edge of Europe, nothing between you and the Americas, no cars, no motorways, no planes overhead. We did it with a ships tour, but a private taxi will allow you to spend as much time as you want. Our group was all saying to the guide that we wanted to stay longer than the ship's tour allowed.

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is one of my favourite cruise ports. You can walk directly off the ship into the town. The beach side of town is walking distance from the ship and has nice bars and restaurants. the ho ho bus picks up from outside the port. the old town is lovely, and the museum is all about Columbus and his voyage of discovery. And there is a large branch of my favourite Spanish upmarket department store, El Corte Ingles. what's not to love. So I wouldn't recommend a tour. The rest of Gran Canaria is a typical Canary Island, the mountains are scenic, we ve had a land based holiday there, but it rains quite a bit up in the mountains while it stays fine down on the coast.

I'm restricting my replies to ports here in the southwest of the UK which is where we live. Falmouth: castle, beach, port, national maritime museum with boats to climb on and pretend to sail. Torquay or Dartmouth: steam train trip combined with a river cruise. Kents Cavern, inhabited by early man. Nice port, good fish and chips, lovely beach. Isles of Scilly: castles, cute towns, lovely beaches, boat trips Portland: Weymouth is a traditional British seaside resort with a lovely beach, playground, children's entertainments etc.

After being really seasick on our first ever cruise , out of Southampton in December 2012, I now always carry seasick tablets and I wear those pressure point wrist bands. The combination seems to work, so advise you to be prepared for anything, as others have suggested.

For us there was too much coach, stops, climbing on and off, and not enough of anything else. We did two and cancelled the rest. the best excursion on our canaries cruise was the one we paid for which was a whole day of fantastic guided visits on La Gomera.

Its ironic that on our worldie (actually half a worldie as we boarded in Auckland), Arcadia was supposed to call in Egypt for the Pyramids etc, but the FO advised not to, so Aqaba was a last minute replacement. Hence I got to go to Petra when I had not even known I would have the opportunity when we left home 3 months earlier!. That's why travel is so wonderful, because often its the unplanned things that are the best.

the two beds pushed together as a double works well and is comfortable. I had specified this when I booked by phone with Saga. I had also specified two single duvets. the cabin steward was mystified, so he waited for us to board to check what we wanted. He s obviously not familiar with couples where one feels the cold and the other doesn't.! the only slight downside of the S of A standard cabins is that the access to the wardrobes is alongside the bed and its a bit cramped. Everything else about the cabins is just right, we loved it. Make sure you check the list of what Saga provide free in the cabins (binoculars, swim towels etc etc) to save you taking things you wont need.

Holiday inn is the easiest walk for Mayflower - we did it when we stayed there. and added bonus if you are on the western side, you wake up in the morning and pull back the curtains and there is you ship! felt like the cruise which was our first, a few years a go now, started right there.

Ive just looked at the street map of Auckland. I think we must have stayed 3 nights at the Barclay suites on Albert Street. the suites have kitchens and washing machines (essential for us as we were boarding after a month of land travel in NZ). and we could see the skytower from the balcony . It was walking distance to everything we wanted , as we met friends over in the yacht harbour to go sailing on one of our days. also walking distance from where the cruise ships dock, my husband went down before breakfast and came back with a photo of Arcadia to reassure me that our mode of transport back to the UK had arrived on schedule. we had to take a taxi to the ship though, as we had too much luggage to carry.

check where your ship is going to dock. some ships dock right close to the opera house and circular quay where the commuter ferries depart from. that 's totally wonderful as everything is walking distance from the ship. We hadn't really preplanned anything for our two days (but admittedly I had been to Sydney before for work). the first day we just walked off the ship and went round to the Opera house and the botanic gardens, then into the centre of town. on the way I checked the tickets and times for ferries to Manley. so on day 2 we went to Manly for the day, the ferry trip is as good as a harbour cruise imho, swam on the beach and ate fish and chips as everyone does. and the sail in and sail out are some of the best in the world....

Can confirm. My luggage was completely unpacked and dogs were on the baggage conveyor carousel at Christchurch airport. and while we are on the topic, NZ also worries about hiking boots (they must be visibly clean when you arrive if packed in luggage). and they took away my hiking pole to disinfect it. (then I managed to leave it behind in the camper van we hired, but that's another story, nice pole, hopefully someone is still using it).

when we were last there, not that recently I admit, the hop on hop off bus picked up at the dock gates.

I think it is the raisins that will be the problem maybe. I believe nothing fruit based, even dried fruit, can be brought in. In NZ they use specially trained dogs at the airports to check arriving passengers' bags for food. when we arrived long haul from the UK, the dog easily identified that my husband's backpack had earlier contained fruit which he had consumed about 12 hours earlier on the plane. I dont know about customs at ports in NZ, (we embarked in Auckland for cruise return to the UK) but it might be the same.