Weather in Canary Islands late December cruise

[PASSENGERES]

We are considering a 17 night Canary Islands cruise leaving 22nd December, 2013. Has anyone experienced the weather, and more importantly, the seas in that area, at that time of the year? We are seniors and would hate to be faced with strong choppy seas. Would love to share experiences with others who may have taken a similar cruise. Many thanks for any advice.

[Hlitner]

The Canary Islands have pretty decent temperatures all year long...and if you lucky you would get nice days with temps about 65-70 (18-20 Celsius). As to sea conditions, they are totally unpredictable and can range from dead calm to very nasty. The best way to avoid rough seas is to stay on land :).

 

Hank

[PASSENGERES]

Many thanks for your reply. Have a feeling we might need to reconsider. You brought back memories of travelling by sea from Cape Town to Southampton, UK, via either Madeira or Las Palmas, (many years ago and in somewhat smaller ships,) and finding very few passengers eating in the dining room, not to mention chaos walking around the ship!

[Keith1010]

You just never know.

Seas can be very poor or nice.

 

Keith

[John Bull]

Leaving from where?

And on what size ship?

 

December isn't a good month to sail from the UK - which 17 nights suggests this cruise does.

Obviously a matter of luck, but the sail down the English Channel & across the Bay of Biscay can be very rough in the winter, especially on a smaller ship.

And almost-guaranteed to be cold & windy. So don't expect to be able to use a balcony or outside decks until you pass Gibraltar.

 

I've only been (flown) to the Canaries twice in winter.

Weather is pleasant, but not particularly warm.

But a lot better than the UK ;)

 

At that time of year I'd choose a fly-cruise, probably Caribbean or Far East, perhaps Red Sea or South America, depending on depth of pocket. Or for same-money I'd choose a Med fly-cruise rather than a cruise UK/Canaries.

 

Are you committed (work etc) to Christmas/New Year? It's an expensive time to cruise - any other time in winter cruise lines struggle to sell both Canaries & Med, and you can snap up late bargains for way way under Christmas prices.

 

Just MHO as always

 

JB :)

[PASSENGERES]

Leaving from where?

And on what size ship?

 

December isn't a good month to sail from the UK - which 17 nights suggests this cruise does.

Obviously a matter of luck, but the sail down the English Channel & across the Bay of Biscay can be very rough in the winter, especially on a smaller ship.

And almost-guaranteed to be cold & windy. So don't expect to be able to use a balcony or outside decks until you pass Gibraltar.

 

I've only been (flown) to the Canaries twice in winter.

Weather is pleasant, but not particularly warm.

But a lot better than the UK ;)

 

At that time of year I'd choose a fly-cruise, probably Caribbean or Far East, perhaps Red Sea or South America, depending on depth of pocket. Or for same-money I'd choose a Med fly-cruise rather than a cruise UK/Canaries.

 

Are you committed (work etc) to Christmas/New Year? It's an expensive time to cruise - any other time in winter cruise lines struggle to sell both Canaries & Med, and you can snap up late bargains for way way under Christmas prices.

 

Just MHO as always

 

JB :)

 

 

Leaving from Rotterdam, Netherlands, on Holland America's ms ROTTERDAM, which carries about 1400 passengers. I think we will pass up this cruise.

No, we are retired and are able to travel at any time.

 

We are very happy and loyal cruisers on Holland America Line but it seems that they only have the ROTTERDAM cruising in Europe during the winter months, but with various itineraries. We usually cruise during the summer months but aren't able to travel before December this year due to medical problems, which also prevent us from wanting to cruise on more distant routes.

[John Bull]

Leaving from Rotterdam, Netherlands, on Holland America's ms ROTTERDAM, which carries about 1400 passengers. I think we will pass up this cruise.

No, we are retired and are able to travel at any time.

 

We are very happy and loyal cruisers on Holland America Line but it seems that they only have the ROTTERDAM cruising in Europe during the winter months, but with various itineraries. We usually cruise during the summer months but aren't able to travel before December this year due to medical problems, which also prevent us from wanting to cruise on more distant routes.

 

From Rotterdam add yet another day each-way in the North Sea/English Channel. Certainly wouldn't be my choice in December.

Some HAL sailings from Piraeus(Athens) & from Barca - much better weather & seas, though the Med still wouldn't be my choice in December.

 

JB :)

[PASSENGERES]

Nowhere in Europe is ideal in the winter but we have to compromise in order to have the vacation we want and need.

We're now looking at a shorter cruise on the ROTTERDAM, leaving on Dec. 11 from Civitavecchia (Rome), calling at a few Spanish, and Portuguese ports, as well as Gibraltar, and ending in Harwich (London) on Dec. 21. This could work well for us since we would love to be in London for a few days.

[LondonTowner]

There are cruises with Fred Olsen and Thomson Cruises that fly out to one of the Canary Islands, normally Tenerife and start the cruise from there.

 

The Canaries have an all year round sub tropical climate with very little between winter and summer temperatures. During the day you can expect temperatures to be around 23-25C and obviously cooler in the evenings. In the evening you will need a jacket if you are outside but not a coat. Whilst there you will need a warmish jacket to go into the mountains, where it is much cooler than on the coast.

 

Weather in the Mediterranean at this time of year is a lot cooler with a high risk of rain.

[PASSENGERES]

There are cruises with Fred Olsen and Thomson Cruises that fly out to one of the Canary Islands, normally Tenerife and start the cruise from there.

 

The Canaries have an all year round sub tropical climate with very little between winter and summer temperatures. During the day you can expect temperatures to be around 23-25C and obviously cooler in the evenings. In the evening you will need a jacket if you are outside but not a coat. Whilst there you will need a warmish jacket to go into the mountains, where it is much cooler than on the coast.

 

Weather in the Mediterranean at this time of year is a lot cooler with a high risk of rain.

 

We have never cruised with Fred Olsen or Thomson Cruises but it sounds as though they could offer better solutions than Holland America. How do their ships compare as far as size, quality of service, food, entertainment are concerned? We are not interested in the mega ships with 2000+ passengers. Thanks a lot for your input and it seems that flying to an island and cruising from there may be exactly what we need to do. Do they only fly out from the UK?

[LondonTowner]

Passengeres

 

The ships are small, which we prefer and people tend to dress for dinner and they have a couple of formal evenings. As we hardly ever get the chance to dress up these days we really don't mind that. The majority of passengers will be British and very few children.

 

My partner and I have been on 3 Fred Olsen Cruises and have really enjoyed them. Their passengers tend to be older rather than younger, but we are not that young ourselves. We have met some very interesting people on their cruises.

 

Food is good and most people eat at first or second waiter served, dining. There is also a self serve restaurant. The entertainment is OK, but not the big shows as on American ships.

 

Everything is charged in GBP and there is no extra service charge put onto drinks etc. There is a suggested daily tipping system added to your bill at the end of the cruise, but no pressure to pay it.

 

We hope to go to the Baltic with them in the autumn.

 

I haven't personally been on a Thomson cruise, but friends have and say they operate more or less along the lines of Fred Olsen. The exception being, passengers a bit younger and a few more children. They also operate small ships. Hope this has helped.