Nov 22 canary island on Spirit review

[bearette]

Sea day: happy thanksgiving!

 

For the Americans out there this was Thanksgiving. The ship had decorations with turkey's and pilgrims etc around the dinning areas and the centrum near guest services. The Black Friday sales were this day onboard as we were in port when the shops can't be open for actual Black Friday. There was watches and jewelry which we weren't too interested in but for those in the market...

 

We had another breakfast at the buffet with the plan of trying the dining room for lunch, that didn't happen do to our desire to have lunch around 2-3 and lunch closes at 1:30 in the dinning room. After as quick as a breakfast we could have, we walked along the deck and enjoyed the nice day. The kids enjoyed the dragon statutes and running around with few people to bother. Again we did few set activities since they never worked for us time wise.

 

One thing my husband wanted to do was the wine tasting at 1:30. We decided to share a tasting and a good thing as my daughter did not corporate through we were prepared with the iPad. My son enjoyed cartoons and the tasting with daddy while I followed my daughter up and down the stairs at the near by atrium area... Daddy did save me some wine - yummy, but I missed out on the commentary again. After that disaster it was lunch and nap time. Since we did the tasting our only choice was the buffet since they didn't do to well at the Blue lagoon. at the buffet we had one of the quickest and worst meals due to our kids behavior. we rmade a beeline to our room for a nap since that was the only reason we could think of that they were so bad....( throwing food, crying and just being fussy)

 

I wanted to do the martini tasting so I took off. It was daddy's turn to mess with them...I had a few minutes so I went through the stores and the photos we had been taking. I made a get rid of pile and a maybe pile that we would go through again two days later. I was waiting for the tasting but no one seemed to be setting up or interested. I peered in the shops, but no one official showed up. ( it was at cHampanges near the shops). Around this time I ran into a couple from our cruise critic meeting who had also been on the Morocco tour with us. Though while chatting to them a waiter told me they were waiting for more people the martini tasting never happened. I did get to chat uninterrupted with them for an hour. Just as good as alcohol.

 

By then I figured the natives were probably stirring I returned to screaming happy babies who had maybe slept for 15 minutes....daddy's problem! Haha Giving up on naps we took them upstairs to play and get pictures in their thanksgiving refinery. That didn't go so well and we ended up using the iPad to get them to stay in the photo area. I did end up buying one of the pictures with my daughter's arms spread wide in a "give me that" gesture, but otherwise this was a wasted effort...they enjoyed a long play time at guppies and then dinner again in Windows. We had debated all week at trying the Tapankakei ( sp?) but it was always full. The days it was available we talked ourselves out of it. I normally don't do pay for restaurants on cruises so this trip ended up being no exception.

 

Not being super hungry we enjoyed our turkey dinner, but we had to rush dessert to make the show as this was Elements and we heard a not to be missed. ( they also were stict about the doors closing at show time). Our non napping kids were enthralled by it! Though my son barley made the opening number before he crashed. My daughter made it through wind before she was also asleep. Mom and dad got an almost completely uninterrupted show except for my daughters gasps of delight and my son bursting awake to clap and fall back to sleep. My son left the show happily clapping. My husband and I agreed it was one of the best shows we had seen at sea. I was glad I rushed through dessert. It is diffently a not to be missed.

 

As the kids were done for the night we hit our room to watch yet another movie and bed.

[bearette]

Friday: Malaga

Opps we slept in until 8:30 and rushed to be at our meeting place for the Alhambra tour to Granada we had booked. We had tried to book this tour through Spain Day tours but since we couldn't get 10 people confirmed it was canceled by the company. We passed the blue Lagoon and were happy to see they had breakfast items. We gave our kids cherrios we had pilfered from the buffet earlier and grabbed some fruit, pastries and coffee. ( they also had milk for the kids in single serving boxes).

 

We ate our rushed breakfast while waiting for the tour to be called. It was one of the first to be called but luckily our kids were pretty much done by the time we made our way off the ship to our bus. Again we comenderred the back of the bus, but I liked this bus since it had an exit near the back. That made up for the fact that we had to take the wheels off our stroller to get it to fit under the bus.

 

Our kids were tired so they slept most of the hour and a half drive there. We had a stop for coffee and the bathroom about 20 minutes out of Granada. My daughter loved the stuffed toys and I tried to keep as many on the shelf as possible. They said we were stopping on the way back so I planned on buying the stuffed dragon for her that she liked, but we never made it back. I felt bad that she was emptying their shelfs and we didn't buy anything. At the same time if I bought everything my kids liked I would go broke...I still kick myself for not buying the dragon since it was only 12 euros.

 

I will start this by saying this was our worst tour. We were split up into small groups and we ended up with another couple who were on our Moroccan trip. There were a few others from that trip as well, but they were only in our immediate group. I had heard the stroller would be difficult so we left it on the bus and we shouldn't have. My son still with his cold I think could have used it to nap since he screamed, cried and whined the entire two hours we were there. Our guide and fellow travelers took it well, but my husband and I didn't. We moved slowly since we tried to stay behind to avoid ruining the commentary which I think slowed our guide since he was waiting for us. We ended up missing the gardens which we were disappointed at and felt bad about since our companions missed it as well.

 

The crying started as we walked in. My daughter insisted on walking without holding her hand and she fell right on her chin where she bit her lip. She kept sticking her hands in her mouth and then spreading the blood. People stopped to offer tissue and they offered first aide, but there really wasn't anything that could be done. We had a restroom stop ( it had a changing table) where I rinsed the blood from my daughter much to her dismay. She was very cuddly after this and wanted to be carried almost the whole rest of the trip. After this my son decided to pick up the crying for her. I can only assume he was sick and tired since being held, walked or fed did nothing to stop him. I have several pictures with him hysterical and a few where you can't even tell he is crying. I refer to this excursion as the trip from hell.

 

The Alahambra itself is awesome, but it was hard to enjoy with two crying toddlers. At one point they both decided to throw a tantrum so I stayed outside while my husband took picture and let them cry away from the crowd. I got a lot of pitying looks and several attempted to stop the crying but nothing worked. After seeing some of the Alhambra I was happy to return to the bus since this trip had been a disaster. We drove a few minutes away to the city center and this is where our trip improved.

 

Others helped unload us and the stroller ( thanks again guys!) and they lead us to the square a few blocks from where the bus dropped us off. Our guide kept talking about shops and the department store and mentioned that a lot of stores were closed but I didn't hear why. We didn't care to hear anymore so wondered off since we knew we only had and hour. The lure of the stroller put both of the kids to sleep so we shopped in peace enjoying the "Black Friday" sales from The Corte Entrada. We were starved but since we didn't have a lot of time we settled on coffee and crepe for my husband and a hot chocolate and churro for me. This is where we officially decided no more cruises for places we haven't been to, land only, as this long day hadn't gone over well.

 

Back on the bus we gave the kids some food and snacked ourselves. We made one stop for pictures and then we were on our way back. They pointed out places in Granada and Malaga. Malaga was so nice we wished we had stayed there. Espically after I saw the Christmas market. My son slept peacefully all the way back, but my daughter was up and ready to play, but tired. The person in front of me enjoyed playing with her and I tried to enjoy the scenery since I wasn't getting the nap my husband was with my son. We made it back without too many incidences on the bus.

 

In the port they were the most throughout search. They actually made us take the kids out and collapse the stroller. Philly on the way home was the only other place that did this. Again others helped us out by taking my daughter through the metal decector and assisting with the stroller. We shopped a little in the shops and then got on board.

I was hungry but we decided to let the kids play first at guppies. After 30 minutes I demanded to be feed and we headed down to dinner. My daughter started to fall asleep again, but she perked up when we went to the show. I am trying to distinguish the shows, but honestly I have no idea which one it was. I thought elements was this night after I wrote about it the other day, but long story short we enjoyed a show and then again went to the chocolate buffet.

The buffet was crazy busy and we had only a dead phone so no pictures for us. We grabbed some stuff, but it was almost impossible to find a seat. The kids were fussy and despite seeing the sign I couldn't get chocolate covered bananas for them so we gave up and went to bed. We had bought a Cava at el Corte Entrada and had put it in the fridge (mini bar) in our room before we left. Once the kids were in bed we enjoyed our drinks with some strawberries we had picked up at the chocolate buffet and watched a movie. This was the best end to a very tiring day. Yummy.

[bearette]

Last sea day 9

We wanted to try for lunch in the dinning room so we had a light breakfast and then took the kids to Guppies to play. We visited the photo area and picked out the photos we wanted but the kids were running around being cute little troublemakers. The photo workers were very nice and helpful trying to watch our kids so we could look at the pictures. We ended up leaving without finishing our picture buying since the kids were running around too much. In fact we got a call from the neighboring Champagne bar that one of the workers had followed her all the way there.

 

I made a quick stop in the logo store for some shirts as they were by 2 get one free and I had been looking for some 2xx shirts for my uncles. T shirts in hand we decided we needed to pack and give the kids a nap. Packing took a long time since we were trying to get the kids to nap first. They were sharing a crib for space purposes and my daughter stepped on my son so that was the end of that nap... We ended up watching two movies before they napped. Once they were down we got some packing done and I ran to get the pictures. We had to have one reprinted so we had to return after 8pm for that picture.

 

As we packed we realized we bought too much wine to carry home so we decided to put another bottle of cava in the fridge and drink that this night. At 6 we could pick up our bottles of Maderira wine we had bought in Funchal to avoid the corkage fee. ( we had returned so late in Malaga that no one had been around to collect our wine or charge a corkage). We were done about 7:15 so we put our luggage out and we decided to check out the show at 7:30.

 

This was a flamenco show which was fun coming from this area. ( I had bought my daughter one of the red polka dot dresses you see in every shop and a shawl to match). I missed a lot as my daughter loved it and wanted to dance and run around the isle. I saw most of it from the back and side balcony where we watched. I had attempted twice to return to my seat once she was calm in my arms, but that met with disaster. Most of the problem was she had wanted my cava that I had brought to the show. Since I was not letting her have that we watched from afar.

 

Going to dinner now would be crowded so we decided to check out the newlywed style game they had in the Galaxy bar. They kids did ok there and we were able to watch most if it without issue. It was more of a challenge game where they had to do different feats such as pop a balloon without hands instead of the questions I see on other lines.

 

Once over it was late and we were hungry. We had a late dinner in The garden room and saw one of the couples from our two NCL tours. After speaking to them a while we returned to bed and one last movie while we finished our bottle of cava.

[bearette]

Disembarkation

I don't like carrying my things off so we only had to deal with one bag and the diaper bag. Unfortunately we had to stuff said bag since we have a few more things then we think we do to get ready.

 

We wanted a somewhat early start but it sounded like as early as 5:30 am people were disembarking. We didn't get up until about 7. After packing and readying the kids we hit breakfast. Since I had stopped at the front desk to check on some charges ( they were mine but made through different places. Example my husband and I had an after dinner drink one night and they charged it through latitudes the coffee shop...). Once I new we were good to go we headed to the buffet for a quicker breakfast. It wasn't very crowded here and we made a quick go of it. My last chocolate croissant of the trip...

 

Then we headed off the ship which was easy and painless. We easily found our luggage and had no customs that I noticed. We grabbed our stuff and then made our way outside to the taxi area. The person there found us a taxi that could accommodate us ( you would be surprised what you can fit in a Prius) and he drove us to,our hotel. He had a GPS so he just plugged us in and we were on our way. I would diffidently go this route again as the port bus would have required another long walk and taken a lot of time and we were in a hurry.

 

It was 14 euros to our hotel Ciutat Barcelona Hotel in the gothic quarter. I wanted someplace economical since we only used it to shower, sleep and store our luggage. I loved this location and the room. I had gotten a triple to accommodate the two cribs and it worked out great. I highly recommend this hotel as it had a gigantic bathroom with two sinks and a separate sitting area which fit the two cribs. Our room was on the fifth floor and on the corner so had three windows. For about 80 euros a night we loved it. No breakfast but we weren't going to be around in the morning and coffee and croissants were cheap.

 

We arrived around 9 and after 15 minutes our room was ready so we were able to drop off our stuff. They were setting up the cribs for us as we left. If it wasn't ready they had a luggage storage down stairs ( which we had started to use when he notified us it was ready). He gave me directions to La Sargrada familia from there and we were on our way to our time of 11 am.

 

I will continue with my Barcelona day later, but wanted to thank anyone who kept reading. I think compared to other trips it is a bit boring, but with kids rushing and early to bed is just part of the deal. While I can travel with my kids it is different from when we weren't parents.

[chris_kelowna]

You are being read :) Your trip is anything but boring. Thanks for posting

[helpthejuggler]

We are reading your review. We were happy with our visit to the Alhambra with you. Felt sorry that you did not get to enjoy it so much after coming so far.

[TracieABD]

I love the review. I am getting ready for this trip with my 76 year old mom. While she never tantrums, she does have mobility issues and uses a chair. I am equating your experiences with the stroller to how I am going to work with her chair.

 

 

Thank you so much for all of the details!:)

[bearette]

I thought everyone gave up on me-glad to know that you are still out there.

 

Hey help the juggler! Glad to hear you enjoyed your day. That was the worst day we had on the trip. The good news is even though that was the worst day the bad only lasted two hours. Considering I had two toddlers I think that is a miracle. I want to take them back there one day and say "this is where you threw yourself on the floor an cried". We absolutely need to return again.

 

Tracie- as far as a wheel chair there usually was a place to go that had a ramp area, but it will probably require back tracking so plan on it taking a lot more time. Also there was a lot of places where there is just one small step so she may be able to go into a room and not move around easily if that is an issue.

[bearette]

On our way to the Church we took the metro and got the ten cars I had heard so much about. It ended up being perfect and we used exactly five trips and since we shared the card used it exactly. This is the only problem I had with the hotel. The nearest metro had no elevator so the only way down was carrying the stroller down the stairs. Let me just say there was a lot of stairs. Trying to get the double stroller through the turnstiles also left me with bruisers as I tried to squeeze in with the kids. The first time my husband got them stuck so we discovered I had to go through with them so we could fit. ( if there is an elevator there was a wheel chair/ stroller access area so we could go through there easily, but again the two stops near our hotel didn't have an elevator). We had to change trains once again with no elevator, but again people stepped up to help so with an extra pair of hands it became easy.

 

We made our way to the front of the church as the wheelchair access exits around the back. There was a Christmas market going on (and just getting set up) at the park in front so we walked around there until our 11 am time. We entered through the front and the guy at the gate used my credit card to access my ticket( they turned you away if it wasn't your time.). By the time we made it to the front the bell was ringing 11 am as he checked us in.

 

I will let you experience it for yourself but my kids were gracious enough to sleep the 1.5 hours that we toured and listened to the audio guide. With the kids the audio guide is awesome since I could start and replay it as necessary (like I did once or twice when the kids woke up and had to be adjusted). They have a lot of languages so you can enjoy it at your leisure. As it was Sunday they had it set up for church services so we couldn't get close to the front because of the chairs they had it blocked off. It was still amazing and I diffidently recommend seeing it. It will be interesting to see it in a few years to see how it has changed. My kids woke up toward the end so we took some photos with them and then utilized the changing table. The bad news is the handicapped restroom and changing table access required I go to the front desk ( information) to get a key. Still better then a floor change...

 

We were hungry so looked for a place to eat. The problem is this area is filled with McDonalds and the like. We found a burger place a block down so had a snack of olives and a hot chocolate and cake. Our kids ate the cake. I don't recommend eating around here as the choices are not very good. Plan on eating at your next destination which I wish we would have done. We headed back through the Christmas market ( which probably would have been a better place to eat) and after buying a few things got back on the train and headed toward the maritime museum.

 

We got there right before three and it being Sunday meant free entry! ( totally not planned but worked out great). I was glad we didn't pay since it was being refurbished and there wasn't much too it. There was a few ancient ships that my husband was interested in which was the highlight of the place. Also coming off a cruise there was a lot of information on the port which was interesting. There was no changing table here, but there was a nice counter area which worked out great. It was much needed as my daughter decided to bomb her outfit and the stroller. Wipes and those disposable arm and hammer bags came in handy.

 

Now all clean we headed to the Montjuic. If we would have planned it better we could have taken the funicular right from la Sargrada since once you are behind the turnstiles there is no extra fee to take it up. Once on top we bought a round trip on the cable car. This gave great views but next time I would just take it up and then walk back down as we passed a lovely park that would have been great for the kids.

 

Since it was late we had about an hour and a half to walk around the castle. This is one of my favorite memories and the kids loved running around up here and the views were beautiful though the small gate they had separating the view and falling down the hill gave me nightmares. My kids couldn't fit through the bars but they tried... They ran around the courtyard and surrounding area while we took pictures. My kids were quite popular and pushed their way into others pictures and posed for some pictures for others who thought they were adorable. ( I agree). My favorite parts were when my husband climbed up the fort and played peak a Bo with my daughter. She thought it was hilarious that he was up high. My son ignored my husband to play a rousing game of attack mommy with a hug. ( he would run away and run back and hug me over and over). There giggles were contagious and we had a great time.

 

It was almost time for the cable car to close so we headed down back to the cable car. Our last stop was the magic fountain. The cable car attendant recommended we take the nearby bus directly there but since we had the cable car ticket we took the car and then the metro since from what she highlighted on the map it looked closer. ( the bus also picked up near the bottom of the cable car) That was because she circled the wrong thing on our map and we ended up walking a long way... So much so that we decided this pastry stop needed to be hit. We had given the kids some snacks but not real food so I know they were hungry. A coffee and croissant later we were happier and perkier for the rest of our walk.

 

The bad news is once we got there we learned that in the Winter it only runs on Friday and Saturday. Crap. The kids would have liked that but we wouldn't have been able to see it on this trip anyway. They had a lot more times in the summer months but not very many in the winter. The view was pretty so we took some pictures and then headed back to our hotel. A side note as we were being helped to the elevator we learned that Paul Walker had died. This was the first piece of news we had heard since we left home. So sad and the beginning of our return to civilization.

 

We decided to exit at a different station so we could walk the short way back and see some more of the city. This was the northern most stop closest to our hotel and then we didn't have to transfer in the metro. Again no elevator here so being tired, getting the stroller up was an ordeal. others saw me struggling so they stepped up to help. ( I always hold doors etc now when I see people who look like they need help. This is was so helpful and doesn't require much effort but made things so much easier for us). We were starving so food was the number one on our list. As we walked we came upon the cathedral and another Christmas market. We decided this atmosphere was perfect for eating. We sat down at a place on the far end but it was mostly a drink place. We enjoyed a glass of wine as the kids were out cold. Then we moved along to another restaurant for food since the offerings where we had the wine wasn't appealing.

 

We ended up having a hamburger and pizza which while good was funny since it wasn't the paia I had been hoping for. It was excellent and now 10pm we headed back to the hotel. My son refused to get up but my daughter got up for a short time to eat my leftover pizza. She was very excited over the pizza.

 

We got ready for bed and packed the last of the things we didn't need before going to bed. We were up by 7 am the next day so we could catch our 10:30 am flight.we had gotten bananas at a store on our way back last night so we gave the kids their favorite food and then headed out. By room and by Barcelona.

 

We decided to walk back to the Aeroport bus and that took about 20 minutes maneuvering through the trucks dropping of items early and people making their way to work. Once on the bus we had a leisurely drive to the airport. It was pretty full for as early as we were and some people we turned away at the last stop to keep the bus on schedule.

 

The airport had a nice family area to go through security. They even had a play pen so if you were traveling alone with a baby you could still do what needed to be done ( like collapse a stroller). Great airport for traveling with kids. We didn't have time to enjoy all the duty free area but we could see it and it was huge! Instead we changed diapers and got a cup of coffee. My kids were wild and we struggled with collapsing the double stroller and holding our diaper bag and their blankets etc...we had even checked one of our carry ons to free up our hands, but they wanted to run around so they made standing in line difficult. My husband stood in line and then with some help I brought them up to the front last minute. This was made more difficult by all the people crowding the gate waiting for their turn ( stay away from the loading area until your group number is called! We had this same problem I Philly too). Once at the front the workers came to our rescue and they escorted us down using the elevator. One person took my daughter another the stroller so we had an easier time of it. In the future I might have my husband collapse the stroller by the plane since trying to get them to the right place with all the stuff is to hard.

 

 

Now on the plane we made our way home. We were given a bulk head seat and since it had a bassinet area for two kids we were able to sit together ( though the kids are too big for the bassinets). This flight went well, my only problem was we only had one tv for the two of us. It lined up with my middle seat so my husband and I had to share a pair of earphones to watch a movie. The extra space in front of us made up for that. The kids alternated between playing and napping and no major tantrums this time. The person next to me was able to sleep 7 of the 8 hour flight.

 

In Philly we had to go through customs and that was simple. Since we stopped to change the kids we missed the line and walked right up to the baggage claim to get our luggage and then directly to the customs agent. It took us longer to go through security since they hand searched the stroller and then separately tested the juice we had taken off the plane in the kids sippies. Next time I will empty the sippies as it took and extra 15 minutes for them to mess with the juice.

 

We allowed the kids to run around the playground which was right at the exit and I called my mom whole we charged the phone and iPad. After 30 minutes we headed to our gate and stopped for a pick me up coffee and food for the kids who were hit and miss with eating on the plane. They played at the gate, especially on the cart that was there. I think they enjoyed climbing up and down that more then the play area. Then it was time to go.

 

Once we pushed our way to the gate with all the people crowding the rest of the flight was easy. It was a crowded flight as near to thanksgiving is a busy time of year. Even getting on earlier there was almost no overhead space left so we put our things near the front. We got on and took our seats (In front and behind each other in the window. ) Then the kids feel asleep and stayed that way until we got home. In their minds it was 10pm.

 

I went directly to bed after a bath, but I feel asleep in the tub ( it was 10 pm California time). I had work the next day so I stopped for a coffee and chocolate croissant on my way to work. I was hoarse by this time so my return greeted me with the same throat cold that my fellow cruiser had. I could barely talk for a week which made all my students whisper at work. My kids had runny noises for a week also. All that cruise togetherness... I highly recommend a day or two to acclimate to to the time since between the cold and time change I was struggling that first week. It also took the kids one week to get back on a good sleeping schedule. Luckily the way the shifts were my husband was home for 5 days and able to get the kids back on schedule. They woke up between 4-5am and cried every day and the first two days around 7 and 8 as well. The good part was it woke daddy up so he put up the Christmas lights ;0). So plan on a few days of fitful sleep when they get back. I had heard east to west was a harder time change and I believe it.

 

 

Our trip was a success and while low key we still managed to do a lot. We thought we really did a lot in our short time in Barcelona. I'm already trying to plan our next years trip as we just found out my husband got the time around Christmas off. Christmas markets, Paris and euro Disney or Tuscany... To decide...

 

I know I got some things mixed up, but you got a sense of what our trip was like. Over all would we do it again? Absolutely! Let's fill up that passport!

[Cloudyrain]

I really enjoyed your review, think I actually bumped into you a few times on the ship, so your review reminded me of our wonderful holiday!

 

P.s. If you can get to Euro Disney in January just after New Year your tots will love it! We went the 5th to the 9th and it still had all the Christmas decs up, and the fireworks laser show, but was so quiet on the Monday to Wednesday that we could literally stay on the rides and go round and round again: though after the third time on the tea cups we had to give it a rest! :D

[bearette]

I really enjoyed your review, think I actually bumped into you a few times on the ship, so your review reminded me of our wonderful holiday!

 

P.s. If you can get to Euro Disney in January just after New Year your tots will love it! We went the 5th to the 9th and it still had all the Christmas decs up, and the fireworks laser show, but was so quiet on the Monday to Wednesday that we could literally stay on the rides and go round and round again: though after the third time on the tea cups we had to give it a rest! :D

 

Thanks for the euro Disney tip. I have no idea what we will do next, but I will keep that in mind. Having that time of year off is hard since we still want to be home for Christmas so either more expensive to travel over New Years or shorter time to travel the week before. We shall see...

[ScotsTravelady]

Great review!! I'm on thus trip from Thursday & did the same last year. Smiled at your Morrocan trip with everyone kissing & touching your babies. It is the same across all of Africa& Asia and much of Southern Europe.

 

Tuscany next year would be lovely, although be prepared for it to be cool in the winter months.

 

Thanks fir taking the time to write your review

[Norwegianlatvian]

This was the first piece of news we had heard since we left home. So sad and the beginning of our return to civilization.

 

!

 

Great review. Thank you for taking the time to write this.

 

BUT:

 

"Return to civilization"... Really?? :)

[jlajr]

Again, it was nice to meet you and your family on the ship and I enjoyed reading your review, which together with mine and another I'm reading of the December 1-10 sailing, embodies the wide variety of activities, experiences, and fellow travelers possible on any given cruise.

Edited December 18, 2013 by jlajr

[bearette]

Great review. Thank you for taking the time to write this.

 

BUT:

 

"Return to civilization"... Really?? :)

 

If you don't have something nice to say....

 

 

I'm glad you all seemed to enjoy my review. It is my favorite thing to read when planning a trip. All the different ones right now are interesting since as you said jljar there was a variety of experiences. Happy cruising everyone!

[Norwegianlatvian]

If you don't have something nice to say....

 

 

I'm glad you all seemed to enjoy my review. It is my favorite thing to read when planning a trip. All the different ones right now are interesting since as you said jljar there was a variety of experiences. Happy cruising everyone!

 

..hmm..

 

"Great review. Thank you for taking the time to write this."

 

In my world that is kinda nice thing to say. I enjoyed your review, but I must be allowed to make a funny comment regarding something that I which was supposed to be funny from your side.:confused:

[blueskies2010]

Thanks for your posts! They are very informative since we are doing the same cruise this year. It will be us and another couple and we both have a 3 year old daughter. Question. With the time of the year, where you able to utilize the pools at all and how was the weather for the trip, both on the ship and while at port?

[Brochquine]

Question. With the time of the year, where you able to utilize the pools at all and how was the weather for the trip, both on the ship and while at port?

 

Hi, we had pleasant enough weather on the sailing leaving on the 9th December. It wasnt quite warm enough for shorts and t-shirts most days but I suppose it depends on what you are used to. We are from the north east of Scotland so some days we thought it was warm everyone else was cold !! We found the pools to be too cold, we had bought a wetsuit for our 2yr old daughter but she was still shivering ! Lanzarote was the warmest day we had, Casablanca was ok, madeira was lovely weather for strolling around and malaga was cooler. The days at sea weren't really great for outdoor activities but there was plenty of stuff going in inside. The kids activities were great for her age, look out for rainbow, she was fantastic with the little ones. Lots of messy play, so old clothes would be handy. At age 3 you will be able to use the proper kids club but we had no experience of this due to our daughter only being 2. Hope you have a great cruise, I would love to go back, despite it not being very hot we still had a brilliant time.