Canary islands cruise- tell me about it

[Vampiress88]

Going to these ports

tenerife

lanzarote

cadiz

lisbon

gran canaria

la palma

madeira

 

Also any idea if the ship will go through bay of Biscay? 

[Denarius]

Yes, it will

[jeanlyon]

• Well not really!  It will go past the Bay, but not through it.  To go through the Bay, you are usually calling at a port that is in the Bay, like Bordeaux or one of the northern Spanish ports.  Most of the time when a ship leaves say, Gib, to go north, it goes outside theBay and is in deeper water.

Edited July 8, 2019 by jeanlyon

[Vampiress88]

Never have good experiences with the bay of Biscay. Sea sickness tablets for me next year. 

 

Im assuming most of these with be days at the beach type places. Especially as I have two young kids. 

 

Anyone have any insight on the ports would be great

[berlingo]

6 hours ago, Vampiress88 said:

Going to these ports

tenerife

lanzarote

cadiz

lisbon

gran canaria

la palma

madeira

 

Also any idea if the ship will go through bay of Biscay? 

 

Hi 

We have done similar itineraries a few times with our daughters. I have listed what we have tended to do in each port. By the way we are not very exciting or big on excursions so tend in most places to use the shuttles and have a wander.

 

Tenerife: Walk around town. Try out the local McDonald’s and use their WiFi.

 

Lanzarote: Shuttle takes you to pretty little seaside town with a lovely sandy bay.

 

Cadiz: Dock in middle of town. Nice shops and lovely narrow streets. Climb bell tower and visit cathedral. We are visiting again this year and will head to the beach for a change.

 

Lisbon: Hop on bus outside port gates. Lift tower in Centre of city and then stop for Portuguese tarts by side of river. Nearly forgot - get up early and go to top of the ship to see ship sail down the river and hear the “bees buzz” under the bridge.

 

Gran Canaria: Dock in town. Walk through shopping mall and straight down the road to the nice sandy beach. No sun beds so take your beach towels to lie on.

 

La Palma: Not been here yet.

 

Maderia: Exception to the rule. Do ships excursion which includes cable car up the mountain and gondola down the other side! Great fun! Also taken to viewing point where you must visit the little coffee shop. Then down to Funchal to taste the Madeira’s which are scrummy!

 

Have a great time.

Juliax

 

 

 

 

[groovechick]

La Palma - Bajamar beach is a walk (about 30 mins total) from the ship's berth, through the dock and round the port on a broad, flat pavement. You can see it from where the ship docks. It doesn't look very attractive because of the black volcanic sand and industrial buildings nearby, but it's clean and safe. Despite being near the port the water is crystal clear. The beach shelves very gently so is safe for little ones. There are toilets, showers and a snack bar. The locals use it and they are really friendly.

 You can also get a taxi or local bus to Los Cancajos, a bigger beach a little further down the coast.

 

Madeira - you can do the cable car more cheaply on your own than through a ship's excursion. Just depends if you want to add on other things. The Monte Tropical gardens (entrance just a couple of minutes from the cable car) are beautiful and cool when it's baking hot because lots of shade and water features, but perhaps not very interesting for your girls, although lots of paths to run round, stepping stones on shallow ponds, etc.

Edited July 9, 2019 by groovechick
addition

[jeanlyon]

La Palma.  Really not a great deal to do, but a pretty little town to walk around with some good little shops.

[Host Sharon]

There is a whole forum on CC devoted to ports of call - check them out here  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/149-other-mediterranean-ports/

[SquishTheWhale]

Tenerife- we did an excursion to Loro Parque and loved it. I believe you can also do one to Siam Park but it must be a longer drive.

 

gran canaria- we walked through the town to the beach and spent a lovely few hours walking up and down the sea front. There's a lovely beach there

 

madeira- we walked along the sea front to the cable car. No need to book this through the cruise line, its an easy walk. We took the cable car back down but you can do the toboggan ride. We also did the HOHO bus which was nice to see more of the island, we just stayed on for a full circuit

[DamianG]

Here's a few things we have done with our son (now 8 years old) in the past:

Tenerife: Walk or taxi to Parque Maritimo which is a lido near the opera house. It's very family friendly, cheap admission (I think it was around €14 for 2 adults and 1 child including 2 sunbeds and 1 umbrella). There are full changing facilities including showers and the food and drink prices are reasonable. The water isn't too deep for little ones and there is a paddling pool for the very young. We usually get a taxi there (ask for the "piscina") then stroll back with drink & food stops. We plan to do this again in a few weeks.

Lanzarote: Taxi (€22 a few years ago) from the dock to Rancho Texas then spend the day there seeing the animals, watching displays, using the swimming pools etc. For a cheaper day catch the shuttle bus to Arrecife where we found the beach to be very basic but my son did enjoy exploring the rock pools.

Cadiz: Walk to the nearest beach or catch the bus from the port to the beach Playa de la Victoria which is a bit nicer in our opinion.

Lisbon: Shuttle bus then get a taxi to the aquarium which is fantastic or catch the tube to the zoo which is pretty good.

Gran Canaria: Walk to the beach then have lunch on the way back in Parque Santa Catalina. The Hiperdino supermarket near the port is pretty good if you want to treat the kids to some sweets or snacks.

La Palma: We walk to Bajamar beach as suggested by groovechick. One thing to bear in mind is that the (dry) sand can be scorching hot so flip flops are essential (even for walking down for a paddle). I still remember having to put my trainers on just to walk down to the water for a dip!

Funchal (Madeira): We once took a very expensive taxi ride to Acquaparque which was great but it is a long way from the centre. This year we plan to try find the Lido Swimming Complex which looks nearer.

By the way, I'm no swimmer but can manage in all the above places and my son always enjoys it.

I've attached a review of a cruise we did in 2015 which you may be interested in.

I'll post some thoughts on our forthcoming Canaries cruise as we go along.

All the best.

 

 

Britannia B515 Review.pdf

Edited July 9, 2019 by DamianG

[majortom10]

If you are lucky enough to dock at the new cruise terminal in Lisbon then it is walkable to the centre of town and a shuttle bus is not needed.

Edited July 9, 2019 by majortom10

[newtocruise_rj]

I do think it is at the other side of the island, but if your children are into waterparks then Siam Park in Tenerife really is one of the best waterparks ever.

[Clodia]

The black sand beach at La Palma not only has swimming, decent toilets and changing facilities and walkways, it also has decent free wifi!

It is identical to the bay at Aberystwyth except for the colour of the sand!

[snaefell]

At many of your ports there are HOHO bus tours,we used them when we did a similar cruise & really enjoyed them.

 

Cadiz was a real 'game of 2 halves' for us,somebody I worked with had been there & told me how lovely it was,our first impressions certainly showed this to be true & a place worth visiting again.

After the HOHO bus tour & some retail therapy we settled in the square for a few drinks,great at first then a procession of people asking for money began,after 4 visiting the table we decided to head back to the ship only to run a gauntlet of narrow streets filled with the same sort of thing,I would be guessing this only happens when a ship is in port,could be wrong though!

[majortom10]

1 hour ago, snaefell said:

At many of your ports there are HOHO bus tours,we used them when we did a similar cruise & really enjoyed them.

 

Cadiz was a real 'game of 2 halves' for us,somebody I worked with had been there & told me how lovely it was,our first impressions certainly showed this to be true & a place worth visiting again.

After the HOHO bus tour & some retail therapy we settled in the square for a few drinks,great at first then a procession of people asking for money began,after 4 visiting the table we decided to head back to the ship only to run a gauntlet of narrow streets filled with the same sort of thing,I would be guessing this only happens when a ship is in port,could be wrong though!

We have been to Cadiz many times and love the place and have never been pestered by beggars or street sellers.

[snaefell]

My friend said the same thing when I asked him later,must just have been our lucky day!