LIVE from Anthem June 2-21 - B2B Canaries and Fjords

[RobInMN]

1 hour ago, snaefell said:

We were in Barcelona last year,our tour guide said that when the work there is finished they would be able to accommodate NINE cruise ships together,I wouldn't want to be there when it happens it was bad enough with five!

Wait! That is in Barcelona?? Oh please God no.

In 2018, We got on & off in Rome so that Barcelona was a port stop. Even though we were on a ship tour, we were over an hour late getting back, and most of that was just trying to get into the round-a-bout just outside of the port. We literally were at a complete stop for 10 minutes at a time. And once we made it into the round-a-bout, a police officer made us leave on the first exit, and we had to loop around and come back in a different entrance.

I could not tell you how many times the tour guide bragged that "they hosted the 1992 Olympics". By the time we got back to the ship, all I could think was "How the edit did they host the '92 Olympics when they can't even host 4 cruise ships."

And they want the port capacity to host 9? They are insane.

 

[snaefell]

9 hours ago, RobInMN said:

Wait! That is in Barcelona?? Oh please God no.

In 2018, We got on & off in Rome so that Barcelona was a port stop. Even though we were on a ship tour, we were over an hour late getting back, and most of that was just trying to get into the round-a-bout just outside of the port. We literally were at a complete stop for 10 minutes at a time. And once we made it into the round-a-bout, a police officer made us leave on the first exit, and we had to loop around and come back in a different entrance.

I could not tell you how many times the tour guide bragged that "they hosted the 1992 Olympics". By the time we got back to the ship, all I could think was "How the edit did they host the '92 Olympics when they can't even host 4 cruise ships."

And they want the port capacity to host 9? They are insane.

 

I agree,it was absolutely crazy with 5 ships,we overnighted there so had chance to go back for more the next day,we passed on that one!😎😎

[mil76]

I think for Gran Canaria they are referring to the size of the building, rather than the number of ships/passengers it will handle.  This is too far out of the way to compete with the likes of Barcelona/Civitavecchia/Piraeus.

[Tin can]

16 minutes ago, mil76 said:

I think for Gran Canaria they are referring to the size of the building, rather than the number of ships/passengers it will handle.  This is too far out of the way to compete with the likes of Barcelona/Civitavecchia/Piraeus.

 

Interesting reading about the new cruise port, there is quite a bit of upset in the Canary Islands at the moment with the amount of tourists that visit especially in Tenerife so I am not sure how well potentially thousands more cruise passengers will go down. 

[mil76]

51 minutes ago, Tin can said:

 

Interesting reading about the new cruise port, there is quite a bit of upset in the Canary Islands at the moment with the amount of tourists that visit especially in Tenerife so I am not sure how well potentially thousands more cruise passengers will go down. 

That was the first thing I thought as well!

[mil76]

Lanzarote today.  No view for port side.

Same temps as the past few days, but sunnier

 

[mil76]

Today we did an excursion to the south of Lanzarote.

 

First stop was La Geria bodega.  It is amazing how they manage to grow grapes in this environment.

 

 

 

 

[mil76]

Next stop was the camels.

 

 

 

[sandebeach]

Wow the camel ride looks cool. But how comfortable is it on a camel?

[sgmn]

13 minutes ago, sandebeach said:

Wow the camel ride looks cool. But how comfortable is it on a camel?

My mum managed it in the Dubai desert in her 70's with a dodgy hip !!

[mil76]

Then Timanfaya National Park to see the fire mountains.  

 

The volcano is still active, and it gets very hot just below the surface.  They threw some brush in the hole and it ignited immediately.

 

 

They dug up some of the surface lava and it was too hot to hold.

 

Then they did the geyser

They even cook chicken with ir. 

 

Then we took a bus tour through the park.  It was like being on the moon.

 

 

[heatherb1958]

Lanzarote 😆  , affectionately known as ' Lanza grotty ' by us  Brits and also the windy island . We have  holidayed there and visited by cruise ship, done the 🐫  ride. Personally we like Lanzarote, so much to see and a lot to thank Cesar Manrique for . 

[mil76]

19 minutes ago, sandebeach said:

Wow the camel ride looks cool. But how comfortable is it on a camel?

It's a bit bouncy, but nothing worse than some of the buses on these excursions.  The camel standing up is the worst part since they raise their hind legs first, so you get lurched forward.

[mil76]

Final stop was El Golfo.  This was a volcano by the ocean.

 

 

The crater filled with water, and eventually algae grew and turned it green.

 

 

[mil76]

One other note, our bus started leaking fluids at Timanfaya, and by the time we got back from the tour of the park, they had another bus waiting.  You hear horror stories about private tour companies, but these guys really came through between the schedule change and the bus issues.

[irishgal432]

37 minutes ago, mil76 said:

One other note, our bus started leaking fluids at Timanfaya, and by the time we got back from the tour of the park, they had another bus waiting.  You hear horror stories about private tour companies, but these guys really came through between the schedule change and the bus issues.

Can you let me know the name of the tour and company.  Looks amazing.  It looks much better than our current tour booked with royal

[mil76]

1 minute ago, irishgal432 said:

Can you let me know the name of the tour and company.  Looks amazing.  It looks much better than our current tour booked with royal

https://www.lanzaroteexperiencetours.com/excursiones/tour-parque-nacional-de-timanfaya-montanas-del-fuego/

 

This is the overview of the tour, but if you want to book, you should use the cruise ship link from the website and pick your specific sailing.  That way you will book as a cruise excursion and they will pick you up at the dock.

 

I also would recommend anyone who wants to do an excursion in Lanzarote to pre-book something rather than waiting until arrival.  I didn't see anyone outside the dock trying to sell tours like the other stops, and it is pretty far to town.  Might have also been because it was Sunday, but I feel lucky we had this one booked.

[mil76]

Finally got to do the bumper cars on our 5th Quantum class cruise.  Every other cruise has had a bunch of kids onboard so the line went around the Sea-plex.  Today we went up after dinner and we only had to wait for 2 runs to get our turn.

[pilotboy1985]

Hello,

I was on Harmony in April and they offered me the June 14th Norwegian Fjords in an ocean view so I booked it asap as most rooms were sold out. 

Perhaps I'll see you in the Casino :). I'm looking forward to embarking on Friday and exploring my first time on Anthem (did Quantum to Alaska last September and I missed the Royal Promenade). 

 

This will be my first cruise as D+ so I'll be doing to BOGO speciality restaurants as well, likely chops and Jamie's. Are they strict on the 1st and 2nd night usage or can I pay for it on the 1st night but dine later in the cruise? Kind of want to do MDR for first night so I can meet servers and find out where our table is. 

 

 

[sandebeach]

6 hours ago, mil76 said:

One other note, our bus started leaking fluids at Timanfaya, and by the time we got back from the tour of the park, they had another bus waiting.  You hear horror stories about private tour companies, but these guys really came through between the schedule change and the bus issues.

Sounds like a great excursion, did you book this tour through Royal?

[sandebeach]

Just now, sandebeach said:

Sounds like a great excursion, did you book this tour through Royal?

Disregard I just read your other post. 

[FionaMG]

13 hours ago, heatherb1958 said:

Lanzarote 😆  , affectionately known as ' Lanza grotty ' by us  Brits and also the windy island . We have  holidayed there and visited by cruise ship, done the 🐫  ride. Personally we like Lanzarote, so much to see and a lot to thank Cesar Manrique for . 

Haha yes! 😂😂😂 I wonder why we call it that since it's anything but grotty. 🤔

We have also done holidays and cruise ship visits and really like it too.

[mil76]

We had an English couple sitting next to us on the bus, and they raved about Lanzarote.  They said they are also coming back in a few weeks for a land-based holiday.  

 

I thought it reminded me of the areas of Santorini outside Oia and Fira, but without the insane crowding.

[mil76]

Sea day today.  Weather is not so great, and the seas are rougher.

Weather Forecast is sunny for Lisbon tomorrow so I am nor complaining, but I feel bad for those who want to be out by the pool.  

[mil76]

12 hours ago, pilotboy1985 said:

Hello,

I was on Harmony in April and they offered me the June 14th Norwegian Fjords in an ocean view so I booked it asap as most rooms were sold out. 

Perhaps I'll see you in the Casino :). I'm looking forward to embarking on Friday and exploring my first time on Anthem (did Quantum to Alaska last September and I missed the Royal Promenade). 

 

This will be my first cruise as D+ so I'll be doing to BOGO speciality restaurants as well, likely chops and Jamie's. Are they strict on the 1st and 2nd night usage or can I pay for it on the 1st night but dine later in the cruise? Kind of want to do MDR for first night so I can meet servers and find out where our table is. 

 

 

We were on Harmony in April as well.  The casino has been really crowded, so I haven't bothered going, but my wife will definitely be there.

 

For the BOGO, you have to use it the first 2 nights.  You can do night 1 and 2, or if you are traveling with someone you can go on night 2 and pay for one and the other will be free, but I'm not sure they will let you use the freebie after night 2.

 

We actually went to MDR for the first time last night (Day 8!).  The 5pm dinner just hasn't been working for us.  We were right up against our neighbors on 2-tops, but we found out they were also from Colorado so we had a great conversation with them over dinner.  We sort of wished we had come sooner in the cruise.  With that said, it's Chops again tonight.