sleepingcat

We have been to La Palma twice on cruise itineraries. First time in 2019 we took the ships excursion up to the mountains and the national park including the visitor centre. It was really lovely, the most tranquil place I have ever been, and great scenery. You are on the edge of Europe, and it feels like that. The only drawback was that we all wanted to stay longer and walk further and the guide wanted to make sure he got us back to the ship. I think if you search a bit you ll find that people have posted how to get up the mountains by service bus which is a lot cheaper, I think I found info on trip advisor. Second time we walked off the ship into town and had a wander and a coffee. there are some nice historic buildings and cafes, but be aware that it is a small town in comparison to for example Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

sorry meant to post this earlier. my brother works there and said Bolette only just fits in the dry dock. Here is the story with nice pics... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-64867366 but lets hope they test carefully before sailing, you may recall that last summer (was it?) Balmoral had not even got outside St Anthony head before they realised there was an engine problem and she had to return to the dry dock.

Good suggestions f rom Lucas. There is also the light railway which follows the coast (nice views) from Malaga with frequent trains, goes as far as Fuengirola, and you can get on and off wherever as far as I remember. We thought the ho ho bus in Malaga was good value and it picks up from the cruise terminal gates. there are two routes and you can swap between them. This way you can get to the botanic gardens which are nice but not good on a wet day!

presumably you ve been to La Rochelle previously and are looking to see something other than the city? If not, then be aware that La Rochelle is one of the most lovely cities in France, gorgeous harbour, lovely historic old town, and great beaches and a park that goes for miles. Would be a shame not to see it. I can see the cruise terminal is not that close to the old part of town but probably only a taxi ride, if there is no shuttle. oh and I forgot to mention the restaurants.....

Hi wombat, have a look on the P and O UK board, there is a recent discussion of insurance for cruises, with lots of useful info for you hopefully. (I know you aren't going with P and O, but the insurance issues should be the same). We get 'free' travel insurance with our bank account, and when we did half a RWC, we paid extra premium to cover the cancellation cost as far as I remember.

Just a suggestion: I would advise to check the distances to be travelled. the roads in South Island are fairly slow and tortuous, there are no freeways/motorways at all (that is part of its charm) so you might spend most of your two days in a tour bus, albeit with gorgeous scenery along the way. (havent done the tour you plan, we explored the South Island in a hired camper van, but we found our driving slower than we expected, and even with 3 weeks we saw less than we had planned).

We have been on Fred 3 times and there have been line dance sessions each cruise. but we haven t been on Fred since the pandemic. Also I think it greatly depends who in the dance company is able and willing to run the class. Also the line dancing sometimes did not happen because something else took priority for the space. and note, keen line dancers, there will be people like me at the session who really are not very good.

It does look like the cover provided by banks and building societies included with your account is good value. We also use the one mentioned by Wowzz above and we ve claimed twice and been fairly dealt with. Once a medical claim when on a cruise and involving emergency surgery for my OH. The support from the claims handlers for me was also good. and in 2020 for a covid cancellation - they took a long time to pay out but agreed in the end. As suggested by Wowzz, it is essential to declare your medical conditions, and then decide whether to exclude or pay extra. And we oldies have to pay an age related supplement.

Hi hills wood. Good advice above. You could also post on the board for the cruise line if you are departing from the UK as lots of UK passengers will have useful experience. Some ideas from our visits: Gran Canaria: we ve been a few times, Las Palmas is one of my favourite ports. the hop on hop off bus is good and gets you to the old part of the city which has a brilliant museum and lovely old buildings. we've also hired bikes, there is a hire place about 10 mins walk from the dock. Havent tried getting out to the rest of the island, as we had been on previous land based holidays. Madeira: depending how far you want to go and if you've been before: the must do is the cable car up to Monte and the various gardens. If you like walking you can get out into the country straight from the top of the cable car (along the water channels called Llevadas, google that and you ll find loads of info). the bus network in Madeira is good but I would worry about getting back to the ship in time if going far out of Funchal. Lanzarote: the volcanic park is the best trip, and there will be a ships tour. Not so sure how you would get there otherwise but taxis are an option.

just to add, we did this, taxi captain at the port got us the taxi and price was agreed before we started. Taxi left us, and came back to collect at an agreed time. Note, though, that Nelson's dockyard took us most of the day to see properly, and there is a lovely restaurant for an open air lunch. (and no one else from the ship was there!).

hi midland gas, see you ve had no replies, maybe try reposting on 'UK cruisers' and also on the board for the company you are cruising with, that should find some people with suggestions. We've been to Gran Canaria (Las Palmas) a few times but have nt tried to get outside of Las Palmas, as we always find plenty to do in the city. good luck.

you ve already had some really useful responses. we did our first saga cruise last year and I posted a review which as mentioned above was the review of a first time Saga customer. Interestingly many people we met on the ship were also on Saga for the first time. (and we had a roll call meet up) https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?ShipID=1284&action=ship&page=2 you ll also see some negative reviews from other passengers.

Even with a balcony we like to get easily out on to the open decks so we choose a cabin usually one above the prom deck, and we have been right astern (the back!) and not found it a problem on a modern ship. havent been on Arvia though. Especially with children, you wont spend much time in your cabin, so I d look at how near it is to the entertainments, eating and pools. re the side against the dock, sometimes the best views are from the seaward side (eg Malta). and often the land side is very noisy for the whole day with loading of supplies and fuel. Its a bit swings and roundabouts, another thing to know is that many captains will turn the ship before docking to facilitate a speedy departure, so you can often kind of guess which side with be the side by the dock.

Just to add, as you say 'first time', French, Italian and Spanish women are nearly all very stylish dressers, much more than we are in the UK for example. Especially somewhere like Barcelona, or any of the large cities. They ve got smart casual off to a T. So although as JB says above, I will never look like a local (Im way too tall, apart from anything else) I do raise my game a bit compared to what I would wear on holiday in the UK.

hi there from the UK! very cheaply from any household or hardware store, I ve had a succession of circular plastic drip dryers. It looks a bit like a sideways cartwheel with a single hook on the top and with a set of pegs attached underneath. Packs flat in the top of my suitcase, and there is always somewhere to attach it to in the shower/bath (using that plastic wash line we all like to travel with). Travels everywhere we go whether on cruise, motorhome or hotel or apartment trip.

hey megabear - Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is one of my favourite ports. Its an easy walk off the ship. I think we ve been there 3 times. You can *use a bus or taxi to get to the old part of the city where there is a fantastic museum with the history of Columbus and the later explorations of south America (we used the hop on hop off bus which is convenient, but not one of the best in terms of what you see and as far as I remember expensive, it does pick up at the port gate though). * hire a pedal cycle as there are nice dedicated off road cycle routes * walk to the beach on the opp coast from where the ship docks, only about 15 mins, nice beach and lots of attractive cafes etc *personally I always go shopping in El Corte Ingles, Spains best department store, huge, lovely quality like Harrods or Selfridges, and the branch in Las Palmas is enormous. (I bought 3 handbags on our last visit!), and walkable from the ship.

I grew up about 10 miles from Falmouth. As children we loved the castle which has cannon and lots of history (I'm not quite sure where cruise ships dock or tender, but it ll almost be walkable from the docks). There is a lovely beach (Gyllingvase, with a good cafe, but nb the water will be cold by US standards). Since I grew up the National Maritime museum has opened: a great museum right by the docks and the harbour with lots of interesting stuff and things that kids can climb on and do. There are also river trips up the Fal or across the estuary to St Mawes (another castle there, the twin of the one in Falmouth but smaller).

the hop on hop off in Dublin is one of the best we have used. we spent a whole day as far as I remember, and excellent guides on board as well.

another bit of info. the walk back down the mountain is lovely and an easy wide track. so would save double queuing. I was there in a September and dont remember queuing for anything and certainly had not prebooked the funicular. I woke up and saw the clear day and just went for it. I agree about the weather often being misty, work contact I was there to see confirmed that. so you might want to decide on the day when you see what the cloud base is.

The historic Main Street area is walkable from the ship, so definitely okay in a taxi. All the food we came across is a bit what we call in the UK 'chips with everything' but we had a pleasant lunch in an outdoor cafe, as far as I remember. If any of your group are interested in naval history, the museum(s) (I think there are several) look worth a visit, though we did not visit, as we used up most of our time going up the rock on the cable car. and , yes, the apes are aggressive and to be avoided (but when you see how some tourists treat them, its not surprising).

oh lucky you! Yes, get a motorhome for the South Island and pick it up in South Island to avoid the high ferry charges from wellington to Picton, its easy as foot passengers and doesn't require advance booking. ( on our trip we did South Island first, picking up the motorhome in Christchurch, after returning it we got a free repositioning car hire to Picton(you only pay the fuel and insurance). then a one way hire in Wellington which we dropped off in Auckland. then a cruise ship to return to UK). NZ campsites could not at all be described as 'high end' in our experience (as compared to what we are used to in Europe), but they have what you need, and unlike other places there is usually a kitchen campers can use, and it may be equipped. Though they have great troubles with backpackers stealing their stuff. Take care with your m/h hire, there are loads of complaints in reviews about the main companies. But having said that, almost all the campsites also have cabins or bungalows, so a car tour is also possible. We preferred motorhome as we own one in UK. Note that many roads in South Island are gravel rather than tarmac, and some m/h hire companies will not insure you for the gravel roads. if you want to explore the glaciers, parks, mountains etc you need a hire company without that restriction. final bit of advice is dont try to see everything. we had 21 days in South Island and never even got down to Milford sound. we like to spend at least 2 nights in each place to get the feel of it, and if we like it we stay longer. we did not prebook anything except the motorhome and the apartment in Auckland at the end. There is a specific camping road atlas for NZ which we bought ahead of time in UK and used for planning. the hire company would have given us one included in the hire if we had not already had a copy.

all good advice above. another reason to give Mont St M a miss is that it gets really overbusy and crowded. our last visit was in shoulder time ie mid May and we walked over from the campsite early and got there for coffee. by lunchtime the place was too busy for comfort. maybe you can go another time from Cherbourg cruise call which is a shorter journey. We think Honfleur is lovely, though also busy. the tourist office provided a good self guided walking tour leaflet. and the seafood is to die for.

Hi Colin. Ill give you a brief summary of how we organised 4 weeks in NZ (south followed by north island) then boarded P and O Arcadia for half RWC return to the UK. One of the best things we did was to send our suitcase of cruise clothes and formal wear unaccompanied on Arcadia when she left Southampton. so there were all our fresh smart clothes waiting for us in our cabin when we boarded in Auckland. We rented a motorhome for the South Island (we have a motorhome in UK so best option for us). Dropping it in Christchurch, we did a repositioning hire with a car hire firm, you only pay for the fuel and insurance, the hire is free, to get to Picton. So our fares on the ferry were as foot passengers. Picked up another hire car in Wellington for our week in the North Island, one way hire dropped off in downtown Auckland. We did 3 nights pre cruise in Auckland and rented an apartment with a washing machine so that all travel stained clothes were clean before boarding. apartment was only 5 mins walk from the dock, but we did get a taxi to take us. Hope these practical tips help your planning. If you d like more info on intinerary/best bits/ bits not to bother with, let me know .

Hi NYAS, Concarneau is really lovely with lots of interesting history and views. and you can pretty much wander on your own. our last visit was enhanced by jazz musicians playing in the square in the walled town. tourist office has good maps. havent been to Vannes. and not to Quimper for about 50 years! You'll find that all French towns have a good tourist office website, and some of it will be in English (Brittany gets lots of British visitors because its just a hop for us). have a lovely time.

the soundproofing between cabins and decks is good on S of A so that is another reason why a guarantee cabin is less of a risk with Saga.