Canary Islands...What's Special about this Cruise??

I'm hoping you will share your experiences on a Canary Islands cruise.

We've booked a Canary Island & Western Europe Grand Adventure but have...No Knowledge about this area of the world. Is October a good time of the year to do this cruise? Any "must do excursions"?

Thank You in advance for any information you can share with us.

Pat :)

I cannot give you a review of a cruise but I can tell you that October is a lovely time to visit the Canary Isles. Weather will be between 70-80's and sunny.

The Canary Islands are beautiful - though I haven't been for over 10 years but they are volcanic islands with large areas of larva fields in Lanzarote.

I would suggest you look on the P&O forum as they often have cruises to the Canaries - have a great cruise :)

There are 7 islands in total. Four are large, 3 small. Out of the small islands it is normally La Palma that they visit. Tenerife is the largest island overall and you normally dock in the north of the island which is green and lush as opposed to the south of the island. Lanzarote has been known to dock at Arecife or Playa Blanca. Gran Canaria again docks in the north of the island.

All islands are well worth a visit and each is different to the others. As said the temperatures normally will be very warm and dry at that time of the year.

If you Google each individual island you are calling at you should be able to get lots of information. Different cruises to the Canaries stop at different islands.

Where else are you visiting beside the Canaries?

Hi, we've booked the 11 day Canary cruise for June. We have been to Tenerife once and did an excursion to Mount Teide and it was fantastic. The scenery was stunning, we were lucky they were filming Clash of the Titans 2 which was really interesting to see but even without that I'd have thoroughly enjoyed it. Sorry can't help with anything else, but the 1 visit has made us want to book the 11 day cruise so must have made a positive impression on us.

The two months when we've cruise

to the Canary Islands..weather was good.

Sunny and warm.

We enjoyed Tenerife, also. Unfortunately the Canary Island are having some wildfires right now. Here's one article but Google brings up several more.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0814/wildfires-on-spain-island-force-thousands-to-flee.html

The Canary Islands are to the UK and Europe as the Caribbean Islands are to the US. The UK/Europe based lines do a lot of cruises to them in the winter months. Asking on the P&O board, or the UK board might get you more answers. And I'm sure there is info on the Ports of Call boards. EM

There are 7 islands in total. Four are large, 3 small. Out of the small islands it is normally La Palma that they visit. Tenerife is the largest island overall and you normally dock in the north of the island which is green and lush as opposed to the south of the island. Lanzarote has been known to dock at Arecife or Playa Blanca. Gran Canaria again docks in the north of the island.

 

All islands are well worth a visit and each is different to the others. As said the temperatures normally will be very warm and dry at that time of the year.

 

If you Google each individual island you are calling at you should be able to get lots of information. Different cruises to the Canaries stop at different islands.

 

Where else are you visiting beside the Canaries?[/quote]

 

 

We are doing a Canary Islands & TransAlantic B2B to Fort Lauderdale. Other ports are in Portugal...Spain...Southampton...France...Azores Islands...Bermuda. We been to these ports before...only the Canary Idsland ports will be New to us.

 

Thank You for your information!

 

 

Question...

 

What side of the ship would be best for this cruise?

 

Pat :)

2Canucks

You haven't said which of the islands you are going to visit. As already mentioned, each is different with different things to see.

The Canaries have a sub tropical climate which is more or less the same all year around. There is only about a 5C difference between summer and winter temperatures. The western isles tend to be slightly wetter than the eastern ones.

In the southern parts of Tenerife and Gran Canaria there has been huge overdevelopment of tourist resorts, but the north and interior of the islands are very pretty.

Without knowing where you are going, I can't give you more specific information.

2Canucks

 

You haven't said which of the islands you are going to visit. As already mentioned, each is different with different things to see.

 

The Canaries have a sub tropical climate which is more or less the same all year around. There is only about a 5C difference between summer and winter temperatures. The western isles tend to be slightly wetter than the eastern ones.

 

In the southern parts of Tenerife and Gran Canaria there has been huge overdevelopment of tourist resorts, but the north and interior of the islands are very pretty.

 

Without knowing where you are going, I can't give you more specific information.

Here's a list of our Canary Islands ports of call...

Gran Canaris (Las Palmas)

Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Lanzarote (Arrecife)

Are there any "private tour guides" available on these islands?

Thank You for any info you can share with us.

Pat :)

I'm hoping you will share your experiences on a Canary Islands cruise.

 

We've booked a Canary Island & Western Europe Grand Adventure but have...No Knowledge about this area of the world. Is October a good time of the year to do this cruise? Any "must do excursions"?

 

Thank You in advance for any information you can share with us.

 

Pat :)

Hello Pat

My favourite Canary Island by a mile is Lanzarote. I'm sure you'll go to Timanfaya national park, where they tested the buggies for the Apollo moon landings, but also well worth a look is Jameos del Agua if you have time.

As for Tenerife, a trip to Mt Tiede is good

Las Palmas on Gran Canaria is the largest city of the Canaries and has the best shopping. The ship will dock very close to the town, so easy to get around by bus, taxi or walk. Las Canteras beach is reputed to be the best urban beach in Europe. Plenty to see and do in the city itself.

Santa Cruz is the capital of Tenerife, but IMHO not the most interesting of cities. I'd rent a car (from the prot area) from CICAR or Hertz and drive up to MountTeide, the highest mountain in Spain. Puerto de la Cruz, Tacoronte, La Laguna, La Orotava all worth a visit. Spectacular, lush scenery.

Lanzarote is totally different with a lunar like ladndscape. Again I would hire a car. Plenty to see in a day. Fire Mountain, La Geria winegrowing region, Jameos de Agua, Cuevas Verdes, Mirador del Rio etc.

Have a look on the Spanish Tourist Board website or on the various forums on Tripadvisor.

Lanzarote (Arrecife)

Are there any "private tour guides" available on these islands?

We recently had a fabulous all-day tour on Lanzarote with Lanzarote Experience Tours. We did their Grand Tour of the entire island and visited Timanfaya National Park, Jameos del Aqua, Cesar Manrique Foundation and Monumento al Campesino. The entire landscape of Lanzarote is other-worldly and the impacts of artist Manrique are everywhere. Great guide and comfortable mini-bus. Highly recommended.

I have this Tour Company and the Grand Lanzarote Tour on our list of tour options! :cool: Their itinerary sounds great!

Some questions for you...

Was this a private tour with just your group?

How many were on your tour?

We arrive at 7:00am and the ship departs at 4:00pm. Was your timeframe about the same as ours?

Did they pick you up and drop you off at the cruiseship terminal?

Thank You in advance for your help with the above tour questions.

Pat :)

Hi Pat,

We booked the Lanzarote Grand Tour with others on our Roll Call. Our group had 19 passengers in a Mercedes mini-bus and there was another group with over 30 people in a large coach. I think the smaller vehicle is the way to go, especially in Timanfaya NP where the roads are very narrow and windy. Only vehicles for ship shorex are permitted to access the port at Arrecife. The tour company sent us detailed instructions for meeting the guide, who was waiting for us just outside the ship shortly after we docked. He then escorted us to our mini-bus, which was parked in a lot about 5 min walk away. They dropped us off at the same place at the end of the day. We were in port from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm so your timeframe makes the Grand Tour very possible. I hope you book with Lanzarote Experience Tours and have a great day on the island.

We recently had a fabulous all-day tour on Lanzarote with Lanzarote Experience Tours. We did their Grand Tour of the entire island and visited Timanfaya National Park, Jameos del Aqua, Cesar Manrique Foundation and Monumento al Campesino. The entire landscape of Lanzarote is other-worldly and the impacts of artist Manrique are everywhere. Great guide and comfortable mini-bus. Highly recommended.

I am currently researching private tours in Lanzarote for late April trans-Atlantic on Celebrity Reflection. I came to this thread and found the perfect, succinct review of a private tour and said, HEY, I want to go on that tour, and then I look at the poster, and it is my friend and favorite poster MightyQuinn, with whom we went on TWO private CruiseCritic tours in South America a couple years ago. Heh, it's a small world of cruising, ain't it?

Now, I had already been on the website of Lanzarote Experience and liked the Grand Lanzarote Experience the best of those described but found it does not run on Tuesdays, the day we are going to be there. MightyQuinn, were you there on one of their regular run days, Mon, Wed Thurs? And if not, do you think they might be enticed to run a special for us on a Tuesday?

... Now, I had already been on the website of Lanzarote Experience and liked the Grand Lanzarote Experience the best of those described but found it does not run on Tuesdays, the day we are going to be there. MightyQuinn, were you there on one of their regular run days, Mon, Wed Thurs? And if not, do you think they might be enticed to run a special for us on a Tuesday?

As it turned out, we were in Lanzarote on a Tuesday but it wouldn't have mattered since we didn't sign up for their "public" tour. I suggest getting in touch with Angela at Lanzarote Experience Tours and describe your situation. They have a ton of experience in putting together tours for CC members. If you can get other folks from your RC, then I'm sure they'd do the tour on any date. You can then call the shots on doing the Grand Tour as advertised or tweak it to your interests. Cost is 1000 € per mini-bus so with 20 people, it comes to the same price as their "public" tour. Hope it works out for you.

Hi to Bigdog and hope we can cruise together again soon!

Thanks a ton, MightyQuinn. I shall get right on it. Bigdog sends his regards.

Juju

We recently had a fabulous all-day tour on Lanzarote with Lanzarote Experience Tours. We did their Grand Tour of the entire island and visited Timanfaya National Park, Jameos del Aqua, Cesar Manrique Foundation and Monumento al Campesino. The entire landscape of Lanzarote is other-worldly and the impacts of artist Manrique are everywhere. Great guide and comfortable mini-bus. Highly recommended.

We used this company as well. We were with a small group of maybe 11 (I forget) and were the first coach into the park and it was great. I really thought this island would be a dud and it was great. The landscape is surreal. This is an unretouched image from the park.

We used this company as well. We were with a small group of maybe 11 (I forget) and were the first coach into the park and it was great. I really thought this island would be a dud and it was great. The landscape is surreal. This is an unretouched image from the park.

We just returned from our 16 night trans-Atlantic cruise from Miami to Rome with 5 ports, including Lanzarote, Canary Islands. We were in port from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. We had a very active CruiseCritic roll call with many, many members wanting to take private tours.

I arranged an all-day private tour with Lanzarote Experience Tours (http://www.lanzaroteexperiencetours.com/en/excursions-lanzarote.html). I selected the Grand Lanzarote Excursion from their list of tours, but noted we would be there on a day when their tour did not normally run. My contact person was Angela, who said they could arrange a special tour for our group with English speaking guide, and she was excellent in getting back to me and making sure that our group got the tour we wanted. We needed 30 people to get a price of fifty Euros for the all-day tour including lunch. I had thirty people sign up immediately and very soon had to make a cut-off in the numbers just to keep the group size reasonable.

We ended up as a group of 39 on a bus that seated 50. I was somewhat hesitant about all of us being on a big bus, but it turned out that you WANT to be on a big bus on this island, so that you can be thrilled silly driving on a very narrow, very twisty road through the lava fields in Timanfaya National Park. Absolutely nobody complained about being on the big bus, and they all agreed that a big bus on that particular ride was just the vehicle we needed.

I think we saw the major highlights of the island, starting out at Jameos de Agua, (a don't miss), then Cesar Manrique Foundation (another don't miss), continuing to Monumento del Campesino (could be skipped but there was a nice little gift shop and excellent restrooms), then a terrific buffet lunch with about twenty items, including bottled water, house red wine, and dessert. After lunch we proceeded to Timanfaya National Park (absolute must see) where we participated in and observed several demonstrations of the power of the volcano beneath our feet, and then we loaded into our large bus for a more than thrilling downhill ride through the lava fields which left most of us gasping and laughing. We had been very good excursion members and kept to our time schedule of getting on and off the bus, so we had time after the national park to go by the Green Lake at El Golfo (don't miss if at all possible) on the coast. We had asked for a 4 p.m. return to the ship, and we made it right on time.

Our tour with Lanzarote Experience Tours was the best, and great value for the money for an all day tour including lunch and all the major island attractions. I would not hesitate to recommend this company and this tour. You would be fine with telling Angela you want to see as many of the major island attractions as possible within the time available to your group. Our guide was able to come onto the dock to meet us just outside our gangway with a sign, and then it was about an 8-10 minute walk to the bus.

So glad this thread exists. I just emailed Lanzarote Experience Tours for info on my upcoming Canary Island cruise in December. I saw some similar posts on tripadvisor but the cruise critic comments sold me.

I see the link I posted above no longer works. Try this one: http://www.lanzaroteexperiencetours.com/en/ and then look at excursions.

Contact Angela with LanzaroteExperienceTours and set up a group for your roll call. You will not be disappointed.

So glad this thread exists. I just emailed Lanzarote Experience Tours for info on my upcoming Canary Island cruise in December. I saw some similar posts on tripadvisor but the cruise critic comments sold me.

We have just returned from our Canaries cruise. I arranged the Grand Tour with Lanzarote Experience Tours for 32 people (full size coach) and can fully agree with Jujuju2 comments in May 2013. All of our group (most of whom we had never met before this cruise) agreed that both the all day tour and lunch were excellent. If you've never been to Lanzarote, Timanfaya National Park in particular is not to be missed.

In arranging the tour, Angela responded promptly to all e mails and met us when we disembarked. Although she did not travel with us on our excursion we had an excellent guide in Nick and Angela greeted us on return to the port. I would thoroughly recommend this company who offer a very good product at a very competitive price. :)

We have just returned from our Canaries cruise. I arranged the Grand Tour with Lanzarote Experience Tours for 32 people (full size coach) and can fully agree with Jujuju2 comments in May 2013. All of our group (most of whom we had never met before this cruise) agreed that both the all day tour and lunch were excellent. If you've never been to Lanzarote, Timanfaya National Park in particular is not to be missed.

In arranging the tour, Angela responded promptly to all e mails and met us when we disembarked. Although she did not travel with us on our excursion we had an excellent guide in Nick and Angela greeted us on return to the port. I would thoroughly recommend this company who offer a very good product at a very competitive price. :)

Thanks for the update!

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