How Chilly is it on Island Escape

[ekco]

Just packing for Monday and having a 'discussion' :rolleyes: with DH about what to take. Can anyone tell me if it gets really cold at night on the Canaries Island Escape cruise. Hate being cold. I'll ask on the Island forum as well as we haven't much time.

 

Jan

[Cymro1953]

Just packing for Monday and having a 'discussion' :rolleyes: with DH about what to take. Can anyone tell me if it gets really cold at night on the Canaries Island Escape cruise. Hate being cold. I'll ask on the Island forum as well as we haven't much time.

 

Jan

 

Hi Jan,

We were aboard in mid December and you did need something to cover your shoulders if the ship was at sea in the evenings like a light cardigan. But in several ports the ship was there till late evening.

It can get breezy though, especially on the crossing between Canaries and Madeira as there is nothing between you and the S. American coast.

It definitely wasn't as cold as it was in mid April 2008 in the Mediterranean.

 

Berwyn

[ekco]

Hi Berwyn

 

I knew you'd help me out. Thanks for the info. I've been to the Canaries many times but never on a ship. It looks like it's warming up nicely on land but it's always cooler near the sea. Are the bars and restaurants heated? I'm not that soft but maybe strappy tops and dresses would need a cardy or light jacket I think. Then again if the ship's in port 'til late evening it wouldn't be a big issue. Rambling again!! :D:D

 

Jan

[Cymro1953]

Hi Jan, we were warm enough with just tops and shirts for me indoors.

they boys found it a bit cool outside some nights though as they smoke and were up the top at the sailaway bar outside late in the evenings.

 

Berwyn

[Cymro1953]

P.S.

Shows how crazy the weather is.

Last year my colleague in work did the itinerary on the Celebration the same time as us and wore thin tops out on deck day and late into the evening. Calm seas and hot sunny days.

 

Berwyn

[ekco]

I've looked at the 10 day forecast and it seems ok. I think what we've packed will be fine as long as I can stop hubby taking his thick winter coat, doh! We're checking the bags in at Manchester tomorrow as we're only a ten minute drive away and we won't have to mess about on Monday. We've got that many sea sick remedies, just in case, that if security spots them we could be done for drug running. lol.

 

Jan

[Cymro1953]

We've got that many sea sick remedies, just in case, that if security spots them we could be done for drug running. lol.

 

Jan

 

Hide half of them in the suitcases :D

We found even when it was calm there was more of a swell in the Atlantic than the Med. The waves have got further to travel.

The ship's radio engineer did tomorrow's forecast in the daily paper and he didn't even have a 50% success rate with it.

I'd only just realised you were off on monday. Have a lovely time.

 

Berwyn

[ekco]

Thanks Berwyn. Wish me luck.

 

Jan

[Cymro1953]

You'll be fine. The bad weather seems to be in France and Spain. All that snow Brrr!!

I hope it warms up there before we get there in the Dream next month.

Where's your cabin?

We had deck 9 twice with no probs.

 

Berwyn

[ekco]

Don't know which deck yet. Booking late we just took pot luck, either 7, 8 or 9. Did Day Before Check In today, went like a breeze. Straight in picked up tickets, checked in with no queue, went on to special Day Before bag carousel and back in the car in 10 minutes flat.

 

It'd better not snow or you know who's to blame don't you?:D:D

 

Jan

[Cymro1953]

 

It'd better not snow or you know who's to blame don't you?:D:D

 

Jan

 

I'm the husband, it's always our fault :D.

I hope I get the credit if you get a heatwave.

 

Berwyn

[ekco]

Hi Berwyn

 

Just got back and you were right, only needed the fleeces once on deck when we sailed away from Gran Canaria. Had hot sunny weather most days, apart from Funchal as usual. Funchal is open for business but they are still cleaning up with diggers in all of the rivers taking out enormous rocks that have been washed down from the mountains. We were in cabin 9048 on deck 9 which was almost an inside cabin as there was a huge tender outside the window. Anyone booking on deck 9 should go for the cabins at either end as, even if the deck plan shows a gap in the lifeboats, there is ironwork and hoisting equipment in the gaps. Also, deck 8 is a smoking deck with people sitting out there all day and I noticed that a lot of the cabins had the curtains closed most of the time which defeats the object of paying more for an outside cabin. Our cabin was quite good with a newish carpet and decor, although as expected the bathroom had seen better days, but more storage in there than any hotel room. Good thermostatic controls in cabin, also warm in the public areas. There was a lot of refurbishment going on with carpet laying and decorators on the higher decks. On the whole it was pretty quiet where we were, apart from one night in Tenerife where there were 2 men loudly prowling the corridor at 3.00am in the morning. I had to get up in the end and nearly laughed out loud when I found 2 male OAP's in the corridor as drunk as skunks. They had boarded that day and couldn't find their cabin which they thought might have been on deck 4!! Easily done I think but not a good idea to drink too much on the first night.:D:D.

 

Jan

[Cymro1953]

Hi Jan,

I see you had a good time, apart from the view from the window.

If Dw had been woken by your nightime visitors she'd have been ready to kill. Not good if you disturb her sleep :eek:

I had mentioned in a thread somewhere on the Island Cruises board about cabins on deck 8. DW took one look at the promenade deck and said "I wouldn't like one of those cabins." with the people walking up and down outside.

 

Berwyn

[ekco]

Hi Berwyn

 

I'm feeling like I've got a split personality with the Island thread. I don't like my sleep interrupted either. I woke up and stuffed the wax earplugs in but it was too late. I couldn't make it out in my sleepy state, I thought one of them was speaking in Russian, then the other one answered in English. That can't be right :confused:. I thought "Right! That's it!" and marched up to the door (suitably dressed of course). I had to laugh though, they looked like the Chuckle Brothers dads). Trouble was I couldn't sleep for 2 hours after that.

 

You were right about the crossing from La Palma to Madeira. The whole trip had been really calm until then but it changed to quite rough. DH was OK with the wrist bands but I had to take Stugeron which worked within the hour and didn't make me sleepy at all. The best thing was that the restaurants were nearly deserted and we got to eat without the usual scrum. Just a shame they chose that night to feature Mexican food.:eek:. No thanks :D

 

Jan

[Cymro1953]

Hi Berwyn

 

I'm feeling like I've got a split personality with the Island thread. I don't like my sleep interrupted either. I woke up and stuffed the wax earplugs in but it was too late. I couldn't make it out in my sleepy state, I thought one of them was speaking in Russian, then the other one answered in English. That can't be right :confused:. I thought "Right! That's it!" and marched up to the door (suitably dressed of course). I had to laugh though, they looked like the Chuckle Brothers dads). Trouble was I couldn't sleep for 2 hours after that.

 

You were right about the crossing from La Palma to Madeira. The whole trip had been really calm until then but it changed to quite rough. DH was OK with the wrist bands but I had to take Stugeron which worked within the hour and didn't make me sleepy at all. The best thing was that the restaurants were nearly deserted and we got to eat without the usual scrum. Just a shame they chose that night to feature Mexican food.:eek:. No thanks :D

 

Jan

 

AARGH!! Don't say that. We are off to Mexico in Sept. We were at the back end of the ship last time and we loved being rocked to sleep.

I know what you mean about not being able to get back to sleep. If DW gets up in the night I have a job getting back to sleep.

I think if you got to the restaurants at off peak hours you won't have trouble getting a table.

 

Berwyn

[ekco]

AARGH!! Don't say that. We are off to Mexico in Sept. We were at the back end of the ship last time and we loved being rocked to sleep.

I know what you mean about not being able to get back to sleep. If DW gets up in the night I have a job getting back to sleep.

I think if you got to the restaurants at off peak hours you won't have trouble getting a table.

 

Berwyn

 

You should be ok in Mexico but we thought it wasn't the best thing to eat with the ship pitching and rolling :eek:. I think I over did it last week I've done nothing but sleep since I got back. There's so much to fit in.

 

Jan

[Cymro1953]

You should be ok in Mexico but we thought it wasn't the best thing to eat with the ship pitching and rolling :eek:. I think I over did it last week I've done nothing but sleep since I got back. There's so much to fit in.

 

Jan

 

We are lucky it didn't bother us. More room in the dining rooms to eat. :D

On the last night it was quite rough and one of the boys had to hang on to the christmas tree in the Beachcomber most of the evening.

We thought it was just bad weather, but when we got home we found out there had been an undersea earthquake between Portugal and Madeira in the day. :eek:

 

We thought the cruise more relaxing than the Med ones, less intensive sightseeing. It is the getting up at stupid o' clock in the morning to be at Manchester for the early flights that kills us. We could have done with the sea day on the 1st full day of the cruise.

 

Berwyn

[ekco]

We are lucky it didn't bother us. More room in the dining rooms to eat. :D

On the last night it was quite rough and one of the boys had to hang on to the christmas tree in the Beachcomber most of the evening.

We thought it was just bad weather, but when we got home we found out there had been an undersea earthquake between Portugal and Madeira in the day. :eek:

 

We thought the cruise more relaxing than the Med ones, less intensive sightseeing. It is the getting up at stupid o' clock in the morning to be at Manchester for the early flights that kills us. We could have done with the sea day on the 1st full day of the cruise.

 

Berwyn

 

Tsunami!!:eek: It was really rough for us leaving from La Palma but in the middle of the night it suddenly went back to normal. Great fun walking in a zig-zag to get from A to B. We were ok after a lie down for half an hour and taking the remedies. Can you believe a racing pigeon appeared on deck outside the Beachcomber around 8.00pm. It lives in Madeira now, a very lucky bird to find the ship in the dark. I would have preferred 2 days in Madeira or Lanzarote rather than travelling all that way to Agadir then all the way back to Lanzarote. We stayed on the ship and the most entertaining thing that happened was watching 3 large dogs playing on a large pile of cement being deposited on the quay from a ship. You've never seen anything move so fast when a crane with a huge grabber dropped another load almost on top of them.:D

 

Jan

 

Jan

[Cymro1953]

Hi Jan,

I wrote to Thomson's telling them that we'd prefer 2days in Madeira or an alternate stop instead of Agadir.

I wonder if the pigeon found his way home once it got it's navigation sorted.

 

Berwyn

[ekco]

Hi Berwyn

 

Hope you get a respsonse from Thomsons on Agadir. It's the one stop off that would stop me booking again along with the changeover days, we found the Tenerife one a bit wearing. Actually if we did cruise that one again we'd go from Tenerife, if you can't beat them join them I say.

 

I know it's silly but I've been thinking about the pigeon today. We had a racer in the garden a couple of years ago and managed to catch it and sent it's number over the internet to the Royal Pigeon Racing Club. They sent me the owners number and on contact they sent a courier to pick it up. I wonder where the cruise pigeon came from?

We'll never know.

 

Jan

[Cymro1953]

Hi Berwyn

 

Hope you get a respsonse from Thomsons on Agadir. It's the one stop off that would stop me booking again along with the changeover days, we found the Tenerife one a bit wearing. Actually if we did cruise that one again we'd go from Tenerife, if you can't beat them join them I say.

 

 

 

Jan

 

Hi Jan,

No, I never heard anything back from them.

We went from Tenerife and it seemed most people boarded there. We never noticed anyone getting on or off in either Gran canaria or Madeira.

We'd never been to the Canaries before and glad we went with the boys as it was a relaxing one, no trying to get them up early for long excursions like Rome. etc. while they are worse for wear from the night before.

The only one we'd go back to is Madeira and then as a hotel holiday.

 

Berwyn

[ekco]

Hi Jan,

No, I never heard anything back from them.

We went from Tenerife and it seemed most people boarded there. We never noticed anyone getting on or off in either Gran canaria or Madeira.

We'd never been to the Canaries before and glad we went with the boys as it was a relaxing one, no trying to get them up early for long excursions like Rome. etc. while they are worse for wear from the night before.

The only one we'd go back to is Madeira and then as a hotel holiday.

 

Berwyn

 

Hi Berwyn

 

We had a week in Madeira a few years ago and loved it. But if you don't like walking up and down hills get a hotel near the sea. Not much going on at night in Funchal. A lot of the tourists seem to get up early to catch the buses into the mountains which have better views in the morning before the clouds roll in. Great bus service in Funchal, they go everywhere. There's a good Lido near the sea in the tourist area of Funchal. Will definitely go again, great in December when the Christmas lights are on. My legs have never been so fit.

 

Jan