opinions on Canary Islands itinerary/sailing

[susiesan]

I am looking at a Canary Islands itinerary on Riviera, 11 nights, April 4, 2022. I have never been there before, this cruise visits 3 ports in the Canaries and also Tangier which would be new for me. Has anyone done this itinerary with Oceania or another line? What did you think of it? There are 7 ports and 3 sea days. The cruise is wide open for bookings and doesn't seem to be very popular or in demand like other Europe itineraries for 2022. It is also priced far less than other Europe cruises which jas me concerned that maybe it is not too exciting.

 

Since O has not returned my deposit yet from the cancelled Dec. 12 Sirena cruise I could just roll the deposit to this cruise. I can apply a $500 FCC too.

[Nodakboiler]

We have been to the Canary Islands a couple of times and we have loved it. Each island has its own personality. We thought they would be like visiting the Caribbean where one island is just like the other one after a while, bit nothing could be further from the truth. There is a lot of history on the islands. Once while visiting Gran Canaria we celebrated Ocktoberfest with giant pretzels and big steins of beer. Enjoy the cruise.

[LGW59]

1 hour ago, susiesan said:

I am looking at a Canary Islands itinerary on Riviera, 11 nights, April 4, 2022. I have never been there before, this cruise visits 3 ports in the Canaries and also Tangier which would be new for me. Has anyone done this itinerary with Oceania or another line? What did you think of it? There are 7 ports and 3 sea days. The cruise is wide open for bookings and doesn't seem to be very popular or in demand like other Europe itineraries for 2022. It is also priced far less than other Europe cruises which jas me concerned that maybe it is not too exciting.

 

Since O has not returned my deposit yet from the cancelled Dec. 12 Sirena cruise I could just roll the deposit to this cruise. I can apply a $500 FCC too.

I am looking at that exact same cruise as well, ship looks lovely.  Found a few on line videos of the aft suite I’m interested in, it is quite large and the wrap around balcony is huge.  Great itinerary, going to book it.  Maybe we will meet on board!

[Mrs f.]

We were in Tenerife and La Gomera while on the Marina just before covid. Did a private full day wine excursion in Tenerife which we really enjoyed. Couldn't find anything in La Gomera that I wanted so we walked off the ship and into town. The ship docked right at the foot of town. We spent a few hours walking around . Pretty town.

[TrulyBlonde]

They were just OK to me. We also had stops in Agadir and Casablanca. If doing it all over again, I would use the stop in Agadir and take an overnight side trip to Marrakech for La Mamounia. Your itinerary does not have Agadir. I don't think you can do that with Tangiers.

In all honesty, Morocco was so filthy that we stayed on the ship and decided to forgo Casablanca the next day. Even the concierge on Riviera told me that she stays on board because Morocco is a bit too Exotic for her 😉 

 

Whatever floats your boat.

 

[KatieBelle]

6 hours ago, Mrs f. said:

We were in Tenerife and La Gomera while on the Marina just before covid. Did a private full day wine excursion in Tenerife which we really enjoyed. Couldn't find anything in La Gomera that I wanted so we walked off the ship and into town. The ship docked right at the foot of town. We spent a few hours walking around . Pretty town.

Hello Mrs. f

 

Would you be able to expand on who the private tour operator was and what sights you enjoyed recommend in Tenerife?  What is the port situation - walk off or shuttle into town?

 

Katie

[susiesan]

I did go ahead and put a hold on a cabin for this sailing. My TA was not able to have Oceania apply the current deposit that hasn't been refunded yet to this new cruise so I had to cough up another $1500 deposit. Doesn't make sense to me as a business owner. Far less work to apply money you already have in hand to a new booking than go through the refund process where the merchant loses another 2-3% credit card discount for refunds.

[the mice]

We took the Marina "Spanish Serenade" cruise the last 2 weeks of November 2018.   Our itinerary was different in that it went from Barcelona to Lisbon and did not go to Morocco.  We did take a very small group tour for 1 week in Morocco in October 1998, so had the benefit of a Moroccan guide - found it fascinating.  But not sure I'd want to have done it on our own.   This may be incorrect, but since Tangier is connected to Spain by ferry, I have heard it is less representative of Moroccan culture found in other cities.   Our cruise also went to Madeira (Portuguese island) which your cruise does not - Madeira was wonderful.

 

We really enjoyed the Canaries - we visited Tenerife, Lanzarote and La Palma instead of Grand Canaria.

In Tenerife someone on our roll call arranged a tour with Spain Day Tours, however, due to weather we were not able to go to Mount Tiede, which was closed by snow.    In Lanzarote 8 of us did a tour with Crazy David (Penney) which was fabulous.   He's worked with several different companies, but you can probably do an online search for him.   

 

Enjoy!

[PhD-iva]

My Nov TA on Riviera will stop at Santa Cruz de La Palma. Can you recommend anything there? Pretty small island, not sure what to do…….

Thx!

[the mice]

6 minutes ago, PhD-iva said:

My Nov TA on Riviera will stop at Santa Cruz de La Palma. Can you recommend anything there? Pretty small island, not sure what to do…….

Thx!

The town is quite interesting.   I walked it by myself in the late afternoon after our private tour (DH decided to just go back to the ship).   Guidebooks and the web have information.  

 

It was quite challenging to arrange a private tour.   However, after a lot of false starts (most will not pick up at the port), I was able to arrange a tour with a company called Viajes Pamir.   We did the 5 hour North Island Tour.  I had a lot of correspondence with them and had to pay a $25 deposit, and they arranged to let me pay it by credit card which was not originally an option.  It was super reasonable.  I don't know how things are now since COVID, but here is my direct contact who was a pleasure to deal with:     Manuel Negro (manuelnegro@viajespamir.com)     

You might mention that a woman named Marilyn B (sorry, not using my last name here) used them in November 2018 on a cruise ship day and referred you.   We had a new bus that held 18 (but I think we were 12 from the roll call) and it was 300.00 € for the 5 hour tour.   Our guide, Mariangel, was a lovely young woman and everyone had a great time.  

 

Loved this island!  And our entire cruise.   Enjoy yours!

[Mrs f.]

18 hours ago, KatieBelle said:

Hello Mrs. f

 

Would you be able to expand on who the private tour operator was and what sights you enjoyed recommend in Tenerife?  What is the port situation - walk off or shuttle into town?

 

Katie

Let me look in my files for the info.  I remember in Tenerife I arranged for a tour for 6. I posted on my CD roll call page with all the info and got 2 more couples within hours.  

[Harters]

We visit Tenerife each year for three weeks. These days, it's very much a "fly and flop" trip for winter sun. We did all the usual excursions years back.

 

Santa Cruz, where the ship will dock,  is a nice fairly compact city and easily walkable. There are attractive areas elsewhere in the north - La Laguna, for example. A trip to Teide is almost essential - it's the highest point in Spain. I can be sunbathing, in January, in one of the southern resorts and look up and see the top of Teide covered in snow. The south of the island has been developed for tourism and its peak season is during winter when North European "swallows" are the main visitors.

 

We did a day trip to La Gomera a year or so back. San Sebastien is more large village than town and the rest of the island is very rural. Done it once (after 20 years looking at the island from Tenerife) and no need to do it again. Not been to any of the other islands

[TERRIER1]

We were on an Oceania cruise in 2012 that took in the Canaries and loved it except for Casablanca.  Lanzarote is amazing. We took a private tour with Lanzarote Experience Tours and they were great. In Agadir, a private tour to Taroudant was arranged by another cruiser and it was very nice. We didn't do anything in Agadir itself since we were out the whole day with the tour. We walked around the town in Santa Cruz de La Palma and went up to the black sand beaches. Nice town.

[Mrs f.]

I used TENERIFE HOST which is part of TRIPSPOINT.COM.  We did the private wine tour.  Our guide was Gregory who had a minivan that held 8 but we booked for 6 since nobody really wants a middle seat.  Not a tender port. We walked off the ship and followed Gregory's exact email direction. 5 min walk to gate to meet him.  We had a wonderful  day.

[KatieBelle]

Y'all have been so helpful.  Welcome more info.  Gives me a good start.  Thank you! 

Katie

[hawkesbaynz]

Have been to the Canaries numerous times although mainly for sunbathing and relaxing rather than tours. I have also dived quite a lot on Lanzarote & Tenerife. It is great value from the UK.  
 

Mount Tiede is worthwhile.  We also really enjoyed small whale and dolphin spotting off South of Tenerife on a small sailing yacht. Just four of us. 

[Mrs f.]

On 6/29/2021 at 9:56 PM, susiesan said:

I am looking at a Canary Islands itinerary on Riviera, 11 nights, April 4, 2022. I have never been there before, this cruise visits 3 ports in the Canaries and also Tangier which would be new for me. Has anyone done this itinerary with Oceania or another line? What did you think of it? There are 7 ports and 3 sea days. The cruise is wide open for bookings and doesn't seem to be very popular or in demand like other Europe itineraries for 2022. It is also priced far less than other Europe cruises which jas me concerned that maybe it is not too exciting.

 

Since O has not returned my deposit yet from the cancelled Dec. 12 Sirena cruise I could just roll the deposit to this cruise. I can apply a $500 FCC too.

What 3 ports in Canary Islands?

[susiesan]

1 hour ago, Mrs f. said:

What 3 ports in Canary Islands?

Santa Cruz de tenerife

Arrecife

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

[Harters]

3 hours ago, hawkesbaynz said:

 We also really enjoyed small whale and dolphin spotting off South of Tenerife on a small sailing yacht.

The whale watching tours from the south are good fun but I'd question whether the hour's drive each  way from the port would be the best use of time on the island. Unless, of course, whale watching is a particular "thing" for you, of course.