Looking for information from anyone who has sailed in the Canary Islands

[mj_holiday]

We have a cruise next spring that starts in Gran Canaria and goes to several other islands before heading to the mainland.

 

It would be nice to have any suggestions on excursions, where the ship docks on the islands, and any other information or lessons learned.

[the mice]

We sailed in the Canaries on Oceania in fall 2018 and had a fantastic time.   I believe that Azamara does more ports now than we did, but perhaps this will help.

We did private excursions, which at the time were not so easy to find.  I arranged 3 (all small group van tours) all directly with the tour companies, and someone else arranged the 4th  Not sure if that is different now.   It was a lot of work to find these tours at the time.

All our tours were great, except on Tenerife where the road to Mt. Tiede was closed due to new snow, so that was an altered tour.  Tiede was to be the highlight, so a bit disappointing but the guide made lemonade from lemons (which I guess is now a way of life in this new time of travel).  

 

Our stops and tour companies were:

Madeira (Portugal) -  Maderia Island Tours  https://www.madeira-island-tours.com/

Lanzarote with David Penney - fabulous.  Contact info for him is different now: https://www.adventureholidayslanzarote.com/crazy-david

La Palma (where the volcano eruption in the south caused massive issues) - we toured the north and had a fantastic time.   This was a tough one to figure out, but they customized a tour for us with a new van-bus for about 15 people which still had extra seats,  made arrangements to let me pay by credit card and were so responsive to deal with.   However, they may not still be operating.   https://www.visitlapalma.es/en/agencias/viajes-pamir/    My contact was a gentleman named Manuel Negro and he was a gem to work with.  

Tenerife -  this was arranged through Spain Day Tours and was on a large bus.   I think there were other people from the ship besides those of us planning this from the roll call.

 

I loved the Canaries and would like to go back again as we never saw Funchal in Madeira and there is much to see in all the islands.  

Hope this helps.  Enjoy your cruise! 

 

  

[Globalfish]

I am booked for Azamara’s 7-day Canary Island cruise in Spring 2024 (not 2023).  Assuming there are no ship restrictions preventing me from doing so and providing that no one on this forum advises against it, I plan on booking onshore excursions through Viator.  They appear to have excursions from all the ports that the Canary Island cruise visits.

 

I have previously been to Funchal, Madeira (not on a cruise).  The toboggan ride is a must!