Advice re Canary Islands cruise please

[LinniB]

Has anyone been on a Canary Islands cruise in November?

What was the weather and seas like ?

Were  the seas rough as only done Mediterranean and Caribbean cruises previously and not sure how steady the ship would be 😂

Any help greatly appreciated 

 

[indiana123]

Sorry no-one can tell you... the Bay of Biscay is her own Master.  We went across twice in November last year and it was like a millpond,  smoother than sitting on a bus.... but she does what she wants.

 

I think all the newer ships probably handle her well.  Mid ships, lower deck is better when there is movement.

[LinniB]

Thanks for your reply 

The cruise we are looking at starts and ends in Tenerife and takes in Madeira 

[Cruisemeister2002]

12 minutes ago, LinniB said:

Thanks for your reply 

The cruise we are looking at starts and ends in Tenerife and takes in Madeira 

If you haven't been to Madeira you are in for a treat. Very pretty, although occasionally can be covered in mist. Bit hairy travelling by coach to the top. A friend we were with suggested going to a restaurant he knew as from what I recall he either owned or had owned a property on the Island. He enquired as to whether the owner would fire up the Barbeque, which he did and we had a nice lunch . You can ride down in one of those baskets, but it is not advised as they are a bit dangerous. Part of the cruise we were on took in Las Palmas, but it was closed for the day due to a strike. But that was a long time ago.

[davecttr]

Apparently the temperatures in November can be over 20 degrees and the seas are still warm. I will find out this November.

[mike x ftc]

It could be anything but generally should be ok, we have done the Canaries a few times and it has been fine but it is usually a bit rocky up to and from Madeira, you seem to get more swell around there.

[sleepingcat]

we ve done canaries cruises several times in January. I dont think you ll get any rough seas. the main risk might be wind/weather coming in from south east which means a thick yellow mist full of sand from the Sahara, which happened to us this January.  wind direction also meant that Madeira call had to be dropped. It was still nice and warm, though, and much nicer than the UK at the time, so imho worth the risk. 

[BouncingWheel]

1 hour ago, Cruisemeister2002 said:

You can ride down in one of those baskets, but it is not advised as they are a bit dangerous.

They may look dangerous but they are skilled "drivers". My family have done it and if there had been loads of accidents then I'm sure you would know about it.

However, our experience is that you cannot ride all the way down. It takes you about halfway where there are taxis waiting to rip you off to get you back to the bottom.

[grapau27]

2 hours ago, LinniB said:

Has anyone been on a Canary Islands cruise in November?

What was the weather and seas like ?

Were  the seas rough as only done Mediterranean and Caribbean cruises previously and not sure how steady the ship would be 😂

Any help greatly appreciated 

 

If you are sailing from and to Tenerife it is a nice time to cruise if you don't want to sunbathe all day.

 

[LinniB]

Many thanks for all your help 👍

[dunnster1965]

1 hour ago, LinniB said:

Thanks for your reply 

The cruise we are looking at starts and ends in Tenerife and takes in Madeira 

It's a pleasant time of the year to cruise the Canaries. Madeira is usually a degree or two cooler, the wind a notch faster but it's a great choice for that time of the year.

[LinniB]

👍

[Wichenford Wolf]

13 hours ago, BouncingWheel said:

They may look dangerous but they are skilled "drivers". My family have done it and if there had been loads of accidents then I'm sure you would know about it.

However, our experience is that you cannot ride all the way down. It takes you about halfway where there are taxis waiting to rip you off to get you back to the bottom.

Agree with all this. However you can ignore the taxis and walk - it’s not that far and of course it’s downhill all the way 😂

[wowzz]

On 6/1/2022 at 8:39 PM, Cruisemeister2002 said:

You can ride down in one of those baskets, but it is not advised as they are a bit dangerous

Not anymore, as the cobbles have been replaced with tarmac.

The only danger is to your wallet.

[kruzseeka]

11 hours ago, Wichenford Wolf said:

Agree with all this. However you can ignore the taxis and walk - it’s not that far and of course it’s downhill all the way 😂

We walked down thinking it wasn't far - and indeed it isn't - but it is very steep.  We zig-zagged down the road to reduce the gradient.  Very doable but tough on the knees and perhaps worth bearing in mind if that could be an issue for you. 

[devonuk]

On 6/1/2022 at 6:37 PM, LinniB said:

Has anyone been on a Canary Islands cruise in November?

What was the weather and seas like ?

Were  the seas rough as only done Mediterranean and Caribbean cruises previously and not sure how steady the ship would be 😂

Any help greatly appreciated 

 

What ship will you be on?

[cruise saint]

On 6/2/2022 at 8:51 AM, Wichenford Wolf said:

Agree with all this. However you can ignore the taxis and walk - it’s not that far and of course it’s downhill all the way 😂

We walked the remaining bit when we were there,  despite a taxi driver telling us it was 5km to the bottom.  It's not even 1km.  😅

Didn't feel the toboggan was dangerous at all.

[LinniB]

On 6/2/2022 at 10:03 PM, devonuk said:

What ship will you be on?

The Azura was the only ship we could find for that date that was good for my “ still working “ sister 😂

[Vampiress88]

We are going canaries in November too but on iona. 
 

the sea is its own and won’t know till your on. We had a horrible night back in 2019 through the bob and this year in April it wasn’t even near as bad. Luck of the draw 

[wowzz]

7 hours ago, Vampiress88 said:

We are going canaries in November too but on iona. 
 

the sea is its own and won’t know till your on. We had a horrible night back in 2019 through the bob and this year in April it wasn’t even near as bad. Luck of the draw 

Hi Vamps, 

Glad to see you are back.

Have you changed your location for some reason ? 

 

[DropThePuck]

We will be cruising on Azura from Tenerife on 11th November for my 60th.  We are really looking forward to it.  I haven't been to the Canaries/Madeira since I was 11, and really enjoyed it then.  I do remember it being a bit rocky in the Bay of Biscay, but starting in Tenerife we should avoid the choppy stuff.

The basket ride in Madeira was brilliant on the cobbles.  Will be interesting to see how it is on Tarmac.

I am a bit tense as we haven't received flight info yet, other than London.  I like to book parking, etc well in advance.  Does anyone have their flight info yet?  Hopefully, all the ongoing issues won't be so prevalent then.

[LinniB]

We didn’t receive flight details until 8 days before last p and o cruise ! Let’s hope better luck this time !

[DropThePuck]

43 minutes ago, LinniB said:

We didn’t receive flight details until 8 days before last p and o cruise ! Let’s hope better luck this time !

That's terrible.  That makes it so hard to plan ahead.  I have been told it could be any one of the London airports.  I might ask to change to Birmingham, which is closer to us, but at least I know it is just the one airport.

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, DropThePuck said:

That's terrible.  That makes it so hard to plan ahead.  I have been told it could be any one of the London airports.  I might ask to change to Birmingham, which is closer to us, but at least I know it is just the one airport.

Normally there is a surcharge for using non-London airports, but probably worth paying it for the certainty.  

[Malibustacey79]

22 hours ago, wowzz said:

Normally there is a surcharge for using non-London airports, but probably worth paying it for the certainty.  

We go on Azura in October and paid an extra £175 each to go from Newcastle, which seems an awful lot! But London is just so far from us and makes it really impractical. 
 

I have noticed that our cruise (13th Oct) is now only being sold as ‘cruise only’ - is this a common thing? I assume it means all flights are now full but it’s our first time with P&O and not something I’ve noticed before. Our planner does show flight times, and did straight away when we booked in March so I’m hoping they remain the same!