Canaries, Morocco, and Spain

[NMTraveller]

Has anyone done this itinerary?  Your thoughts?  How would you rank the itinerary?

[Mariettte]

We’ve got this booked for November 2025, interested to see any previous experiences. 

[villauk]

We did this itinerary quite a few years ago. It really depends what you are looking for. Personally, it’s not ranked amongst our most favourite, probably because the Canaries are where many Brits escape to during our winter months (a little like US travellers going to the Caribbean). Morocco was a unique experience and quite different from the other port stops, so definitely worth a visit.

[chemmo]

Not done the Moroccan stop but cruised the Canary Islands a couple of times and also enjoyed Winter breaks there.

 

Obviously the islands are a year round resort so cruising there between October  and March will usually give you some sunshine (not guaranteed but more reliable than the Mediterranean at this time of year). More importantly their tourist season doesn’t shut down as many smaller Mediterranean ports do. However, the ports used by cruise ships are not generally destinations in themselves. Definitely look at booking excursions or hiring a car if you want to see more than a few bars…Each of the Islands has places of interest to visit, especially if you are interested in vulcanology!

 

Whilst rarely very cold you will get wet days and days where a cardigan is needed if you are not in direct sun.

 

Sea temperatures are never particularly hot and at this time of year are cooler still. If you did want a ‘beach type’ break you need to look at a resort with a heated pool and have a plan B incase the weather isn’t good.

 

On our two cruises we particularly enjoyed the cruising towards and from the islands. Definitely worth some deck time!

 

 

[Ex-Airbalancer]

5 hours ago, villauk said:

We did this itinerary quite a few years ago. It really depends what you are looking for. Personally, it’s not ranked amongst our most favourite, probably because the Canaries are where many Brits escape to during our winter months (a little like US travellers going to the Caribbean). Morocco was a unique experience and quite different from the other port stops, so definitely worth a visit.

Your thoughts on the Canaries Islands are the same I have about Caribbean islands 😉

[keysey222]

I did this one last December. I had never been to any of the ports and overall I enjoyed the cruise. Weather was great in the Canaries, sunny and low-70s. I recommend going with an independent tour provider to get a better feel of the islands rather than the ship tours. Celebrity's tours were quite lacking in these ports.

In Morocco and Spain, a light sweatshirt was sufficient for the weather. Casablanca wasn't a great port, we went with Celebrity and did a tour of Casablanca and Rabat. I didn't enjoy it and was bored most of the time, but that's more of a matter of personal preference. It was a lot of bus time with a few short stops, lunch and a tour of the mosque. I loved Tangier. We also went with a Celebrity tour of Asilah and Tangier and that excursion was worth doing. 

I think the Spain ports we visited were just Cadiz and Valencia. The city of Cadiz is right at the port and it's easy to do your own thing. Many did tours to Seville, which I'm sure was amazing, but Cadiz is a lovely city as well. We didn't want to spend all that time on a bus. The Valencia port provided a cheap shuttle in and out of the city. Great places to visit and no tours are really necessary for an enjoyable day.