Celebrity excursion in Tenerife

Hi,

My husband and I will be visiting Tenerife for our very first time during our Celebrity cruise! We'll be docking at 8a.m. and departing at 4p.m.

Since it's our first time there, we're not sure what's worth seeing and what's not. We like to see great landscapes or feel the local culture. We're really into learning about the place we're visiting.

Celebrity offers 2 excursions which might be of interest: the first one is 5 hours long and visits La Laguna, and the price seems fairly reasonable, while the second one is 4h15 and goes to Mt Teide. I only wanted to have other peoples opinions on whether it seems worth it or not. Here's the description of the excursions:

World Heritage & Wine Land

Immerse yourself in the culture and cuisine of Tenerife on this journey to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of La Laguna, followed by wine tastings at Bodegas Alvaro and La Casa del Vino. La Laguna is a World Heritage Site and the cultural and religious capital of Tenerife. Enjoy a guided walk from Plaza del Adelantado towards the church of Santa Catarina. Stroll along Calle San Agustín, where you’ll admire the façade of the Episcopal Palace and the Lercaro Palace. Discover La Laguna’s popular market. Then, journey to the northeastern area of Tenerife, known for its outstanding wines. Visit Bodegas Alvaro, where you’ll enjoy an aperitif, a selection of wines, and savor local delicacies. Next, make your way to El Sauzal, where you’ll discover La Casa del Vino, a wine museum located in a 17th century house. Learn about wine culture and production and sample local wines paired with cheese.

Canada Del Teide Panorama

Journey to the National Park of Las Cañadas del Teide, a 19-hectare protected territory and UNESCO World Heritage Site. Teide crater is situated in the center of the Park and houses an extensive array of unique flora and fauna. Stroll through the lava fields of Mount Teide, Spain’s tallest mountain, where you’ll discover one of Tenerife’s most iconic landmarks, El Roque Chinchado (“God’s finger”), a curious lava stone formation that resembles a human finger.

Both celebrity excursions are a LOT less expensive than local excursion. We usually prefer smaller local excursions, but we're hesitating because of the prices (celebrity excursions are about half the price of local tours).

Sorry for the long post. Hope some of you can help us figure that out! Thank you very much!

To reach La Laguna you can take the tram from Santa Cruz. Teide is the highest mountain of Spain and the scenery is spectacular. I would hire a car from CICAR who have an office in the port.

Car hire is reasonably priced and driving is fairly easy. By having a car you could visit other places like Garachico, Puerto de la Cruz, La Orotava, Icod de Los Vinos etc.

what are celebrity prices and what are the local companies prices you have been quoted?

we used http://www.tenerifeprivatetours.com with guide John Reid

his prices for a 7 seater van were 260 euros for a group of 4 so if you could get tour mates from your roll call could work out cost effective

we did Teide and scenic North West tour which was 6 hours long and very scenic!

the best part however for us was that we arrived at Mount Teide and the national park when it was quiet and the ships tour buses started arriving as we were due to leave so we missed the crowds

We were in Tenerife recently and loved it! We bought a ticket on the hop-on hop-off bus that stops just outside the cruise port. It was inexpensive and a good way to see the capital city, Santa Cruz.

http://cruiseports.ca/spain/tenerife-cruise-port.html