Canaries

[sapphire4]

We are going to Gran Canaria again this year on Britannia and were wondering if we will dock at the same place? Last year we followed the hoards and came across the most fabulous beach and wish we had taken our swimming stuff. Any information on La Palma also appreciated.

[davecttr]

As far as I know they always dock in the same place. Just walk through the town for the long beach and promenade :)

[sapphire4]

Great thanks. Will take the swimming stuff this time!

[Henderson1]

Every time ee've been to Gran Canaria ( a good few) always docked at the same place, entrance has biig sail monument. 15/20 minute stroll to Playa de las Canteras, fabulous beach, loads of bars and restaurants, can recommend La Regatta

 

Jackie

[LondonTowner]

If you walk to the far end of the beach there is Las Arenas, a good shopping centre.

[sapphire4]

Thanks for the info. Any comments on La Palma? Thanks

[LondonTowner]

When we went o La Palma we were going to negotiate with a taxi driver at the port. When we got there it was raining, so stayed in town. I didn't really mind as I'd lived in the Canaries for 13 years, but there is info on what to do here on CC and Tripadvisor.

[Cruise Puss]

We went to La Palma again this March and actually got off the ship. (Pretty good for us!)

 

We took a tour to the south of the island which took in some volcanos, a winery, and a small local pottery.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed the tour. La Palma is a very young island compared to some of the other Canary Islands and is, therefore, very steep so the roads get quite high - the views are amazing. We had a fantastic view of the western side of the island from the side of the volcano in the south.

 

We're not usually in to potteries, and this was just as 'interesting' as we expected, however, the shop attached to it was wonderful with some lovely reasonably priced items.

 

We also took a tour years ago to the crater in the centre of the island - again worth doing.

 

It is definitely worth going on a tour of some sort as La Palma has some stunning scenery.

 

Have a wonderful time. :)

[sapphire4]

Thanks very much for the info.

[Babs02]

We've just returned from the Canary Islands Cruise on Azura. As others have said you can walk to the beach in Gran Canaria, just walk straight from the ship down the opposite road. There is also a shopping Mall at the end of the pier. Unfortunately, we docked on Sunday and the shops here were mainly closed.

 

In La Palma we just walked around the town some nice sights and shops. We stopped in a bar along the front on the way back to the ship.

 

Tenerife we walked around the area but not a lot to do there might be worth looking at booking a trip or going further afield.

 

Lanzarote we booked a trip to Jameos del Aqua, well worth a visit.

 

Unfortunately we were unable to dock in Madeira due to fires.

 

Vigo we went to Cies Islands.

 

Lisbon we took the shuttle bus into town and wandered around did gift shopping here.

 

Hope this helps.

[sapphire4]

Sorry to hear you couldn't dock in Madeira it was one of the highlights of our cruise last year. Thanks for all the info. Only 6 weeks to go!

[DamianG]

We were also on the recent Azura Canaries cruise and our plans were centered around our 6 year old son:

La Palma: We walked (around 20 minutes) to the black sand beach opposite where the ship docks. There's changing rooms and a shop there (though we found a Spar not far from the marina beforehand and bought picnic stuff for the beach). We were very disappointed that nothing was open in the marina itself as we have happy memories of drinks overlooking the yachts etc. in previous visits.

Santa Cruz, Tenerife: We took a taxi to Parque Maritimo which is a lido near the opera house. It's very family friendly, cheap admission (I think it was around €14 for 2 adults and 1 child including 2 sunbeds and 1 umbrella). There are full changing facilities including showers and the food and drink prices are reasonable. We'd happily go there even without children. We walked back to the centre with a quick call at the department store El Cortes Ingles en route.

Las Palmas, Gran Canaria: We also strolled to Playa de las Canteras beach then enjoyed lunch in Parque de Santa Catalina en route back to the ship.

Arrecife, Lanzarote: We caught the shuttle bus to the port entrance then my wife, son and mother-in-law got in a taxi to the beach. My father-in-law and I walked and it took around 20 minutes. There were no changing facilities unfortunately and just a portaloo but we still made the best of it and my son liked the rock pools. Highlight of the day was an authentic tapas lunch in La Tabla which was just before the promenade on our stroll back.

Lisbon: A favourite port, this time we caught the metro to the zoo which our son really enjoyed. We made a brief shopping stop on the way back then back on the metro (Azura was docked at Santa Apolonia and the metro stop is just a short walk away).

Vigo: Another favourite port, we took a taxi ride to Playa de Samil (€8) where there is a lovely promenade, kids pools, sandy beach, rock pools and lots of family friendly restaurants and bars. We decided to eat back in port however, and enjoyed a lovely lunch in "seafood alley" just across the road from the port up one of the steep alleyways.

 

Whatever you do have a great cruise!

 

Damian

[sapphire4]

Thanks very much Damien. Not long to go now.

[mrsdotcom]

We've just returned from the Canary Islands Cruise on Azura. As others have said you can walk to the beach in Gran Canaria, just walk straight from the ship down the opposite road. There is also a shopping Mall at the end of the pier. Unfortunately, we docked on Sunday and the shops here were mainly closed.

 

In La Palma we just walked around the town some nice sights and shops. We stopped in a bar along the front on the way back to the ship.

 

Tenerife we walked around the area but not a lot to do there might be worth looking at booking a trip or going further afield.

 

Lanzarote we booked a trip to Jameos del Aqua, well worth a visit.

 

Unfortunately we were unable to dock in Madeira due to fires.

 

Vigo we went to Cies Islands.

 

Lisbon we took the shuttle bus into town and wandered around did gift shopping here.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Hello Babs we are on the7th October cruise to the same islands as you went to. I noticed Vigo Cies Islands. was this stop added because of missing out on Madeira. thanks