Canary Island highlights

It seems ages ago that we were on our Canary Island cruise on Marella Explorer. I won't lie I have seen some great last minute prices and would go again in the blink of an eye but we have other things to enjoy ... I do keep looking though.

We have cruised the Canary Islands before and it was a Sunday last time we were in Fuerteventura so we knew there would not be much open in port. That said we didn't go ashore but spent our first day leisurely unpacking, enjoying time on our balcony, wandering the ship just to remind ourselves of where to find the bars, and sitting on the Med Bar terrace enjoying a beer in the sun. 

Our second day was in Lanzerote, you can see one island from the other and although an overnight sailing in truth we floated for most of the night just off shore. Arrecife is a lovely port, so many smaller boats and yachts in the marina. It isn't very far from the ship into the town and it's a lovely walk especially on a sunny day.

There are some great shops in the town centre, I bought some Narciso Rodriguez perfume at a fraction of the UK price and some nut confectionery similar to peanut brittle but made with a wide variety of nuts.

A little further along than the main shopping area we paused for refreshments at a bar we visited previously. La Rustica serves a superb cheese pizza (non tomato), great beer and good local wine; we had a delicious leisurely lunch.

After a sea day which was a perfect way to relax and enjoy Explorer our next port was Funchal in Maderia. This was our third visit to this beautiful island and time for me to brave the cable car. I'm not a fan of speed or being up high dangling on a wire but the day was calm and sunny so our 20 minute ride ascending 560m was very smooth. The views were amazing and so long as I looked across not down (or up to see the cable) I was fine and really enjoyed it especially at our ship in the port.

From the top there is an option to go back down in a wicker toboggan with two Gondolas steering ... everyone seemed to be enjoying the thrilling ride but wasn't for me so we strolled along the gardens. There was an impressive plaque to these skilled toboggan drivers on the wall and so many beautiful flowers, even in January.

Our tour which was a cruise excursion organised by Tui then took us to a few high vantage points. The views across Funchal and Maderia were amazing, it's quite a steep volcanic island, the roads have many hairpin bends.

The tour bus dropped us back in Funchal centre and as we had plenty of time before our ship sailed we revisited Blandy's. They produce amazing Maderia wine, we had a super tour on our first visit to Funchal. This visit we shared a tasting flight and cheese pairing to each wine. All our wines were 10 year old but of different grapes, Maderia wine is aged in barrels similar to spirits so is known by it's age not necessarily by its vintage year although there are Maderia wines with year labels. We bought a three year old selection to have another wine flight tasting at home, probably on a wet cold day so we can think about sunny Maderia.

Due to choppy seas we did not go to the island of La Palma but docked in Tenerife for an extra day and overnight. This was a bonus for us as we had the chance to explore La Lungana details of which are in my previous post.

Our second day in Tenerife we spent the time just ambling around enjoying a bit of window and actual shopping. Hot chocolate and churns were a must, these were enjoyed in a garden cafe listening to nearby buskers, just lovely.

We thoroughly enjoyed our second cruise around the Canary Islands, seeing beautiful sunrises and sunsets. Marella Explorer is great, fabulous crew across the ship making it a very enjoyable cruise. Next year is Marella's 30th birthday year and we've booked their birthday cruise ... on Explorer in May cruising around Italy, Sardinia and Corsica ... we are both looking forward to it even though it's in 2026.

Thank you Tui, Marella, all the crew on Explorer and our fellow cruisers ... you all made it a superb holiday!

Tenerife - La Laguna

Due to choppy seas our recent cruise had a change of itinerary with us then having an overnight onboard stay in Tenerife. That's one joy of a cruise, your hotel room is with you wherever you travel. 

As we were not scheduled to dock in Tenerife we were our at far dock, nearly 2km walk just to get out of port! We have only embarked and disembarked at Santa Cruz so an additional day to explore was a bonus if a long walk.

Thanks to the cruise experience sharing on the Marella Explorer Facebook page we decided to take the tram to La Laguna. The Line 1 tram to La Trinidad had a stop not too far from the port and the ticket machine thankfully had an English option, to our amazement the cost was just €1.35 each way.

The journey was about 45 minutes, twisting and turning along the streets, climbing higher and higher, the views were amazing.

San Crisobel de La Laguna is 1781ft above sea level and was once the capital of Tenerife. The old buildings were superb, it was so interesting to see how the buildings used to look as opposed to the modern block buildings. It was so obvious to see where the Spanish America style originated from, it had quite a 'cowboy out west' vibe.

It was quite a busy place, very popular with students as the University is nearby. There were many high street brand shops fitted into the old buildings, the oldest we saw dated back to the 16th century.

Our lunch, in a coffee and cake shop, was delicious: sandwiches, cake and coffee for under €10 for the two of us. Spain and the Spanish islands are certainly quite cheap for eating out but clothes and shoes seem to be more expensive than here at home.

Finding a lovely wine bar it would have been very remiss not to enjoy a glass of Tenerifian wine. An off dry white for me and a merlot based red for Hubby, both were delicious and the bar very inviting.

We had a super day out seeing a bit of Tenerife we didn't even know existed. The tram was a great way to get around, I still can't believe how high up we travelled. It was definitely a bonus day and for once I was pleased the sea was choppy!

January cruising

We've just returned from a lovely January cruise around the Canary Islands, this was our seco

nd visit to these shores. We really enjoy cruising with Marella Cruises especially on Marella Explorer, she's a lovely ship with an amazing crew.

Our cruise began in Gran Canaria and travelled to Fuerteventura, Lanzerote, Maderia, La Palma and Tenerife before returning to Gran Canaria for our flight home. Although always in a port the views of the towns and landscapes behind were beautiful.

This cruise we had a large balcony cabin, the only reason was because it was cheaper than the standard balcony, but we won't have this style again. Everything was lovely, it always is, great storage, lovely bathroom but this cabin had one door to the balcony whereas the other style cabin has two sliding doors. This made the room seem darker, especially as the larger balcony means the door is set back further. It's personal choice but a balcony for just a table and chairs suits us and will be our choice next cruise.

Our cabin stewards were great, the room was always spotless with our Cruise News and chocolates waiting on our bed each evening. We had a few towel animals too, very clever folding. 

There are plenty of bars and restaurants onboard which allows each day and night to be unplanned, it's great to just have what you want when you want. Our favourite bar was the Lounge with live music and barstaff showing off their flair cocktail skills. Our favourite restaurant was Latitude 53, a double level dining room seating 1000 people with full height aft windows. The food was amazing, delicious and beautifully presented, served with a lovely Sauvignon Blanc for me and Merlot for Hubby.

We did eat in the Vista restaurant where they do carbonara in the huge cheese, an absolute delicious meal. The trio of tiramisu dessert was amazing: lemon, chocolate and raspberry flavours.

We also ate in the Tapas restaurant with a choice of small plates, as many as you like. Our favourites were the prawns, croquette potatoes and chicken in wine.

On our final evening we had the opportunity to thank all the chefs, the restaurant staff, waiters and waitresses as they all paraded through the restaurant, it was a lovely moment with everyone waving their napkins.

Throughout our week we saw some beautiful sunsets as well as experiencing some choppy seas which meant unfortunately we could not visit the island of La Palma but did enjoy an overnight stay in Tenerife.

There is plenty to do onboard, we enjoyed a round of mini golf very late one evening, I even managed a hole-in-one ... twice!

The Showcase Lounge has amazing shows every night: we saw three, my favourite was Musicals. The theatre is huge with all seats having small tables perfect for the drinks served for the show. The performances are so good, great singers and dancers along with a professional dance couple.

The theatre was filled with representatives of every department on the ship on the last night, a superb chance to show our appreciation. The staff really are amazing, always smiling and saying hello, they work so hard to make our holiday special ... which they do so well, thank you Marella, we will be back ... in 453 days.