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!