La Palma

Sunday 20 March 2005. The good ship Carousel docks in Santa Cruz on the island of La Palma.

It's a beautiful day and we are booked on an excursion for the afternoon. So for the morning we will get off the ship and wander independantly around the town of Santa Cruz.

We have a little map of the town centre from the ship and follow other passengers as they seem to know where they are going. Mind you, people have followed us in the past, making the same mistake...

However in this case we arrive safely into Santa Cruz. There's a full size galleon standing on the dockside. Not in the sea but on the dockside. It makes more sense when it is pointed out to us that it is made of concrete!

Santa Cruz is a gorgeous town. Extremely pretty, with streets and narrow alleys requiring houses with very narrow ends that widen as they get further from the junction. Houses are rendered and painted in bright colours and there is plenty of public seating provided.

The statue of a group of musicians takes pride of place in this little square with a view between the houses out to the Atlantic Ocean. It's Sunday and we presume the locals must all be in church - this being a mainly Catholic community.

In fact it's not just any Sunday, but it's Palm Sunday and we hear music and singing approaching us down the hillside of the street. The locals are parading, waving long palm fronds in a smiling procession that is delightful to watch pass by.

Return to Atlantic Islands Cruise 2005

Joining the Sun Cruises Carousel

Tuesday 15 March 2005. We fly from Manchester to Santa Cruz, on Tenerife to join the cruise ship MS Carousel for a week on their tour: Atlantic Islands Cruise.

If this sounds slightly familiar, we did the same cruise on the same ship in 2004 and I have already blogged about that. However this is a different time if not a different place and who knows... we may do different things!

For starters, the weather is a whole lot nicer than it was when we arrived a year ago, when we were celebrating my 50th birthday. This year it will be Miss Franny who hits a milestone but it will be me that has a birthday actually onboard. We'll see what that leads to a few articles hence...

Meanwhile we can relax as lorries bearing luggage, hopefully including ours, arrive at the ship for delivery to our cabin.

Should we take a stroll along the quayside? No, it's almost time for lunch, or afternoon tea... or a snack...

Return to Atlantic Islands Cruise 2005 Index

Farewell to the Thomson Celebration

Well, farewell hopefully just until the next time! It's Friday 10 April 2014 and we have to be out of the cabins by 8:00am so that the crew have a chance to get them back to pristine order in time for today's embarking passengers.

Last night we had our final night in the Horizons Bar with Tomas and Maris. We have become good friends over the years since we first met them. I hope we get to meet up again.

We are out of the cabin a bit early and head up to the Lido Deck for a first mug of coffee before breakfast. It's not properly light yet and we seem to be pretty much the only ones out and about on the deck. The port lights of Tenerife's Santa Cruz are still burning, though it won't be long before they sky grows light enough for them to be turned out.

Behind our ship the Delphin is already disembarking passengers into a waiting coach and containers of provisions wait to be unloaded. A Fred Olsen Express catamaran ferry glides slowly into her berth.

We finish our coffee and head down to Deck 4 to the Meridian Restaurant for breakfast. Then before long it is time to head off the ship to find our luggage for the coach journey to the airport.

It's fully daylight by the time we leave the ship. We find it has been nosed in up to the end of the dock and this gives me the opportunity to take a photo of the Thomson Celebration as it would be seen by the hapless occupants of a soon-to-be-destroyed row boat...

One of our suitcases is patterned so as to be immediately found. Miss Franny takes a seat so as to better direct me on my search for the other... The trip back to Blighty is uneventful and on time and a long and happy (I hope!) retirement looms before me. Our next cruise will be on Thomson Majesty in a few months and we are planning a short break in South Devon once the English weather turns a bit warmer.

Colourful Coasts Cruise Index