Las Palmas

The cruise season in Las Palmas, like the rest of the Canary Islands, begins on in Autumn. AIDA, Tui and Thomson use Las Palmas as their homeport for the winter season. Other companies like Costa Cruises an MSC Cruises also used Las Palmas during 2013 as home port in winter for cruises to Africa and Madeira.
 
The port of Las Palmas is quite comfortable and easy to access and exit for cruise passengers. It has a large shopping center with superb views to the port. If you are embarking in Las Palmas read our article Port of Las Palmas

Las Canteras (by N.G)

OFFICIAL TOURS: We can find almost every destination such as panoramic tours, visits to the south of the island (Mogan and great beaches of Maspalomas)...
 
ALTERNATIVES: You can find a rent a car in the cruise terminal at affordable prices (Cicar), but it is advisable to book before arrival.I would take the car  and drive to Maspalomas to enjoy the beach, one of the great attractions of the island. It is well known throughout the world an its one the favorite destinations for sun and beach holidays worldwide.If you want to enjoy a day at the beach you have annother option which is Playa de las Canteras in Las PalmasYou can also take the tourist bus to Triana, which is a large pedestrian street with shops. 

WHERE TO EAT: Inside Centro Comercial El Muelle we can find a variety of restaurants, including major fast food restaurants ( if you are traveling with children)Another attractive option is a small steakhouse style restaurant called the Novillo Precoz (Portugal St. Nr. 9) near Playa de las Canteras

SHOPPING: Centro Comercial El Muelle, Triana and Mesa y López are the best options.

LINKS

Rent a Car Cicar
El novillo Precoz Restaurant
El Muelle Shopping Mall
City Sightseeing Las Palmas

Valencia

Valencia is emerging as an alternate departure port to Barcelona and Malaga. European companies such as Costa and MSC are placing big ships like Costa Serena and MSC Orchestra in Valencia for the summer season. Also Royal Caribbean has been using this port and Malaga for Adventure of the Seas itineraries in the summer season, but they will discontinue in 2013.

I must admit that the city has impressed me, it is very modern and with plenty of room. The Port is quite large and its expanding to improve their facilities and host large cruise ships (Adventure of the Seas docks in the cargo area)

But if we get to Valencia on a ship like Costa Serena it'll dock at the passenger terminal of Acciona near the exit of the port.

COSTA PACIFICA AT VALENCIA

OFFICIAL TOURS: The most common and popular is the Oceanographic and Palau de las Artes (built by the famous architect Santiago Calatrava)

ALTERNATIVES:

• We can go to Oceanographic on our own. From the port you can take a taxi to this area for 10 € . Here we can also visit Palau de las Artes y Ciudad de las Ciencias built by the famous architect Santiago Calatrava.

• Go to the historic center. It's better to take the subway to Xativa station. The nearest subway station to the port is located about a mile from Acciona terminal. Once you clear the terminal turn right to Maritim Serreria station (Line 5)

WHERE TO EAT: We can not leave without trying the typical paella. It's best to go to Malvarrosa beach where you'll find many restaurants and terraces with a nice look at the beach. La Pepica, La Marcelina, Azahar ... saying which one is the best is quite complicated. All of them have their fans and detractors. I can say that La Marcelina is pretty good and not as expensive as I expected for these kind of restaurants near the beach (paella for two with salad and beer came out about 40 € the two)

SHOPPING: In the city center near the cathedral you can find many shops
If we have been in  the Oceanography there is a large shopping center (El Saler) with known franchises (Mango, Zara, Woman Secret) restaurants (Foster's Hollywood, Mc Donalds, Tony Romas, supermarket and a cinema

LINKS:
Valencia Metro
Oceanografic

NEW Costa Neo-Romantica

Costa Romantica is sheduled for major renovation in October in Genoa. This ship, that entered service in 1993, has contracted Tillberg Design, a Swedish company that has designed the interiors of approximately 130 luxury yachts and cruise ships over the last 40 years to renew the interiors of the 53,000 tons and 1,697-guest Costa Romantica. The line is investing approximately €90 million in this major refit.

The restyling is to be carried out between October 2011 and January 2012. During the renovation two new half-decks, similar to the appearance of Norwegian Epic, will be added along with 120 new cabins and suites with private balconies will be created. Total capacity will increase from 1,697 to 1,800, while the number of cabins will increase from 678 to 789. The ship’s total gross tonnage will increase to approximately 56,000 GTs.

COSTA NEOROMANTICA

New areas on the ship will include a wine bar with 100 different labels and a wide selection of cheeses from around the world, a coffee and sweets bar, a show lounge bar with dance floor, a cabaret, a nightclub and also the Costa Samsara Spa, an area with gym, a thalassotherapy pool, treatment rooms, sauna, Turkish bath, spa cabins, six suites, and a special spa restaurant.

When the refit is complete the new Costa neoRomantica will be positioned on the Mediterranean sailing to the Canary Islands and during the summer season, the ship will be positioned in northern Europe.

Costa Cruises has also ordered Fincantieri Shipyard a unit of 132,500 tons with capacity for 4928 passengers in 1854 cabins based on the Concordia Class ships. This new ship will be the biggest ship ever built for Costa Cruises and will be finished in 2014.
They have also announced the construction of two 125.000 GT ships for AIDA Cruises (entering service in 2015-16). These two ships will not be built in Papenburg as Aida Sol and Aida Mar.
Bad news are that Costa Cruises sold Costa Marina, which will be taken off service in november

Food, Drinks and Packages

In this chapter I want to show you the importance of food and drinks service and its repercussion on the price. This might seem trivial to you, but a good choice of the shipping company in terms of food and drinks services can save you money you can spend in other things. 

First of all you have to consider again the official currency onboard the ship. Today an American citizen will pay more for his cruise if you choose a european flagged ship (€ currency onboard), and an european citizen will pay less if he travels with an US company ($ currency) due to $ vs € exchange rates. Keep in mind that you'll have to pay the excursions, drinks, spa service... in the currency of the ship.

FOOD: Differences between main restaurants are not relevant. Everyone is good with his specialities, Italian risottos and pastas are superb on MSC and Costa, steaks and all meat are delicious in RCCL... Special mention to Celebrity Cruises kitchen, which is the most awarded in the cruise fleet.

But everything changes a lot if we talk about Buffet:

 

 

• OPENING TIMES. US ships buffet remain open more or less all day. The guest can always eat something according the time of day. In Celebrity Cruises the buffet is open from morning until noon for breakfast, from then until mid-afternoon for lunch, at mid afternoon they leave open the area of ​​pizzas, sandwiches, sushi, ice cream... of course it is open in the evening for dinner (for those who don't want to go to the main restaurant) and then the midnight buffet. On the contrary, in European-flagged ships like MSC, the buffet opens only in main meals, so if you're hungry in the afternoon, or if you arrive late from an excursion, your only alternative is to buy something in the bar or wait until the night (although I'm sure your stomach ends up thanking the break...)

• QUALITY. I think the buffet of American companies (Royal or Celebrity) are of better quality and variety than those of European (MSC). The fact of closing at certain times can create some strange situations where 10 minutes before closing time you can't find a waiter to order a drink.

 

 

• SMALL DETAILS. Finally there are small details if you go with children. Celebrity Cruises and Royal Caribbean have most of the day the ice cream buffet area open and its free of charge. Royal Caribbean's Freedom class for example, is equipped with a self-service of free ice cream at the swimming pool.

GALA DINNER

SPECIALTY RESTAURANTS: It's an option for a special dinner. The more modern the ship, the more specialty restaurants it'll have. We can find almost everything: restaurants where you pay a fixed price with a special menu, a typical American burger (Johnny Rockets on Royal), a Mexican (El Sombrero in MSC Fantasia), a Mediterranean grill (Tuscan Grille on Celebrity Solstice) ... The truth is that it might seem absurd to pay more to go to another restaurant when you have the main restaurant included in the price of the cruise, but in some cases it can be the oportunity to try other cuisines such as French (the Celebrity Solstice Murano).

RED VELVET (MSC FANTASIA)

DRINKS: Excepting companies like Happy Cruises or Pulmantur Cruises (all inclusive), carbonated drinks and bottled drinks are not included in the price of the cruise. But still there are differences between the companies. In the US companies, with their  buffets open the whole day, you can drink juices, water, ice tea all the time. In the European ones, when they close the buffet, if you're thirsty, you will not have choice but to go to a bar order something (and pay ...). In addition, the juices in MSC is available only during the morning at breakfast and obviously they do not let you fill containers with liquid in the buffet.

PACKAGES: Beverage packages can be arranged before the cruise, but you can also buy these packages the first day of the cruise. This is also different depending on the company you are travelling wih, because European companies offer service by can in the case of soft drinks, while the US have more profitable packages like Fountain of soda in Royal or Celebrity (they give you a big recipient to take your drink everywhere). It is valid in all ship bars while in European companies like MSC it can only be used in the restaurants or buffet. In the rest of the bars you can not use the beverage packages.
European and US companies also offer all-inclusive packages, but is not worth the money in European companies because you can only use it in the buffet or restaurant

How to choose?

The decision of choosing a cruise is primarily based on the price, discussion item that will take us an entire chapter later. The price depends on the type of cabin you choose on the ship, but you must know that there are are big differences between the companies and ships. Therefore, I recommend first choosing the shipping company and the ship.


SHIPS: As my grandfather said: "Burro grande, ande o no ande..." That means the bigger ship the better. As I said before talking abuot dizziness, it's better to choose a ship over 90,000 GT (70.000 GT minimum) and always the modern ones (see date of entering service), because modern and bigger ones have more facilities, more common spaces, more equipment... But be careful with the concept "modern", because there are many companies that put date of the last renovation of the ship as date of entering service. For example, a ship with 90,000 GT will have common facilities like an indoor solarium, an outdoor pool, theater, lounges, spa, gym, sports facilities ...If we take as a counterpoint Royal Caribbean Freedom class with 160,000 GT, on board passengers will also enjoy a mini golf, climbing wall, children's water park, ice rink, a basketball court, a wave pool for surfing lessons and a shopping avenue inside the ship with many shops and bars.

FREEDOM CLASS ROYAL PROMENADE

SHIPPING COMPANIES: I have my favorite ones, but there are many variables that can make your choice and mine different

• Price. Today you can find an expensive cruise in a low cost company and a cheap one in a leading company. Obviously in summer the price rises and cruises are more expensive. I would say say that there are two kinds of companies in the market, which differ by the product. Some offer high quality modern ships, facilities and destinations (MSC, Costa Cruises, Royal Caribbean ...), and others with lower prices and ALL INCLUSIVE (Happy Cruises, Pullmantur, Thompson ...). In the last ones ships are older and with less equipment (which does not mean less quality). For example the Sovereign, flagship of Pullmantur was before the Sovereign of the Seas of Royal Caribbean. Actually there  are still in service two other Sovereign-class ships operated by Royal Caribbean

• Nationality of the company. Ships are registered in places where companies have tax advantages (for example all Celebrity Cruises ships are registered in Malta) but it is an American based company, and that's what I mean. Nobody can deny that onboard an Italian-flagged ship (Costa and MSC) you will find fun and party the Italian way, with their pros and cons. I recently took the MSC Fantasia from Tenerife, which was a port of call of an 11 day itinerary starting and ending in Genoa or Barcelona, ​​so you can say I picked up two half cruises. The journey to Genoa was a continuous party on board because most of the pasangers were Italian citizens. Back from Genoa the ship was different and quieter. The reason was that a great number of French people had embarked on Genoa ...
If you want to be surrounded by spanish people you have to choose Iberocruceros or Pullmantur, if german  choose AIDA Cruises, if you want to travel with americans you have to choose Royal Caribbean or Celebrity Cruises. The choice of the company is very important because unless you end up unhappy with the treatment you receive onboard will continue traveling with them

• Shipping company. If you are travelling with children I recommend Disney Cruises. Others like MSC and Costa have special rates and often go free if they share cabin with you (you only pay the fees), if you want design and a calm enviroment Celebrity Cruises, and if you want a fully equipped ship Royal Caribbean (also has good programs and facilities for children, but children pay in the best case half of the fare...).

Links:

MSC Cruceros

Costa Cruceros
Royal Caribbean

Celebrity Cruises

Pullmantur Cruises

Quail Cruises