Farewell to Madeira |
We got back to the UK on 10 May and updated many friends via email about how we got on. This post is a slightly adapted version of the email.
We were on
P&O Oceana,
a "medium-sized" cruise ship with a mere 2000 passengers. We had an
adapted cabin with a sea view on Deck 8 (out of 15). We sailed from
Southampton and visited Lisbon, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La
Palma and Madeira.
On
the whole we had a really good time. The weather was pleasant, not
baking hot, but when the sun finally came out Sam got sunburned for the
first time I ever remember, so probably it was just as well that we had
some hazy days. P&O were very helpful in ensuring Sam could get
anywhere he wanted to go, with assistance to get on and off
the ship, on and off coaches (we went on three tours and also used
transfer buses) and in the restaurants on board. Pretty much all of the
ship was accessible to a wheelchair with the occasional heavy door
and/or lip to make it interesting. The down side was that because it's a
big ship Sam spent much more time than usual in the wheelchair, which was probably not ideal for him and hard work for me!
Our
cabin was spacious (to allow for a wheelchair), which was nice, but the
main adaptations were in the bathroom where there is a roll-in shower
and a good range of hand rails. I
gather bathrooms in normal cabins are much smaller. The wide open
spaces proved a bit of a liability on the last couple of days when we
had force 8 winds and a big swell on the beam - Sam finds balancing
difficult in bare feet, so using the shower and loo were a bit tricky.
The motion of the ship was really not a problem otherwise, although it
did make wheelchair pushing a bit difficult. My main issue in the cabin was
with a mysterious noise, apparently from a hydraulic feed to a lifeboat
- after a couple of appeals from me they managed to reduce the decibels
and the frequency, but I did have a few nights of rather poor sleep.
Life on
board was pretty luxurious with a wide range of activities - we had six
sea days in total so plenty of time to enjoy them. We weren't too
bothered about the evening shows and cabaret acts, but I enjoyed yoga
and used the gym, and Sam went to art classes (see pictures, link
below), and attended several lectures relating to WW2 history and the
operation of the ship. Food became a bit of a preoccupation, although we
did manage to stick to three meals a day, but there is always something
to eat available (I think there is a hiatus between 3.30am and 6.30am
but we coped ok with that). The standards are high but I did develop a
longing for crunchy bread and bean salads, neither of which were on
offer. In between times we spent a lot of time on the promenade deck
which is how cruising ought to be, with steamer chairs, teak decks,
quoits and other deck games, and the opportunity just to gaze out to
sea. (There is a lido deck on top of the
ship with swimming pools and plastic sun-loungers for those who like
that sort of thing). P&O offers a middle ground between formality
and relentless fun, but it is a rather Daily-Mail-reading, ITV-watching
kind of world. Unfortunately, I don't think we could afford a cruise for
Guardian readers and BBC4-watchers, if such a thing exists.
Many
of the ports of call slope up from the sea, with lots of steps on the
steeper islands, so generally we didn't venture too far inland.
Nevertheless we managed to find some delightful, quiet spots away from
at least some of our fellow passengers. It was lovely to see Lisbon
again, although it was a bit of a rush, and we also loved Madeira where
I had never been before, and would be more than happy to go again - we
took a coach tour a little way inland to see the fantastic views and
plant life. On Gran Canaria we visited the little port of Puerto de
Mogan, which was lovely (at least compared with the rest of Gran
Canaria, which displays Spanish enthusiasm for covering hillisides in
concrete boxes) and where I managed my only swim in the sea - I couldn't
persuade Sam to venture in :-). Santa Cruz de Tenerife brought back
memories for me of being there in a hurricane in 2005 and we found a
lovely area near the church for lunch.
The $64 million question is, would we do it again? I've been looking at alternatives for this time next year (or a bit earlier),
including a couple of weeks in a nice hotel on Madeira, different
cruise lines, and even a trip on Tenacious (the wheelchair-accessible
tall ship). At the moment I'm veering wildly between views. I think part
of the value of a cruise, which is hard to quantify, is the feeling of
being part of a community - there was always someone for me to talk to,
which certainly wouldn't be the case if Sam and I travelled alone, and
always someone to organise things or offer help. It was wonderful for
Sam to be able to participate in so much with very little worry about
whether things would be manageable. On the other hand being part of a
group of 2000 people everywhere you go, and having only a few hours to
explore each destination, is not my ideal kind of travel. Any
thoughts you may have on the best option(s) would be very welcome!
There are more pictures of the cruise in a separate post.
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