We were awoken this morning by the usual vibration from the ship's bow thrusters as we manoeuvred into the tight harbour in Las Palmas, capital of Gran Canaria. It was a muggy start to the day with a moderate blanket of cloud partially obscuring the strong morning sunshine. The humidity and haze didn't really help create a good first impression of the city, and the surroundings seemed rather uninspiring with the ship sandwiched between the commercial docks on one side and a Spanish Navy military quay on the other.
There was no rush for us to go ashore this morning as we'd planned a quiet day. None of the advertised excursions appealed to us and we wanted to go ashore independently. Excursions offered by P&O today included simple transfers to the beach and sand dunes at Maspalomas, sightseeing tours of the city and island, and also speciality tours including a submarine dive, 4x4 adventure and wine tasting.
We walked out of the cruise terminal and along the redeveloped quayside to stretch our legs. Having no major plans for the day, nor indeed any great expectations of Las Palmas, we were happy just to walk along the waterfront. I'm sure the city does have lots to offer, but for today, we were content with just a quick overview and we headed back to the ship and the air conditioned coolness of our cabin.
A quick word on Britannia's cabins which we haven't mentioned until now. Our cabin is a standard balcony cabin on Deck 12 – there are there are no outside cabins on this ship and the choice is simply between an inside cabin or a balcony. There are of course suites which provide more spacious accommodation and the luxury of a bath instead of a shower. The cabin itself is of an adequate size and contains all the essential items, with contemporary decor and attractive back-lighting behind the bed. It does feel a little cramped at times, but we recognise that this is because we have a travel cot in the cabin which takes up most of the free space beside the balcony doors. The toilet and shower room is of the standard 'wet room' design and offers enough space to move around when entering or leaving the shower cubicle. Outside the bathroom, we have a storage area for clothes and other belongings, although we feel this is slightly smaller than on previous ships.
Back in the main cabin, a large flatscreen TV adorns the the wall facing the bed. There is a choice of a number of live TV news channels and a range of films which are either free or can be viewed on payment of a small fee. The TV also includes digital signage offering safety information, weather forecasts and current conditions, details of excursions and destinations, plus the usual moving map display showing the ship's present position and track. We didn't measure the TV but estimate it to be around 40" screen size. By comparison, we looked at photos of our first cruise, back in 2008, on Ocean Village Two and noted the small 15" portable TV perched on a table in the corner of the cabin – how times have changed!
Much has also been said on internet cruise forums about the compact size of Britannia's balconies. To be honest, we can't see what all the criticism is about since our balcony offers more than enough space to sit and move around. Again, comparing with other cruise ships that we have sailed on, the balcony is at least the same size and very possibly larger than what we have experienced previously.
We set sail for the port of Arrecife on Lanzarote at 1800 and the overnight sailing will take us at a leisurely pace past the neighbouring island of Fuerteventura. Arrival in Arrecife is scheduled for around 0800 tomorrow.
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