Hello and welcome to our blog, for our 2015 summer vacation. During the holiday, we hope to record and share our experiences and observations, as we embark on a cruise of some of the Atlantic islands of Portugal and Spain.
We'll be starting our voyage in Southampton, England before heading south and west into the Atlantic Ocean, visiting the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands. After visiting the islands, we head back to England but not before stopping in the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, and the Spanish city of Vigo.
We'll be starting our voyage in Southampton, England before heading south and west into the Atlantic Ocean, visiting the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands. After visiting the islands, we head back to England but not before stopping in the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, and the Spanish city of Vigo.
The Atlantic islands are popular holiday destinations for many Europeans and their subtropical climates provide warm temperatures throughout the year. The Azores are a Portuguese autonomous region and consist of nine volcanic islands situated about 850 miles west of mainland Portugal. Madeira which is also under Portuguese control, lies further to the south. Although smaller, Madeira is more densely populated and attracts more holidaymakers with its warmer temperatures.
Unlike the Azores and Madeira, the Canary Islands are a Spanish archipelago and are the most southerly islands visited on the cruise. The Canaries lies close to continental Africa and are only 62 miles west of the Moroccan coastline. Being the hottest and driest of the islands in the region, these are also the most popular amongst tourists, bringing nearly 10 million visitors every year. Tourism itself contributes around a third of the gross domestic product.
This will be our fourth cruise, having previously travelled around the Mediterranean Sea, across the Atlantic Ocean to New York, and latterly in 2011, down the Pacific coast and through the Panama Canal (you can read all about that trip here). However, this will be our first cruise travelling with a small child, which will present its own set of unique challenges. Our daughter will be two and a half years old, so the entertainment and leisure facilities for children are expected to feature highly in our plans.
Cruising with a small child has heavily influenced our choice of destination and itinerary, and our preference was to depart from a British port to avoid lengthy air travel prior to the voyage. The availability of a 'family friendly' cruise is an obvious pre-requisite, but we felt the presence of a self-service laundry on board the ship was also a necessity. Whilst most cruise lines cater for children, the self-service laundries are only offered by a few.
So after a lot of research, we decided that P&O Cruises would offer us the best overall experience to meet our needs. This will be our first experience of P&O, and we are delighted to be amongst the first passenger to experience their newest (and largest) vessel, Britannia, whose maiden voyage took place in March 2015. With 15 passenger decks and a multitude of on-board restaurants, bars, entertainment and leisure facilities, the ship is perfect for a voyage of this scale.
Cruising with a small child has heavily influenced our choice of destination and itinerary, and our preference was to depart from a British port to avoid lengthy air travel prior to the voyage. The availability of a 'family friendly' cruise is an obvious pre-requisite, but we felt the presence of a self-service laundry on board the ship was also a necessity. Whilst most cruise lines cater for children, the self-service laundries are only offered by a few.
So after a lot of research, we decided that P&O Cruises would offer us the best overall experience to meet our needs. This will be our first experience of P&O, and we are delighted to be amongst the first passenger to experience their newest (and largest) vessel, Britannia, whose maiden voyage took place in March 2015. With 15 passenger decks and a multitude of on-board restaurants, bars, entertainment and leisure facilities, the ship is perfect for a voyage of this scale.
Although the ship has WiFi throughout, internet access at sea is provided by satellite communication which is slow, and can be subject to weather interference. It's an expensive provision and costs cruise passengers like ourselves around 25 pence per minute. Nevertheless, we hope to provide regular updates throughout the voyage, and possibly some low-resolution photos if there is sufficient bandwidth. We hope you will enjoy reading about our holiday!
Andrew & Christine
Scotland
