Looking for Advice on Canary Island Cruises
 

We are in the midst of our annual debate on where to cruise. The battle in ongoing between a Norwegian Fjord Cruise or a Canary Island Cruise at the moment. I have been doing some research on the Fjord cruise options, but have not gathered much info on Canary Islands.

What line is the best for the Canary Islands? Any intel on Crystal Cruises?

Can I ask why a cruise and not just flying in and island hopping? The more interesting islands are not visited by cruise ships.

Have you looked at the website www.cruiseciritc.com? I think you may find more "information" there.

In terms of "which line is best" just exactly what does that mean (to you): price? ports (how many are there, really?), onboard amenities?

As to Crystal and others there is an absolute wealth of member (as opposed to travel writer and agency) reviews of about every cruise line on the cruisecritic site. Be aware that these reviews are as biased as they come since they are written by other travelers.

We are taking a transatlantic in October out of Barcelona which makes two stops in the Canaries, and bad or good I am glad it does, otherwise it's a lot of sea days.

Sparkchser, perhaps you'd like to elaborate on those "more interesting islands" for the rest of us? Just which ones have you been to and what made them so interesting?

I was mainly thinking of El Hierro. El Hierro has much of the land designated as a UNESCO Biosphere. You won't find any resorts or chain hotels there but what you will find are small towns, friendly people, rugged landscape, breathtaking views, excellent hiking, and some good diving locations. They get more Germans than English-speakers though (not that that is a bad thing).

La Gomera has some rugged trails and some beautiful landscapes as well. The extinct volcanoes are interesting to see. I didn't do it but Los Organos is very similar to the Giant's Causeway but is only visible from offshore.

I was not terribly impressed by Tenerife although a taxi driver was kind enough to take us on a free (!) tour of her favorite spots on the Northern end of the island. That tour payed off with a nice out of the way restaurant that had amazing and inexpensive seafood.

Next time I go, I want to visit Alegranza (if possible) and La Graciosa. Dunno when "next time" will be though :(

....and I see that cruise ships now stop at El Hieero. Disappointing. :(

Yes, cruise ships have found El Hierro.
If you want to see the Canaries though island hopping is a better idea than a quick day tour from a ship.
The western Islands are quite different to the eastern ones. I recommend getting away from the tourist conglomerations asap, and exploring the real islands. Car hire is ridiculously cheap, and there are delightful casitas to rent out in the countryside.