Hi Debbie

I have done this cruise once in November and once in December. Both times the weather was great, temps low to mid 20's, sunny or partly cloudy every day and no rain. Very pleasant.

HTH

luci

hi debbieb like luci5 we have done this cruise 4/10/2000 also 02/02 2003 we had great weather both times 1/10/200 was with airtours sundream 02/02 2003 was on the carousel also airtours. it was a little bit cool at night so take a cardy if you intend to go up on deck. we also did the thomsons topaz feb 2002 we had mixed weather but still had a wonderful time irene

Hi I have just booked my first cruise on the Spirit for 11th Feb 7 nights
colourful coasts flying Manchester to tenerife then going to Gran canaria, Maderia Morroco Lanzarote then back to Tenerife
myself my husband and 2 sons 13 & 16
any feedback or tips

Hi she86 and welcome to HT!

I have split your post into a separate topic so that it wouldn't get lost in the general Spirit one.

luci

I have not had a reply, I have read all the other reviews and comments and most of my queries have been answered, I feel as if I know so much about the ship already, really looking forward to it.
Has anybody been or going on this itinerary as I would like some suggestions on which trips to book and which to DIY?

Can't help with those ports of call, but wanted to say we went on the Spirit last summer with 14 and 16 yr old boys and they had a whale of a time!! The 16 year old found a group of people of a similar age and we hardly saw him during the evenings. The 14 year old preferred to stay with us, but there were people of his age as well if he'd wanted it. The entertainments staff were great with them.

Gill

Hi she86

Sorry you haven't had a direct response, but delighted to hear you have read all the reviews. It can be quite difficult to reply to a very general enquiry as there is so much to cover, most of which is mentioned elsewhere in the forum.

It is much easier to respond to a specific enquiry such as excursions. I am doing the Colourful Coasts itinerary two weeks on Friday and have done a similar cruise twice on the Carousel.

Unfortunately we didn't do any organised excursions, preferring to just get off the ship and wander on our own as there wasn't anything we felt we must see.

There is an open top bus in Madeira which takes about an hour to tour Funchal. We took the cable car up the hillside, walked along and took the wicker toboggan ride down. I think it cost €10 per person plus tip. I would recommend taking the taxi from there to the bottom as we tried to walk, but it is so steep it really hurts your back and legs.

Most people who did the Agadir trip didn't really enjoy it. Where we berthed in Arrecife was about an hour's walk into town, but friends picked us up from the ship and we spent the day with them.

Las Palmas in Gran Canaria is traditionally the shopping day. There is a new shopping centre at the port within walking distance of the ship and an excellent Tony Roma's restaurant where we had a lovely meal.

One tip, if you are buying cigarettes you can buy them duty paid on Madeira and get your full allowance of 3200 each provided you take them back into the UK in your locked suitcase. I checked and had this clarified by HM Customs. If you buy them elsewhere you can only buy 200 duty free.

As for organised excursions, there are three to six excursions offered at each port priced from £20-£35 for a half-day to £36-£42 full day and cover everything from an island tour and wine tasting to horse trekking and a trip to Marrakesh.

HTH

luci

thanks for those tips
my hb thinks I am going to know all there is to know before we go and that will spoil the surprise, but I am like that.
We have actually been to Tenerife and Gran Canaria before albeit on our honeymoon 18 years ago
but I have always wanted to visit maderia and I think Morrocco may be different for my sons to see eventhough they are typical teenagers and at the moment are saying they are not interested in trips thinking it will be museums and shops
I am scared of heights but would like to see the cable car in Maderia is it scary
and if I go up do I have to come down on the toboggan or can I get a taxi

Your sons might like the Jeep safari in Madeira, £35 adults/£28 child at last year's prices.

My hubby doesn't like heights and managed/enjoyed the cable car. You can come back down the cable car again or get a taxi, the toboggan isn't compulsory!

luci

I have heard that the roads are scary in Maderia very close to the cliff edge
what is it like in a jeep

We have been twice, but haven't ventured out of Funchal. This time we're there for 24 hours. Not sure how much benefit this will be with arriving at 1800hrs, unless the shops and local travel agencies are open late.

The boys might like the horse trekking in Morocco or the camel caravan in Lanzarote. Not a shop in sight I would imagine.

luci

I can confirm that the shops in Agadir are very poor. If you want to buy anything best head to the market. You may not like it (we never) as it's constant hassle hassle hassle. A taxi driver even tried to tell us to go back to the boat immediately as it was leaving early.......so he could get our fare....we had to run down a one way street and hide to get away from him!

Agree a taxi price to get in there (should be £5 - british money, take a couple of £5 notes). The beach is quite nice, you can have a cheap drink maybe and something to eat (my husband refused to eat!), but there isn't much to do. You can spend Euros and they'll give you your change in Dirhams.

Hi Gill
thanks for that info
did you share a cabin with your boys and if so was there enough room and were the fold down bunks ok
She86

Hi - yes we did share a cabin and, especially compared to other ships we've been on (Seawing, Topaz, Island Breeze) it was the roomiest we've had. There was a wardrobe each and plenty of drawers. The bunks were left down all the time, but the stewardess always turned the sheets down on a night.

Gill

Gill
thanks for that
just have to train one of them to be tidy now
She86

Don't worry - the stewards are also well trained in tidying up!!!!

Gill

Hello

We are booked on the Colourful Coasts cruise on Jan 15th. Its our first cruise and a 50th birthday treat for my husband. According to the discussion it looks great!

Sue

Hi Sue

Welcome aboard!

luci

Thanks

This site is so useful I feel I've been on the ship already. One question (probably the first of many....), has anyone been on the excursion to Marrakesh from Agadir? I would like to know how much it cost and whether it was worth it..

cheers

Sue