22nd December- Las Palmas Garn Canaria
Since ORIANA’s departure from Funchal she had spent the rest of the evening on a South Easterly heading and during the early hours of the morning had rounded the Illhas Salvagens at about 02:30 before continuing on her Southern course towards the Canary Islands and the first of our ports of call there Gran Canaria and its capital Las Palmas which also is the joint political capital of the Canary Islands.
Nearing the North Eastern tip of the island the crew began the customary pre-arrival checks according to the ships log “Rounding the North Eastern part of the Island and ringing “standby by below” on the ships engines at 07:43.”
At about the same time I was on deck enjoying the early morning sea air which was as always very refreshing.
Although the weather had improved over the day before for me the approach was less dramatic whereas the previous day ORIANA had navigated her way around the South East coast of Madeira before reaching Funchal.
Unlike the day before the sky was completely devoid of any clouds and a fresh breeze coming off the sea welcomed ORIANA as at about 07:50 she neared the breakwaters and the local pilot boarded.
Watching as the pilot boat left our side on route towards the pilot boats station ORIANA continued slowly on her journey towards to the harbour and her eventually Berth.
Over half hour or so ORIANA completed the final miles of her overnight journey and at 8:20 she was adjacent to her berth when according to the ships Log “Captain Brown then used our thrusters to manoeuvre ORIANA alongside her berth, before making her ‘all fast’ fore and aft at 8:44.
With ORIANA berthed many of her passengers began emerging from the ships interior to glimpse the summer like scene of Las Palmas looking from the Promenade Deck onto the dockside the stevedores whose job was completed until ORIANA’s departure stood chatting among themselves with some of the more experienced ones pointing out to their junior colleagues what I assumed was features of the vessel further along the dock taxi cabs had already pulled in ready to offer ORIANA’s passengers either a tour around the Island or if they were already familiar with the area a ride to where they wanted.
Nearby the excursion coaches were parked and ready to receive their passenger who was presently at their pre excursion meetings
Because of the short distance from the dock to the city proper there were no shuttle buses available.
While walking down the promenade deck Captain Brown made his arrival speech detailing all the usual information and gave a up to date weather information currently cloud cover of the island was less than 3 % and the current temperature was 24 degrees and it was predicted that the conditions were expected to remain for the duration of ORIANA’s stay in port.
Disembarking a little after 9am we were greeted by the Canary sunshine and walking from ORIANA out of the port area there was some local market sellers trying to encourage passing passengers to buy either tobacco and alcohol or Gran Canaria souvenirs not exactly looking for that sort of thing we moved on passing as we did a shopping centre with several cafes outside moving on around from the harbour we came to excellent spot which looked over to the berth where ORIANA was tied up, in the winter sun her hull was gleaming and at her bow on the starboard side a solitary worker stood on a small platform cleaning the hull towering above him.
ORIANA alongside Las Palmas.
Walking further still we were given a splendid view of part of the city of Las Palmas and it was then I decided that wearing a jacket even a small thin one had been something of a mistake.
Walking on we found a little park with the rather curious display of a boat’s propeller and shaft although being in something of an exploring mood , we continued onwards in a completely random direction.
The propeller seen 11 months later.
Moving on we decided that instead of continuing on foot which in the temperature made wheelchair pushing a more infuriating and difficult task than normal that we would try the red “hop on hop off” bus tour which was operating in the city.
Getting on to the bus with a little assistance we settled down as we headed through the city which was very different from Funchal the previous day, Las Palmas was far more built up with many more high rise buildings and narrower main streets I felt that it seemed to be more enclosed and traffic wise much busier.
With the in coach narration playing through the earphones supplied we passed and visited many of the cities sites of interesting and important sights.
One such sight seen while on the coach was the Columbus house Museum or to give its proper name Casa de Colón which was the residence of the early governors of the island where it is said that Christopher Columbus himself had stayed when one of his ships had required repairs.
More recently in 1927 it was the birthplace of famous Spanish opera tenor Alfredo Kraus before in 1952 it became a museum holding many items related to both Gran Canaria and Columbus, many of those who had got on the bus at the same time as we did were interested in going to see the house so got off on the nearby stop where I assumed they would hopefully remember to return before ORIANA’s departure.
The bus continuing on we were taken to various other areas of the city’s interesting sights including the local parliament building which had carved on its façade the coat of arms of the Canary Islands which as the automated bus guide told us made up of seven mountains which represent the seven islands of the Canaries.
Moving on through the city we passed by various different areas from some of the oldest areas through to the financial area and many of both the new and old residential areas.
Many of Las Palamas's residential buildings.
Much like Funchal parts of the city were built over a mountain but it seemed from our point of view in the coach its design was much more chaotic in the manner that the houses and apartment buildings were arranged; of course not being expert in such matters it’s not something I was going to spend much time thinking about.
As we headed past a prominent local school we noticed on an automated weather display that the air temperature was now at 27 degrees and there was indication that it would be decreasing anytime soon.
Although we would not be visiting during this bus tour one of the most visited touristic areas which was also mentioned during the audio description on the bus, which are the beaches Maspalomas a 17km stretch of coastline which consists of the beach resorts of: Águila, Las Burras, San Agustín and Playa del Inglés .
I recalled that one or more of the tour excursions from the ship were visiting that area where I was certain that a certain fair amount of “sun worshipping” would be taking place.
In all the bus tour took around 1 hour or so and although of course the idea was to get on and off to explore the sights for obvious reasons we had instead just enjoyed the sights from the bus and with the audio description it offered a interesting insight to the city its past and its culture.
Arriving back near the harbour the temperature was still high although there was now a slight amount of cloud over head but it was still excellent conditions, taking advantage of the good weather instead of heading straight back to ORIANA we indulged in lunch ashore in one of the small cafes we had noticed earlier before heading inside the shopping centre to see if there was anything interesting although personally I was unable to see anything that was overly of interest many of the female passengers were delighted at the shopping options on offer and could barely their joy.
How it can take over an hour to “explore” a shopping centre was something of a mystery to me yet after about 80 minutes we finally emerged back into the sunlight and with the time at about 3:30 headed slowly back towards ORIANA.
Passing again near the market stall by the dock we being “friendly” encouraged by the elderly seller there to buy some of his products an offer which had about as little appeal now as it had when we passed earlier.
Once back inside the secure area around ORIANA we quickly made our way back onto ORIANA and into the relaxing cool ambiance of the atrium, on such a warm day the cool air blowing from the ship’s air conditioning and the sub-tropical plants adorning the atrium were welcoming.
Leaving my parents talking in ORIANA’s atrium with some cruising veterans I walked out onto the aft terraced decks for some fantastic views over ORIANA’s handsome stern decks and nearby the nearby the Norwegian tall ship CHRISTIAN RADICH who was moored nearby a harbour tug.
Those who had returned from the various activities and excursions around the island were now enjoying the sun from ORIANA’s generous amount of deck space or in some cases cooling off in the pools.
Relaxing on the stern.
There was several passengers who having returned from Maspalomas had been somewhat shocked after wondering into a “Nudists” area of the beach much to the passengers shock from what I could tell, it was of course humorous to listen to and as I thought to myself had I been in the same position I would surely looked for any signs indicating any such area nearby, still for them I am sure it was something to remember Gran Canaria by!
With the time seemingly moving quickly onwards ORIANA’s passengers began to return to the ship with a little over an hour before passengers before ORIANA’s departure,
While walking back down towards the atrium I was a little surprised to find one of the ships nurses and the doctor rushing off towards an accommodation corridor, not usually something which is seen in board in fact on my previous cruises I had only seen the Doctors and Nurses in dress uniform at the Captain’s cocktail party alongside the officers.
Not thinking anything of it I continued back towards the atrium and meeting back up with my parents and continued aft on the promenade deck to Lords Tavern to enjoy a drink outside on the promenade and enjoy the departure which was scheduled by now for about 45 minutes time, in a typical pleasant ORIANA style.
However unlike the previous day come 10 minutes before ORIANA’s departure there was no sign of any stevedores on the dockside and ORIANA was still tied up securely alongside the berth seemingly for some unknown reason we were going nowhere for the time being.
With no announcement from the bridge and a lack of activity on the dockside passengers who were on the deck to watch the departure was a little baffled as to why ORIANA’s gangway was still in place.
Barely noticing the sound of sirens in distance suddenly there was a rush of activity with several officers appearing at the gangway met by an official of the port while two other port workers opened the main gate of the within minutes an ambulance pulled into the dock with the driver and paramedic getting out and standing waiting .
The arrival of course caused murmurs of conversation from the passengers on the deck as for a few moments were engaged in speculating about the reason for the arrival.
They did not have to wait long for a proper answer for what was happening as Captain Brown made his announcement.
ORIANA he said was unable to sail due to seriously ill passengers whose breathing had deteriorated throughout the day and the medical team were attempting to stabilise him in order to transfer him to the local hospital where they would be in a better position of to treat him.
This had the most obvious reaction among the passengers gathered on the deck, they began talking about who possibly it could be, it seemed at one point that they had all on board as a possibility from the 90 year old lady they had seen at breakfast yesterday to the to the person they had been talking to at just this afternoon who had lost his wife in the hairdressing salon.
Another group of passengers were discussing whether it was the right thing to do informing the whole ship of situation, which in my opinion it was, because otherwise passenger would be asking questions to various members of the crew about the delay and others might panic believing there to be a serious problem with either the ship or in the port its self.
Whatever opinions were the fact remained the passengers were still eagerly watching to see the passenger be taken off of the ship which he was several moments later an elderly gentleman I had seen around the ship on several occasions over the past days and he already had his own oxygen supply , it seemed what the rest of us had taken to be wonderful conditions had not helped him as he was taken to the hospital and his wife followed shortly after in a taxi.
With the passenger disembarked and all checks clear finally the last gangway was taken in and the Stevedores appeared and released ORIANA’s ropes at about 6:18pm before with a mighty blast from her horn signalled her departure as the thrusters pushed us clear of the berth.
With time moving on towards dinner we left the deck in order to get ready, although for tonight it was surly going to be the least formal of all because a little later around the Rivera Pool and bar most passengers would be enjoying the “tropical night” deck party
As we prepared ORIANA had slowly gone astern on her engines and was now setting courses towards Tenerife.
Reaching the restaurant it was clear that the waiters were doing their utmost to evoke a party atmosphere all of them were wearing a P&O issued Hawaiian shirt it added I felt a certain interesting element to the meal since both passengers and crew were both wearing those strange styled shirts.
During the meal which as usual was of the highest possible standard, the Captain made a very brief announcement initially about the ships departure expecting ORIANA to clear the breakwater shortly before 7pm and then to the matter of the deck party, because ORIANA was sailing into a prevailing wind and since Tenerife was only relatively short distance away he would be altering ORIANA’s course to avoid the full force of the wind and allow for a wind free deck party.
Despite the lack of formality in passengers dress the service remained of course as first class, the image to my mind was a mix between a film set in the 1900’s and a beach party,with the surroundings which easily outshone many of the early 20th Century liners the service from the waiters and the food its self was all of the highest possible class yet the passengers dining looking something like a 80’s Miami Vice style truly a world of contrasts!
With the excellent dinner complete we a first paid a visit to The Crow’s Nest where there was a temptation to stay and listen to the sounds of Cocktail Pianist in the elegant surroundings but instead we remained for about half an hour before moving down one deck to take our places at the deck party that was about to begin.
The sun had now set and the colours of night offered an excellent starlit backdrop to ORIANA’s Christmas Deck Party.
Starting with the band Natural High playing party music it soon became more active with the Conga and some slightly manic dancing from both the entertainment team and passengers, the deck certainly looked colourful not only from the balloons put up for the occasion but also from the passengers weird and varied outfits, for the second time on board ORIANA I saw one female passenger at the deck party compared to the Brazilian /Portuguese singer Carmen Miranda thanks to the what could only be described as a fruit basket like hat which she had on her head !
All present could not fail to smile and join in the jovial atmosphere added to by the photographers who were dressed as Pirates complete with cutlasses!
In music terms all the party favourites were playing from Boney M to Black Lace with songs ranging from Agadoo to La Bamba and Rasputin about Russia’s most famous “love Machine” as the lyrics would say.
It certainly brought out the best in the passengers of all ages as the danced and some even taking part in a worst dressed passenger contest to which the winner received a bottle of the P&O’s own wine, which from personal experience I can say is a good quality prize.
Party Time.
The night moved quickly on proof perhaps that time flies when you’re having fun and with the time approaching midnight the band started counting down to 12 with more party numbers, before ending with a streamer finale and enthusiastic cheers the Captain himself joining at the last minute to welcome the new day with a streamer in hand.
The night truly ended on a high and leaving the deck the sound of laughter and slightly out of tune singing could be heard coming from some of the passengers
Another day action packed on board ORIANA came to an end and for most of those still awake it was time to return to their cabin for a well-deserved rest before another day and port of call this time largest and most populous and of the Canary Islands Tenerife.
Photo Copyrights: P&O Cruises & Steve Martin
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