The Plaza de España was a lovely little spot and full of interest. I’ve already mentioned some of the architecture around the area when we first walked along this part of Santa Cruz’s waterfront earlier in the day. The public square hosts a shallow lake that was sadly dry when we were there and the design of the lake was undertaken by the architects Herzog & de Meuron which tied in nicely with our very first cruise and the pre-cruise tour when we spent time in Beijing and got to visit another of their works, the Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium.

The plaza was originally the site of the Castle of San Cristóbel, the ruins of which were discovered during work to install the lake. We’d not realised it at the time, but you can view some of the remains in tunnels under the square, and it’s something we’d probably try to do when we next return.

We continued towards the port and passed a sculpture that caught my eye. Most sculptures catch my eye. This one was Arborea by Fernando García Ramos, and while it was clearly inspired by trees – the name was a big clue – I couldn’t help but notice that it also resembled the Sea Witch logo used by Princess Cruises.

Time for a little bit of ship-spotting now that we’d reached the port.

Firstly, here’s the aft view of our home for this sixteen-day cruise, Caribbean Princess, the only remaining Grand-class ship in the Princess Cruises fleet with that “shopping trolley handle” mounting configuration for Skywalkers nightclub. It may not be the prettiest aft view of a cruise ship but being able to ride the travelator to it is an experience that’s just not equalled on other ships.

Fred Olsen‘s Bolette was in port. At the time of writing this travelogue account we’ve only spent a single night in port on a Fred Olsen ship but we do have plans to cruise aboard Borealis in July 2026.

MSC Cruises Opera was the only other cruise ship docked in port but there were two ferries present, including one – Marie Curie – from Fred Olsen Express, the ferry service run by the operator in the Canary Islands. The other ferry was the Volcán de Tagoro, a fast catamaran ferry operated by Naviera Armas and named after an underwater volcano.

And that was that. We were now back aboard Caribbean Princess and we wouldn’t be getting off for another eight days. We ordered drinks to our balcony and sat out to enjoy the sailaway, watching the volcanic island slide past and give way to unbroken views of the ocean and sky.

We ate, we listened to music, we drank cocktails. All the things you do on cruise ships when you’re not in port. And because this was Caribbean Princess we rode the travelator to Skywalkers late in the evening to dance.

The next post in this transatlantic cruise travelogue series will cover the actual Atlantic crossing by our ship, starting with some photos of Caribbean Princess.

We had a bit of a trek with some backtracking on occasion to get to the museum to start with and that is due to the two-dimensional nature of maps on phones and the three-dimensional nature of some of the roads in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. What looked like a sensible route on the phone ended up taking us over a bridge overlooking the museum before we realised we needed to find a way to descend, walk past, then double-back to the building’s location. Still, it was a fairly nice walk on a hot (but not too hot) day, we weren’t in a mad rush, and I always enjoy chances to snap photos of streets and architecture as we stroll around new places.

Santa Cruz de Tenerife is twinned with Rio de Janeiro and part of the reason for that is that both locations hold what are considered to be the two largest and most important carnivals in the world. I won’t pretend that either of us have great interest in carnivals – although I very much enjoyed visiting Notting Hill one year for all the people-watching and photographing it enabled – but we do like museums, especially ones with quirky or unique themes, so the Casa del Carnaval was always going to be something we’d try to look at.

Casa del Carnaval was inaugurated in 2017 and broadly features two main areas, one with a permanent exhibition including costumes and historical items such as posters for the themes of each year’s carnival. Upon arrival we had a short chat with the people at the entrance who were interested in knowing where we were from and who seemed quite surprised when we mentioned that we’d arrived on the cruise ship. That might suggest it’s not a popular attraction for cruisers (I think there were two other people there while we were exploring and they didn’t look like they’d got off the ship) and that might be explained by the many excursions that tend to take ship visitors off elsewhere on the island along with the museum’s location, far enough back from the waterfront and tucked away to require a dedicated visit as opposed to stumbling upon it by chance. We enjoyed the look around, though, and if it’s not something you’ve done before and you’re after something a little different then it’s well worth the walk to see.

Colourful museum visit complete, we now knew that the craft ale place we’d identified would be open so headed that way. This took us towards the coastline and port, and as we approached the Puente Serador bridge we spotted some very nice, large, and colourful (again) street art decorating the arches. Always love to see street art.

A short walk from there brought us to The Craft Room. It wasn’t a large place, only had a few beers on tap, but had a great range of bottled ales and seating that opened up onto a shaded, peaceful, public square. We stayed for several beers, chatted with some of the locals about the state of craft ales on the islands, and bought some glasses to take home. In fact, the only downside to the place was that it closed during that early afternoon siesta period, and as this was a Sunday, it didn’t open again afterwards, so there was only a short window in which to enjoy the beers before we had to leave.

On the way back to the waterfront area of Santa Cruz de Tenerife we passed a large bronze sculpture of a mask, reminiscent of the comedy and tragedy masks of theatre and appropriately so as it was situated outside Teatro Guimerá. The sculpture is called Per Adriano and was created in 1993 by Igor Mitoraj.

The next post in this transatlantic cruise travelogue series will conclude our time on the island with a walk back to the ship and sail way from Tenerife to begin the eight-day Atlantic crossing part of this trip.

We’re not hugely into plants, or at least not to that extent that we make a point to identify them or notice particular species for any particular reason, but we do like visiting botanical gardens when we’re travelling. If nothing else then they usually provide the opportunity for nice photos of flowers or trees but in the Palmetum’s case there’s also the views from the location to add to the mix. Ultimately, this is a place we could recommend visiting if you’re in Tenerife for a number of reasons: fresh air, exercise, views out over the sea and back to the island, and more palms than you can shake a stick at.

Palmetum’s history can be briefly summarised as a landfill site until 1983, then early formation of the gardens from 1995 until 2000 when funding ran out, general maintenance thereafter, then additional work in phases from 2007 onwards with the first guided tours starting in 2013, and finally general admission for visitors appearing sometime after its official inauguration a year later. The botanical gardens host plants organised in broad geographical groupings with many of the species on endangered lists or categorised as extinct in the wild.

We entered, paid, used the toilets, and set off into the Palmetum. Initially, this required us following a climbing, twisting path on the landward side of the hill.

From this point we could see the Refinería de Santa Cruz de Tenerife which, even if you don’t like the look of industrial buildings and machinery and how they contrast with their environments (and I do, for my sins), is interesting simply in that it dates to 1930 and it was the very first refinery to be built in Spain. It actually closed down in 2015 and is due to be dismantled at some point with the land then to be split between public and commercial uses so this little bit of industrial history may not be around for much longer.

Signs had indicated a variety of birdlife that could be spotted but we saw very little of any animal life other than a few butterflies, some lizards, and some ducks and dragonflies drawn to the ponds around the top of the hill.

Some of the plants in the botanical gardens were more susceptible to the environment than others and were protected under a recessed, shaded area in the centre of the green space known as The Octagon.

Another lovely view from the Palmetum was back along the Santa Cruz de Tenerife shoreline towards the port with the impressive architecture of the auditorium in the middle ground. We could also spot the aft of Caribbean Princess from this vantage point showing just how far we’d walked.

In the next post in this transatlantic cruise travelogue series we conclude our time ashore on Tenerife with a visit to the Carnival Museum and a stop for some craft beers. No surprise there.

We awoke in the morning already docked and stepped out onto the balcony to a wonderfully clear sky and a heat that was building already.

After breakfast and the gathering of camera equipment, water, and sun cream for the day, we headed off the ship and immediately started moving roughly south from where Caribbean Princess was docked. Of course, you can’t get far from a cruise ship in a port before running into the ship photographers but that’s where having my own camera comes in handy as I always try to take pictures of them instead of having them take pictures of us. We don’t like having our photos taken and we’re never going to buy any so we’re saving everyone time and effort there, plus I’d like to think that it gives the photographers a bit of a break. Or a taste of their own medicine. You choose.

The visit of Caribbean Princess to Santa Cruz de Tenerife coincided with an 8K, a 21K, and a marathon taking place which meant a lot of barriers up and a lot of crazy people in running gear. The barriers and activities didn’t affect those of us on foot and it was nice to see so many people out and about even if it’s not something that I or my wife would ever do. It’s not because we wouldn’t want to but that both of us have histories of injuries. But it’s also because we wouldn’t want to.

As this cruise was taking place fairly late in the year it wasn’t a complete surprise to see a Christmas Tree up, although that name is a bit misleading. A Christmas Cone would be more accurate. Clearly, it’s better for the trees if they’re not chopped down, transported to an environment they really won’t thrive in, decorated, then left to die, but it’s still not right to call a cone a tree. Somebody has to say it.

Anyone who knows me – and very few people know me – will know that I do like architecture and history even if I’m not remotely close to being an expert in either subject. Whenever you’re travelling you’re bound to encounter things that incorporate one or both of those elements, though, and sometimes they can surprise you. Take the Monument to the Fallen below (the cross-shaped structure). The name and design might simply suggest that it’s to honour the dead, and that’s true to a point, but it’s a problematic piece because the dead it’s honouring are the fascists who died in support of Franco in the Spanish Civil War and its construction made use of forced labour by political prisoners.

The Insular Palace is the home of Tenerife’s governing body. The building was completed in 1940 and is Monumentalist, typical of the works preferred by fascists. Big and imposing for no good reason? That’s what the fascists love. Looking to build a giant ballroom when you clearly can’t dance? You’re probably a fascist. Thinking that a giant arch in your country is needed that’s bigger than everyone else’s arch even though it serves no purpose and you just want your name on it? You’re probably a fascist. You’re definitely pathetic. Oh, I appear to have veered off into topics of current political events for some reason. Anyway, the palace is notable for its clock tower and, apparently, the stocking it puts over its head when it’s about to head off somewhere and rob a bank.

If I know you half as well as I think I do then I know that whenever you see a church you ask yourself “How many naves does that thing have then?” The sixteenth century Church of the Immaculate Conception has five naves, you’ll be pleased to learn. The tower was an eighteenth century addition.

The first thing we properly wanted to see up close was the massive monument to Razer from Robot Wars. Wait, I’ve just checked, and it turns out that this is in fact the Auditorio de Tenerife. Regardless, it’s a lovely-looking piece of architecture that’s hard to miss along the waterfront area of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

The auditorium was completed in 2003 and inaugurated that same year in the presence of Prince Felipe, who at this time is now King of Spain. At night the building is lit up in white (although other colours can be used for special occasions) and we’d seen it illuminated in the darkness as we departed Tenerife on our first visit to the island.

The auditorium offers guided tours, although we didn’t know that at the time, so it’s something we might do on our next visit.

Right next to the auditorium was the Castle of John the Baptist. Castle is pushing it a bit. It’s really a fort. While the defensive structure was originally built in the seventeenth century what we saw now was the mid-eighteenth century rebuild with squat, circular tower.

Historically, there’s a connection between this castle and ourselves, though, and that’s the Portsmouth connection with Lord Nelson. The castle was one of the defensive locations that helped the Spanish inflict a crushing defeat on an overconfident Nelson and his fleet in 1797 and it was the battle in which Nelson lost his arm. Some of the combat details of the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife are interesting enough but it’s the aftermath that’s most fascinating to me, where the defending commander, Lieutenant General Antonio Gutiérrez (who had previously defeated the British in battle twice and had out-thought Nelson in this fight too), agreed honourable terms for a truce so the British could return to their ships with the promise not to attack again, and even loaned two schooners to the British to assist in their return to England. Nelson subsequently sent Gutiérrez beer and cheese along with a letter of thanks, and Gutierrez replied with Spanish cheese and wine. Can you imagine that sort of thing happening these days?

We continued to head roughly southwards as we now had an actual place in mind to visit.

The attractive water park area and wind sculpture we passed by were designed by the architect César Manrique.

However, it wasn’t the water park we were interested in seeing, but rather a botanical garden stretching across that hill just behind it in the photograph above. In the next post in this transatlantic cruise travelogue series we’ll pay a visit to the Palmetum at Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

It was formal night on Caribbean Princess and our views on formal nights is that we’ll take part in one on a cruise but any more than that is more effort than we’re typically prepared to make especially when the cruise lines sometimes barely make any effort to make these occasions special themselves. The cruise line and cruise duration do have an impact here, though, as some lines are more strict while others are more relaxed. Princess are pretty relaxed these days, which we like, and with this being a repositioning, transatlantic cruise there were not many people very dressed up at all but I still brought out my tux, bow tie, EU cufflinks, and fake Rolex for the night. Naturally, if I’m dressed like James Bond – if you squint at my reflection in a distorted mirror stolen from a funfair – then a Vodka Martini is on the cards too.

We will book something other than a balcony cabin if money is an issue or we book late so that availability is an issue or it’s a smaller, older ship with few balcony cabins available, but on a Grand-class ship like Caribbean Princess we’ll always go for a balcony, and with this being a repositioning cruise with a lot of sea days in the second week aboard the pricing was very low. We knew we’d be spending a lot of time on the balcony during those sea days but we also love heading out onto our private space late at night just to enjoy the stars. It’s this reason why we don’t like the newer ships that the likes of Princess or P&O have built – Star and Sun Princess, and Iona and Arvia – as night views are trashed thanks to setting back the balconies from the floodlit promenade deck spaces. The days when cruise lines considered what it is that their passengers might like rather than simply trying to cram as many rooms onto ships as possible is long gone, sadly.

The following day saw Caribbean Princess docked in Málaga, Spain, a place we’d never been to before but one which we’d made some lovely plans for as there were plenty of places of interest to explore. We were looking forward to having some food then setting off early to hit the bull fighting museum, the Roman amphitheatre, maybe the castle, the cathedral, and a great-looking craft ale brewery.

It was raining quite heavily when we pulled open the curtains and stepped onto the balcony. Really quite heavily. The photos don’t do this justice.

There were a few other ships in port and we could see one of the Virgin ships anchored in the very choppy Mediterranean Sea off the coast. We noticed immediately that there didn’t seem to be any tendering operation taking place from it but didn’t think too much on that.

We ate breakfast and then had to stop and take some photos from the top deck as the heavy rain had actually got heavier, coming down almost like hail on the loungers and already forming a small lake on the deck surface.

We headed back to our cabin just to get our coats. Yes, it was heavy rain and yes, we would be getting wet, but you don’t just skip a new place to visit because of the weather.

We headed down to the gangway to get off the ship and joined a short queue of people swiping their cards for security, buttoning everything up, then disembarking. We were just two people from the front of the queue when the captain made an announcement. The local authorities in Málaga were effectively closing down the city as the rain was expected to get even worse with strong risks of flooding. For safety reasons everybody needed to stay aboard so getting off was now suspended. That was that for our day in Spain then. On the one hand we were disappointed that we hadn’t got off the ship but we counted ourselves lucky that we’d not been early enough to get off only to then get drenched and find everything closing down. More on that in a few paragraphs.

Back in our room to drop off our coats as we wouldn’t be going anywhere we could now see how the rain was having an impact on our balcony space with the drainage struggling to cope with the deluge.

We spent the remainder of the day doing many of the same things we’d done on the previous one: reading, eating, drinking, taking part in trivia again.

The weather had cleared somewhat by the time late evening rolled around and we could depart. The ship had needed to stay in port to take on staff and supplies, plus some people had managed to head ashore before that was stopped so they needed to be accounted for. As Caribbean Princess made her way out from Málaga we saw that we’d been docked next to Marella Voyager. We’ve only cruised once with Marella so far, and on another ship, but we very much enjoyed the experience and would like to do so again one day.

Early in the evening we bumped into our new Romanian friend we’d met on the first night on the ship. She introduced us to a Canadian man she’d also met who, like us, had flown into Italy on embarkation day. Unlike us, his luggage hadn’t come with him and hadn’t caught up in Sardinia either so he’d been making do with what he’d been wearing for the flight and a few things he’d bought on the ship since then plus some loans from the cruise line. It turned out he’d got off the ship as early as possible just to buy more clothes, not trusting that his luggage would find him in Spain either. He’d made it into the city only to find nothing open and he’d got soaked to the skin, sometimes sheltering near buildings but mostly finding it impossible to escape the rain. That left him with almost the only set of clothes he had now completely sodden to add insult to injury. His attitude was good, though, and we all had a good laugh about it. We’d check in with him a few times over the next few days and the last we heard was that his luggage still hadn’t arrived by the last port before the transatlantic crossing.

We’d not had the day we’d planned on having but the evening was as intended with a speciality dining experience at Crown Grill. Starters and desserts often change around a bit but for the main course we always go for filet mignon, rare, and Princess never disappoint here.

In the next post in this Caribbean Princess cruise series it’s a new port for the pair of us and even a new country and continent for my wife as our ship docks at Casablanca in Morocco where we set off on an excursion to visit Rabat.