| The second port on my Canaries cruise on Queen Mary 2 was Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where were were due to arrive for 9am. Balmoral was already there while Liberty of the Seas, on her repositioning to Fort Lauderdale for the winter, was some way behind us, despite also being 9am. The last time I had seen her in three Italian ports a few weeks earlier, it had been dark for arrivals and departures (foggy in Civitavecchia too!) so at least this would be daylight and in glorious sunshine. It did spit a little and there was a wonderful rainbow over the mountains. We were early and, to my surprise, we went straight in, docking at the entrance, rather than turning and reversing. This would be interesting when Liberty arrived! I hadn't noticed at the time but there was another ship behind Liberty in some of the shots. |
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| I had an excursion so couldn't watch her dock, especially since she was late! As we were driving away from the port, I spotted another ship was backing up past Mary - Voyager of the Seas! There had only been us, Balmoral and Liberty scheduled, Voyager diverted due to bad weather in the Azores, our guide told us. Nice little bonus! Voyager was on her repositioning to New Orleans and had been due in Ponta Delgada the following day. |
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| Once the tour was over, I went walkabout. My back was killing me but I'd planned to get photos anyway when there were only three due. Be a longer trek with three big ladies taking up the entire length of the dockside but worth it. Plus I had to find out what time Voyager was sailing. As the security guard was telling me it was all aboard by 4.30pm, two old American men from Liberty tried to board! Can they really not remember theirs is parked in front of the fat Queen? |
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| I went on deck for Voyager's departure and it was still spitting. This weather was as bad as Madeira the day before. Voyager left slightly late, giving a parp as she moved away from the dock, then there was a horn battle between her lovely, melodic one and Liberty's uncouth farting. Not one to be ignored, Mary got in on the action as Voyager passed then the Royal Caribbean sailed into a couple of squalls. |
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| We and Liberty were listed to sail at 6pm while Balmoral was several hours later. We went first, giving three blasts to signal going astern and Liberty farted back. Once we were safely out of the way, Liberty threw her ropes and followed us out. |
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| To read the review of my Queen Mary 2 cruise click here. |
| Back to Stalking Index |