Her Majesty in Valle Gran Rey once again

Thomson Majesty approaching the harbour of Valle Gran Rey early yesterday morning...

The cruise ship 'Thomson Majesty' paid the first visit of this winter season to Valle Gran Rey's harbour of Vueltas. The passengers enjoyed the fine weather yesterday and many were seen exploring the lower valley while others were discovering the whole island by tour coach and appreciating the exceptionally clear views (see separate post). 'Thomson Majesty' will visit La Gomera seven more times this season and will dock four times in San Sebastian de La Gomera, while she'll visit Valle Gran Rey once each in February, March and April 2017. 

It is always nice to see a ship in the all too often vacant outer harbour which just begs to be properly completed and put to use.

...and berthing in the outer harbour of Vueltas a short time later

Lord Nelson heading for Vueltas harbour

The 'Lord Nelson' sailing past the beach of La Playa close to shore under engine power, heading for Vueltas.

The STS 'Lord Nelson' is a sail training ship of 368 gross tonnage and was launched in 1986 by Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson for the Jubilee Sailing Trust and is berthing in Valle Gran Rey's port of Vueltas as I write. She'll be dwarfed there tomorrow with the arrival of the huge cruise ship 'Thomson Majesty'. It seems the British are coming - despite 'Brexit'...

Cruise ship season has begun

With the visit of the large cruise liner 'Mein Schiff 1' the cruise ship season has begun in La Gomera. While a few cruise ships visit La Gomera all year round, the winter months are the busiest time for La Gomera's main port San Sebastian and five cruise ships will dock here this week alone. A good few smaller  cruise ships and sail training vessels  also visit the southwestern port of Valle Gran Rey and even the very large 'Thomson Majesty' is scheduled to dock there four times this winter.

Cruises are becoming an increasingly popular form of holidaying and there's a further 65 large cruise ships under construction at various shipyards all over Europe at the moment.

La Gomera has rated very highly with passengers, who are very impressed with the island's beauty and atmosphere, praising the quality of the shore excursions. Many passengers have voted the visit to La Gomera the highlight of their cruise.

This is good news, as even though most passengers do not spend all that much time and money here, some will return for longer stays and many more will recommend La Gomera as a holiday destination to family and friends. As we all know, word of mouth endorsements are the perfect publicity, of the type that money can't buy.

Some of the many buses awaiting passengers booked on shore excursions

Cruise ship Thomson Majesty back in Valle Gran Rey

Yesterday saw the return of the large cruise ship Thomson Majesty to Valle Gran Rey, La Gomera. This time passengers had more time to explore the area as the ship stayed the whole day and not just half the day as on previous visit. Many of her crew were out and about as well and both passengers and crew were very impressed with Valle Gran Rey as a cruise ship destination and the glorious weather yesterday.

Cruise ship delayed

The 'Thomson Majesty' during her last visit in Valle Gran Rey

The cruise ship 'Thomson Majesty' was due to dock in the port of Vueltas in Valle Gran Rey on La Gomera this morning at 8am, but due to the late arrival of boarding passengers in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The ship with a maximum capacity of close to 2.000 passengers is now expected to dock at around midday. As I write the vessel is just leaving the southernmost tip of Tenerife on her way here.

Majesty back in Valle Gran Rey

Valle Gran Rey in La Gomera's southwest saw the arrival of the first cruise ship this winter season yesterday morning. Once again the 679ft 'Thomson Majesty'' paid a visit to the harbour of Vueltas with her mostly British passengers. The cruise liner with a maximum capacity of 1.970 passengers had been here before last year and yesterday docked at 7.30 am to the sound of Canarian folk music and El Silbo whistling, organised by the local administration to greet the passengers. A free shuttle bus was offered to visit the distinct parts of the lower Valle Gran Rey area and the music was moved around the different 'barrios' as well. 'Her Majesty' left again at 2pm, bound for Madeira with many souvenirs bought here aboard. Some shops even completely sold out their stocks of bottled water as it was a hot day. I met some Irish passengers who told me that their short visit here was a  great discovery and they now plan to return for a longer holiday on La Gomera.

Cruise ship season 2015-16 has begun

The huge 'Mein Schiff 4' in San Sebastian de La Gomera yesterday morning.
The 2.500 passengers were welcomed with Canarian folk music (on left)

This winter's cruise ship season began yesterday with the arrival of the TUI-owned 'Mein Schiff 4' in the port of San Sebastian de La Gomera. Many more will be calling over the next few months, among them the similarly large 'Thomson Majesty' and the sailing vessel 'Sea Cloud'. The former is also scheduled to berth in the harbour of Valle Gran Rey a few times this winter.

'Majesty' cruise ship visits Valle Gran Rey

The huge (570 ft) cruise liner Thomson Majesty docked in the port of Vueltas in Valle Gran Rey on La Gomera early yesterday (Sunday) morning and stayed until late lunchtime. The restaurants, cafes and a few shops in Vueltas that open on Sundays were kept very busy as many of the estimated 1500 passengers explored the area. It was the first time a cruise ship of such dimensions berthed in Vueltas and her Majesty took up the entire length of the pier in the outer harbour. The visit was due to a very busy cruise holiday season and the pier of La Gomera's capital was occupied by another cruise ship.

By the way, the Thomson Majesty was in the headlines in February of 2013 when five of her crew died in an accident during a safety drill while visiting neighbouring La Palma island.  Read: Five crew die on cruise ship 'Thomson Majesty'

Thomson Majesty leaving Valle Gran Rey bound for Funchal on Madeira yesterday