AidaDiva passengers not impressed with Tenerife at Easter

**Ally** · 03-27-2008, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Santa Cruz continues onwards and upward as far as its physical image is concerned, but the hidebound attitude to shutting down, whether for fiesta, siestas or simply the weekend is a far harder nut to crack.

The authorities rejoice that more and more cruise liners are putting the city on their navigational maps, both as a regular port of call and as a base port during the winter season.

But had you asked the passengers on the Aidadiva, to take just one large cruise ship example, what they thought of the much-touted “shopping opportunities” of Santa Cruz, it’s more than likely that the politest reply would have been “rubbish”.

Because not only was the sun not shining for the 2,500 passengers eagerly awaiting to disembark to explore the city that had been so hyped up in their itinerary last week, but the vibrant place they had anticipated was a virtual ghost-town.

There may not exactly have been tumbleweed rolling down Calle Castillo, but the majority of passengers were shattered to find it shuttered.

Of course the fact is it was Semana Santa, but unfortunately shutdown is not confined to Easter as many other cruise ship visitors have discovered to their cost. It is a scenario played out most weekends and siesta dead hours throughout the year.

The poor passengers were even faced with a resentful skeleton service portside: baggage handlers, a few taxi drivers and drivers on special bus duty, ready to transfer those finishing their cruise in Tenerife to the airport for flights home.

One baggage handler summed up the dismal scene that had greeted them:
“We’ve been here since the early hours and it’s dead. At other times, especially Fridays, there has at least been a bit of music and folk dressed in local costume to welcome the visitors. But today there is absolutely nothing.”
By 5 pm there was a queue of passengers, most of the German, in the echoing marble hall that is the security control building, where they patiently waited to show passports and baggage.

At 8 pm the good ship Aidadiva set sail for Madeira, and there must have been few on board who will not have experienced a sensation of relief to turn their backs on a lifeless city where they had had little to do all day save kick their heels.

Easter week or no Easter week, Santa Cruz definitely won’t be among their most cherished souvenirs.

Drop dead boring - Santa Cruz fails as a passenger pleaser - Tenerife News - News from Tenerife Canary Islands Spain