AIDA Canary Islands 2015

On Sunday morning our alarm went off just before one o'clock. You couldn't call it a long sleep – barely two hours. 30 minutes later we were in the car on the way to Hanover airport. We were amazed at how busy the airport is at two o'clock on a Sunday morning – crowds of people as far as the eye could see. Our plane was already waiting, and at 4 a.m. sharp we took off for Gran Canaria.

4.5 hours later we reached the island in brilliant sunshine. As always, AIDA staff were already waiting for us and guided us to the waiting buses.

So we arrived on AIDAsol shortly after 9 a.m., and the ship was still very empty. The cabins weren't ready at that time, so a quick breakfast and off to the pool.

At 12 noon we could call a balcony cabin our own for the first time, for the next 7 days. The balcony is very small – two chairs and a little stool fit on it – but the view is great.

We didn't cast off until after 10 p.m., so we went ashore once more into Las Palmas. Right at the pier there's a shopping mall. Unfortunately all the shops were closed on Sunday. So on into the city.

You can find shopping at the Inter Spar, which is open until 3 p.m. even on Sundays. Important note: food and drinks must be in their original sealed packaging if you want to take them on board AIDA.

In the evening we had our traditional welcome cocktail in the AIDA Bar. At 10 p.m. sharp we sailed out and set course for Madeira and our first sea day.

After a leisurely breakfast we took over the pool area at a temperature of 29 degrees. In the evening we went to the first show.