'Mein Schiff 1' of German 'TUI Cruises' was the 5th new built ship of the cruise line, a little bigger than the previous 4 vessels. The ship was built at Meyer Turku yards in Finland and had first water contact in the dry dock on 29th September 2017 at 11:00am, before it was floated out of the dock. The name of the ship in English language means 'My Ship 1'. The hull of the vessel is decorated with German words connected to vacation and leisure as well as to dream holidays. Cruises are sold on the German language speaking market only.

I booked this cruise about 13½ months before departure on the website of 'TUI Cruises' with free selection of the desired stateroom. The booking online went wrong and I had to call the hotline on the next day. Some data was false on the confirmation that arrived in my eMail box just a few minutes later and I had to call the hotline again. A corrected booking confirmation came just minutes later. I had to pay a deposit of 25% which was then made by direct debit procedure, as well as the payment of the rest of the fare later 1 month before departure, by the way. I completed the CheckIn 2 weeks after the booking online. The cruise documents were delivered to me 4 weeks before departure with eMail. Packages for beverages and internet as well as excursions and the like could be purchased online up to 5 days before departure.

As always, I flew in on the day before departure of the cruise and spent the night in a hotel, which was situated next to the harbor in walking distance to the cruise terminal 'Santa Catalina'. I proceeded to the harbor on the next morning, where I arrived at the port gate at 11:00am. Security staff checked my passport and 'Schiffspass', the boarding document, and I was already checked in just 25 minutes later, after handing out my baggage in front of the terminal and waiting in a queue for only a short time inside the small terminal. A photo was made for my 'Bordkarte', the boarding card, no health form and no registration of my credit card was necessary, that was already done days before the cruise with the Online-CheckIn.

The weather was mixed, sunny, but clouds also moved over the city. I found Las Palmas not to be a gem, but there are beaches and the wonderful little old town Triana. I walked back to the 'Parque Santa Catalina', which turned out to be one of the best places to wait for a bus I know, boarded the next one of 'Línea 1' towards 'Teatro', ticket cost €1.40 oneway, purchased on the bus with cash, and departed for a journey of 22 minutes heading south at 12:07pm. I got out at the final station next to the 'Teatro Pérez Galdós' and proceeded further to 'Casa De Colón', where a folk group performed live with vocals, dance and loud music from ghetto blasters when I arrived there. Unfortunately, a flea market destroyed good photo spots in Triana. Not far away at Plaza Cairasco, there were another 2 interesting buildings, the 'Gabinete Literario' and the 'Parroquia De San Francisco De Asís'. The entire old town featured countless old buildings of typical local style, narrow streets, very beautiful to look at. The main building is the 'Catedral De Santa Ana', next to 'Casa De Colón', where Cristoforo Colombo, the famous explorer from Genova who discovered America in 1492, lived for a while.

At 03:20pm, I took the bus 'Línea 1' back to 'Porto' got out at the bus stop 'Alfredo L Jones', near one of the highest buildings in Las Palmas, passed the port entrance with its check point after a short walk and the security in a tent next to the cruise terminal 'Santa Catalina'. I eventually entered 'Mein Schiff 1' of 'TUI Cruises' at 03:57pm on deck 2 near staircase hall B and was in my stateroom #41 on deck 7 'Hanse', port side of the ship, at exactly 04:00pm. The 'Bordkarte' for opening the stateroom was in an envelope which stuck behind the stateroom number panel next to the door.

About 20 minutes later, I showed up at the pool towel station on deck 12 and changed my 'Handtuchkarte', the towel card, which also was in the envelope, to a pool towel. I then had a first sunbath on deck. While leaves started falling from the trees in Hamburg, the sun still climbed high above the horizon here.

After I had finished my sun worshipping at 05:50pm, I connected my smartphone to the WiFi on board with the 'Mein Schiff' app, using birth date and birth month as PIN and changed the PIN to another one of my choice. To clarify some issues that came up, I visited the 'Rezeption', the guest services desk, on deck 3 at 06:35pm. My safe did not work, the display did not show anything, the woman behind the desk however pointed out to the button behind the angle of the door of the safe. I furthermore did not find the program of the day in my stateroom, she gave me hers and pointed to the display in the lobby, where guests always can take one with them. I wanted to know whether announcements would be audible in the stateroom, but she did not gave a proper and correct answer, as I later found out on the TV in my stateroom.

At 06:55pm, I logged in to the internet for the first time at address 'internet.meinschiff.de', typed my name as well as stateroom number and PIN. My previously booked volume tariff appeared, I selected it, the website of TUI Cruises opened, and I could browse the internet. I eventually had a first meal at 07:30pm in the buffet restaurant 'Anckelmannsplatz', named after the previous address of 'TUI Cruises' headquarters in Hamburg.

The security drill took place at 09:15pm for me in the totally crowded and heated 'Abtanzbar', the dance away bar, on deck 5, followed by the 'Willkommen An Bord' Party, the welcome poolparty. Lots of cruise guests tightly pushed around the pool, gallery and stage, when cruise director Wilma Rehberg introduced some leading crew members and herself. Meanwhile, captain Andreas Greulich had made his first announcement, introduced himself and talked about the arrival in Funchal, which would be moved forward to the next late evening. A medley was performed on the stage by the theater vocals group with laser show, and the party continued with the DJ, playing dance music, interrupted at 10:39pm by the typhoon. The horn blew 3 times, when 'Mein Schiff 1' finally pushed herself away from the pier of Las Palmas and sailed out of the harbor 25 minutes later. It was warm but windy and clouds moved by, while the ship cruised away from Gran Canaria in the darkness.

When I took a first look from my balcony in the morning, some islands of the 'Reserva Natural Das Ilhas Selvagens' just moved by, a natural reserve in the middle of nowhere that belongs to Portugal and is populated by just 2 rangers and a dog, according to the captain. It was very windy on this sea day, the elements shook the ship, it pitched the swells, and it felt like a train on bad rails. Waves were up to 3 meters high, and clouds moved by sometimes. Live music was played on the pool stage in the afternoon, calm songs that everybody knows, at a pleasant volume. I spent most of the day on the pool deck, worshipping the sun, sometimes I appeared at the 'Anckelmannsplatz' for food and drinks. There was no lifeguard observation of the pool, which is 25 meters long. Many sun loungers even remained unoccupied, but the very popular 'Strandkörbe' and lounge couches were occupied all the time of course.

At 08:40pm, a lighthouse appeared in the north, 'Mein Schiff 1' was heading Portuguese island of Madeira, the island of flowers and everlasting spring time. The pilot came on board at 10:19pm and the ship moved into the wind shadow of Madeira. At 10:30pm, the harbor entrance was passed and 18 minutes later, 'Mein Schiff 1' docked at the pier of spectacularly illuminated Funchal, the capital of Madeira, which is the Portuguese word for wood.

I left the ship at 09:59am from staircase hall B on deck 2 and arrived after a walk of 30 minutes along the promenade at the 'Teleférico Do Funchal'. The return ticket for the cable car cost €16.00 for a flight of 14 minutes, respectively €31.40 for the combination ticket that also includes the cable car return ticket to and entrance fee for the 'Jardim Botânico'. I had to wait 30 minutes in the queue for the 'Teleférico Do Funchal' which then went up to Monte and its 'Jardim Tropical Monte Palace' as well as the 'Igreja De Nossa Senhora Do Monte'.

At 11:32am and after a short walk downhill, I already sat in the cable car to the 'Jardim Botânico', where I arrived 9 minutes later. The lower I stepped down in the garden, the more colorful it became, but it was obviously not the best season for a visit, since so many plants were without blossoms. However, the plants originated from many parts of the world and were labeled properly. There were also endemic plants.

Back at Monte, I purchased a ticket for €12.50, the entrance fee of the 'Jardim Tropical Monte Palace'. A very beautiful and interesting Garden with a gorgeous wealth of colorful plants and flowers. Also colorful were all the tile panels along the way downhill, which showed the history of Portugal over centuries in a row. Small waterfalls, a special area with shrines, narrow stony bridges over creeks and a small bamboo forest depicted Asia. Colorful blossoms everywhere, many ponds with goldfishes and koi fishes, some mini Levadas, butterflies and cute small lizards. One of them even climbed up half my leg very quickly. Meanwhile, the weather was changing, clouds were collecting around the mountain peaks and I had to wait for good photography conditions, but at a very beautiful place.

I took the cable car down at 03:17pm, and the flight again went over white houses with red roofs, small gardens, barking dogs, banana plantations and steep meadows with cows and goats, all amidst the city. Back down, I admired some fruit sales stands, many even offered maracuja fruits and some other fruits I did not even know. Funchal appeared to me as a very relaxed small big town, with some few interesting buildings, green and colorful parks and cozy shopping streets.

I returned to the ship at 07:14pm, checks of 'Bordkarte' and security on board, had dinner in the 'Anckelmannsplatz' buffet restaurant, and at 09:00pm, a very restrained pool party started on deck 12 with drinks and snacks. Mood didn't want to get up around the colorfully illuminated pool, until, yes until the DJ changed the music from English to German 'Schlager', and suddenly the dance floor was totally overpopulated. A warm night with less wind, lots of stars, the moon and some planets on a clear sky, the lights of Funchal in the background.

Live classical music was performed on the pool deck, when I left the ship at 10:47am. My original plan was to go by bus to fishing village Câmara De Lobos and even to Miradouro Cabo Girão west of Funchal, but the bus connection is unregularly and complicated, additionally, the bus needs a half an hour for an air distance of just about 5 kilometers. I cancelled this plan due to the lack of time until departure of the ship and instead made another visit to beautiful Funchal, enjoyed a wonderful passionfruit lemonade, the sun of course, and eventually started walking back to the ship along the promenade with a wealth of flowers and even some banana plants of which one already carried big bananas. I didn't like to leave this place of a paradise and arrived back at the ship just 30 minutes before departure. There was so much left to see and to discover here on beautiful Madeira island. I would get back as soon as possible!

At 01:55pm, 'Mein Schiff 1' departed from Funchal. Crew started to collect unoccupied sun loungers already about 3 hours before sunset, but did not evict me from mine. While the weather was very beautiful all the morning, big clouds covered the island in the afternoon, and clouds were hiding the sun occasionally also for the rest of the day. The captain promised a nice sunset in his announcement just before departure from Funchal, but after looking to the animated satellite image in the evening, I thought to myself that this is not gonna happen. It did not happen, thick clouds finished the mostly sunny day, and star observation also was not possible, additionally, desert dust flew over from Africa. The moon later appeared reddish at the night sky.

Before sunrise at 07:36am, 'Mein Schiff 1' berthed at the pier of Santa Cruz De La Palma, after she had turned and sailed into the harbor backwards. An announcement was audible at 09:42am in the stateroom for a crew security training that lasted more than 1 hour.

I left the ship at 11:59am from staircase hall B on deck 2 and went about 15 minutes to 'Plaza De La Constitución', next to the main bus stops. I then continued walking along the promenade with the black lava beach on the one side and the 'Balcones De La Avenida Marítima' on the other side. There were lots of beautiful old houses with traditional balconies in the town, but some of them between ugly neighboring buildings, except here at the official site, where even a panel showed photos and multilingual written explanations of each the architectural gems. There was no sunshine and no blue sky, and thus I did not make a single photo of the many picturesque sights in Santa Cruz De La Palma. I turned at the 'Parroquia De San Francisco De Asís' and finished my sightseeing tour through the town with a walk along the main shopping road 'Calle O'Daly' and its 'Plaza De España'.

My original plan was to go by bus north to the village of Los Sauces and its big banana plantations, but due to the discouraging weather, I instead returned to the ship at already 02:15pm. There was only a quick check of the 'Bordkarte' inside the small terminal, other checks and the security underwent onboard.

Just another lost cruise day because of bad weather. The forecast for the rest of the cruise was very good during all the past few days, but turned to bad overnight, and I began to wonder when weather services finally show their any ability of good and reliable cloud forecasts, and whether this is the right way to travel - and to spent a lot of money - for me at all.

At 06:07pm, 'Mein Schiff 1' departed from Santa Cruz De La Palma, the typhoon howled 3 times, and the departure theme "Große Freiheit" from "Unheilig Featuring James Last" was played again. The island of La Palma vanished soon in the thick haze that came over from Africa, while the ship was sailing eastwards with just 8kts. There was no sunset this evening, it would have been behind La Palma island anyway, but the sky later cleared up and the moon appeared above the stern of 'Mein Schiff 1'.

At 06:53am, 'Mein Schiff 1' took the pilot on board, passed the harbor entrance of Santa Cruz De Tenerife 24 minutes later, turned and docked at 07:58am in front of the 'Terminal De Cruceros De Tenerife'.

I left the ship after a breakfast at 10:46am for a visit of the capital of Tenerife. The first spot was the 'Iglesia De Nuestra Señora De La Concepción', surrounded by some few old and typical local buildings. I continued my walk along the promenade with the 'Auditorio De Tenerife Adán Martín' and the nearby 'Castillo De San Juan Bautista'. There is a hill located southwest of it, and my original plan was to go on top of it for a view on the city. What I did not know was that the hill previously was a giant waste pile, then converted to a beautiful oasis with countless different palms and plants from tropical regions all around the world called 'Jardín Botánico Palmetum', entrance fee is €6.00. Most plants and trees were labeled and it was so beautiful and interesting there that the view on the city eventually became a minor matter. I continued my walk to 'Parque García Sanabria' and took a look to Rambla De Santa Cruz, before I once again went back to 'Iglesia De Nuestra Señora De La Concepción' and eventually to the ship, where I arrived at 03:32pm.

I had something to drink and to eat and spent the rest of the afternoon on the balcony of my stateroom until at 07:09pm, when the typhoon sounded, the departure theme was played again and 'Mein Schiff 1' sailed away from Santa Cruz De Tenerife. The island vanished soon in the thick haze. Later at 10:00pm, the 'Süsse Retro Party', sweet retro party, in the 'Große Freiheit' behind the glass diamond on deck 5 started with music from the 70s and 80s, presented by DJ Rob, the robot DJ, small desserts and bits were offered.

At 06:12, 'Mein Schiff 1' sailed into the harbor of Puerto Del Rosario, the capital of Fuerteventura, which means "strong wind", and eventually berthed 28 minutes later after turning at the cruise pier 'Muelle De Cruceros'. Balconies on my side of the ship were cleaned from 09:15am on without written prenotice, just on the day before in an announcement over the loudspeakers for the other side that I missed, and they were not finished when I left the ship at 11:20am.

The Puerto Del Rosario 'Estación Insular De Guaguas', the roof covered bus terminal, was in walkable distance from the ship. About half the way, the small 'Iglesia Nuestra Señora Del Rosario'. The weather was mixed with some clouds, but there was less haze from Africa in the air. The bus 'Línea 6' to Corralejo departed a little late at 12:07pm for my visit of the famous dunes in the north of Fuerteventura. The bus driver walked through the bus to count free seats before he departed. Desert landscapes moved by and some mountains were just standing around in the west. After about a half an hour, a big sandy white with a lonely hotel appeared in the east, the 'Riu' hotel group at the 'Dunas De Corralejo'.

The road along the dunes was partially closed due to construction, and so I got out at the bus stop near the 'Acua Water Park' at 12:49pm. It was a walk of about 45 minutes from there eastwards to the 'Parque Natural De Corralejo' with its dunes and the spectacular views to the islands of Lobos and Lanzarote. I then walked along the Corralejo main shopping road Avenida Nuestra Señora Del Carmen with modern shops and restaurants, towards the bus stop at Muelle Corralejo. The bus departed 30 minutes late, or the one bus earlier did not depart at all, at 03:50pm and arrived 1 hour later in Puerto Del Rosario. I was back on the ship at 05:12pm, took a last short sun bath on deck and returned my pool towel, getting back a 'Handtuchkarte' at 05:55pm. Guests can change their pool towels if they want at the towel station during the cruise.

At 06:45pm, the last speech over the loudspeakers of captain Andreas Greulich, he said good bye with the best wishes, and at 09:30pm, the final pool farewell party took place. Parts of the crew appeared on stage with each their nation flags of a total of 43 different nations the crew members came from. Well, a Europe flag, a Bavaria flag and a Rainbow flag were also among them. The theater group performed a last time and indeed, it got a little bit emotional. I put my baggage in front of the stateroom door just before 11:00pm, as required, but it still stood there together with the baggage of some other passengers for hours.

I was sitting on my balcony after midnight, watched planets Mars and Saturn, and the Moon when it vanished behind the horizon. A light wind blew a warm sea breeze around my head. Another cruise was over, way too soon again.

At 03:35am, 'Mein Schiff 1' passed the harbor entrance of Las Palmas and docked 50 minutes later at the cruise terminal 'Santa Catalina'. I left my stateroom at 09:12am, a little later than being asked to do so by 'TUI Cruises' and had a last breakfast with Artisan bread and the good hot chocolate. Guests without home flight and airport transfer arrangements with 'TUI Cruises' were asked to leave the ship by 11:00am or pay €25.00 for a day stay until 05:00pm, so I left 'Mein Schiff 1' at 11:42am, walked to the bus terminal, took a bus to the airport and flew home. Just minutes after departure, I had a last view on 'Mein Schiff 1' in the harbor of Las Palmas and the Pico De Teide, the highest mountain of Spain on the island of Tenerife looked out of a cloud layer. Later, even the peaks of Madeira were visible from cruise altitude of my flight back home to Hamburg, where 'Mein Schiff 1' was christened some months ago.

Single traveler on 'Canary Islands And Madeira' cruise with 'Mein Schiff 1' from Las Palmas. I chose this cruise to experience the brand new ship and 'TUI Cruises'.

Embarkation - This was done very quickly. The baggage already waited in front of my stateroom when I boarded the ship after my excursion to the city, that was about 4 hours after CheckIn.

Security Drill - Cruise guests tightly pushed in a bar way too small for so many people, the elderly had to wait standing for long, and though everyone was registered at the entrance, a crew member started to call everyone after another by name, which then turned out to be a joke. The security movie from the stateroom TV was shown, and a life vest demonstration by a crew member, but few guests could see that due to the crowd. Smoking on balconies is considered to be a security risk, but on 'Mein Schiff 1' smoking on balconies was allowed explicitly, even ash trays were provided.

The Ship - Just a half a year old 'Mein Schiff 1', which means 'My Ship 1', features many venues named after locations in Hamburg, where the cruise line is headquartered. Overall appearance was quite Hanseatic, with decent colors, modest decoration, restrain and understatement. Orientation was made very simple for the cruise guests due to signs pointing to bow, stern, port and starboard sides of the ship. Elevators were usually available very quickly and equipped with close door buttons. The sports hall above the 'Anckelmannsplatz' buffet restaurant was well audible when guests were dining, noisy banging and tramping. Tobacco smoke caused by too many smokers on board flew around at outdoor bars on deck and to my balcony nearly constantly. While 'TUI Cruises' promotes itself with words like 'Wohlfühl', feel-good, and 'Gesund', healthy, it was hard to gasp a clear sea breeze. My balcony was actually unusable therefore. Free sun loungers were always available, even on the sea days. There was no storm during the cruise, thus the ship always sailed very stable.

Crew And Staff - They were always friendly and spoke German language astonishingly often and quite good. I maybe met the stateroom stewards at any time, but did not have had a chance to talk to them personally. That was though not necessary however at all, since they did a good job without being noticed. No intrusive promotion of shopping and spa offers, also not in written form.

Dining - The choice and selection in the 'Anckelmannsplatz' buffet restaurant - I don't go to restaurants with service at the table on board - appeared limited to me in the area of the warm kitchen, in addition, some foodstuffs were offered on days in a row or even daily. Potatoes were served nearly always unpeeled, but tasted very good. Cruise guests could select food on their own at the 'WOK-Station' for individual preparation. The pantry staff did use plenty of salt and created conspicuously runny sauces. Choice from the cold kitchen with salads, cheese and Brötchen for example, German dough rolls, was good. Especially the 'Artisan' bread was very tasty. For breakfast, the same foodstuff was offered every morning. The pastries section also was a little bit limited, sometimes, pieces of fancy cakes did not have had a flooring, the pieces fell apart while being transferred to the plate by the guests. 'Bruno Gelato' was offered together with toppings in the buffet restaurant and on the pool deck, it was among the most delicious things offered on board. Some food had proper labels, including allergy notices, some things were not labeled at all. Dining obviously should fulfill German taste, needs and demand, there was less variation and very less local food from the cruise region being offered. Despite the limitations, everything I tried tasted good or even very good. Included in the cruise fare were nearly all beverages, some more expensive alcoholic drinks on surcharge. Guests could fill their glasses with soft drinks, vine and beer, or their cups with different beverages from the coffee machines on their own; the hot chocolate was very good. The dress code was casual, but long pants were required in the evening.

The Guests - They were from German speaking countries only, and throughout of a higher average age. Few but very agile kids, some people with rollators and in wheel chairs. Board language was German, with some very few security related announcements in English as well.

Shore Excursions - This is something I usually organize on my own. Disembarkation and Embarkation at ports of call was quickly without long waiting. The ship was always very punctual.

Entertainment - Sometimes, life music was played at the pool, there were also some pool parties and daily evening shows in the theater and the small stage called 'Schaubühne'. A paint school was offering courses.

Shopping - A shopping mall over 2 decks offered many things, clothes, souvenirs and typical duty free goods. The art gallery exhibited paints and photographs.

Internet - Many different internet packages were offered at reasonable prices. The speed was good, the connection interrupted and reconnected seconds later sometimes. Land based LTE internet access was available when the ship cruised in coastal areas, and in ports anyway.

Disembarkation - That went absolutely without problems or waiting. The baggage was easy to find in the terminal, but could also be brought from the ship by the cruise guests on their own until 09:00am.

Thank you 'TUI Cruises', for this cruise on 'Mein Schiff 1'!

My 'Balkonkabine', balcony stateroom, #41 on deck 7 port side had a king size double bed with bedside tables. There was a commode with stool, a safe for valuables, a phone and a coffee machine with 2 capsules per day included in the cruise fare. Drinkable water could be obtained in the staircase halls with a carafe from the stateroom. Storage for clothes was sufficient, but partially occupied with pillows, blankets and bathrobes. There were sockets for EU plugs, even one at the bed. A broad range of German plus some very few international TV channels were offered, a moving map provided ship's position and some nautical and meteorological information. Announcements could be heard on TV channel 2, a replay of the last 8 announcements was offered in the TV menu. Security information on the stateroom door, and an air conditioner thermostat next to the bathroom door. The big balcony had 2 sun chairs with foldable backrests and a small table.

Bathroom with shower and gel as well as conditioner dispensers plus a clothesline. The shower temperature oscillated sometimes between warm and not so warm. Mirror, toilet, washbasin with soap dispenser, towels and flannels. Some toiletries were provided.

Stateroom cleaning was carried out twice a day. The daily planner 'Mein Schiff Tagesprogramm' was delivered in the evenings together with some chocolate. A towel animal with a personal written notice from the stewards wished all the best on the last evening.