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9 Nov 20, 12:13 AM |
#1
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Imagineer
Join Date: Jun 09
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The ‘ destined to happen ‘ trip to Lanzarote - our covid times experience
Thought I would do a small report on our trip to Lanzarote . Mainly to share our experiences of a holiday in the middle of a pandemic.
We feel so lucky to have been able to go - everything just fell into place as you will see. There was the four of us ; me , DW, DD22,DS17 . With DW working at a school and DS at college , it’s school hols only for us , so I am always in the look out for a bargain flight So just before the first lockdown was sat up on a Saturday night - others all in bed when I somehow found out that EasyJet had out of the blue released their winter flights . I wouldn’t normally do this but without discussing with anyone else I booked flights to Lanzarote for October half term £260 return for all 4 of us ( booked Tenerife for Feb half term for the same price but heaven knows if that will go ahead ) Thankfully got the thumbs up from the others next morning I managed to add bags during the 99p sale they had on a couple of months later ( just happened to nosey on that day as to how much the flights had gone up to and spotted the baggage offer) Then waited as the pandemic hit , as time went on looking increasingly unlikely we could go ( we needed quarantine free) and watching as other people’s flights gong by the wayside but ours were never cancelled So with EasyJet you can move the money onto other flights more than 14 days before the flight was due to go . I had been watching the covid cases on Lanzarote and they had been dropping down to around the 20 per 100k mark so at the 14 day point decided to risk losing the flight money and didn’t cancel in the vague hope quarantine would be lifted - The next Thursday came and went- no lifting I was about to move on the return leg so only £130 lost as had basically given up by then but happened to ring easyJet for advice . They told me that as Liverpool was in tier 3 , we could actually move the money on any time to new flights ( both legs ) right up to the day before departure ! Result . We had never even flown from Liverpool before ! Our hotel was by chance cancellable up to Thursday night before the Sunday flight so could keep that on pending quarantine lifting So I then followed Grant Shapps on Twitter and waited for 5pm Thursday ( 3 days before our flight ) - and amazingly he lifted all the Canaries I had nothing sorted . So Thursday sorted car parking , car hire , and insurance , and confirmed accommodation . The insurance was another stroke of luck . With DD and DW medical conditions , pricey can be scary . We have found one that isn’t too bad and went online for an annual quote . It could only be done if flights booked after 17th March . Guess what , we booked ours on the 18th ! Get in Friday morning came to checking in . Not many seats left in cattle class. DD was panicking about being split up and surrounded by people . Checked in and were given 1A, 1B , 1C and 1D both journeys without paying extra . Lottery numbers time So on to the actual holiday 😂 - car parking- booked LASP - turns out it’s parking behind an MOT centre in Liverpool ! As it was an early morning flight we had to ring the guy en route so he could open up . Was very informal but all worked fine and just a mile or so from the airport on a minibus - Car hire - on a Dibb tip went with Auto Riessen. Great choice . Cost just £70 for a Citroen saloon car with plenty of room for the cases . Including top up insurance and no excess . Efficient check in , I went back to mark up scratches etc and she basically said don’t worry and put crosses all over the car pictogram and initialled it ! Fuel you just fill back to the mark you got it at - allegedly 3/4 but the car actually was over 7/8ths so some free fuel as well . Easy return . Park the car , tell them what bay you put it in and give them the keys , that’s it ! No scrutiny at all - Accommodation was Ona Las Casitas in Playa Blanca . I had booked Ona Las Brisas but swapped late to the sister hotel as they were going to be closing the pool for refurb. Room was Ok ( bit more dated than Las Brisas ) but plenty of room and a nice area out the front for eating and sunbathing So the whole covid experience Flight they called late , queuing was quick and everyone masked up , but not much distancing . Flight uneventful both ways , everyone masked up and felt safe at the front spth.gob.es. Arrived in Lanzarote. I had done the entry forms ( link above ) on the Friday and printed off all 4 QR codes . DD and DW had been to the hospital the day previous for a dental issue and there had been a question on the form - have you been to hospital in last 14 days ? , which I answered yes to , but there were no follow up questions . So on scanning the QR at the airport the boys came up GREEN , the girls both came up RED , and they were whisked away But no dramas , a few basic questions , the pulse test and they were free to leave At the accommodation , everything was very clean but very quiet . Only about 8 rooms out of 46 were booked . You had to be masked up around the resort , but not when at your sunbed, in the pool or when eating / drinking . Same rules around the resort . No masks needed in bars once you got food / drinks or once settled on beach or in sea Sun beds were in groups of 2 , with marked off areas to separate you from next family . No inflatables allowed in pool . We also weren’t allowed to play tennis / pool etc so the resort were taking things very seriously Resort was very quiet , many hotels completely shut , many bars and restaurants the same . Not many people on beaches or walking the prom . The prom was marked up like a road with walking supposed to be on one side only but not all followed it . In fact generally people didn’t seem concerned about social distancing but I felt fine as there was so much space it was easy to manage that yourselves Mask wearing was almost 100 % where required . People would remove masks for photos then replace straight away . I felt much safer than at home So what did we do ? Generally had a laze 😂 Though there were a couple of interesting looking members clubs to join One day we went to the Timanfaya National Park which was a really good experience - 45 minutes on a coach through the volcanoes. The whole scenery in the South of the island was stunning. We then went on the camel ride . I get that some people see this as exploitation of the camels ,but it was good fun . Then on to a fabulous little stop called El Golfo , a green lagoon , black beach with waves crashing and a great coastline backed by mountains .Beautiful location. Another day I took a solo trip to the North of the island in the car . Roads are great and direction signs good. I loved the roundabouts which had lots of sculptures on them, my fave being the camel one. I had bought a CACT Lanzarote card which included Timanfaya, Jameos Del Agua , Cuevas De las Verdes and the Jardin de Cactus The caves were quite interesting , done in groups of 50 because of covid . Think it was about a 50 minute experience . Quite a cute ‘ surprise experiment ‘ near the end . Jameos del Agua I have done before . It’s a beautiful site , whether it’s worth the 10 Euro admission if paid separately I am not so sure The Cactus Garden was not a bad little experience . As you can imagine cactuses in different shapes and sizes all beautifully laid out -I thought the identification of the boys and girls toilets were a nice bit of fun I also took the drive up to Mirador del Rio . Using a trip advisor tip, as I am tight , I didn’t pay the 5 Euro fee as there is basically just a gift shop and toilets for your money -just walk 200 metres down the hill for a almost identical free view - shame it was a little cloudy that part of the day On the way back , I had a detour to Costa Tequise . Nice resort , good beaches and much more Brit than Playa Blanca . But there was hardly anyone there so a bit lacking in atmosphere We also went one night for a meal out in Puerto del Carmen . To be honest , not sure I liked the resort . A bit ‘ old ‘ for us , tight windy streets etc , but glad we visited as one to cross off for future hols Overall a fab rest , weather was great , a nice breeze , some stunning scenery and nice reasonably priced meals - pizza /pasta from 7 or 8 Euros . Meat from about 10 Euros ( plain chicken bit less ) Hopefully batteries recharged sufficiently to get us through the next lockdown - please let the Tenerife trip be on.
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Our 2014 west coast trip - pre-trip, small highs and lows , and photo book/storybook Pre-trip reportsmall highs and lows photobook/storybook Our MOST ANNOYING trip to Tenerife February 2018 ( an homage to infamous dibb threads |
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9 Nov 20, 08:54 AM |
#2
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Excited about Disney
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Thank you for this. It looks like you all had a lovely relaxing time.
We are thinking of going in February so your report has been very helpful. |
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9 Nov 20, 09:28 AM |
#3
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VIP Dibber
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Great trip report. We managed to go to Rhodes in august and our experiences regarding COVID safety measures were very similar. It was also very quiet everywhere we went.
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ALISON 1998 Villa in Kissimmee 2009 Animal Kingdom Lodge 2011 Animal Kingdom Lodge 2014 Villa Lake Berkeley 2016 Villa Bass Lakes 2017 Villa on Solana and Vero Beach 2018 Villa on Highlands Reserve and St Pete Beach 2019 SLC, Cabana Bay, Highlands Reserve & Coronado Springs, 2020 Feb half term villa chilling. 2022 villa on Calabay Park and a trip Clearwater beach. 2023 Orlando and Clearwater |
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9 Nov 20, 04:32 PM |
#4
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VIP Dibber
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Looks fantastic. We were supposed to be there last week, BA cancelled our flights so we went to Crete instead.
Will be going in Feb 2021 and plan to do many of the same trips as you, scenery looks cracking. |
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10 Nov 20, 01:06 AM |
#5
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Excited about Disney
Join Date: Jul 10
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Beautiful photos! I'm so glad you all managed to get away 🙂
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10 Nov 20, 09:39 PM |
#6
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Thread Starter
Imagineer
Join Date: Jun 09
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Cheers for taking the time to read and for the feedback
Still all seemed surreal - spent all Summer not expecting to go , then when we got there it was like going to an undiscovered island
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Our 2014 west coast trip - pre-trip, small highs and lows , and photo book/storybook Pre-trip reportsmall highs and lows photobook/storybook Our MOST ANNOYING trip to Tenerife February 2018 ( an homage to infamous dibb threads |
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10 Nov 20, 09:42 PM |
#7
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Imagineer
Join Date: Jun 16
Location: God's Own Country
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Good one Bury, I’m hoping to be there at Xmas.
Looks great, love Playa Blanca. Have booked Iberostar Lanzarote Park, no money down, for a bargain price. They even throw in full insurance. You can’t beat Auroreisen!
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Edited at 09:43 PM. |
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11 Nov 20, 12:33 AM |
#8
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Imagineer
Join Date: Jul 09
Location: Llandudno
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Enjoyed reading your report and so glad you got to go.
We should be in Plays Blanca now,flying home tomorrow but that didn’t work out,so enjoyed seeing what we could’ve been doing. Fingers crossed for Tenerife Tracy x
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11 Nov 20, 05:12 PM |
#9
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Imagineer
Join Date: May 08
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This is lovely, so glad you had a good time x
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2004 Kissimmee 2006 Bahama Bay Davenport 2008 Bahama Bay Davenport 2012 Regal Palms Davenport 2016 Glenbrook/Bradenton 2018 Hampton Lakes/Cape Coral Always dreaming Of Florida! |
11 Nov 20, 07:49 PM |
#10
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VIP Dibber
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That looked great and glad you all had a great time. You all look so relaxed.
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