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Published: June 26th 2017
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9. October 2014, 00:18am Cabin C525…
Thud, thud! ‘
Right!' said Roisin as she pulled out her iphone. Our next door neighbours gave us this idea (the ones on the ship, not in Widnes!) They had recorded the occurrence the last time it happened. They had also balanced an object on the narrow architrave of the bulk head so when the
‘Thud, thud' started, the object fell, due to the intense vibration, on to the bed.
We both stood there like lemons pointing the camera phone at the mirror. 15 minutes past and not a sound except the occasional creaking associated with the steady movement within all ships. We were about to give up the ghost and then: ‘
Thud, Thud'. Three times with only a few minutes between each double ‘Thud'. We played back the video and were sufficiently satisfied that the sound provided the evidence we needed to describe the noise to the relevant person on duty. I immediately phoned the passenger services duty manager, Stanislav from Serbia, and explained our situation. To his credit, within 3 minutes he was knocking on our door. Once he learned that we had captured the noise on the iPhone and after
first asking us what we thought of the new iPhone 6, he rushed down to collect a flash drive on to which we transferred the necessary file. He said that it was a good move in recording the sound as it would give the engineers a clue as to what the noise was. Fate must have been on our side as whilst Stanislav was showing us some
funnies on his flash drive
…'Thud, Thud' He had been in our cabin for over 20 minutes and we were both resigned to the fact that similar to when you take your car in to a garage with a knocking sound but it doesn't happen in front of the mechanic, the same rule applied in this situation!! Not so. The mould had been broken. Even when Stanislav said he thought the noise was more like a
Thump, K'Thud, he had heard it first-hand. He was now able to report back to the engineers with a clear account of what was happening. He was honest with his assessment that it was unlikely that anything permanent could be done tonight but the night watch will get on to the problem straight away.
Hopefully now things
will be able to move at a more rapid pace, unlike me and my gammy ankle. There was nothing more that we could do so we both retired. The banging stopped about 2:30am.
When we returned from breakfast in the morning, the ansaphone was flashing. The message was from Eva, the Passenger Services Manager. She advised us that they are prepared to move us to another cabin that has just become vacant. However, it would not be ready until after we sail. What does this mean?! Are they expecting someone to miss the ship so they have a spare cabin or is one of the elderly passenger about to disembark for the last time and it's just a matter of waiting for the rest of the day!! Eva requested that we
contact her during the afternoon to discuss the matter.
When someone mentions the Canary Islands, a classic question may arise:
‘Are the Islands named after the yellow birds or is it the other way round?' This is also a good trivia question: ‘What animal is the Canary Islands named after?' Actually, the Romans noted a large number of wild dogs on one of the islands and
called it
Insula Canum or
Dog Island. Later when the little yellow finches were discovered there they were called ‘Dog Island birds' or canaries!
Tenerife is the largest island in the Canary Archipelago. Like the other islands, Tenerife was formed by fierce volcanic activity. I understand its landscape remains dotted with volcanic cones and areas of intense geothermal activity. Towering over the island is Mt Teide, an extinct volcano that, at 12,200 feet above sea level, is the highest peak in Spanish territory. Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the island's
capital and our port of call today.
We had planned to take the Ho-ho around Santa Cruz. However, we heard over breakfast that it had been thunder and lightning since 7am. The weather was very low cloud and overcast with intermittent showers. Due to the inclement weather (it was still quite warm) we decided that neither of us wanted to be stuck on the top of an open decker bus so a quick read of the guide on Tenerife and we decided to take the 40
minute tram to La Laguna, only 9km distance from the port. This is the old capital of Tenerife and visibly the most
ancient town on the island. I heard that the old colonial houses and convent as well as the nearby Bishop's palace are worth a visit so for €1.35 for a single ticket, this sounded like my kind of day out!!
We took the free shuttle to port gate and then it was only a short walk/hobble to España Square. We saw a mini train that we jumped on without hesitation. It was only after 10 minutes realising nobody else had joined us that we noticed the train had no real wheels and it was actually a prop in a kiddies playground!!
We quickly darted into Tourist Information where we took our place behind 3 other tourists. One asking for the nearest car hire place and another looking for the bus terminus that will take her across to the other side of the island. We finally asked the Information desk for the correct tram to La Laguna. Pointed in the right direction we set off. The tram stop was a short 5 minute walk but in this time the rain started to get heavier. We sheltered under the cover of the tram stop and bought our ticket. As the
tickets were being printed a tram arrived. Unfortunately it was on the other side of the track so there is no way we would have caught this one. The trams run every 20 minutes so we were happy to sit and wait for the next one. We did not need to be back on board of the ship until 5:30pm. It was only 10:45am so we had plenty of time. We took our seat on the next tram and off we went. The rain started to come down heavier as the tram headed uphill in to the suburbs of Santa Cruz. Without warning we observed sudden torrents of water flowing down the street. The lightening, shortly followed by thunder, began and so started the heaviest downpour in the history of the Canaries! We had only been travelling for about 10 minutes when the tram slowed right down finally grinding to a halt!! The rain continued to batter on the windows of the tram and what was now dirty, muddy water gushed down from the hillside surrounded the tram which had in effect become an island cut off from dry land. The road had become a mini river and there was
nothing we could do about it. After a tense 10 minute wait, the driver walked to the back of the tram and reversed it a few hundred yards to the nearest tram stop. The driver then walked through the carriages, holding his walkie-talkie and speaking with concerned passengers. Unfortunately no one on the tram spoke any English. I managed to catch the odd word such as
‘Mañana'. I know that is Spanish for ‘
tomorrow' which put in to context could have been very bad for us!! However, I convinced myself that he could have been telling the passenger anything. The passenger may, for example, have asked the driver when is he going on his holidays or when is his birthday?!! See, things were looking up already!!! Outside the weather wasn't looking up! After 50 tense minutes, the rain did subside enough to get off the tram and assess the situation. The water was still flowing down the road but was only inches rather than feet deep. Roisin and I decided to head back to the port. Luckily it was downhill all the way.
It took us about 40 minutes to arrive back on the flat. The rain was still
steady but only light. All the water had now subsided but the residue
left behind was carnage. Many cars had been abandoned in the street. Some had broken down. (Probably a flooded carburettor – quite literally!!) Small stones now scattered the pavement and road.
Speaking to a local shopkeeper, he advised us that this weather occurs about once a year. It's just unfortunate this ‘
once a year' was today!! We learned that the storm was the tail end of hurricane
Gonzalo that had crossed the Atlantic from the Caribbean.
Our thoughts turned to the earlier tram that we may had taken if there was one less in line at the information kiosk; the tourists who DID actually take that tram. It could have been so much worse for us. These poor souls would have been 15 minutes further in to their journey at the point of no return. What about the car hire people or the bus journey to the other side of the island? Yes, it could have been so much worse.
Back on board everyone had their own story to tell. The port was closed for almost 2 hours. Tours returned from the excursions that
had been cut short had to alight at the port entrance and walk a ½ mile around a very cluttered jetty; folk were wading up to their thighs in brown slush; one couple were asked if they wanted to take shelter in a local's house (or ‘casa' as we say on the island!!) but refused as they just wanted to get back to the relative safety.
On our way back down the sloping road toward the port, we noticed that no lights we on (but there was someone definitely home!!). In the distance, alarms were sounding as the power outage hit the town. It was like a film set from a disaster movie.
Anyhoo, back on board it was time for our meeting with Eva, the Passenger Service Manager. She invited us in to her office and explained the situation. Even now I'm not fully sure I understand what has been the cause of the noise in our cabin. Apparently, the corridor behind the bulk head isprefabricated so in sections, the corridor slots in place when the ship is being built. The corridor bulkheads are metal compound. Something has come loose so when the ship moves the sections
of the corridor move and are clanking together. I was going to correct her as its more of a t
hud sound but at this stage I didn't want to tempt providence!! Eva offered us a move to deck 8 (from our current deck 10). It is an ocean view cabin (i.e. with a window) so was considered an upgrade. We didn't need to worry about packing our stuff as 2 porters came and moved all the hangers in bulk. We just collected the rest of our ‘bits' and moved to our new home for the duration of this cruise. The beauty of deck 8 is that it is only one deck above deck 7!! This is where most of the entertainment activities happen. The previous occupants disembarked today but as this is not an embarkation/disembarkation port I must ask Ronald, our new cabin steward, what the story is once I get to know him better!
Our next port of call is Las Palmas in Gran Canaria. This island is only 79 nautical miles away and the ship is scheduled to cruise at only 7.1 knots per hour. On our way out I'm sure we were passed by a pedalo!!
Due to the excessive walking today, my foot and ankle is throbbing so shore leave is cancelled tomorrow!! See you in a few days' time in Lanzarote, our last stop in the Canaries before we start heading back up North!!
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Anne and Philip
non-member comment
Beware - Your Unlucky Number is now 525 Dud cabin C525Dud train M525