Arrive in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria. Board the Sea Cloud II and attend dinner as the ship sets sail.

With its black volcano almost 2,000 meters (6,561 feet) high and endless white beaches along the coastline, the island of Gran Canaria displays a huge variety of landscapes. This is a "continent in miniature" with rugged rock formations, dense pine forests, dry valleys and reservoirs in the interior, lush vegetation in the north, shimmering dune landscapes in the south, and weirdly shaped cliffs in the west. Almost half the island has been registered by UNESCO as a Biosphere Reserve. The capital, Las Palmas, is no less colorful, with its port and history stretching back 500 years. The showpiece of this historic old town is the magnificent Santa Ana Cathedral.

Many people consider La Gomera to be the most wildly romantic island in the Canaries. Rugged gorges, craggy hillsides, fertile valleys and evergreen cloud forests characterize the landscape. The Garajonay National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, embraces the whole central mountain area and is an unusual little spot. Ancient bay trees, heather bushes as high as trees and metre-high ferns form a cloud forest where treemoss hangs from the trees and mosses cling to gnarled branches - a truly mystical natural spectacle which has existed for millions of years.

Even from afar you can see the impressive panorama with Tenerife's landmark, Mount Teide. Its peak is the highest in Spain at 3,718 metres (12,200 foot) and is often covered in snow. The Las Cañadas National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a high volcanic plateau at the foot of Teide, surrounded by a circle of rock that rises up steeply. Volcanic activity has created strange-looking rock formations here which are adorned with a huge range of colours and seem like a unique synthesis of nature's art. In contrast to this are the fertile valleys of the north, a barren, almost desert-like south and the island's vibrant capital city, Santa Cruz.

The "Island of Fire", a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, has been continually recreated by volcanic eruptions. A third of Lanzarote is a bizarre lunar landscape of barren, beige-grey lines of hills and "fire mountains". In sharp contrast to this are the snow white houses, golden beaches and sparse green vegetation. Its quaint wine-growing areas of La Geria have been declared an all-embracing art form by the Museum of Modern Art. The painter, sculptor and architect César Manrique understood art as the link between man and nature and made a vital contribution to the look of his island home through his artistic creations.

The Istmo de la Pared is the narrowest part of Fuerteventura and divides the island into two parts - Maxorata in the north and the Jandía peninsula in the south. With its statuesque fine sand dunes of Corralejo on the northern tip and the kilometre (miles)-long golden yellow sandy beaches in the south, Fuerteventura's savage and austere beauty evokes the spellbinding North African deserts, not far away. Even its name betrays the powerful relevance of the wind - sotavento and the leeward side conjures a gentle turquoise-coloured swell on the wide sandy beaches of the eastern coast.

Disembark after breakfast and return home individually.