How to transfer from plane to ship in Lisbon

We are taking a HAL cruise sailing out of Lisbon in fall of 06 on Prinsendam to western Africa. We want to use frequent flyer miles for air, and so want to book our own. Has anyone made the transfer from plane to ship in Lisbon on his/her own? Is the airport far from the pier? Is it costly to make the transfer by a cab? Is it better to buy a bus transfer from HAL?

Lisbon is a small city. You should be able to take a cab for about 15 - 20 euros—probably closer to 15.Do make sure you know the name of the port. I also recommend printing this out and then just handing the paper to the driver. Many, but not all, of the cab drivers will speak English.

Might I suggest, though, that you arrive in Lisbon a few days earlier to do some touring. It seems like a shame to travel that far and then visit. susana.

Thanks, I wondered how far out from the city the airport is. Did you fly in, Trubey, and how long did it take you to get from the airport to the city itself? We have been in Lisbon on cruises before, but never flew in. We are thinking of doing the fall of 06 cruise down the west coast of Africa. 20 euros is probably much less than HAL would charge to transfer two people. Thanks, Blue Whale

Trubey, I just noticed that you have sailed Prinsendam, and will sail again this November. We had been concerned when there was talk of HAL's selling the ship; it looks as if HAL is still going to keep the ship through 07. Did you find Prinsendam to be in good conditions? The plumbing?Elevators? If you are going back, you must have enjoyed the vessel. Blue Whale.

Trubey, I just noticed that you have sailed Prinsendam, and will sail again this November. We had been concerned when there was talk of HAL's selling the ship; it looks as if HAL is still going to keep the ship through 07. Did you find Prinsendam to be in good conditions? The plumbing?Elevators? If you are going back, you must have enjoyed the vessel. Blue Whale.

It's our hope that HAL will keep the Prinsendam as long as possible - a delightful ship and we'd say well maintained.

As for transfer from the airport to the ship, advise taking the HAL transfer - it's not what I'd call a short journey - traffic can be horrendous and those Euros add up quickly - cost us about Euro85.00 + tip for the journey - check what HAL charges.

We disembarked in Lisbon last November - we paid about EU$20 from the ship to the hotel in the heart of town, and then about EU$35 from the hotel to the airport.

I agree with susana, try and spend some time in Lisbon if you can - it's a beautiful city. :)

As I was reading the posts above, I thought I had better clarify my answer and do some research.

A taxi from the airport to the central hotel district should cost you less than 10 euors. However, there are many unscrupulous drivers. We got one ourselves. And now before we get into the taxi, we confirm with the driver that the price will be 8 or 9 euros. The distance to the pier (Doca Alcantara) is less than that from the airport to the center of Lisbon. I can't remember exactly what we paid, but it should be proportionately small.

However, there is a service which you can use which will protect you from thieving cab drivers. The Lisbon tourist authority has set up a kiosk in the arrivals area where you can purchase a pre-paid taxi fare. They call it a Taxi Voucher.

Below is the e-mail that I got from them today when asking about the cost of a ride from the airport to the pier.

Dear Mrs. Susan,

In answer to your e-mail, we inform that the taxi voucher is a pre-paid service only available from the airport to the destination in our Ask me Lisboa Desk.

To the destination requested, the day taxi voucher cost 15,37 €

Night time – 18,44 €

Best Regards,

Raquel Carvalho

Sales & Promotion

ATLx Comercial - www.askmelisboa.com

I also wanted to reply in a second post that we thought the Prinsendam was a lovely ship. The best feature being the small size. Getting from one end to the other was quick and easy. And because it has less than 800 passengers, it is real easy to make friends. You begin to recognize everybody after just a few days. There were always enough tables or chairs where ever you would want them. There were never lines of more than 3 or 4 people for the Lido at lunch or getting on or off the ship.

I really didn't notice any problems except one incident with plumbing difficulties. But from what I've read on these boards, that is not unusual with any of the ships. As you can see that we were on her last year and have booked her again for this year; I would say that that is the greatest compliment.

When we were taking our cruise last year and found cruise critics, there were so very few people talking about the Prinsendam and hardly anybody (no offense jh and cl) doing European cruises. This year it seems that people have really broadened their scope.

susana.

Thank you all for the information. The idea of a prepaid taxi voucher is excellent. That is the way we will go. We have so many frequent flyer miles that we want to use them to get us to Lisbon. The cruise is the 46 day voyage down the coast of Africa and then across to SA and then to Lauderdale. The transfer in Lauderdale is an easy one. I see that trubey is from the Azores. We stopped at two of the islands a couple of years back when we did a crossing on Rotterdam. Beautiful stops that we really enjoyed. I do not see a posting for that cruise yet, but it is in October of 06, a long time away.