Port advice wanted

[CRUISIN LINDA]

Shhh - not Thomson, but no luck on P&O fb or cc :rolleyes:

 

Our trip next month is all ports we have been to before, so looking for something new to do.

 

Vigo (we have been on a trip to Bayona la Real)

 

Madeira (been lots of times, done cable car, both botanical gardens, 2 trips round island, one trip round Funchal for lace making and winery, done the hoho buses)(don't fancy toboggan :eek::eek: )

 

Lanzarote (Ridden camels :eek: ,been to Fire Mountain) thinking of Jameos del Agua.

 

Tenerife (Been to Loro Parque, Playa de las Americas, Puerto de la Cruz)

 

Gran Canaria (Been to Mogan, done the hoho bus, stayed in Playa del Ingles, done the shopping centre ;) )

 

Lisbon ( Done the hoho bus, visited Belem tower and monument -went up both!)

 

BTW - very impressed with book from P&O detailing all the trips with prices and times. Thomson - please take note!!

 

Hoping all you lovely people will come up with some ideas :)

[28SAC]

Hi re Lanzarote

If you are interested in plants then the Cactus gardens are pretty special,

You can easily spend an hour there having a wander around.

Caesar Manrique,s house is also worth a visit, really quirky and different,

Both places have an entrance fee.

28SAC

[Julessmiles]

Hello Linda

 

We used Daniel Madeira Taxis for a fantastic tour from Funchal - he is on TripAdvisor & Facebook & they have a website. If you have a look on there they offer lots of different tours at a reasonable price; they may have a tour to somewhere you haven't been!

 

I can recommend Jameos Del Agua in Lanzarote - we did it with Thomson Witt some other places too - it was lovely.

 

From Santa Cruz, take a tram to La Laguna; it is beautiful there; we had a lovely day out & climbed a church tower, had a wander around the twin; very pretty. It costs about €1.50 each way & is a lovely journey up through the hills.

 

Lisbon - take a Tuk Tuk tour - great fun; we had such a good day on one of those!

 

Jules

[jenny wren]

Hello Linda.......how about a train ride in Lisbon....we went to Estoril from the station that is along the seafront to the left as you exit the port....walk past the square with the horse statue and the station is just a bit further on. Really cheap train fares less 10 Euros return and fairly frequent. Nice beach and promenade but not much else....we thought we might go to the next stop Cascais on our next visit.

 

Or you could go to Rossio station fairly close to where shuttle drops you and catch train to Sintra.....we just found this station recently it is huge and beautiful and right in the city. We haven't been to Sintra so you would need to see if it is somewhere you'd like to visit. We did go into the station and saw that Sintra trains do leave from there.

 

If you want to stay in town how about the castle? We wandered through the old part of town and found a lift up to the castle where we spent a good couple of hours......

Can't help with others I'm afraid......:)

[campolady]

In Lisbon we just jumped on the first local tram we saw (think San Francisco style) and it took us on a fascinating ride around the non-touristy areas of the city. Was very good value and such a relaxing change from traditional sightseeing.

[happy v]

Linda the only thing I can think of in Madeira is the flower market.........it will take you all of half an hour ;) but still very pretty.

 

I also liked the cactus gardens in Lanzarote.

 

Tenerife Mount Teide is fab.

 

Gran Canaria There is an animal park (obviously I can't remember the name :o). It had the best bird of prey display I've ever seen.

 

Only been to Lisbon and Vigo once and just walked around the town in both places.

 

When are you going?

[happy v]

Oops just noticed the box on the end of your post. :o

 

You did say you wanted to go back on that ship.

[CRUISIN LINDA]

Thanks everyone :)

[CRUISIN LINDA]

We have £320 OBC, so are thinking of doing a couple of ship's trips as we won't drink that much :eek::eek:

 

Of course I could always have a massage :):)

 

One thing we have to bear in mind though, is that it will be late November in Vigo and early December in Lisbon, so looking for something to do if the weather is not kind to us.

 

Hopefully it will be nice in the Canaries and Madeira. Not guaranteed though! Berwyn is on the Anthem of the Seas at the moment and had a very wet day in Funchal last week :(

[kate52]

In Lisbon we enjoyed the castle, fantastic views and a camera obscura there. Nice area, lots of cobbled streets/ traditional tiled houses etc. The walk down was easy but would recommend a bus or taxi to get up there! Sintra was also lovely, but the trip we did didn't give us enough time to see it properly.

 

There are half day levada walks in Madeira if you're feeling energetic and a couple of companies (happy tours, madeira seekers) that cater for cruise passengers. We did a half day one when on a land holiday, wasn't too strenuous for a couch potato!

[kruzseeka]

We love the Manrique Fundacion in Lanzarote Linda. It was Manrique's home fashioned out of 5 lava bubbles! Inspired!

It's only a couple of miles from the port - a taxi cost €10 last time we went.

Can't get the link to copy but Google 'Images Manrique Fundacion' and you will see how quirky and imaginative it is.

[kruzseeka]

Here are the links:

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=manrique+fundacion+images&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CBwQsARqFQoTCPW_g9vd1cgCFYIOGgodtVUNYg&biw=1280&bih=619

 

http://ociolanzarote.com/en/cultural-activities/cesar-manrique-foundation/

 

They will ring for a taxi for you at the Fundacion when you've finished. We usuaully go to Costa Teguise for a couple of hours afterwards which is another 2/3 miles away just up the coast from the port. It's a nice small resort.

 

http://www.lanzarote.com/costa-teguise/

 

Then back to the port (the port, fundacion and CostaTeguise lie in a kind of triangle) If you decide to go hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Edited October 22, 2015 by kruzseeka

[CRUISIN LINDA]

Sorry to be dim :o but is this the place with the caves Kruzeeka or is that somewhere different?

[joeholiday2]

Hi Linda.

 

I can recommend Jenny's train trip in Lisbon. We did a similar thing, went on to Cascais and walked back to Estoril along the prom, it's long walk though, so might not suit you. Another option for there is the elevador santa justa.

 

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g189158-d195646-Reviews-Santa_Justa_Elevator_Elevador_de_Santa_Justa-Lisbon_Lisbon_District_Central_Portug.html

 

If you get the day pass for the transport system it includes the elevador as well as unlimited bus and tram use. (not the train line though)

You get the pass from the tobacconist that is behind the ticket desks at Aplonia train/tram station. The ticket is 50C and the daily pass add on is around €6.

 

We are going to do Julie's tram trip to La Laguna in Tenerife, when we are next there.

 

Madeira has the Christiano Ronaldo Museum now if you are interested in football.

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g189167-d5993654-Reviews-CR7_Museum-Funchal_Madeira_Madeira_Islands.html

 

In Funchal, Santa Catarina gardens and the ones next door that are part of the Presidential palace are nice. They are just to the left of the roundabout where you come away from the port area.

[CRUISIN LINDA]

Thank you so much everyone :) Lots of ideas, so lots of planning and plotting to do.

 

My brother recommended a P&O trip to Estoril, so may do that BUT I also like the sound of the castle in Lisbon. Is the lift easy to find Jenny?

 

I like the sound of the trip to la Laguna. Is it easy to find the tram Julie?

 

(as you might guess, we are always getting lost!)

 

The other thing we have to consider, apart from the weather is P&O's annoying habit of not giving the exact times of departures, so it is sometimes difficult to plan your own trips. (Quite sneaky of them really!) Most of the trips are back by 4pm, but I suppose it will be almost winter by the time we go.

[CRUISIN LINDA]

Hi Linda.

 

In Funchal, Santa Catarina gardens and the ones next door that are part of the Presidential palace are nice. They are just to the left of the roundabout where you come away from the port area.

 

I absolutely love Madeira, Joe, and Santa Catarina park is my favourite bit of Funchal :) There is a nice little café in there too :)

Edited October 22, 2015 by CRUISIN LINDA

[kruzseeka]

Sorry to be dim :o but is this the place with the caves Kruzeeka or is that somewhere different?

 

There is a place called Jameos del Agua which are caves formed by a lava flow into the sea leaving tunnel like caves. Manrique landscaped these and created a swimming pool there also a concert hall. It's very interesting and impressive but further away from the port.

 

The Fundacion was Manrique's home fashioned from five interconnecting lava bubbles which had been full of ash and basically underground! Who would have the vision to create such a work of art from such an unpromising start? There is a modern construction at ground level now housing art work and displays plus one window looking out towards Timanfaya which has a lava flow coming through the bottom of it into the room! Quite a feature.

 

But below are these lava bubbles with the floor cemented and painted white and continuing about a metre up the walls then it's the black rough lava. But it's the imaginative way he's put circular leather seating around the bubble with art work to just make you think 'Wow!' One bubble actually has a palm tree growing up through the hole in the top of the bubble. There's a pretty garden with water feature and bbq area too. Outside is another garden and wind mobiles typical of Manrique. His art and influence is everywhere even down to the signs on the toilet doors!

 

I think you would recognise from my description if you'd been to the Fundacion before Linda. Jameos del Agua is very interesting too but there's more to see at the Fundacion I think.

[CRUISIN LINDA]

Thanks Kruzseeka. Jameos del Agua has been recommended by a well travelled friend, but both sound good. Oh decisions, decisions:rolleyes:

[kruzseeka]

Thank you so much everyone :) Lots of ideas, so lots of planning and plotting to do.

 

The other thing we have to consider, apart from the weather is P&O's annoying habit of not giving the exact times of departures, so it is sometimes difficult to plan your own trips. (Quite sneaky of them really!) Most of the trips are back by 4pm, but I suppose it will be almost winter by the time we go.

 

 

Yes, isn't it annoying - and cynical I would say! :(

 

But you are in luck. :D Not all ships show up on these schedules but here are Oceana's in Nov/Dec which cover your ports of call. Port times look decent Linda so you should be able to plan a DiY programme if you want to without worrying about short stops.

 

http://ships.cruisett.com/schedule/PO_Cruises/Oceana/November_2015/

http://ships.cruisett.com/schedule/PO_Cruises/Oceana/December_2015/

 

You have a good long day in Madeira too and it doesn't look as though you've got loads of ships in port with you either. Only Aurora in Funchal so not got lots of competition for transport etc. (I have visions of 7 ships in St Maarten once including some mega sized ones!!!!! Now that was busy!!).

Good luck with your planning.:)

[CRUISIN LINDA]

We had 6 in St Maarten :eek::eek: Quite put me off the place!

 

Thanks for the info :)

 

Actually the itinerary has been changed since the one in the brochure. We go to Vigo on the way down and Lisbon on the way back, which is what attracted me to it as not keen on 3 days in a row at sea on the Atlantic in winter!

 

I seem to remember we left quite early from Lisbon on IOTS as it is quite a trek back to Southampton.

 

I noticed on the Madeira webcam site that we have a late night in Madeira, should be a lovely view of the Christmas lights.

[jenny wren]

Hi Linda.....re the lift to Castelo de Sao Jorge in Lisbon...it is actually in two sections and we came across the top section by accident! We were wandering the old part of the city in the pouring rain and saw this lift next to a supermarket!!!

If you Google 'lift to castle in Lisbon' it brings up the details...once you exit there is still a bit of a walk but it is signposted well. Lovely views not that we could see much in the rain/mist! :)

[Julessmiles]

Thanks Kruzseeka. Jameos del Agua has been recommended by a well travelled friend, but both sound good. Oh decisions, decisions:rolleyes:

 

Emily & I went to Jameos del Agua Linda - we had a lovely day out there & saw some other lovely parts of the island too.

[Sheila49]

Thanks for clearing something up for me Kruzseeka! I've been wondering why photos of the Fundacion didn't look as I remembered it but now I realise it was Jameos del Agua we visited many years ago as part of an island tour!

[CRUISIN LINDA]

I think we may do the Jameos del Agua if we can book it when we get on board, if not the Fundacion is a back up. Thanks everyone xx

[Len Baker]

Hi Linda,

we did a similar itinerary on the Oriana in January. Not always easy to get specific times in ports from P&O. We did one P&O tour (Lanzarote - Jameos del Agua). The tube was good but the other stops on the tour pathetic.

To use OBC to pay for trips you have to wait until after boarding. Enjoyed the port talks for something to do on days at sea. we had only previously visited Madeira.

 

Madeira - we stayed for a week and used Lido Tours who do cater for cruise ship passengers.

 

Tenerife - got the tram to La Laguna. Brilliant. Hardest thing was finding the tram stop. Also we went to the Tenerife museum next to the tram stop in the port which was ok if you like that sort of thing.

 

Lisbon - we used "we hate tourism tours". We enjoyed this day. A little expensive but worth it. They may change their basic tour if you ask them. What we pad for our tour was the same as two P&O tours added together so we were pleased.

 

(BTW - very impressed with book from P&O detailing all the trips with prices and times. Thomson - please take note!!) - fully agree with this. Found the cruise personaliser brilliant.

 

Len