Lisbon to Copenhagen

[Mackdogmolly]

Boarded Quest in Lisbon yesterday. Went very smoothly, had a PCR test stateside with results on my phone, so no trouble at the pier. The ship feels empty at only 310 passengers. Beautiful sail away, but then encountered some  rough seas en route to Porto. Fortunately, neither I nor DH are prone to seasickness. Met up with some Aussie friends for dinner in an almost empty Discoveries. The food is as good as I remembered. In Porto now on our way to a river cruise with wine tasting. It’s 8:45 am!!! More later! 

Edited June 20, 2022 by Mackdogmolly
Typos

[uktog]

Great news hope the seas calm down.  Enjoy the wine tasting!

[excitedofharpenden]

Have fun Betsey. Sorry I had to cancel and am not with you. Enjoy!

 

Phil 

[les37b]

1 hour ago, Mackdogmolly said:

Boarded Quest in Lisbon yesterday. Went very smoothly, had a PCR test stateside with results on my phone, so no trouble at the pier. The ship feels empty at only 310 passengers. Beautiful sail away, but then encountered some  rough seas en route to Porto. Fortunately, neither I nor DH are prone to seasickness. Met up with some Aussie friends for dinner in an almost empty Discoveries. The food is as good as I remembered. In Porto now on our way to a river cruise with wine tasting. It’s 8:45 am!!! More later! 

 

Great news. I expect half the numbers to the previous Lisbon sailing I was on, eased that boarding situation immensely. (It wasn't pleasant!)

 

Our first night, discoveries was chaos with queues extending way past the bar to the elevators and was like that nigh from 7.50 to 8.20 while we were at the bar and filled me with horror. Fortunately that was a one off.... And we were luckily spared that problem anyway as we ate in Prime C on night 1.

 

Enjoy your cruise. First day aside, service was fine, so expect with such low numbers, yours will be a breeze on that front.

[Mackdogmolly]

36 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Have fun Betsey. Sorry I had to cancel and am not with you. Enjoy!

 

Phil 

Me too, Phil. Hope we get to meet on another!

[Mackdogmolly]

Definitely no problem getting a table at Discoveries last night.

[Mackdogmolly]

Backing up a bit. We arrived in Lisbon a couple of days in advance of the cruise, staying in a small, unpretentious hotel on top of one of the many hills. After sitting in a jet lagged daze for awhile in the square across the street, we embarked on a two hour tuk tuk tour of the city, just to get some of the highlights, since we have never been here before. After, the driver dropped us near a seafood place called Bastardo Fish Bar, where we shared a most delicious lunch. The next day we got a hill workout finding our way to the meet up point to an afternoon food tour. On the way, we discovered the Museu de Teatro Romana, the ruins of a Roman theater, now a museum. The food tour , by Treasures of Lisboa, I would highly recommend. Only 70 euros pp, it was scheduled for 3.5 hours (ran for 4) in the Alfami district. Only 10 people. Went to a series of tiny restaurants, were we were seated and served a several tastings, from olive oil, to sardines, to octopus salad, to codfish cakes, Churico, wines, pastries, etc, etc. The guide was funny and charming and knowledgeable.

 

[Mackdogmolly]

The river cruise and wine tasting in Porto was fun too! And very entertaining to hear the Lisbon guide trash talk Porto and the Porto guide trash talk Lisbon. And of course they both hate Spain!

[travelberlin]

Hace a nice and safe cruise 🚢 . Lovely pictures from food and wines from

Portugal. We are planning to spend one week there next year. Can you recommend a hotel in Lisboa ?

 

Ivi

Edited June 20, 2022 by travelberlin

[Mackdogmolly]

17 minutes ago, travelberlin said:

Hace a nice and safe cruise 🚢 . Lovely pictures from food and wines from

Portugal. We are planning to spend one week there next year. Can you recommend a hotel in Lisboa ?

 

Ivi

Well, Ivi, our hotel would probably not be for everyone. We tend to go for small and inexpensive. But we liked it and they were super friendly and we could walk to some historic places. It was the Hotel Esquina Cosmopolitan Lodge. Our better heeled friends stayed at the Hotel Sofetil

[Mackdogmolly]

BTW, the pastry in my last food photo, pastel de nata , is SO good. And onboard the ship last night, they were circulating with boxes of them - because Azamara 😍

[uktog]

Dont you just love local rivalries!  Oh and pastel de nata I adore and was so happy we got them first night on our last cruise.

Ivi - another hotel option we have used for one night stops in Lisbon a few times is Holiday Inn Express Plaza del Saldanhe.  Very clean, pretty neighbourhood and includes a nice light breakfast.

[Mackdogmolly]

Just booked another cruise to take advantage of extra OBC. Athens to Dubai October 2023. Fair price and early booking perk of an Experience More package, which for a 17 day cruise, is pretty sweet. 

[wjfan417]

3 hours ago, travelberlin said:

Hace a nice and safe cruise 🚢 . Lovely pictures from food and wines from

Portugal. We are planning to spend one week there next year. Can you recommend a hotel in Lisboa ?

 

Ivi

Hi Ivi,

We enjoyed our stay at Hotel Avenida Palace prior to our Quest cruise this past April-so much so that we booked it again when we finish up a cruise in Lisbon in September. Included breakfast was delicious and we received a discount in the hotel bar.

 

Diana

 

[Skicruiser55]

2 hours ago, wjfan417 said:

Hi Ivi,

We enjoyed our stay at Hotel Avenida Palace prior to our Quest cruise this past April-so much so that we booked it again when we finish up a cruise in Lisbon in September. Included breakfast was delicious and we received a discount in the hotel bar.

 

Diana

 

I totally agree and would stay there again.  I didn’t see the discount coupons for the hotel bar until the morning we checked out.  

[Mackdogmolly]

Italian Chefs Table. I had the fish, which was a little tasteless, to be honest, but DH said the beef was delicious!

[Mackdogmolly]

Nice sea day brunch in Discoveries. Then attended a smartphone photography class. Plan on attending a Belgium destination lecture later.  Tomorrow promises to be sunny, but cool, in St Peter  Port. It is also White Night and we leave at 8:00 pm, so could be pretty chilly for an outdoor event! Have reservations for a late seating in Prime C this evening.

[Mackdogmolly]

This morning, Windows became a self-service buffet again. Up until then, one was served. Don’t know what has changed. I do know that with VERY few exceptions, the only people masked are the crew. 
 

BTW, a nice addition to the bathroom since our last cruise is a nightlight!

We are tendered in St Peter Port this morning - a cool, sunny day. No excursion planned, so we will just walk about on our own.

[nordski]

1 hour ago, Mackdogmolly said:

This morning, Windows became a self-service buffet again. Up until then, one was served. Don’t know what has changed. I do know that with VERY few exceptions, the only people masked are the crew. 
 

BTW, a nice addition to the bathroom since our last cruise is a nightlight!

We are tendered in St Peter Port this morning - a cool, sunny day. No excursion planned, so we will just walk about on our own.

 

I hope that you have an opportunity to visit the Town Church in St. Peter Port whose beautiful interior contains a large and decorative wood screen dedicated to local boy Sir Isaac Brock, the British General appointed to defend British North America in the War of 1812. He, of course, died at the Battle of 
Queenston Heights and his monument there is passed by all the tourists headed to the region's wineries.

 

It is the highlight of any visit to St. Peter Port!

 

OK. Maybe I am the only person on social media who actually believes that.

 

The night light is indeed a useful addition to the bathroom.

 

 

[Mackdogmolly]

4 hours ago, nordski said:

I hope that you have an opportunity to visit the Town Church in St. Peter Port

We did indeed! It was wide open with a sign inviting guests to come in. They even had souvenirs for sale on the honor system. 
It was a lovely town to walk about on one’s own and it turned out to be warmer than expected. Had an excellent lunch of some local fish and took the Petit Train Guernsey for a slightly broader tour of the town. 

 

[nordski]

When there, didn’t notice the Petit Train Guernsey. I wonder if it is a new addition to tourist services on the island. 
 

Or perhaps I was just distracted and overcome  by patriotic thoughts of Sir Isaac. 😄 I may have mentioned before that I was raised in the house built by his doctor, the doctor who failed to save Brock’s life at the Battle of Queenston Heights.

 

Thanks so much for these pictures which remind me of the island’s other attractions and  we look forward to more news about your cruise.

Edited June 22, 2022 by nordski

[QueenP]

It looks gorgeous, thanks for the pics!

[Mackdogmolly]

White Night! Whispering Angel Rose, and sunset (sort of). Didn’t even really set until well after 10

[uktog]

Fantastic- so unlike pursuit do I read that the Angel still appears on the Ultimate package?
 

[Marmaduke]

8 hours ago, uktog said:

Fantastic- so unlike pursuit do I read that the Angel still appears on the Ultimate package?
 

Whispering Angel was available on the Ultimate package on Quest last month.