|
|
You can lose everything, but nobody will take away what you saw and what you experienced...
............ 
Apr 28, 2014 04:00 PM Sailing to European Continent
Last day at sea. Sunny day, but the cold wind is blowing and nobody lies on the open deck. It is hard to belive that only a week ago we were close to the equator and the passengers of "Empress" were escaping to the shade. In the afternoon they returned our passports. I have only 4 empty pages left... Soon I will be forced to apply for the new one. In the late evening passenger bills were delivered to the cabins. As you can expect on my bill there were only one excursion... :)
|
Apr 27, 2014 04:00 PM Madeira - the beautiful
Tenerife is nice, but today, when I saw again the Madeira I came to the conclusion that it is even more beautiful. Morning was cloudy and the ocean quite rough but when we came closer to Madeira sun appeaared and the view of Funchal, cliffs and green mountains enchanted me once more. From thd air you probably cannot see such a panorama, so cameby ship. The only problem is that in fact I have only 4 hours for the visit after formalities. Why they plan so short visit? Madeira is worth longer stay! So making a choice of the ship check first how many hours will it dock on ghe island.
Brasilians from the ship are not as crazy travelers as I so I did not find companions to share the cost of the private tour to the east of the island (west I know from previous visit) but when I was here I had no time to walk around Funchal -the capital. It is lovely with flowers, old buildings and narrow streets! Violet jacarandas are ib blossom in front of the cathedral and I found there the monument of John Paul II....
I hope to come to Madeira again...
|
Apr 26, 2014 04:00 PM Great Teide on Tenerife!
At the sunrise I was already on the open deck. Tenerife in Santa Cruz area has very picturesque coastline. Wow! Visibility was much better then few years ago when I was here for the first time...
So take your chance and go to the Mt Teide National Park! Tours are inexspensive on this ship - they do not make extra profit on passengers so I decided to pay 35 USD for 5 hours bus excursion. Deal!
Great sun, blue sky, fantastinc views.... We were driving to the level of 2250 m. Teide - the former volcano has 3780 m and snow on the top. But first we passed through the pineforest lush green area, then throgh the sand and lava fields. There were few great viewpoints on the route and the final one - at the Nat Park center where you can see interesting rock formations. Plenty of flowers on the way and great pictures... Wonderful day!
|
Apr 25, 2014 04:00 PM Cheap ship?
Cloudy and windy morning. The sun appeared only in the afternoon. I tried to connect to the internet provided in the ship. I was waiting few minutes looking at the white screen before the first page appeared. Just to give you the idea, how much they charge for such a weak service here is their present price list: 30 min - 9 USD, 80 min - 18 USD, 120 min - 23 USD. It makes a sense if the connection is reliable, otherwise it is waste of money. Tomorrow we will dock full day on Tenerife - Canary Islands, I hope I will find there free wi-fi. On this Pullmantur ship information about the ports is miserable. Other companies before arrival offer port talks, they print and distribute port maps in the ship's daily paper... Nothing like that is offered here - so now I know what means cheap ship.
|
Apr 24, 2014 04:00 PM Late show...
Another day at sea. It is sunny, but we receive strong wind from the bow. So strong that they cancelled all activities on the open decks. In the evening I enjoyed "Viva Brazil" show in the theatre. Most of the ship' passengers are Brazilians so the theatre was full. Very colorful and dynamic, but it lasts only 40 minutes. But why they start the show so late (21.45)? In addition we lost during the night another hour changing next time zone. In the morning everybody is sleepy... :)
|
Apr 23, 2014 04:00 PM Praia on Cabo Verde...
At sunrise we reached our first port on this jouney - Praia on Cabo Verde Archipelago. This was my third time on the island of Santiago but I found a new, extiting place to visit. All fellow passengers went directly to the city (no tourist info at the port gate but the herd of taxi drivers charging 10 dollars or so for 2-kms ride). I did not. It was early morning and just nearby the gate I found the lively fish market full of black people (this is already Africa!) selling, cutting and packing fresh fish of many colors and size. This was for me the highlite of the day. Then I refreshed my memories in old Plateau quarter (visiting fruit an vege market). It is hard to find internet in Praia, but let you know, that down in Fazenda quater they have more then 20 computers available for free in Biblioteca Nacional. The only problem was that they are closing at 12, so come early! Public mircobus took me for just 80 escudos (1USD=76 esc) to Cidade Velha - UNESCO World Heritage - 25 minutes ride.
This was the first colonial settlement on Cabo Verde. Now it is little, picturesque village with a fort on the hill (entry 500 esc) - great views! I returned to the ship on time - we sailed out at 5 pm...
|
Apr 22, 2014 04:00 PM Celebration in the ocean
In Poland the old generation celebrate rather the nameday (the day of the saint patron) then the birthday. And it is St Wojciech's day today! I celebrated it already in the air, but never on the sea - in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean - far away from my family and friends. I hope to see you soon! Thank you for all your wishes sent via internet!
|
Apr 21, 2014 04:00 PM What do I eat here in the ocean...
In the evening they do not offer self-service buffet. You have to go to the restaurant and wait for your order. (I do not eat at evening, so for me it is not a problem).
-No entertiment during the day. Bingo, pool music and casino only. In the evening and night the musicians play 30-45 minutes only and then they dissappear.
In the morning I am working, spending later 1 hour per day on the sundeck (sun is strong) and walking around the ship on the promenade -on deck 6 - one loop is 400 m, I think 4-5 kms per day is enough to keep me in the good shape :)hird sea day. Bright sun, ocean is smooth... This is my first time on thr ship owned by Pullmantur. The company use "second hand" ships - former Royal Caribbean or Celebrity vessels. Prices are slightly lower but let you know what you can expect:
- you will not be hungry, but they offer less meals per day then the other companies and the food choice is limited. For breakfast you will not get ANY vegetables. Enjoy meat, cheese and eggs. We have German Chef but dark "German" bread is unknown on this ship. We sail in the tropics but the icecream is available only as the dinner desert in the restaurant.
|
Apr 20, 2014 04:00 PM Through the equator again...
Second day at the sea. It will take us 4 days to cross the Atlantic Ocean to Cabo Verde. TODAY around 7.30 am we crossed the equator. No celebrations, no fun, nothing... But what a pleasant surprise! The captain of the ship is from Poland! I introduced myself and we spent 1,5 hour talking about cruising and travelling. I have been Invited to the bridge to see how they operate the ship. Interesting! Our ship has capacity almost 2000 passengers. But on this journey there are only 700 passengers onboard. In the evening captain's coctail in the theatre. 99 percent of the passengers are Brazilians from the middle-class. They do not speak any foreign language. So far I did not meet here any people from Europe or North America.
|
Apr 19, 2014 04:00 PM This is different ship!
Yesterday we were waiting 3 hours for check-in for the ship in the passenger terminal in Recife. It is located in the former port storage hall some 1 km north from Marco Zero marker. Fortunately there is a/c installed in the waiting room. There is also money changer so you can change the rest of your reales to dollars. This ship is sailing from Recife to Lisbon only once per year. It is an old ship. To attract the potential passengers they introduced "todo incluido - all included" policy. It means that you can order in the bars and restaurants as many drinks as you want without extra payment. I checked the card: there are 19 coctails and long drinks on the list. If you want to try each one you have to drink at least two per day! Hard work! :)
|
Page:
161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171
|
|
|
