Portugal to Florida: Taking Cruising to a New Level

  With our 4 days in Portugal a resounding success, it was time to board Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas on Sunday morning.  Considered a mid-sized ship, it was the largest I've sailed on thus far in my limited couple of years of cruising.  As a Voyager class ship in their fleet, she can accommodate roughly 4,200 guests.  All the other ships I've cruised on up to this point handle 2,400-2,800 passengers . . . so this was a sizable increase to what I'd previously experienced. While I was initially concerned about sizing up for this cruise, once on the ship, it really didn't feel that much larger than the others.  The dining areas (primarily the Main Dining Room and Windjammer Buffet) seemed to be able to reasonably accommodate folks during the key dining times.  The ship's layout, however, is unique with its Royal Promenade which is located on deck #5 and runs through the center of the ship.  It was set up like a mall type walk with places to sho...

Our exploration of Lisbon was through a variety of tour options . . . we did a half-day tour with Portugal Journeys with Peppe . . . an independent booking via GetYourGuide for a fado + dinner . . . and with Viator  (a Trip Advisor company) we did a sunset cruise of the Tagus River.  All 3 of these options worked well into our overall planning to experience as much of Lisbon as possible during our limited time there.  We also independently booked lunch reservations in Almada at Atira-te ao Rio between our Saturday tours.  Planning and navigating the city was pretty easy.  This blog will highlight all the things we experienced over the course of roughly 24 hours in Lisbon. Our Saturday morning began with our guide Fabio picking us up at the Ramada Inn.  He is one of Peppe's team members providing tours when he is unavailable.  After our full day tours with Peppe, we knew we would also be in good hands with one of his associates.  Our day however,...

  Our second full day tour with Portugal Journeys with Peppe took us about an hour north of Lisbon.  With a 9:00am pick up at the Ramada Inn, we had a nice leisurely drive out of the city to  Fátima .  Admittedly we weren't very familiar with the history of this site of historical significance within the Catholic Church.  Peppe did a wonderful job setting the stage for our time spent at the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima .  The story begins with the  apparitions of the Virgin Mary to three shepherd children in 1917.  The first photo in the above collage is of the Monument to the Three Little Shepherds of  Fátima . Believers make the pilgrimage here 365 days of the year, with mass taking place several times daily in the open air Shrine of Fatima.  During our visit, mass was being conducted in English, but we were told it is given throughout the day in a number of languages.  Inside the basilica, tourists and worshipers...

Our first full day in Lisbon was also the first day with Portugal Journeys with Peppe , as we learned about the history and culture of Sintra.  A UNESCO World Heritage Centre (1995), visitors could no doubt spend days fully exploring all of the landmarks that are collectively recognized as the "Cultural Landscape of Sintra."  Given the other activities we planned for this first day with Peppe, we had roughly 2 hours for The National Palace of Pena . Once a monastery left in ruins in the mid 19th century, Ferdinand II created a castle, which maintained design elements from several architectural styles including Egyptian, Moorish, Renaissance and Gothic.  The park-like grounds surrounding this palace maintain the original nature of the forest indigenous to the Sintra Mountains.  Today Pena Palace is one of Portugal's most visited monuments. Another significant landmark of Sintra is the Castle of the Moors .  Here is how it is seen from across the way from Pena Pal...

Lisbon is a pretty spectacular city!  As Portugal's capital, it has so much to offer visitors.  Having done some research on what the tour guide books say are "must sees" along with the real-life experiences shared by others on social media sites like Trip Advisor and Facebook, I realized we were going to be challenged to do everything in the time we had before our cruise.  This was especially compounded when taking into consideration some of the most notable and historical places in the region are an hour or more from the city. Admittedly, I'm more of an independent traveler . . . willing to rent a car and go exploring on my own.  I have done this on several occasions in Europe, so Portugal didn't seem too daunting to me.  That said, with a deeper dive in researching options, we settled on booking a majority of our tour time with a private guide.  Portugal Journeys with Peppe had high marks from prior guests, and offered great itineraries and very fair an...

Perhaps the best place to start, would be our flight from the USA over to Portugal.  Here we are having just met up at the Philadelphia International Airport.  With plenty of time before our overnight flight, we enjoyed some dinner and cocktails, in hopes it would help bring sleep on when we boarded the plane.  Even with double captain's & diet cokes, I don't think either of us slept very well. We arrived into Lisbon on schedule and cleared immigration without delay.  In fact, by the time we got there, the arrival hall was empty.  It was nice to get through quickly, especially having read about significant delays just a few weeks earlier. We had airport transfer service pre-booked using GetYourGuide for around $25 for private car service.  Our driver was onsite and ready when we made it outside the baggage claim area . . . so off we went to our home for the 4 nights in the Capital City. At the Ramada Inn, we were greeted by their friendly front desk sta...

Pam & I will be flying to Portugal Tuesday, arriving in Lisbon after an overnight flight from Philadelphia.  We have a lot planned for our 4 days in the capital city . . . and are looking forward to exciting experiences and making new friends.  On Sunday we will board Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas for a 13 night transatlantic journey.  Ports of call include Cadiz/Seville, Spain plus 3 of the 8 Canary Islands ( Lanzarote,  Gran Canaria &  Tenerife ) .  We have a lot packed into those days and can hardly wait. I am not traveling with a laptop, so blogging while we're away is highly unlikely.  Look for posts starting in early November!