MarineMoose

The shellfish soup is probably the hardest part, most restaurants only start serving food at 12:00, and if your next flight is at 15:00 that can be a bit tight. Portuguese lunch takes awhile!

I'm guessing the soup your son is asking about is what we call "caldeirada". It's more of a stew than a soup though, and can contain fish, clams, squid, shrimp...whatever swims in the sea! Hopefully it won't be too hard to find. Sadly I don't have any recommendations since I hate fish ;p

Do you mean TAP Air Portugal (https://www.flytap.com)?

I have the same flight booked (Miami->Lisbon) for next December and I didn't see any mention of public transportation being offered when I booked.

What I did manage to find out is that there used to be a bus that you could take for free in Madeira if you showed your TAP boarding pass. This is no longer the case for several years now. Maybe this is what you read about?

There is currently a bus service in Lisbon called Aerobus (https://www.aerobus.pt/) that departs the airport and goes to the most touristy/hotel dense parts of the city, so it might be useful for you. Sadly it's not free, but at 3.60€ per adult for a 24 hour ticket, pretty reasonable I'd say :D

It saddens me that whenever my home town is talked about, someone mentions how they got pick pocketed there (bonus if it was ONLY there).

Then I remember that I was pick pocketed exactly once in my life....in the touristy part of Lisbon :rolleyes:

A tip though: assume that you stand out and look very much like a tourist, and that no one would ever confuse you for a local. There is no logical reason anyone would ask you for help or directions, unless they want to distract you.

I've checked the site for the port of Lisbon and it looks like the Silhouette is predicted (yes they call it a "prediction"!) to dock at Santa Apolónia.

For reference the site is at http://www.portodelisboa.pt/portal/page/portal/PORTAL_PORTO_LISBOA/CRUZEIROS/PREVISAO_NAVIOS_CRUZEIRO

I couldn't get it to work in english (asks for a login for some reason) but it here is a crash course in portuguese: :D

Data Inicial = start date

Data Final = end date

Chegada = arrival

Partida = departure

Navio = ship

Cais Acostagem = docking pier

Limpar = clean

Pesquisar = search

(continued)

- Sintra -

Pros: gorgeous, lush, palaces and gardens in abundance

Cons: very spread out, farthest from the city center, uphill both ways (only half joking ;p)

How to get there: suburban train, taxi. There is a bus that starts at the Sintra train station and does a circuit stopping at (almost) all these monuments, ending back at the train station. It gets pretty packed and the steep hills are not for the faint of heart!

Info about all of these at http://www.parquesdesintra.pt/en/parks-and-monuments/

Palácio Nacional de Sintra - 1000 year old royal palace, right in the village center.

Castelo dos Mouros - Moorish castle. Up hill.

Palácio da Pena - Pena palace, gorgeous romantic palace on the top of a steep hill. Amazing views all the way to the sea if the weather is cooperating.

Quinta da Regaleira - what do you do when you're rich and eccentric? You build Quinta da Regaleira. If you've ever seen this picture, that's at Quinta da Regaleira.

More info at: http://www.regaleira.pt/

Piriquita - pastry shop selling traditional Sintra pastries called queijadas and travesseiros. It's uphill of course (but that burns calories, so you can have another pastry) More info at: https://www.piriquita.pt/?lang=en

- Cascais -

Pros: used to be a quaint fishing village, now it is a posh address for people of means. Nice beach and delicious italian ice creams at Santini

Cons: not as much to see as Belém or Sintra. Still lovely though!

How to get there: suburban train, taxi

I actually don't have much to say about Cascais. It has a fortress, the beach, a marina... It is a good place to relax and enjoy the view. Do not miss the delicious ice cream at Santini! That said, there is a Santini shop in the center of Lisbon...

I'm sure I forgot about a ton of other interesting things. But feel free to ask if you have any questions!

I was born in Lisbon and lived there for 33 years, does that count as experience? ;)

Looking at Celebrity's website, I see you only have 24 hours in Lisbon (arrive September 30th at 4PM, leave at 4PM next day - although the cruise terminal site says arrive 5PM, leave 5PM). This will limit what you can do outside the city and still return in time to the ship. Another factor is that most monuments aren't usually open that late (expect closing times between 6PM and 8PM), so doing anything indoors on the first day will be tricky.

Luckily, the ship will dock right next to a bunch of interesting stuff within walking distance. This is Lisbon though, so most of the walking is uphill.

-- Things to do close to the ship --

Sightseeing:

Castelo de São Jorge - Saint George's castle, originally built by the Moors mid 11th century (has been renovated a few times over the years!) Great view of the city from the battlements. More info at: http://castelodesaojorge.pt/en/history/

There are buses and lovely, very old yellow trams that go up to the castle. The trams are small and the tourists are many, so it's probably best to walk or take alternative transportation - you don't have hours to waste queuing for a tram. Also, the castle is open till 9PM from March-October.

Sé Catedral - roughly a third of the way through your ascent to the castle, there is the Sé Catedral. This is the most important church in Lisbon. Built mid 12th century on top of what used to be a mosque, when Lisbon was conquered from the Moors. Not sure about the opening hours for this one.

Panteão Nacional - Barroque church from the 16th century, also called church of Saint Ingracia. It is known now as the national pantheon, and it is where important portuguese people from the 19th-20th centuries (and beyond!) are buried.

Terreiro do Paço - a nice big square (and it actually IS square!) facing the river, and surrounded by what used to be the royal palace. Now it's government buildings and hipster restaurants. There's also a big impressive marble arch at the north end. This place is also known as Praça do Comércio. If you go under the arch and continue all the way up that street, you will end up at Rossio square. On the north end there is the Maria II theatre.

Elevador de Santa Justa - Saint Justa elevator, designed by a disciple of Eiffel. Beautiful iron structure, with a great view from the top. It connects the lower part of the city with the higher part, so you'll save some uphill walking there!

Convento do Carmo - Right next to where you get off the Elevador are the ruins of the Carmo convent. It was destroyed by the devastating 1755 earthquake (estimated 8.5-9 on the Richter scale) and left as-is as a memorial to that horrible day. Legend has that, ironically, the street where all the brothels were survived unharmed...

Food & souvenirs:

Conserveira de Lisboa - a wonderful old school store of canned fish. Tuna, cod, sardines, mackerel, octupus, squid...you name it, they can it. Makes for a lovely gift and/or snack. My favorite is the Tricana tuna in spicy olive oil. If you fall in love with their stuff, I heard they ship internationally ;) http://www.conserveiradelisboa.pt/en

A Vida Portuguesa - if it's portuguese, charming and old school, they have it. Ceramics, textiles, cookware, artisanal soaps and cosmetics, jewelry, chocolates, cookies, even flour. http://www.avidaportuguesa.com/

Cervejaria Ramiro - if you like seafood, this is the place to go. All sorts of marine creepy crawlies, fish, shellfish, all super fresh and cooked to perfection! It fills up quickly, so make reservations or come early (tip: end your meal with a prego sandwich!) http://www.cervejariaramiro.pt/

Confeitaria Nacional - wonderful 19th century pastry shop. http://confeitarianacional.pt/en/mainshop/

-- Things to do not close to the ship --

Here I do have an order - best to worst, in my humble opinion :D And you most likely will only be able to do one of these on the second day, maybe two if you don't take too long in each place and have transportation planned and ready to go.

- Belém -

Pros: Lots to see, close to the center, beautiful parks, egg tarts - what more can you ask for?

Cons: You will be forever saddened that you live in a place with no egg tarts

How to get there: tram, bus, taxi

Mosteiro dos Jerónimos - very big monastery with impressive arquitecture. Opens 10am, closes 5:30pm. More info at http://www.mosteirojeronimos.gov.pt/en/

Museu de Marinha - right next to the monastery, the Navy Museum is shock full of everything to do with naval activities. Charts, model ships, all sorts of naval instruments...Don't miss the second building where the actual ships are, including a gilded royal barge (there is a planetarium between the two buildings). More info at http://ccm.marinha.pt/pt/museu

Torre de Belém - fortified tower from the 16th century, used to protect the city from sea attacks. Probably one of the most famous Lisbon sights. More info at http://www.torrebelem.gov.pt/en/index.php?s=white&pid=168

Padrão dos Descobrimentos - monument to the portuguese discoveries. You can climb to the top to get a good look at the Rosa dos Ventos (compass rose) below, which is a stunning example of traditional portuguese pavement. More info at http://www.padraodosdescobrimentos.pt/en/

Museu Nacional dos Coches - coach/carriage museum. Big collection of super fancy carriages used by royalty and the nobility. More info at http://www.museudoscoches.gov.pt/en/homepage/

MAAT - Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology. Recently inaugurated, I've only visited the old power station exhibit (you can go inside a furnace! Don't worry, it's turned off :p)

And last but certainly not least...

Pasteis de Belém - the amazing, delicious pasteis de belém (also known as pasteis de nata)! Little eggy tarts of pure happiness. I miss these so much! This shop will be easy to spot - blue awnings and an enormous queue out the door. Tip: the queue is for takeaway (minimum 6 pasteis), so go in and have a seat, have an amazing little cup of portuguese coffee and enjoy your pastel. And then get in queue anyway because the pasteis are THAT good and you're not leaving without a few boxes. http://pasteisdebelem.pt/en/

(that said...you will find pasteis de nata in any portuguese café. If you don't go to Belém, have a pastel somewhere else. They'll be delicious enough ;) )

(more on the next post!)

Does anyone know when the earliest time for getting off the ship after an overnight stay is? We will be on the Silhouette which will dock in San Juan on the 28th of November, stay overnight, and leave the next day at 6:00 PM. I'm trying to figure out if a tour to the Arecibo radiotelescope is feasible. The tours of the observatory that I've found are between 8-9 hours, which feels like pushing our luck if we can only get off the ship at 8-9:00 AM. Sadly we are both chronic sufferers of what a fellow CCer calls FOMTCS syndrome (Fear Of Missing The Cruise Ship) so we'd like to be back on the ship no latest than 4:00 PM.

Also if anyone has visited the observatory, please share your experience! :D