Live from MS Europa, Lisbon-Nice, 9/8/16-9/21/16

[Catlover54]

Almost, anyway, as I am anxious to start

boarding the MS Europa’s special “Ocean Sun” cruise this afternoon, with a line-up of excellent classical music.

 

I previously sailed on the bilingual-oriented Europa 2 with DH Cape Town to Cape Town last Christmas (see separate thread with photos) but have never before bone on this ship. I am sailing solo this time. I hope to post descriptions of the ship experiences, food, and ports as a I go along, though unfortunately I will only have an iPhone 6Plus to take pictures with, not DH’s much nicer cameras. If internet is bad or otherwise uncooperative, however, some postings will have to get delayed until I am done with the cruise.

[Catlover54]

 

This is the itinerary

 

 

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[Catlover54]

I stayed at the Lisbon Four Seasons pre-cruise, one of the recommended hotels. Below is the welcome letter, a somewhat frightening picture also on a tapestry in the main lobby

 

 

VIew from my room

 

 

 

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Edited September 7, 2016 by Catlover54

[Catlover54]

Beautiful flowers in the Ritz lobby

 

 

 

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[Catlover54]

My four night stay at the Four Seasons/Ritz has been overall positive, though not perfect. This was my first time here so I have nothing in Lisbon to compare it with. The facilities are beautiful, as is the room. Service ranged from ridiculously poor for a high luxury hotel (e.g., being ignored in the dining room and small-plates outdoor bar for almost an hour after the food was delivered with no attempt to see if I wanted dessert, or coffee or to pay), to stellar (almost instantaneous laundry service and can-do repairmen fixing the broken coffee maker, and then the non-functioning lamp).

 

My first journey into the inviting soaking tub led me to slip and fall in it when trying to get out, because there was no ribbing on the bottom of the slippery soaped uptub and no bath mat, though there were two oddly placed grab bars. I landed up with a big bruise on one arm, fortunately no fracture. I called and asked housekeeping if they have a mat I could use, and two concerned subsequent teams were sent to investigate. I showed the last team of two men what had happened and that I wanted a mat, if available. They looked very confused, as if I was a nutso American, and finally said, "Most people don't want a mat." I told them I did, because I had just fallen and do not want to fall again. They still stood there and repeated, "But most people don't want them." We finally agreed that I am not most people and want a mat, and shortly thereafter a young housekeeper delivered a neatly folded mat in an elegant shopping bag to my door.

[Catlover54]

I ventured out for a sunset group walk and Fado performance accompanied by tastings of Portugese small plates which they call petit kusch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the guide calls the last street art Jelvis, a cross between Jesus and Elvis

 

they eat a lot of cod here in their dishes and dried ham, custard cakes and a sour cherry liquer called ginghinna

Edited September 7, 2016 by Catlover54

[Catlover54]

I contemplated going to a pharmacy to get something for my bruised and throbbing arm but got scared away by the hemisected green snake

 

 

So instead I paid a night visit to St Vincent

 

[Catlover54]

 

I walked the Rua August main shopping street to the huge commerce square where the big earthquake and the Carnation Revolution were centered and where now you can also find "The World's Sexiest WC" which is owned by a paper company advertising with colored TP

 

 

 

There is a big old - fashioned streetelevator that will take you up three levels of streets if you wait long enough, right near the glitzy Apple Store

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited September 8, 2016 by Catlover54

[Catlover54]

The monastery was mostly destroyed in the big

earthquake of the 1700's but now a piece of it is a museum with some interesting collections from South America

 

 

 

 

"MIrador" or view of the castle of St George. I was transported here in an electric thing called a tuk tuk by a moonlighting yoga instructor. I really learned to appreciate the intricacy of the old town cobblestones while bouncing around in that thing

 

 

 

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Edited September 8, 2016 by Catlover54

[Catlover54]

CIntra is about a half hour from Lisbon, and I went to tour part of it with a private guide. It has a castle on a hill in the style of Germany's Neuschwannstein, with many colors and beautiful tiles, tinges of Disneyland but beautiful and the Portugese are proud of it. Now privately run , it is very busy with shaded grounds and paths and accessory buildings to see. I knew it would be too much for me to handle everything on just one day so I focussed on the Pena Palace.

 

Overview picture someone else took:

 

 

 

My less than ideal shots:

 

 

 

 

Castle visitors were greeted by this depiction of earth and water ( represented by corral and shells) and fire

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Catlover54]

The interior is worth seeing but come early as it gets crowded

 

 

 

 

 

A politically incorrect depiction of Christians slaying Ottoman invaders:

 

 

 

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[Catlover54]

The town of Cintra is also cute for strolling if you can park, but instead my guide found a lovely fresh seafood restaurant on the coast, which had windsurfers nearby and reminded me of California

 

 

Belem Tower, back on the west side of Lisbon, is a popular destination

 

 

 

So is this huge Gothic style cathedral San Geronimo, with its adjacent custard tart bakery, no longer run by nuns.

 

 

 

 

They bake 22,000 tartlets a day

 

 

 

 

 

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[Catlover54]

This is sunrise from my balcony on the final morning at the Four Seasons. Boarding of the ship will not be till 4, all together, and we sail at 6, so it will be a bit rushed to also do the muster drill. More after I settle in.

 

 

 

 

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[ededmd]

Wonderful!

So excited you're sharing your journey with us.

Good job on the photos - definitely getting the flavor of Lisbon from your shots.

[English Voyager]

Catlover54,

 

Thank you for sharing your photos of Lisbon, and Sintra.

 

While in Lisbon, did you not see The Monument To The Discoveries?

 

Have a smooth embarkation, and I look forward to your further posts.

[Catlover54]

English Voyager, I got a brief glimpse of the Monument of the Discoveries but was running out of steam by then so did not go close up there to take piccies or up to the transatlantic airplane monument.

 

Next spring when DH and I are in Lisbon again for a one-day port stop on the SB Quest I know this is something he will want to check out and photograph in detail, rather than going back to Cintra . One could easily spend another week in Lisbon, this surprisingly wonderful city (more if you also go out of the city for day trips). It was unusually very hot the first couple days I was here (102, then 93) with 50% humidity and I tend to wilt with such temperatures, unless totally dry, like in most of California.

[vistaman]

hopefully you did see the monument when sailing out

 

i find the FS Ritz in Lisbon far too expensive - was once called Ritz managed by Sheraton years ago

i stayed a few times in Avenida Palace - an old refurbished lady near the Rossio

lucky i was not in Lisbon with those high temperatures :eek:

have a great cruise and maybe we meet in Nice if eventually you go to the farewell meeting point

[Floridiana]

Wonderful report!

[Catlover54]

Boarding at 16:00 yesterday 9.8 was relatively painless, no lines. I had gotten to the Lisbon cruise terminal early just in case (way too early at 15:00) so when they opened up boarding for pax I landed up being one of the first to have my picture taken and get on board. A line of welcoming crew greeted me outside the ship, and then immediately after going through more painless security and boarding, I was greeted and immediately escorted to my spacious veranda suite.

 

The TV in the suite was set to English and I got a little confused at first when the message displayed welcomed me by my name to the “Within Highlands and Heritage” cruise, but after a brief moment of questioning whether or not I had had too much champagne and had taken a wrong turn somewhere on the dock (there were three other ships in port), I realized apparently they had not yet changed the title on display in English. I have since noticed that the English versions of information on the TV may lag behind the German versions (e.g., menus). I have asked for the daily program to routinely be brought to me in both languages so I can verify all information is there, (and also to practice my German).

 

There was not much time between boarding and muster at 17:45 and sailing at 18:00, and assigned dinner time at 19:00, and it was hot, so initially things were a little hectic and I did not feel up to going to eat any of the welcoming appetizers offered in the reception area to oncoming guests. I looked to make reservations at the specialty restaurants after boarding, as Vistaman had suggested, but there were some lines at reception and so I deferred attempting that.

 

There are almost no children on board, but the one toddler that is (sex unknown so far), resides next door to me and was out on the adjacent veranda with its parents prior to sail-away. I occasionally hear it prattling on through the wall, but so far not too bad unless both the neighbors' and my veranda doors are open. I am not sure who is on the other side of me, but there were three large cases that arrived for them, one of which was decorated with Harley-Davidson logos. They may be interesting to meet, but I am pretty sure I will not be hearing the sound of any custom engines and mufflers, am a little more worried about what will go on with the toddler.

 

 

Muster education was done indoors (though you did have to initially wear your life vest) and was offered in both German and separately in English, and included a lot of information I never heard at a muster before. For example, we received instructions not to hang laundry from the in-room sprinklers or else risk having your suite get so soaked that you will not be able to use it the rest of the voyage. We were also assured that there are more than enough spaces in the lifeboats so it would not be a “survival of the fittest” race to get to one in the event of an abandon ship call. Judging by the advanced ages and limited mobility of many of the pax (on average older than on my Europa 2 cruise last Christmas), this was good to know.

 

 

The suite is comparable in size to the basic veranda suites on SB and SS, with the main difference being that the bed and sofa are both soft and very comfortable for me, so I did not have to pull out the emergency Theramrest DH had packed for me, or negotiate a mattress topper like I did on SB and the Europa 2. There is a cost-included minibar stocked with beer, water, cola, and juices you can customize (though no free wine) and the suite has plenty of storage. There is no clock and there are no night-lights near the floor like the E2 had. The bathroom has both a shower and a separate tub (though no TV/bridge webcam in the mirror like the Europa 2 had), and the veranda has a little table, two upright chairs, and one adjustable lounger, see-through glass railing.

 

I met my English and German-speaking stewardesses later on (one from Ukraine, one from Philippines) and gave them my list of requests for customization of minibar and other supplies, which were quickly filled, even though one seemed surprised I would want more than one bath towel.

 

Pictures to follow with tapatalk.

Edited September 9, 2016 by Catlover54

[Catlover54]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Catlover54]

The welcoming half bottle of champagne was Duval- Leroy

 

 

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[Catlover54]

a fellow solo cruiser

 

 

 

And another one, after a week or so of specialty dining

 

 

 

my tender veal filet with kohlrabi, and then a deadly marzipan dessert

 

 

 

 

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[Catlover54]

There is a lot of room to sit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Catlover54]

If you eat too much you can keep this information in mind

 

 

 

FLoor arrangement trying to block your access to the MDR

 

 

 

What you can eat instead if you wish to lose weight

 

 

 

They also brought a bowl of fruit to my room without my asking, perhaps as a hint to stay healthy

 

 

 

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[Catlover54]

I did not go ashore in Portomaio today, just took a few shots from the ship. The MS Europa is in much better shape than this one

 

 

 

Basic Med port town

 

 

 

Tonight is a captain welcome and gala night

 

Restaurant hours

 

 

 

 

 

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