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Transatlantic travels - Pursuit Lisbon to Rio 13 November 19

Grandma Cruising

By Grandma Cruising,
in Azamara

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Grandma Cruising

Grandma Cruising

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I’m starting this topic for all of us on the roll call to post our experiences of this transatlantic cruise.

This will be our first transatlantic cruise and we’re approaching it with a mixture of excitement and trepidation - we hope the weather and swell will be kind to us! We set off today by train to Manchester, staying overnight then flying to Lisbon tomorrow with TAP. We’re all packed and just last minute chores to complete today.

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tiggertom

tiggertom

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45 minutes ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

I’m starting this topic for all of us on the roll call to post our experiences of this transatlantic cruise.

This will be our first transatlantic cruise and we’re approaching it with a mixture of excitement and trepidation - we hope the weather and swell will be kind to us! We set off today by train to Manchester, staying overnight then flying to Lisbon tomorrow with TAP. We’re all packed and just last minute chores to complete today.

Have a great time, HGC, I am looking forward to hearing all about your cruise as it is the reverse of our cruise in March. 

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norn iron

norn iron

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59 minutes ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

I’m starting this topic for all of us on the roll call to post our experiences of this transatlantic cruise.

This will be our first transatlantic cruise and we’re approaching it with a mixture of excitement and trepidation - we hope the weather and swell will be kind to us! We set off today by train to Manchester, staying overnight then flying to Lisbon tomorrow with TAP. We’re all packed and just last minute chores to complete today.

 

Have a safe journey, see you on Wednesday.

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gymfreak

gymfreak

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1 hour ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Have fun. I just checked the wave models and think you need to prepare for it to be rocky for the first few days, even down in the Canaries. Could be interesting to start!

 

Phil 

Thanks for the heads up Phil.

Charlie and I are on this sailing. We fly Tuesday to Lisbon

See you all soon

Vicki

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mklions

mklions

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We are also on this exciting TA cruise, travelling out of Heathrow 8.15 Wednesday morning, fingers crossed we should be at the cruise terminal around midday. Unfortunately In work tomorrow and Tuesday but can’t wait to join up with you all.

Mklions.

Dave and Jackie..

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excitedofharpenden

excitedofharpenden

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2 hours ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

Thanks for the wave forecast, Phil, sounds as of we need to be prepared for a swell.
We’ve arrived safely in Manchester and got to our hotel (Premier In South).See you on Wednesday norn iron, gymfreak & chesnick

This is the wave site I use. Just click on the map area of interest and it gives a 180 hour forecast. 

 

http://stormsurf.com/mdls/menu_wam.html

 

Phil 

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Grandma Cruising

Grandma Cruising

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10 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

This is the wave site I use. Just click on the map area of interest and it gives a 180 hour forecast. 

 

http://stormsurf.com/mdls/menu_wam.html

 

Phil 

 

10 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Here's the weather site the Captain on Ponant used to show us why we couldn't continue around Iceland:

https://www.windy.com/

 

It shows wind, swell, and other info; current status and predictions.

Thanks. We’ll try them both

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Grandma Cruising

Grandma Cruising

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11 hours ago, mklions said:

We are also on this exciting TA cruise, travelling out of Heathrow 8.15 Wednesday morning, fingers crossed we should be at the cruise terminal around midday. Unfortunately In work tomorrow and Tuesday but can’t wait to join up with you all.

Mklions.

Dave and Jackie..

See you on Wednesday! Hope you have a good flight.

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Grandma Cruising

Grandma Cruising

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We had a pleasant evening at the Premier Inn and got a taxi to the airport at 8:15. Check-in was quick and easy and so was security and we got to the Aspire lounge pretty quickly. We had breakfast there ( sausages, bacon, scrambled egg, Danish pastries etc) which was OK. The plane was about 30 minutes late taking off, but still got to Lisbon only 5 minutes after the expected time. When we got off the plane we were bussed a long way to the terminal then had quite a long walk to the baggage carousel. Our luggage arrived quickly and we found our way out of the airport to the taxi rank. The taxi was metered and we were charged €14 to get to our hotel - Holiday Inn Express Avenida de Liberdade. The hotel is nice - newly refurbished by the look of it. After a brief rest we had a wander around. The area is very much a business area, but there are a few restaurants around. We asked at reception about a good restaurant and they recommended one reasonably nearby called Santa Marta that serves traditional Portuguese food and we intend to ask them to make us a reservation there for tomorrow night. Tonight we’ll just find the nearest restaurant , have a quick meal there, then collapse into bed so we’ll be well rested and raring to go tomorrow.

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Sleep7 Great Review Rare

Sleep7

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Oh lucky you in Lisbon Grandma Cruising! Don't know if it's too late for a meal recommendation but we were just there in July and had the BEST seafood meal we have ever had at Cervejariaramiro Ramiro.

https://geral24128.wixsite.com/cervejariaramiro/copia-visite-nos

Oh the giant prawns and the shrimp in garlic sauce with the steak sandwich for "dessert."

Hope that you have time to go.

Wishing you a fantastic cruise.. looking forward to following your story.😃

Enjoy!!

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diana11

diana11

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We were due to meet our friends tomorrow in Lisbon - they are coming to the end of their Med Cunard cruise and were going to be in Lisbon tomorrow too.  I have just heard from them to say that there are 45 mph gusts of wind. They are no longer stopping at Lisbon and instead their captain is taking them back to Southampton!

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Grandma Cruising

Grandma Cruising

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Thanks for the recommendation Sleep7, but we have booked at a small Portuguese restaurant near our hotel called Santa Marta, on the recommendation of the reception staff at the hotel.

Last night we were tired and ate at the little cafe next door to the hotel called Nova Leblon. We had a dish called ‘Secret Black Pork’. Apparently this is from special pigs that only eat acorns. It was thin slices of grilled pork served with rice and fries. It was very tasty, but a little on the fatty side (which apparently is one of its characteristics).


Today we bought one day transport passes for €6.95 each. We had to use the ticket machine, but thankfully there was a metro member of staff standing by the machine helping us. We got the metro from the Marquês de Pombal station to Rossio, then took the 15 tram to Belém. It was very busy, but is lovely there.  We went to look at the Monument to the Discoverers on the waterfront, then walked through the lovely Praça do Imperio gardens with its fountain to look at and go inside the beautiful Santa Maria church. We then caught the tram back - but had to get off half way back as the tram broke down! Luckily a 15 bus came pretty quickly and took us back to Praça de Figueira. From there we walked up to Rue Maritim Moniz to catch the 28 tram to go though the old town. We had to wait 15- 20 minutes as there was quite a queue, but it was well worth it as it was fascinating ascending the steep narrow streets. At Campo d’Ourique we got on the 25 tram back, getting off near Cais de Sordre so we could see the Praça de Comercio with its beautiful arch, and sit on the sea wall by the Cais du Colunas which seemed to be a very popular gathering place. We had hoped to see the Pursuit pass by, but she was late and we were getting cold, so we got the metro back to Marquês de Pombal and our hotel.

 

Marques de Pombal column

744C82E4-D7B9-4F25-96D2-80C115685EBF.jpeg


The Church of Santa Maria across the Praça do Imperio gardens

 

6259BAD1-898A-44BD-9235-9F9EA2306896.jpeg
 

Monument to the Discoverers.

C31B32F0-F976-4E2A-BB63-25694C6E1E91.jpeg

3F35B006-26DD-4448-BECB-CA19C8E25E40.jpeg
 

Two lovely shop fronts in the old town

BEBCE9D6-6397-4D0A-A681-C2BA8A015E45.jpeg

45C238CE-E54D-46BE-A03D-FA7A2C7213AA.jpeg
 

2photos of Praca do Comercio, one including a Tuk Tuk, which were everywhere

36182299-3CA0-489D-8E6B-B16C725C23EA.jpeg

2F00EC1E-D52B-4E07-8EB1-E48941AF4A77.jpeg

Edited by Host Grandma Cruising
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