Ponta Delgada, Azores Excursions

[cindylairmore]

One of our stops on our Transatlantic Cruise in October is Ponta Delgado, Azores.  We are excited to see what looks like a beautiful spot.  We will likely book an excursion through NCL, just in case the port is cancelled.  We are a little gun shy as we don't want it to be an excursion where you just view from a bus.  We are hopeful others have been on some of these excursions and shed some light on if any of these are better than others.  Thank you!

1. Hot Springs & Botanical Gardens
2. Village Of Sete Cidades & Wine Tasting
3. Furnas Valley With Cozido Das Caldeiras

[fredflint]

I will have to look and see where we went,  but I would look to book local and see if you can pay when you arrive or get a refund we had a 6 passenger van and the driver took us all around we asked to stop at a normal grocery store and were able to purchase many unique items for gifts without paying  high tourist prices.

[mking8288]

58 minutes ago, cindylairmore said:

One of our stops on our Transatlantic Cruise in October is Ponta Delgado, Azores.  We are excited to see what looks like a beautiful spot.  We will likely book an excursion through NCL, just in case the port is cancelled. 

Sailing across the pond, neither we nor the ship/bridge & captain have full control over maritime weather & stormy seas.  We had a nearly perfect eastbound TA recently, assumed yours to be westbound.  PD is beautiful and easy to get around, you get a glimpse in being able to visit for most of the day.  Go find & look for your fellow CC'ers on the roll call and see what the seasoned ones are doing - "shop" around & compare prices, and if you do a half day or 4 to 5 hour private / local tour, there's very little risk of not making it back to the ship in time for sailaway again - cost will be much less than ...  Check with the tours about their policy for cancellations & refunds, etc. (and, what if weather isn't good & ship(s) cannot safely dock, it is not a tender port)  Shops are just across the street & many of the popular tourist spots are within 10 to 20 minutes, easy walking distance on level, flat grounds & solid pavements (walking shoes).  Checkout CC's partner sites, TripAdvisors for additional info.  

 

If you do NCL tours, shared bus rides with 40+ fellow cruisers from the ship is a given ... and, a long ride with a short stop at each "spot" is a given, boarding & getting off the bus is a given.  Great place to just walk around, do your own selfies (can't figure out paying $$ on an "escorted" walking tour to just do that, LOL) and enjoy a great & inexpensive lunch ... credit cards cheerfully accepted but we always plan ahead & paid for things with Euros.  

 

Have another TA later, ourselves & already confirmed a small group, private van tour - shared by a total of 6 ship pax using a local guide.  On our way back at the end of the tour, will get dropped off near the ship, eat & do a little quick shopping before boarding the ship.  

[Middleager]

We were on a 2021 TA cruise, westbound, and our stop to Ponta Delgada got cancelled due to high waves.

 

Last year we had a cruise ending in Lisbon.  We stayed a few more days in Lisbon, then trained to Porto.  Then flew to Ponta Delgada for 3 days, before flying to Toronto.

 

During those two full days in Ponta Delgada, we took two full day tours, both in mini-van.  They were inexpensive, included lunch, and we went to many places, some place you can walk around a bit or the guide took us to see place which wouldn't happen with a big bus tour.

 

Even if we were on a cruise, we'd almost always go to non-ship excursions.  They have even more need to get you back to the ship in time, otherwise their reputation is toast.

[cindylairmore]

10 hours ago, Middleager said:

We were on a 2021 TA cruise, westbound, and our stop to Ponta Delgada got cancelled due to high waves.

 

Last year we had a cruise ending in Lisbon.  We stayed a few more days in Lisbon, then trained to Porto.  Then flew to Ponta Delgada for 3 days, before flying to Toronto.

 

During those two full days in Ponta Delgada, we took two full day tours, both in mini-van.  They were inexpensive, included lunch, and we went to many places, some place you can walk around a bit or the guide took us to see place which wouldn't happen with a big bus tour.

 

Even if we were on a cruise, we'd almost always go to non-ship excursions.  They have even more need to get you back to the ship in time, otherwise their reputation is toast.

thank you.  We almost always do non-ship tours but just got a bit nervous with this port, that maybe we should do cruise tour, in case the port gets cancelled.

[Middleager]

31 minutes ago, cindylairmore said:

thank you.  We almost always do non-ship tours but just got a bit nervous with this port, that maybe we should do cruise tour, in case the port gets cancelled.

Contact the tour op.  Most would not charge, or refund if they pre-charge, if ship cannot make port.  That's what happened to us for the 2021 TA cruise when we didn't make port.