Aboard Marina, Weather or Not

Marina continues to roll back and forth significantly, but otherwise the ride has smoothed considerably during the day and the weather has improved.

This morning we spotted a beautiful rainbow not far from the ship off the starboard side.

We were able to eat lunch outside today on the back deck of the Terrace Café.

Early this evening we enjoyed our balcony for the first time this voyage.

We enjoy ourselves rain or shine, but good weather brightens the mood.

Stunning Views and Fabulous Dining on Oceania Marina

Our first port as we cross the Atlantic on Marina is Funchal on the island of Madeira.

There we take a bus tour that’s part of our cruise package and wind our way up steep hills and around switchbacks.

We discover the Portuguese of Madeira are as skilled at building vertically as are the French of the Côte d’Azur and the Italians of the Amalfi Coast.

We follow our guide down exceedingly steep sidewalks and stairs to reach the home of Mr. Octavio, a well known local winemaker.

He and his family treat us with genuine hospitality. It’s never too early in the day for a few glasses of wine.

Cheers, Tom!

We learn that bananas are grown extensively here and spot bunches here and there. This crop has great appeal.

Brother Greg goes on a different tour that travels even higher and offers spectacular views, but we drink more wine, so it balances out.

So far we’ve dined three times in four evenings specialty restaurants. A favorite is Red Ginger. We know we’ve arrived when these splashy Versace charger plates are sitting in front of us.

The food is generally outstanding, from Tempura…

to Duck Watermelon Salad…

to Bulgogi Steak…

to desserts.

What else to love about Oceania? Baristas, the specialty coffee bar up on Deck 14. We start every day with a Cappuccino Doppio, a double-shot Cappuccino.

The only glaring negative so far is that one of the two aft elevators is permanently out of order until (rumors have it) a new elevator can be installed in the home port of Miami.

First world problem and we expect no sympathy.

The weather seems to be slowly improving.

Greg manages to secure us a second bonus night in Jacques, the French specialty restaurant named after celebrity chef Jacques Pepin. Our second dinner is superior to opening night’s offering, which suffers from dry and overcooked Prime Rib that several of us unfortunately select.

We choose wisely this time and hit the jackpot. 

Incidentally. A highlight of Oceania is the quality of the baked goods (and the French butter).

Appetizers include Scallops Tartare…

Foie gras cold and hot…

Lobster Gnocchi…

Kathy and Brian savor our Dover Sole, an Oceania signature dish deboned and served tableside.

Among the classic dessert choices, some of us round off our meal with Crêpes Suzette.

We’ve picked up one more hour as we sail west, so Portugal’s 10:00 AM on embarkation day is now 8:00 AM, and we’re proud of ourselves for being up bright and early.

We’ve sadly confirmed that Lobster Tail are now only offered twice per cruise, rather than nightly, at the Terrace Café dinner buffet, and our favorite Wente California Cabernet Sauvignon has been removed from the wine-by-the-glass list. Still, like Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, we must “bear our misfortunes as best we can.”

It’s all good, and the newly-installed Starlink WiFi is the best we’ve ever experienced on a ship.

Transatlantic Cruise on Marina from Lisbon to Miami

We’ve completed more than a dozen transatlantic cruises over the past 15 years, all but one of them on Oceania ships (repositioning cruises being traditionally cost-effective), and we still look forward to a crossing.

In Lisbon, we stayed at the Emerald House Hotel, a Hilton Curio property, an elegant place with rooms that were relative bargains on Hilton Points, as opposed to cash.

Fairly small European-style rooms…

We’re currently docked at Funchal, Madeira, starting Day 3 of our 12-day cruise from Lisbon to Miami, and heading off on some kind of food tour in a couple of hours. Here’s a view from the bridge-cam in our room.

It was an interesting couple of days getting here, as Kathy caught a nasty 24-hour flu as we traveled from Porto to Lisbon, with Brian being hit with the same virus a few hours later. No photos, please! Our traveling companions were patient and sympathetic, not that they had a choice.

We’re feeling much better and nobody else in our party caught it, so all is well.

The first 36 hours of cruising have been somewhat bumpy but Meclizine (Bonine), our anti-seasickness drug of choice, has helped us to enjoy life aboard, including the generally excellent food.

We met up with our Toronto cruiser friends, Bud and Jessie, and enjoyed drinks at the Captain’s Party and dinner for seven in the Main Dining Room. They’ve recently battled some health issues and it was great to see them looking  so well and enjoying another cruise.

Our cruise is off to a good start. Clean laundry helps!

High-Speed Portuguese Train Runs Late

Tuesday was a longer travel day for us than we’d predicted, but that’s never a surprise.

Antonio of Porto5Stars Tours picked us up from our boat promptly at 9:30 am and deposited us a few minutes later at the Porto Train Station.

Our high-speed train to Lisbon didn’t leave until 1;00 pm, so we had some serious time to kill. After two rounds of Cappuccinos in a little train station snack bar, we walked across the street where Antonio recommended their Bifana, Portugal’s traditional marinated pork sandwich. Tasty!

It was around then that Kathy realized she’d somehow caught stomach flu, putting her in survival mode for the rest of the day’s journey.

We eventually boarded our train for Lisbon, and a pleasant ride it was.

For some reason, despite hitting speeds as high as 130 mph, it was 25 minutes late arriving in Lisbon. Fortunately the inter-city train left from the same platform and it was late too.

We eventually arrived in Évora and commandeered two taxis to transport us to the new (2023) Hilton Garden Inn for €5 each. What a great hotel!

The following day we wandered over to the old town and took in the remains of an old Roman temple, a cathedral, and an abundance of souvenir shops dotting the winding streets.

Later we enjoyed our lunch at a little Italian restaurant…

Arancini…

Cannelloni…

Tagliatelle…

Pizza…

A little more tourist gawking on our way back to the hotel…

Greg waits for us to catch up.

Yes, we’re in Portugal.

Kathy is feeling fine and four of us dine on steak in the hotel’s restaurant.

Ellyn chooses lamb.

Tomorrow we return to Lisbon and stay one night before boarding our transatlantic cruise to Miami.

Portugal is a very pleasing country for tourists. We’re happy we returned.