Ponta Delgada

[cmpaula]

We are doing a trans Atlantic cruise in April and one of the few ports is Ponta Delgada....does anyone have any suggestions? I did a thread search and there doesn't seem to be a lot of information about it. Thanks so much!

[Turtles06]

We were on a TA last April and Ponta Delgada was our first port. You are correct, there's not much info here on CC, though I did find a few threads. (Not here on the Spain board, though.)

 

The main options you will have include 4WD tours around the island, primarily to see the crater lakes, the most famous being Sete Cidades (below). We spent the morning doing that, and then some time in the afternoon just walking around the very lovely town of Ponta Delgada itself (2d pic).

 

São Miguel is a beautiful island, but I was enjoying our crossing so much I hated to hit land! :)

 

If you have specific questions, I'll try to answer them.

 

 

 

(photos by turtles06)

[cmpaula]

Thank you so much for your post! We, too, enjoy our days at sea! Did you book through the ship or make your own arrangements?

[English_in_Spain]

Ponta Delgada is in the Azores which is Portugal not Spain.

 

 

For some reason Portugal and the Azores, here on CC, comes under 'Other Mediterranean Ports' although neither Portugal nor the Azores are in the Med.

 

You will find more information if you post here

 

You can either browse through or when it it back use the search facility

 

[Turtles06]

Thank you so much for your post! We, too, enjoy our days at sea! Did you book through the ship or make your own arrangements?

 

We booked the 4WD tour through the ship (Celebrity). Normally, we don't do ship's tours, but this is one port where you don't want to miss the ship, and I didn't want to have any anxiety whatsoever about being in a private vehicle broken down somewhere up in the mountains. That was probably an unreasonable concern, and others on the ship took private drivers around and were fine, but that was my thinking here.

 

PS: I just noticed that this is my 2500th post on Cruise Critic!

[lamchops]

We are doing a trans Atlantic cruise in April and one of the few ports is Ponta Delgada....does anyone have any suggestions? I did a thread search and there doesn't seem to be a lot of information about it. Thanks so much!

 

Here's an edited excerpt from my journal on our recent November TA. We didn't have a tour planned as weather (fog/cloud) can affect visuals. There were many tour booth along the boardwalk/seawall to choose from but we saw the fort from the ship and went there. I had originally wanted to do whale watching but that's better done in the spring. (one of the top 4 areas in the world to see whales) (Blue whales, largest mammals)

 

November 9, 2012 The clocks moved back again and we gained another hour sleep. We got up at 9:00 am to have breakfast and the ship was already docked. Ponte Delgada is a town on the island of Sao Pedro in the Azores belonging to Portugal. The Azores are to Europe what Hawaii is to North America. The ship was docked near the town centre at a new cruise terminal so we decided to take a short hike to Fort Sao Bras as it was a turn of the century fort that also housed the Military Museum of the Azores. We spent a couple of hours visiting the fort and museum before taking a trek to the “larger mall”. While the mall may be small by american standards, DW did manage to find 2 pairs of knee high boots and a pair of ankle boots. At 2:00 we decided to head back to the ship by taking the narrow side streets and exploring the town. We stumbled onto the “smaller mall” and it had free internet so we stopped. As it was only 3:00 pm with “all aboard” being at 5:30 pm, we returned to the ship for a late lunch before heading back ashore to use the internet again. The internet was free at the local Burger King so I took the opportunity to update and post my journal. The espresso that BK served was quite good. DW checked out the boardwalk area and brought me back a Portuguese egg custard tart to see if I liked them. They were as good as the ones in Lisbon so she bought some more to take aboard. We boarded at 5:00 and prepared to be on deck for the sail-away. The sail-away into the sunset was a spectacular end to a wonderful day in port.

Ponte Delgada is a city and municipality on the island of São Miguel in the archipelago of the Azores, an autonomous region of Portugal.

 

Fort Soa Bras was built in the 16th century to defend against pirate attacks, São Brás Fort was the most important fortress of all the existing fortresses in the city, strategically placed west from the narrow earth tongue that later gave name to Ponta Delgada Built in the 16th century to defend against pirate attacks, São Brás Fort was the most important fortress of all the existing fortresses in the city, strategically placed west from the narrow earth tongue that later gave name to Ponta Delgada. This fort has a monument dedicated to the seamen who perished in World War I, created by Architect Raúl Lino and sculptor Diogo de Macedo, as well as a bust of Teófilo Braga. In present day, this fort is used by the Command of Azores Military Zone. It houses Azores Military Museum, which presents an interesting collection. It was classified National Trust Building.

[bigboatdiva]

Ponta Delgada is in the Azores which is Portugal not Spain.

 

 

For some reason Portugal and the Azores, here on CC, comes under 'Other Mediterranean Ports' although neither Portugal nor the Azores are in the Med.

 

You will find more information if you post here

 

You can either browse through or when it it back use the search facility

 

 

 

Thank you, Carol, for all of your wonderful information!! Kathy M.

[bigboatdiva]

Ponta Delgada is in the Azores which is Portugal not Spain.

 

 

For some reason Portugal and the Azores, here on CC, comes under 'Other Mediterranean Ports' although neither Portugal nor the Azores are in the Med.

 

You will find more information if you post here

 

You can either browse through or when it it back use the search facility

 

 

 

Thank you, Carol, for all of your wonderful information!! Kathy M.