Lisbon, Portugal

[smarks]

We will be arriving on the Crown Princess on April 25, 2019. We arrive at 12:00 noon and depart at 8:00 PM Could someone please recommend a tour company. Will we have time to do some of the tours? First time crossing the pond so feeling my way around. Thanks for any help and suggestions you can offer.

[Omega1]

Lisbon has a very good HoHo bus operation.

https://city-sightseeing.com/en/80/lisbon

[pickypicky]

For some reason, CC has Lisbon in "Other Mediterranean Ports". You will probably get more replies if you post your question there.

But since we were there last June, I can give you my opinion. Lisbon is a beautiful city with a lot to see and delicious food to sample. We had a private guide, Carla Carlito, I think it was My Way Tours. She can pick you up at the port and show you all the must sees and make sure to have you back in time. The HOHO bus (I didn't try the one in Lisbon, but this is how they usually work) will have you waiting for another bus to come along each time you hop off, so you will waste a lot of time going with that option. You might find someone on your roll call to share the expense of the guide...Carla had a van which would have held more than two passengers.

Good luck and enjoy Lisbon...we loved it!

[smarks]

Lisbon has a very good HoHo bus operation.

https://city-sightseeing.com/en/80/lisbon

 

Thank You Omega 1 for the link. Very helpful.

[smarks]

For some reason, CC has Lisbon in "Other Mediterranean Ports". You will probably get more replies if you post your question there.

But since we were there last June, I can give you my opinion. Lisbon is a beautiful city with a lot to see and delicious food to sample. We had a private guide, Carla Carlito, I think it was My Way Tours. She can pick you up at the port and show you all the must sees and make sure to have you back in time. The HOHO bus (I didn't try the one in Lisbon, but this is how they usually work) will have you waiting for another bus to come along each time you hop off, so you will waste a lot of time going with that option. You might find someone on your roll call to share the expense of the guide...Carla had a van which would have held more than two passengers.

Good luck and enjoy Lisbon...we loved it!

 

Thank You for the info pickypicky. I will look up My Way Tours.

[pickypicky]

Here you go:http://mywaytours.pt/en/

 

I requested Carla Carita (I misspelled it previously) because I had read such good reviews of her on TripAdvisor. I can't remember the cost, but it was worth it.

[smarks]

Here you go:http://mywaytours.pt/en/

 

I requested Carla Carita (I misspelled it previously) because I had read such good reviews of her on TripAdvisor. I can't remember the cost, but it was worth it.

 

pickypicky, thank you again. The link is great. Our ship doesn't arrive till 12:00 noon. Do you think there will be time to see the sites? Thanks again.

 

I also see you live in Ga. I too live in Ga. I'm in North Ga.

[pickypicky]

Yes, you will have time to see the high points. We had a half day city tour and another day took a half day tour north to Sintra and Cascais. I wouldn't try to go out of the city, though, especially if it's your first visit there.

The only thing to consider with the hours you're in port, if it's a weekday, would be afternoon traffic, but your guide will worry about that.

The city tour included a drive through the Alfama neighborhood and up to a viewing point for some beautiful photos of Lisbon and the Tagus River. We didn't go to St. George Castle, but did have a nice view of it from there. She took us to one of the elevators, I think Santa Justa. Then to Belem for Jeronimos Monastery and the Monument to the Discoveries and the Belem Tower along the river. If you have time and it's not too crowded, you could try the delicious Pasteis de Belem. The Praca do Comercio is not too far from the dock (assuming your ship is docked where ours was) so you could asked to be dropped off there to look around and maybe get drinks and tapas at one of the many outdoor restaurants around the square and then walk or taxi back to your ship. Taxis were inexpensive.

Yes, located in NW GA.:):)

[smarks]

Yes, you will have time to see the high points. We had a half day city tour and another day took a half day tour north to Sintra and Cascais. I wouldn't try to go out of the city, though, especially if it's your first visit there.

The only thing to consider with the hours you're in port, if it's a weekday, would be afternoon traffic, but your guide will worry about that.

The city tour included a drive through the Alfama neighborhood and up to a viewing point for some beautiful photos of Lisbon and the Tagus River. We didn't go to St. George Castle, but did have a nice view of it from there. She took us to one of the elevators, I think Santa Justa. Then to Belem for Jeronimos Monastery and the Monument to the Discoveries and the Belem Tower along the river. If you have time and it's not too crowded, you could try the delicious Pasteis de Belem. The Praca do Comercio is not too far from the dock (assuming your ship is docked where ours was) so you could asked to be dropped off there to look around and maybe get drinks and tapas at one of the many outdoor restaurants around the square and then walk or taxi back to your ship. Taxis were inexpensive.

Yes, located in NW GA.:):)

 

Thanks pickypicky for the suggestions and information. It really helps. We will be there on a Thursday.

[FionaMG]

For some reason, CC has Lisbon in "Other Mediterranean Ports".

 

This is a very good point, which I have always wondered about, since Lisbon is nowhere near the Med and is, in fact, farther west than Amsterdam, all of Great Britain and practically the whole of Ireland! So it really should be in this board. The same goes for Portugal's Atlantic archipelagos of Madeira (Funchal) and the Azores.

 

However, it is not only CC that gets it wrong. As a translator specialising in tourism, I translate a lot of stuff for the various Portuguese tourist boards and I have, on a number of occasions, had to correct their copy because they have referred to Portugal's Mediterranean coast! :eek: If the country's tourist boards can't get it right, why should anyone else be expected to?!

 

RCI's Portuguese website currently features itineraries out of Southampton, one on Navigator and one on Independence, that it markets (in Portuguese) as the "Mediterranean from Southampton" when neither ship even enters the Mediterranean, let alone having port stops in it! I have to say, though, that the US and UK websites do get it right with these itineraries, calling them things like Canaries and Africa.

[FionaMG]

We will be arriving on the Crown Princess on April 25, 2019.

 

Just wanted to draw your attention to the fact that the 25th of April is an important public holiday here in Portugal (it is the anniversary of the 1974 "Carnation Revolution" which overthrew the dictatorship) so some things will probably not be operating as normal. It would be worth querying this with any companies you contact about tours.

[alaskancruzr]

We have toured by HoHo - great for an overview of the city with 3 different routes - one including Belem. We usually stay on for the entire route and then return to any place that interests us. No problem with waiting in our experience here. We've also used the tuk-tuk tours including a lovely tour that went as far as Cascais along the coast. Our favorite tour was the motorcycle/sidecar tour with bikemyside.com. Completely customized - one of us in the sidecar and the other behind the driver (Daniel was excellent!). You can avoid all the cruise crowds and get a truly unique view of beautiful Lisboa. The metro is also a great way to get around - easy to use and inexpensive.

[cristine]

We used Bikemyside.com

Great fun, Russian Motorcycle with side car tour thru Lisbon.

Met us at the ship.

It was a fantastic day, we would do again.

Chris

[smarks]

Just wanted to draw your attention to the fact that the 25th of April is an important public holiday here in Portugal (it is the anniversary of the 1974 "Carnation Revolution" which overthrew the dictatorship) so some things will probably not be operating as normal. It would be worth querying this with any companies you contact about tours.

 

Thank You for some good information. Good to know and be prepared for.

[smarks]

Thanks everybody for some good suggestions. I now have a good starting point.

[Grant2000]

We've taken the hoho bus in Lisbon and it worked out very well for us. Many of Lisbon's attractions are spread out throughout the sprawling city.

 

https://lisbonportugal.ca/transportation/

[BAYA]

For people who can't walk on uneven ground (e.g., cobblestones) or up steep hills, I'm guessing our best course will be to arrange for private tours where transportation is provided. We're arriving in Lisbon early the morning of Aug. 24th after flying overnight from Boston. Assuming pretty bad jet lag (I can't sleep on planes), does anyone have any suggestion of what to do in the afternoon/evening of our first day? For the second day I'm researching a Lisbon highlights tour that also includes Belem. And the following day, August 26th, we will embark on our cruise. Any suggestions of what to see on the 26th before going to our ship?

Many thanks for suggestions.

[BAYA]

On 5/24/2019 at 4:44 PM, BAYA said:

For people who can't walk on uneven ground (e.g., cobblestones) or up steep hills, I'm guessing our best course will be to arrange for private tours where transportation is provided. We're arriving in Lisbon early the morning of Aug. 24th after flying overnight from Boston. Assuming pretty bad jet lag (I can't sleep on planes), does anyone have any suggestion of what to do in the afternoon/evening of our first day? For the second day I'm researching a Lisbon highlights tour that also includes Belem. And the following day, August 26th, we will embark on our cruise. Any suggestions of what to see on the 26th before going to our ship?

Many thanks for suggestions.

Following up on my own post. I have booked a private half-day tour on August 25th to cover Lisbon highlights, and now am researching a half-day tour to Sintra for August 26th. My hope is we can get picked up from our hotel with our luggage, and when the tour is complete get dropped off at the cruise terminal by our guide. Has anyone else done this and how did it work for you? The Veendam embarks from Lisbon on Aug. 26th, hopefully giving us time for sightseeing that day.

TIA.

[grnrab]

Usually the tour companies will not act as transport vehicle unless you pay them separately for a transportation add on and even then most will never not drop you right in front of any hotel (or pickup from one - even for a tour) for that matter. They are prohibited by law from doing that - competition with cabs (who are already furious with UBER and Cabify in Lisbon). Cabs are numerous, fast and cheap by most big city standards and from most major tourist hotels you will not pay more than 15-20E to get to either Alcantara terminal (bigger boats) or Santa Apolonia terminal (smaller boats). Your hotel will be more than happy to call you a cab.   

[erby2283]

On 6/3/2019 at 7:57 AM, BAYA said:

Following up on my own post. I have booked a private half-day tour on August 25th to cover Lisbon highlights, and now am researching a half-day tour to Sintra for August 26th. My hope is we can get picked up from our hotel with our luggage, and when the tour is complete get dropped off at the cruise terminal by our guide. Has anyone else done this and how did it work for you? The Veendam embarks from Lisbon on Aug. 26th, hopefully giving us time for sightseeing that day.

TIA.

Which tour company did you decide to book with? We are flying to Lisbon from Barcelona for 3 days post-cruise in Aug and I can’t make up my mind. Thinking I want to go see Sintra and Cascais. Fatima is not necessarily on my “must see” list. 

[BAYA]

7 hours ago, erby2283 said:

Which tour company did you decide to book with? We are flying to Lisbon from Barcelona for 3 days post-cruise in Aug and I can’t make up my mind. Thinking I want to go see Sintra and Cascais. Fatima is not necessarily on my “must see” list. 

We reserved with MyWayTours for both days.