Canaries and Portugal Cruise - ports question

[ChicagoCruisin]

Hello,

Has anyone cruised the Canaries and Portugal itinerary and has thoughts on the ports?  See below:

Would you recommend the itinerary?  Were the locals reasonably welcoming? 

Thank you for any thoughts you have!  🙂

 

[baw53]

Excellent cruise .I have done it with other cruise lines not Celebrity  …last time was Cunard. I know for sure you will love Madeira  , we have a land based holiday for some ‘Winter Sun’ every January for  3/4 weeks in Funchal .🌞

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Were the locals reasonably welcoming?

 

do you read the news wedsites , 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68865755
 

[baw53]

There are lots to see and do in Funchal .Most do the cable car and then the sleds downhill from Monte .It’s an interesting place to just wander round but one thing we always do is indulge in afternoon tea at Belmond Reid’s Palace Hotel .If you ask very nicely at reception I am sure they will let you see the Churchill Suite ( providing it hasn’t been booked) Winston Churchill always stayed at Reid’s .

[kabmab]

19 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Were the locals reasonably welcoming?

 

do you read the news wedsites , 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68865755
 

We were there on the Ascent TA right after the protest.   The protest has more to do with overdevelopment of vacation rentals and housing shortàges.  We had no issues at all.

[ChicagoCruisin]

Thank you for explaining that properly kabmab  🙂

[The Traveling Man]

1 hour ago, ChicagoCruisin said:

Hello,

Has anyone cruised the Canaries and Portugal itinerary and has thoughts on the ports?  See below:

Would you recommend the itinerary?  Were the locals reasonably welcoming? 

Thank you for any thoughts you have!  🙂

 

We haven't sailed this exact itinerary, but we have visited several of these ports on other cruises.  We have been to Funchal, Porto, and Lisbon and found each to be very welcoming with lots of interesting things to see and do.  I think you will very much enjoy this cruise.

[Lastdance]

We have been to all of these ports except Funchal; the people were very welcoming!

[jean87510]

Great ports!  Very welcoming in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

[Thejuggler]

Vigo is a very busy fishing port, not much else there, but good if you want fresh seafood for lunch.  Our visit was on a Sunday about 15 years ago, almost everything was closed.

 

Madeira is amazing, we've holidayed there 3 times,  Well worth getting a local taxi for the day  as the island is small enough to see some amazing sights and the road infrastructure is now very modern with tunnels everywhere to speed up journeys.

 

 Huge sea cliffs at Cabo Girao, Nuns Valley, mountainous centre, Monte to name a few.

 

Lisbon amazing, but too,large to do everything in a day.  We went back after a day visit whilst on a cruise.  So much to see and do.

[catspaw1]

We did a land tour of Portugal on our own in October 2019. Went to Lisbon,  Sinatra, COIMBRA ( sorry for caps but it keeps trying to autocorrect), Porto, GUIMARAES & Braga. Loved Portugal, the food, sites & places we visited. Use Uber to get around- cheap & fast. In Porto, since there is so much uphill walking,  take an uber to the top & walk downhill. In Porto, visit Grahams port winery location making reservations in advance for the tour. Try the 20 & 30 year old port- to die for. In Lisbon,  take uber to Belem to view the monastery & get a whole box of pastel de nata at the famous bakery there. They were hot & we ate all 6 of them in the box, we thought we were going to save some! - outstanding. In Porto, make sure you visit the train station to view the famous blue azuelos - outstanding. Our interactions with locals since we were on an independent tour was outstanding! We would return to Portugal anytime