Today’s Daily Programme Can Be Found Here
The approach to Lisbon along the River Tagus is always spectacular, we didn’t have the glorious sunset today but that didn’t diminish it. We’d gained an hour overnight so it was very leisurly getting ready for breakfast. No kedgeree today, I had intended to have a light breakfast as we were going to have lunch out in Lisbon.
It was possibly our last chance to get some sun before returning home, plus we needed to do some laundry, so the plan was to set off the laundry, then head up to the Grills Terrace for 40 minutes while the wash cycle completed. The plan went well and while we were up on deck Nicki Chapman and her bestie Krista appeared and took some photos by the Jacuzzi. While they were there I offered to take a photo of the two of them which they accepted and hopefully the were pleased with the results. Then my washing alarm went off so we headed down and grabbed the laundry out of the machine and stuck it in a dryer for 30 mins. Once done we headed off the ship and into Lisbon.
It was a long walk just to get off the ship with a meandering air bridge and long walks through the terminal. There was a shuttle bus, but we opted to walk as the cruise terminal is close to the city centre. We had heard that Xmas markets were in full swing, so they were going to be our first port of call. It turned out a coffee shop was our first port of call, an excellent cappuccino and a rediculously large cinnamon donut later we headed into the Xmas food market. Loads of stalls aselling everythng from cakes and chocolates to chorizo and other savory dishes, it all smelled so good and we were bombarded with samples to taste. From there we headed to the Xmas craft market and spent a pleasant hour browsing. From there we headed back towards the river and strolled towards Alfama where we were going to have lunch. The massive donut had put a dent in our appetites so we never had our planned cataplana, but we did have chicken piri-piri and a tomato salad instead.
We spent the afternoon back on ship getting the last of the sun on the Grills Terrace before heading off to the room to get ready for dinner, we were starting early as we had Fizz booked at the Bright Lights for 21:30. Our club World party was scheduled for tonight at 19:45 so we were always going to give that a miss. I do like a roast turkey dinner so that was always going to be my choice of entree, but I thought I’d go off piste for the appetiser and ordered sweetcorn panna cotta assuming it would be like Humitas. It wasn’t, which is a shame, and it was the first dish I’ve actively disliked on this cruise. For dessert the table had decided on Crepes Suzette flambe’d at table side which was delicious.
Then it was on to the nonsense that was Fizz in the Bright Lights Society. Not a lot to say without giving away spoilers, a burlesque tour de force that was camper than a field of boy scouts and good fun throughout.
Sail away from Lisbon and going under the bridge was great also.
In fact sail away from all the ports was nice especially like Cartegina and Malaga with lit up areas and the surrounding hills.