Lisbon overnight
After departing Barcelona, we have one day at sea before reaching Lisbon, Portugal where we’ll spend an overnight on the ship. With no plans the first day, we join a hop-on-hop-off double decker bus for some sightseeing around the city. The route ends at the Marquis of Pombal Square the center of modern Lisbon. Not wanting to “hop-on” the next route which would return us to the port in a further 2 hour ride, we opt to walk back to the cruise port. It’s about a 45 minute walk back via the Avenida da Liberdade (Avenue of Liberty) a beautiful tree lined boulevard that is considered one of the most expensive streets in Europe. From the Avenue, the pedestrian only Rua Augusta overflows with restaurants and shops before ending at the beautiful Rua Augusta Arch, an iconic landmark of Lisbon. The next day, we join a ship’s excursion to Sintra and Cascais, two small villages north of Lisbon. The tour turns out to be typical, too much time on the bus and not enough time spent sightseeing.
Lisbon, Portugal aboard the Celebrity Equinox
Cascais, Portugal
Leixoes/Porto, Portugal
It’s a relatively short sail up the coast of Portugal to the port of Leixoes, the gateway to Porto. Unfortunately our “Porto Traditional Food Tour” with an independent operator was cancelled, but we still had an excellent time exploring the old historic area of Porto on our own. We found a great restaurant called Sancho Panza along the Douro River and enjoyed excellent tapas. From a ship provided “eat like a local” list, we tried 3 different items. Bacalhau a Bras, a traditional Portuguese dish featuring salted cod (bacahau) that is shredded and mixed with onions, potatoes, eggs and olives before being fried like a fritter. Caldo Verde, a classic Portuguese soup made from kale, potatoes, onions, garlic and Portuguese sausage. And, Pasteis De Nata, delicious custard tarts featuring a flakey pastry crust filled with a creamy custard and sprinkled with cinnamon or powdered sugar. Even with gray threating skies, Porto was beautiful and we enjoyed our day here.
Douro River, Porto, Portugal
“Eat Like a Local” selections in Porto, Portugal
Tangier, Morocco
In Tangier, we once again joined a ship sponsored shore excursion called A Taste of Tangier. In this case, “A Taste” must mean all the typical tourist traps. Cap Spartel, an overlook above the Straits of Gibalter, the Hercules Cave, which turned out to be a man-made excavation site, the Kasbah Museum and some time to wander around the city market. Our tour guide completely lost control of the group, wasn’t able to set departure times or meeting spots and ended up losing about 5 guests that walked back to the ship. Quite a disaster and disappointment!
Hercules Cave, near Tangier, Morocco
Tangier Carpet Shop
Cadiz, Spain
In Cadiz, we joined the ship sponsored “Chef’s Market Discovery” tour. This was certainly the best excursion of the trip, and possibly one of the best we’ve ever experienced. Led by a local guide and one of the ship’s chefs, we walked to the central food market and joined him as he purchased meats, cheeses and fresh vegetables – all accompanied by samples for the entire group! Next we walked to an upscale restaurant that was opened just for us and served a delicious 4 course lunch. The finale of this excursion was a fantastic dinner served in Tuscan restaurant onboard with the items that we’d help purchase in the market. The menu consisted of 2 appetizers, soup, 3 main courses and 2 desserts. Fantastic!
Central Food Market, Cadiz, Spain
Central Food Market, Cadiz, Spain
Barcelona, Spain
Arriving back in Barcelona we have one more “foodie” tour planned, Barcelona Tapas Tour in Old Town. From the Ramblas where we meet our guide, we wander through the maze of streets in the Gothic Quarter and enjoy 8 different tapas and 4 drinks including beer, wine, cava and vermouth. This tour is presented by Intrepid Urban Adventures, and we loved it and would highly recommend it. To make it even better, our tour was on Halloween!
Kimpton Vivadora, Barcelona, Spain
For our 1-night post-cruise in Barcelona, we’re staying at the Kimpton Vivadora, a beautiful 5-star property in the Gothic District. Located just a couple blocks from Las Ramblas, the hotel offers great views over the city from the rooftop pool and bar. Since we arrived fairly early to the hotel, we ended up in a suite complete with a private balcony. Very, very nice, we’d recommend this hotel! Our hotel stay and tapas tour was a perfect way to end another great Celebrity Cruise!
