Sunday
5 Jan – At Sea
17°C
SW
Force 6
Rose
about 9am and had breakfast in Café Jardin. Then the solos coffee morning. My friend went to the church
service, while I went to my first game of Shuffleboard – where I was useless!
It was finally calm and warm enough to sit out on promenade deck so changed
into skirt and t-shirt and did just that.
We met up for lunch which
we had in The Plaza which was now finally open. In the afternoon it was quoits
for Caryll and shuffleboard for me, before I went to paint my nails and wash
hair ready for our first formal night and the Captain’s Welcome Party,
postponed due to the weather. We were browsing the shops when I spotted the
captain and introduced myself and asked if he had my note. He confirmed he did
and would find time to have a coffee with me. He then asked what we were doing
and when I said finding a bar and buying a drink, he invited us to drinks with
him. We had a delightful hour in Magnums chatting about ships before he had to
leave. We wandered into the party which, on Oceana, is held in the atrium so not the best venue for a social evening. Dinner of lobster then Syndicate Quiz but not very good
tonight. Bed.
Mon
6 Jan – Madeira.
18°C
SW
Force 5
We woke
up at 7pm and switched on the bridgecam on the TV to see that we were nearing Funchal so got dressed and
up on deck to see us sail in. Aida Stella was already berthed and Thomson
Celebration just berthing ahead of us. We slipped in behind her.
After a quick
breakfast we headed ashore. The shuttle dropped us in the street behind the
usual one. As we walked along towards to church, we saw lots of Christmas
decorations and a small Xmas Market. There was a spectacular nearly-life-size
nativity scene and an International Village set up with a small petting zoo
behind.
After a chat with a sheep!, we went into the church with another
beautiful nativity. Then we headed back towards the Hoho bus
stop. After taking some photos of the ships, we boarded the Red Tour bus which
took us along through the town, up to the lower slopes of the mountain and
along to the fishing village of Camara de Lobos where we got off for a wander.
It was very pretty. Half an hour later we got back on and returned to Funchal. We
walked over to the dockside for more photos of the ships and to wander the Christmas market which by now was open. They seem to have a thing about toadstools here at Xmas!!
We walked along to Blandy’s for a free tasting of
Madeira (courtesy of the Hoho bus ticket), then for an icecream by
which time we were ready to head back to the ship. We managed to find free
Wi-Fi to send an email and Facebook update.
As we were a little late getting clearance in the morning (due to Aida
Stella taking so long to berth) the captain had given us an extra hour ashore. As
we returned some deck officers were hauling in a rope – apparently we broke
three mooring ropes over the day due to the swell. A quick sandwich in the
Plaza and it was time to go out for sailaway. In the far distance Aida Bleu was
arriving early. It was showery by then so we headed indoors.
 |
| Blandy's Madeira wine lodge |
Semi-formal
tonight so got ready and had a flutter in the Casino – where I lost as usual! Then a pre-dinner cocktail, followed by dinner and the quiz. We were
missing two of our team and only managed 13, two short of the winners. Bed as
clocks went back one hour tonight.
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