Land!!! I don’t anyone was so glad to see the lights of Madeira as we got up that morning. Sadly the highlight of going to Madeira for me was to have seen the brand new Regal Princess there on her maiden voyage, but now we were there on a different day that was not possible. I was up to watch us berth in Funchal. It was a stunning sunrise and I got some lovely photos of the reflections on the ship.
There were no other ships in aside from a ferry which left as we arrived. After breakfast we waiting for the free shuttle take us into the main street just back from the sea front. We then set off wandering. We looked in a few shops and I bought a pretty fish pendant before it was time for a drink and custard tart!
After a rest we set off again, visiting the flower and fish markets and then walking along the waterfront to take photos of Funchal. She looked so tiny against the quayside against the “normal” cruise ships like Oriana.
Walked out, we got the last but one shuttle back to Funchal in time for afternoon tea. We were of course on deck for sailaway and to watch stores being loaded using one of the two cranes on the foredeck. The stores were on pallets which were hooked to the crane with webbing straps and lowered onto the deck. As we sailed they were using the crane to lift the stores and lower then into a hold through hatches on the foredeck. We were very pleased to see stocks of Vinho Verde among them!
After dinner we went to the show which tonight was Lawrence Robinson, a tenor. There was also a tropical deck party in the Lido but we were too tired to stay up for that.
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