Ports Stops during Princess Transatlantic cruise

 One of the best parts of cruising is seeing different countries, even if just a taste of the country at a port town. From Fort Lauderdale, we had seven sea days before our first port, Ponta Delgado, in the Azore Islands and a part of Portugal.

The cruise ship docked on April 23^rd at a pier which gave ready access to the town. We walked around Ponta Delgado for about an hour. 

Some of our cruise mates took an excursion to Fire Lake, a body of was set in the crater of an extinct volcano. During my cruise preparation, I read that fog and mist are the rule for Fire Lake. Sure enough, we were glad we didn’t go because the clouds lowered and the view of the lake was obscured that day. We saw instead the town with pretty houses and bricked streets. The plazas used colored brick to make patterns in the walking surface.

On April 25, we were at Lisbon. Phillip and I stopped here on a previous cruise and enjoyed the city. The cruise pier is right at the edge of the main town. We got off the ship and walked along the Malecon (wide sidewalk between the street and the water) for several kilometers. 

I had read about a market past this main square, but the market was closed except for a grocery store because of Covid. We wandered around Lisbon, knowing that we couldn’t get lost. Just walk downhill and we’d be within sight of our ship. I had a sangria and a Portuguese egg tart at a small plaza. Later, Phillip was ready for lunch. I ordered another sangria. The waiter said it was happy hour with the large sangria only one euro more than the small one. So, I ordered the large. The waiter brought a liter of sangria and laughed when I said just one glass (Phillip doesn’t drink wine).

Two days later, we were in La Coruna, Spain. Just off the ship, we found a nice park between the main road and the ship cargo area. 

La Coruna has a UNESCO World Heritage lighthouse, called the Hercules Lighthouse, which is the oldest functioning lighthouse in the world, over 2000 years old. Unfortunately, I did not research the route to walk to it. I think it was quite a distance from the pier, so we didn’t try to find it. We walked around a bit, looking at shops and statues.

The following day, the 28^th, was Bilbao, Spain. Actually, the port town is Gexto, Bilbao is 30 km away. During our previous transatlantic cruise, we spent an entire day in Gexto. This time, we just walked off the boat to the water end of the pier and watched local people fishing before heading back on the boat to enjoy a quiet day.

April 30 found the ship docked at Cherburg, France. We spent several hours walking around Cherburg. We perused a farmer’s market in a square that also had a carousel for the kids. 

We were stopped on our return at the bridge over the harbor. A few boats, too tall to go under the bridge, were lined up to get out of the harbor. This bridge was a different drawbridge than we’d seen before. The bridge did not raise, rather it pivoted and swung sideways to allow the boats to pass thru. Interesting fifteen minutes to watch this bridge spin and then spin back. 

The terminal thru which we accessed the boat was an antique. It had polished wood surfaces, looking like a place from the 1920s.

Our next port was Southampton, England. Several hundred people disembarked here as they booked a fifteen-day cruise, not a twenty-three day cruise like we did. Phillip and I took an excursion to Stonehenge that I will detail in my next blog posting. The excursion stopped at Salisbury, so here are pictures that I took in the rain from the bus and in Salisbury. Thatched roof houses are still in use. Historic preservation rules govern the replacement of the thatch. 

Our tour guide took us to the Salisbury Cathedral.  The main church was built from 1220 to 1258. The spire, built in 1320, is the tallest church spire in England. The church has one of the four surviving original copies of Magna Carta, which I would have loved to have seen. However, we visited on a Sunday and the Magna Carta area was not open because of church services. 

And I took my first picture of the English phone booths.

The following day, May 2, the ship docked in Portland, England. Portland is a navy and cargo port, so we took the free shuttle bus for the fifteen-minute ride to Weymuth, a nearby town. Weymuth was delightful spot, again with a harbor. We watched a small boy crabbing at the edge of the harbor. The crabs are catch and release, but the boy was having fun dangling his bait, in a bag, no hooks allowed, in the water trying to snag a crab. 

The harbor is in the middle of town, with shops and houses on both sides of the water. 

Weymuth also had a drawbridge over the harbor. This one raised to allow the sailboats out of the harbor.

On May 3, the ship stopped at St. Peter Port, Guernsey in the Channel Islands. It was overcast and foggy and the ship’s lifeboats were being used as water shuttles. The harbor was too shallow for the cruise ship to dock. Phillip and I stayed onboard.

We did get off at the next port, Cobh, Ireland. The town’s previous name was Queensland and it was the final port of call for the Titanic in 1912 before she set out across the Atlantic. We had some time before our Titanic museum appointment, so we sat at a café and I enjoyed a Guiness. 

Lots of statues around town of travelers as many other Irish, not just those who went on the Titanic, left for America from Queensland. It was the departure point for 2.5 million people between 1848 and 1950.

This portion of our cruise was heavy with port days. The following day, May 5, the ship docked at Dun Laoghair (pronounced “Dun Leery”) and we took an excursion to Dublin. Jonathan Swift was born in Dublin, so we saw buildings with decorations from “Gulliver’s Travels” on the walls. 

May 6, the ship was in Holyhead, Wales, again at a water shuttle port. And again, the weather was nasty and the water looked rough, so again, we stayed on the ship. It would have been a long, miserable ride in the water shuttle if we'd tried to get off the ship.

The final port stop on May 7 was at Glenock, Scotland. Excursions were available to take passengers to Glasgow, 45 minutes away, but we decided to walk around Glenock. 

We walked about two hours, finding the Fire Brigade Museum with its enthusiastic volunteers who told us about the Scottish fire service and showed us antique fire engines, horse-drawn and steam powered. It was a nice little surprise during our walk. 

Although we saw kilts for sale, we decided not to buy one for our relatives!

On May 9, we returned to Southampton for our disembarkation. Next post: the excursions we took on this cruise.