May 2019 [by Pat]
INTRODUCTION
In the spring of the year cruise lines move ships from the east coast of the United States, from where they have been sailing the Caribbean during the winter, to Europe where they will spend the summer. These “repositioning cruises” can be quite a bargain if you don’t mind days at sea, have time, and would like to travel to Europe. In April of 2019 we took a 14 day cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Dublin. Our price for a window room, everything included but drinks, was $900 each.
PONTA DELGADA, AZORES
After sailing from Ft. Lauderdale we spent a week crossing the Atlantic before arriving at our first port of call, Ponta Delgada, Azores. Ponta Delgada is the capital and largest city of the Azores and is located on the island of San Miguel.
The Azores are part of Portugal. This is immediately evident as Portuguese tile work is everywhere. From the cruise terminal, it is a 10-15 minute walk to the center of town where there’s the city hall, the city gate, and the main church. We bought the 5 euro ticket to 3 museums (Carlos Machado Museum, Nucleo de Santa Barbera which has some more modern exhibits, and the Sacred Art Museum) in Ponta Delgada, and they were worth visiting.
We also visited the botanical gardens. On the way we got a view of our ship in the harbor. We passed through the tranquil campus of the University of Azores up the hill, then walked over to Jose do Canto Garden. There was a little cafe that had free Wifi hiding in this garden. We did see another nice looking botanical garden, Jardim António Borges, down the hill as we were heading back toward the center of town, but we did not stop. It was raining.
Lunch spots: Mane Cigano. Very local, no frills, no signage, reasonably priced little sea food restaurant a tiny bit out of the tourist area. Atlantico shopping mall(which is close to tJose do Canto Garden) food court offered many different options including some sit down restaurants.
Small Wide World 