Day Seven – Ponte Delgada
Today I had decided to book a Disney tour as we weren’t in port very long and I knew I wanted to go and see the Twin Lakes. I ordered room service breakfast as had to be ready for the tour by 8:30am. I then headed down to Fathoms to meet the group and head off into the Azores.
As part of my bucket list, I had always wanted to see the Azores. The port itself had a few lovely looking buildings but it was the countryside I wanted to see. Its known for being a green lush paradise and I was glad to say it didn’t disappoint.
Our driver and tour guide were good although the tour itself was a little strange. I learnt a lot about the cows on the island (not sure why) as well as about the tour guides family who ran a farm. He did however tell us the proverb of how the Twin Lakes were formed which I think he may have made up to be fair. Supposidly the daughter of Posieden had fallen in love with a fisherman but was banned from marrying him. The lakes were produced from their tears as they had to say goodbye to each other, with the Blue Lake coming from her and the Green Lake from him. In reality the colour difference is due to algae within the green lake combined with the depth of the waters. It is however beautiful and it was lovely to see it (although we drove down to the lake and never stopped).
After the lakes there were a few random stops to see views of the cost as well as to pick up lava stones if people wanted to. Then we went to the botanical gardens and had a tour through them. This wasn’t what I imagined it as it was really just a nice park with some lovely vegetation. We even got to see a cork tree which I didn’t even realise they grew in the Azores (shown below). There were also some beautiful flowers including Bird of Paradise flowers (also shown below).
After the park we headed back through Ponte Delgada to a pineapple plantation. We had a wander around and saw the different stages of pineapple growing. It was actually really interesting as it turns out that they use smoke to force the pineapple plants to bloom at the same time. It was a really interesting but very quick tour through all the processes.
At the end of the tour was the inevitable shop with various pineapple inspired merchandise. There were free samples of the pineapple liqueur which was lovely but as we had to hand in any alcohol we purchased that wasn’t wine to pick up on last day I decided to not bother. Instead I choose some spicy pineapple oil for my sister and myself.
From here we returned to the ship only to find that so had everyone else. Because of the early port departure, there was only around an hour left in port and so the queue for the ship was out of the arrivals hall and wrapped around the port area. I decided to go look in a few pier shops for other souvenirs. I was going to buy some wine for onboard too but decided to skip this as I hadn’t drunk much of what I had already purchased. Then I joined the queue and after around 40 minutes finally got back onboard.
After dropping everything in my room I realised it was 1:50pm and Cabanas closed at 2! I headed off on a mission to get some food before they closed only to find they had extended their opening hours in light of the fact that there were still people queuing in the terminal.
After food I headed down to watch the Sailaway Party which consisted of just a few characters dancing on stage. However after about 10 minutes there was an interruption from the Captain. It turns out that Hurrican Jose was causing us a bit of an issue from over the other side of the ocean. The decision had been made to not go to St John’s in Canada and instead to head straight to New York where we would enjoy an overnight on the ship. It was obviously disappointing but safety came first. It had however ruined the Sailaway Party and so this then was brought to an end with a queue of people still waiting to board.
I decided to head down to try a little origami as didn’t fancy going to the pool. It was followed by animation class which actually came out OK. It was also one of the few days that the Marvel characters were out and about so I decided it was a good plan to go and get some photos. The only trouble was so did everyone else. I queued for almost 40 minutes for Spiderman before the show but it was worth it as I had never had a shot with him before.
I also managed to grab a photo with Chip & Dale who were in a very playful mood. Dale took Oleg’s pants off as he wanted him to match them but then got all embaressed that he had his nappie on. It was hillarious and one of the funniest things I’d seen the characters do while onboard. I had to hug him to show it was OK what he had done as he was hiding his face from me. After I dress Oleg, we finally got to have a photo together.
It was then time for the show and tonight it was AbbaFab, a tribute act to Abba who were fantastic. Even better they actually let you take photos of them during their show which I’ve never known with any other act in the Walt Disney Theatre. I took full advantage as I love some action photos. They were a really good group that did a Billie Joel show later on in the cruise in Fathoms.
After this it was time to start queing again. Both Captain America and Thor were out so I had to go and take photos with them. This meant I was slightly late for dinner as the queues were just massive but at least it ensured I got photos with them both. The last cruise I had done had a Marvels Meet & Greet where you prebooked a time to be there but that wasn’t an option on this one. I think this process worked a lot better than the time slots as they were just too popular.
Tonight was dinner at Carioca’s where I decided to try a whole range of things. I ordered 4 appertisers – the California rolls (I removed the crab as wasn’t a fan of that), the baked polenta (it was OK), artichoke (which was greasy) and the croquettes (tasteless), along with a main of pasta and an almond cake for dessert. After dinner though there was a treat to be had.
This was my first cruise that had the Officer Pool Party activity scheduled and I wasn’t going to miss it. It was basically an adult only activity where various officers, including the cruise director, ended up in the pool after playing various games. This time they also performed LipSync Challenge. It was so much fun to watch but I was glad I wasn’t in the water as it looked mad. It was so much fun and I just wish there had been more activities like this as it gave the ship a different feel but as it was getting late after the party I headed to bed.