Today is our first port of call since we departed from Ft. Lauderdale six days ago. It was pretty rough last night, the ship was rocking in a fairly quick motion, not slow like it had been from the large swells on some days during the crossing. We both slept pretty well, but I know I was a little concerned about the wake up call actually occurring even though they have always been very reliable on the ship. I actually woke up about 6:30 AM, about fifteen minutes before the dreaded call was to come in.
We got showers, and while Stephanie was getting dressed, I went down to get breakfast sandwiches from the International café for our breakfast, and, I added in a blueberry and white chocolate chip muffin for a little more shore walking energy for myself.
Holland America Koningsdam
We pulled into port right on time, and were cleared to go ashore by 8:00 AM, also, right on time. While we were waiting for clearance, another ship arrived in port, a Holland America ship, the Koningsdam. This was the first time we have been in Ponta Delgada with another ship, although we have seen one arrive as we were departing on one of our previous trips. Our plan for today was to go to Mass at 8:30 AM, based on information we had gotten during the port lecture we watched on TV yesterday. The lady doing the lecture had said she had confirmed that there was an 8:30 AM mass, but we were not sure which of the Catholic churches it was at, thinking it was possibly the Cathedral we had attended Mass at on a previous trip.
Stephanie had a little trouble getting off of the ship, the security scan did not recognize her card, which she had gotten replaced a couple of days ago when it failed to properly unlock our cabin door. The magnetic strips are susceptible to issues if you get them next to an I-Pad case, which has a magnetic lock. I was already off the ship so I had to re-board, and we had to go to the Purser’s desk for replacement card number three. This was a first for us on a cruise where a card did not work to get off the ship after we had gotten a replacement.
The third card worked, and we headed to the church. We ran into another group who was also going to Mass, but there was confusion amongst all of us on which church we were heading to. The husband or friend of one lady could speak some Portuguese, and he asked directions from various people on the street as we walked. We got to the Cathedral, but it was locked up, and the man in our group asked another person, who gave us additional directions to a different church. We finally found another church, it was associated with a convent, and although we had seen it on maps before, we had actually never seen it in person.
Initial Church We Visited For Mass – Church Of Our Lady of Hope
We went inside the door, and the Mass was already in progress. It was a small church and it was packed, most likely because it was Palm Sunday. We found some seats in the back, really a bench along the wall. It did not take long to figure out we had already missed at least half of the Mass, it must have started at 8:00 AM, not 8:30 AM as the lecturer had indicated. Or, maybe this was not the church she had discussed. Stephanie and I felt bad about missing half of the Mass, so we did not go to communion, opting to also go to the other Mass at the Cathedral at 10:00 AM. We had just missed to much and it was Palm Sunday. We did not have any real plans for today, the weather was marginal, and we had already decided we would skip getting a taxi to see some of the sights up in the mountains because of the clouds.
We headed over to the Cathedral, and did confirm there was a 10:00 AM Mass, just an hour’s wait away. We walked back to the cruise terminal, knowing there were some restrooms there, and only about a ten minute walk from the Cathedral. Plus, we had a little time to kill and walking was more enjoyable than sitting out on the street in front of the Cathedral.
By the time we returned, it was only about 20 minutes until Mass started, so we went inside and got a seat fairly close to the front. There were several other people from the ship there, you can always tell them by the backpacks everyone is carrying, including us.
The church staff brought out some of their “palms” which were some type of evergreen, and placed them on a small table. Everyone got up and went to get their palms for the Palm Sunday Mass. A little while later, the priest made some type of small announcement, of course in Portuguese, and some people started to get up and head to the back of the church. We followed suite, at the urging of a nice lady. This was the procession into the church to symbolize Jesus’ procession into Jerusalem, which is part of what Palm Sunday represents.
The Mass was nice, we read along with our English version of the readings, and discovered that they only do a really short version of the Passion reading. It was nice that another priest at the Mass gave a short English version of the homily after the main one in Portuguese was completed by the priest saying Mass.
After Mass, Stephanie visited one of the nearby stores where we have purchased small souvenirs from on previous trips, and of course, we got another one for this trip. We went to a few other stores, but many of them were not open since it was Sunday, some may open later, but many do not open at all.
We walked up the main road to see if the Market was open, but thinking that it was a remote possibility since most of the other stores were closed on Sundays, including the main grocery store we passed on the way. Sure enough, the market was closed, so we headed back down the hilly road to visit a few more of the open shops.
Heading To The Fort Sao Br’as
Afterward, we walked over to the main square and found an ATM machine and withdrew some Euros, mainly to make sure that there were no issues with our ATM card. If we had trouble, this gave us time to figure out a plan of action to contact the bank so that we would not have any hassles when we actually needed more money later in the trip. We always try and take some Euros back home with us so we already have some in our possession when we travel to Europe, and on this trip, we had over 150.00 euro with us already.
View From The Fort
The weather was mostly sunny, but there were still some clouds up in the mountains, and the wind had really picked up. We were still contemplating our decision on taking a taxi up to the crater lakes but did not feel comfortable with the weather and the clouds we could see up in the mountains from here in town. We decided to go to the fort on the waterfront, which we had not ever seen before, and so we headed in that direction. There was a small 3.00 euro entrance fee per person.
Stephanie At The Fort
The fort was quite old, and most of the canons were gone, but there were some exhibits on the history of the fort, and some old weapons from WWII. It was not all that great, but it did give us the opportunity to do something different in Ponta Delgada.
On the way back towards the cruise terminal, we did see several signs stating the taxi fare for going to Sete Cidades, the crater lakes. Apparently the standard cost is 49.00 euro for the taxi, so now we at least knew where to go to catch a taxi there, and the fee, so maybe one day, if we return, we will finally make it up into the mountains.
Harbor At Ponta Delgada
We had walked a lot already this morning, and we were hungry, so we headed back to the ship to drop off some of our camera gear, eat lunch, and then get our computer and phones to take to one of the bar/restaurants at the pier to use their free wi-fi, and enjoy a local beer that enabled us to get the password for the wi-fi.
The wi-fi reception was pretty strong, so we were able to work on loading photos to the blog photo albums, catch up on email, and send a few texts. We also contacted mom on Viber, but she was not sure what kind of call it was initially, and had trouble answering.
Using Wi-Fi at the Bar
I sent her a text about what we were trying to do, and she called us back from her cell phone through Viber. It worked fairly well, but there was some delay.
At about 3:30 PM local time, the bar really started to get crowded, and the wi-fi got really slow with all of the people now using it. Everyone was congregating near the ship to use the free wi-fi before getting back on-board by the 4:30 PM deadline. It actually became painfully slow, so we started having issues loading files to the blog, and gave up.
There was quite a long line to get back on the ship, so we walked to the end of the pier to take some photos with our cell phones and then walked back to the boarding area and got in line. We were back on board by about 4:45 PM.
Leaving Ponta Delgada
We dropped off our gear at the cabin and put on some warmer clothes to go and watch the sail away from the stern of the ship on Deck 16. It was partially in the sunshine, and fairly protected from the wind, at least on one side, and was an enjoyable location to watch us leave from, at least until the ship started moving faster, and the wind really started blowing. The Captain had made an announcement about the weather, he was expecting it to be quite windy tonight and early tomorrow as a low pressure system moved through, with seas running about 16 feet.
Tapas At Vines
We headed back inside and took the camera gear back to the cabin. Our plan was to go to Vines for a nice glass of wine, and some tapas before going to Alfredo’s for our dinner. Stephanie left Vines to run upstairs to the Jewelry shop to attend a raffle, and I stayed at Vines for a bit longer before heading upstairs to meet her. Unfortunately, she was now engaged in a deep conversation with one of the EFFY representatives, and looking at several yellow diamond rings….ouch. I joined her, trying to steer her away, but we actually ended up having a nice conversation about the rings. They are well made, but seemed a little pricey. We really liked one, but it reminded me of buying a car, they kept trying to lower the price to get us to commit. Just so we could escape, we asked them to hold one of the rings for 24 hours so we could discuss it. They reluctantly agreed, and we committed to letting them know something tomorrow morning. We were not really that interested in making a purchase, but just needed a polite excuse to get out of the store.
With Our Friends Sam & Glenda
We finally got to Alfredo’s and had a nice dinner, I had Minestrone Soup and a pasta dish, Stephanie had an antipasto and a pizza. We could feel the seas building as the evening progressed and we neared the storm.
After dinner, we headed to the Wheelhouse Bar to catch the last of Simon’s show. We stayed for a couple of drinks. While we were there, Sam and Glenda showed up, so we talked with them for a while. It was getting late, and we headed to the cabin, but made a short detour to the international cafe for a snack.
The Gang From The Wheelhouse Bar
Now it was really late, and we lose another hour again tonight, making it even later. We only have one more time change after tonight, which happens tomorrow night, and then we will be six hours ahead of the time at home.
Aunt Mary had a yellow diamond ring from Grandmother Bond, but it went missing when she had to have help during her several short bouts with Chemo. Didn’t know at that time until she passed away that the yellow diamond ring was no longer in her possession. It has always made me sad because it was a beauty and would have been a nice heirloom to pass along.