Norwegian Gem 12/15/2022: Funchal, Madeira, Portugal

Due to rough seas and a strong headwind, we were two hours late getting into Funchal. Unfortunately, the cruise director didn't make an announcement about this fact until everyone was up and rushing to get ready for their excursion meeting time. Finally, there was an announcement that there would be a 2 hour delay in arriving at the port and that we would be leaving on time at 4PM. Keep in mind this was a substitute port for the Azores.

Since I had been to this port several times before, I just sign up for the Hop on Hop off bus because I can use the $50 per port excursion credit. I was really hoping the rain holds off as the sun is poking through the clouds. I knew there were a bunch of sea days ahead and I wanted to get off the ship.

The bus ride around the island was nice. The rain held off. Unfortunately, the headphone jacks for half of the seats were mixing French and English. I actually told the driver and they sent a man up to check it out. He said, no problem but only listened to the music portion which is the same on all channels. I changed seats once people got off at a stop and was able to listen for part of the ride. Also note: the wifi on the bus did not work at all. I can't speak for all of the Yellow Bus tours in Funchal, but this was my experience.

Once again, I had no recourse because this was a technically free tour because I used my excursion credit. I would have been very upset if I had actually paid money for the tour. I do still believe this tour was a good value though, because it did cover a lot of ground. There were seats available and I could have hopped on, off, and back on again. Also not that there was a stop where I could have transferred and gone up to the third biggest cliff in the world. I had done this on a previous tour last year, and paid extra money to do so. One big advantage of riding the bus all the way around and then back to the ship, was that the bus dropped us off directly at the ship. Had we been on the public hop on hop off bus, we would have been dropped off outside the port and would have needed to walk back into the port.

Pro Tip: If there is something you really want to see, get an excursion to see it. The hop on hop off bus can be a good value if you can use your excursion credit for it, and use it as transportation to get to the place you really want to see. If there are two people in a cabin, and you only get one $50 excursion credit, you may actually save money by booking the hop on hop off bus once the ship arrives in the port.

I had booked my free dinner at Le Bistro where I also get a free bottle of wine. They will store the wine for free and I can have a glass of wine with multiple dinners. Sadly, escargot has been replaced with scallops on this trip. I decided to try the Goat Cheese Croquettes.

Also, the portions seem smaller. This is the Fruits de Mer and is served as a main dish. I did joke that I was trying not to gain any weight on this trip. 

That said, the food was absolutely excellent.  Unfortunately, my desert melted and slid left. So presentation was a bit lacking.

I was also able to get my french press coffee which is delicious. I wish I could get this for breakfast.

I was definitely feeling nostalgic because this is what the restaurant looks like now that it has been renovated.

This is what it looked like before.