Tuesday, 5 May. Still in Lisbon. We had signed up for a 9:00 a.m. excursion and were trying to save a little time, so we ordered breakfast in our room to arrive between 7:30 and 8:00. At 8:10 I called to check the status and was perfunctorily told it was on the way. After our similar experience a few days earlier, I decided to go to the main desk to inquire how to lodge a formal complaint. They took the information and phoned the kitchen only to get the routine "It's on the way." At 8:20 I started for the desk to complain again. As I passed through the elevator lobby, I saw a cart there with three trays on it and recognized one of them as our order. There was no waiter in sight so I took our tray to our room and we started eating. A few minutes later the waiter knocked on our door to inquire about the tray. I told him we had it and were hurrying to catch our excursion. Since we were supposed to be in the MainStage at least 15 minutes before the excursion, we really had to rush through our breakfast.

Our 9:00 excursion was a combined boat and bus tour of Lisbon. The boat took us all the way down the Tagus River to Estoril and back, essentially retracing course the Eurodam had taken as it approached Lisbon. Except for the different light (sun from east vs. west), that part was largely repetitious, although we did see the Electricity Museum and a biplane that we hadn't noticed the previous day.

Better view of the Cristo Rei statue

The Eurodam, Discoveries Monument & Belem Tower, all in a row

Electricity Museum

 

Discoveries Monument

Guide said this plane (next to Belem Tower) was the 1st to fly around the world

Belem Tower

 

Praca do Comercio & Castelo de Sao Jorge

Turning back up river, the boat passed the Eurodam again and continued by the Praca do Comercio, Lisbon's main square. We could see Castelo de Sao Jorge above the buildings of the square. Then we cruised all the way past the Alfama district, giving us a perspective we had never seen. (It was here that we realized the part of Alfama we'd been looking for was further east than we'd gone the day before.) We had great views of the old Santa Se Cathedral that we'd visited the day before, as well as of the Sao Vicente Monastery and the Church of St. Engracia (begun 1682) that we'd also seen from a distance. The Church of St. Engracia became the National Panteao (Pantheon) in 1916 and houses the tombs/cenotaphs of heroes of Portugual's history.

 

The Alfama district on its rock	Old Santa Se Cathedral & the Castelo	Sao Vicente Monastery & St. Engracia

The bus tour was also very interesting. We passed the Estrela Cathedral and Garden before stopping at the north end of Eduardo VII Park. The park is on a hill facing the river so there was a great view all the way to the city center. Back on the bus, we passed through Marques de Pombal Square and proceeded down the Avenido de Liberdade to Restauradores Square, where we stopped to drop off the passengers who wanted to stay in the city. There was a good view of Castelo Sao Jorge from a street off the Square. We drove through Dom Pedro IV Square, past the Praca do Comercio gate and were back to the ship at 1:00.

View to downtown from Eduardo VII Park

War Memorial

Marques de Pombal Square

Walls of Castelo Sao Jorge

Dom Pedro IV Square

Praca do Comercio gate

 

Returning to the ship in Lisbon

Apparently one couple didn't get back to the ship on time. They were paged repeatedly for half an hour before we sailed. We could see the boarding ramp from our room and no one came on board before it was removed. The ship sailed at 6:00 while we were having dinner with the Cecis. We were sitting facing a window and enjoyed our third cruise past the Tagus River monuments.
 

Us with the Ceci's after dinner

While we were eating, the Restaurant Manager came to our table and apologized to me for the late delivery of our breakfast that morning. (He had already sent a plate of six chocolate-dipped strawberries to our room with a written apology.) I mentioned to him that, if they knew they would not be able to meet the delivery schedule, they should let the passengers know in advance. The next day such a warning was included with the room service breakfast menu. There was a crew show that evening, but we skipped it.

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