Funchal, Madeira

As with yesterday’s port, Funchal is a place we’ve been to many times before, so we booked ourselves onto an afternoon tour to see its Botanical Gardens (which we’ve never seen before) and had a leisurely morning on board ship.

After lunch in The Grill, we went to join the excursion, the meeting time of which was 1.45pm

The bus ride to the Botanical Gardens only took 10-15 minutes. Once we got there, everyone was dropped off and shown which exit to be picked up from at 3.45pm. Unfortunately, a bit of a mix-up over tickets resulted in two coach loads of people standing around waiting for another 10- 15 minutes while things were sorted out.

Unsurprisingly, the gardens are extensive and a pleasure to walk around, with some great views across the city. I’m guessing February isn’t necessarily to best time to visit them, though; I had hoped for a little more colour, but there wasn’t a lot in flower.

We mooched around the garden for a couple of hours and were back on the coach at the appointed time of 3.45pm. All-aboard time was 4.30pm, and we left just after the Costa Fortuna had departed, at around 5.20pm.

We’re now heading towards our final port, Lisbon, where we are due to arrive in two days time – so it’s classes again tomorrow. Unfortunately, the sea reamains rough and many areas of the ship – including The Grill – are closed (which is a bit of a pain because it means we have to order our meals through Room Service).