Spirit of Adventure blog

Our final two ports for this cruise were Santa Cruz de La Palma, and then Funchal. Weather was still nice, however, the clouds did start to cover the sky more and more, but that didn’t affect the general mood on board.

We had been asked by the pilot in La Palma to arrive half an hour earlier due to the expected traffic in the harbour with two other ships in with us on the day. Staff Captain Kirill was the designated driver for our arrival and he did, as always, a great job.

La Palma is the hidden gem of the Canaries and guests love the tours that we offer. Great positive feedback was given to us upon their return on board. Departure was set for 4pm due to the high speed required to our next stop Funchal. 2nd officer Craig took us out nicely and smoothly. Once we were clear of the breakwater and the pilot disembarked, we sped up and headed north.

We picked up our Funchal pilot Joaquin at 8 o’clock in the morning as scheduled. The two of us go back a long way as we first met back in 2010. Weather conditions were perfect and Kirill glided us in to our assigned berth next to the CR7 hotel. Best parking spot in the harbour. The morning was nice, but by the time we went ashore for lunch with CETO Stipe and Nurse Vukashin, the drizzle had started, but that didn’t stop us. Steak on the stone and espetada steak were our choices in the tavern called Casal de Penha (same one I always go to).

Our departure time was set for 5pm but Joaquin came back on board half an hour before so we had a cup of coffee and another pleasant chat. Kirill drove out (reversed his actions from arrival), and once we were clear of the breakwater, he swung us around, we disembarked Joaquin and set course for home.

Kind Regards
Captain Franko Papić