Three cruises ‘fill’ the Port of Funchal this Sunday

The Port of Funchal, on this first Sunday in December, is well composed with three cruise ships docked, two giants on the South Pier, the ‘Mein Schiff 3’ and the ‘Queen Elizabeth’, and another on the North Pier, the ‘ Viking Sea’.

The ‘Mein Schiff 3’, which returned to Funchal at the end of this Friday night – docked at 23:15 – with 1761 passengers and 830 crew on board.

Coming from Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the ship spent the night in Madeira this weekend, and should depart early this Sunday afternoon, with departure scheduled for 14:00, bound for Lanzarote.

Ahead of it, at Molhe da Pontinha, this morning, it was still night time – at 06:45 – the British liner ‘Queen Elizabeth’, which had a scheduled arrival only for the late afternoon.

Coming from Southampton, England, this cruise not only anticipated the arrival, but also the departure, with destination Santa Cruz de Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. The initially planned stopover in Funchal contemplated this ship’s overnight stay until tomorrow at 16:00, but according to the information from the Ports of Madeira – APRAM with regard to the movement of ships, the ‘Queen Elizabeth’ should leave the Port of Funchal today at dusk 6pm.

Also entering the Port of Funchal earlier this morning was the cruise ship ‘Viking Sea’, ‘moored’ to the North Wharf – Terminal 6.

It arrived at 8:00 am, coming from Casablanca, Morocco, and is scheduled to leave when the Christmas lights that decorate the city come on (18:00), for a transatlantic trip towards Philipsburg, the capital of the Caribbean island of São Martinho.

The unusual movement of ships on Sunday stands out today also with regard to luxury yachts.

The luxury mega-yacht ‘Anastasia’ makes a technical stopover in Funchal on a transatlantic voyage. It arrived from Gibraltar, at 10:00 am, and should not remain at anchor for more than three hours, to fulfill the estimate of leaving Funchal, heading for Palme Beach, Florida, USA, at 1:00 pm.

Another luxury mega-yacht, the ‘Silver Fox’, is scheduled to arrive in Funchal today, for a short 5-hour stop. Also coming from Gibraltar and bound for Nassau, capital of the Bahamas, it is expected to make a stopover in Funchal between 3pm and 8pm.

From Diário Notícias