Madeira cruise port, Portugal
Portuguese sailors found it uninhabited in 1419 and set the forest alight to clear it; the fire is said to have burned for years, and the island is named for the wood. The levadas, stone channels cut to carry water round the mountains, are now the footpaths everyone walks.
Worth knowing. You can still ride a wicker sledge down from Monte, steered by two men in straw hats who run alongside with ropes. It started in the 1850s as a way of getting downhill, not as a ride.
What to do in Madeira for free
Funchal starts at the end of the quay and the promenade in is flat all the way. The Lavradores market is the one to walk into: fish on marble slabs downstairs, fruit nobody can name upstairs. Rua de Santa Maria in the old town has had its doors painted by artists, one after another the length of it.
What costs money
The ship's own excursions usually cost more than booking the same trip yourself. Two things come with the price. The ship waits for its own excursions and does not wait for you. And if the port is missed, P&O refunds its own without you asking. A trip you booked yourself is a claim on your travel insurance, so check what your policy covers. The ship sells its own trips to all of these, and the desk is open on board if you would rather do it that way.
The cable car to Monte. Fifteen or twenty minutes hanging over the rooftops and the ravine, which is a ride rather than a lift. A second cable car runs from the top across to the botanical garden.
Cabo Girao. One of the highest sea cliffs in Europe, with a glass floor built out over the edge of it. It is twenty minutes or so west along the coast.
Which ship calls at Madeira, and when
Every call here between 15 August and 28 November 2026, with the hours ashore P&O published. These times are a guide, not a promise: the captain gives the real ones the day before.
| Ship | Sails | Day | Ashore |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iona | 3 October 2026, 14 nights | Day 5 | 07:00 to 16:30 |
| Iona | 7 November 2026, 14 nights | Day 5 | 07:00 to 16:30 |
| Iona | 21 November 2026, 14 nights | Day 5 | 07:00 to 16:30 |
| Iona | 19 December 2026, 16 nights | Day 5 | 08:00 to 16:30 |
| Iona | 27 February 2027, 14 nights | Day 5 | 07:00 to 16:30 |
| Iona | 13 March 2027, 14 nights | Day 5 | 07:00 to 16:30 |
| Iona | 2 October 2027, 14 nights | Day 8 | 09:30 to 00:00 |
| Iona | 2 October 2027, 14 nights | Day 9 | 00:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 30 September 2028, 14 nights | Day 8 | 09:30 to 00:00 |
| Iona | 30 September 2028, 14 nights | Day 9 | 00:00 to 18:00 |
How long you get ashore in Madeira
The published times give you between about 8.5 and 18 hours alongside, depending on the sailing. Take off the time it takes a few thousand people to get off, and the time you need to be back on board before the ship leaves, and that is your day. P&O give the real hours the day before, and the all-aboard time is earlier than the departure time.
The other stops on these cruises
Every one of these is on at least one of the sailings that calls at Madeira.
- Arrecife de LanzaroteBetween 1730 and 1736 the ground opened and buried a quarter of the island under lava; the Timanfaya field is still hot enough a metre down to cook on.
- Cadiz (tours to Seville)Probably the oldest continuously lived-in city in western Europe: the Phoenicians founded Gadir here around 1100 BC.
- FuerteventuraThe oldest of the Canaries and the flattest, a hundred kilometres off Africa and made mostly of wind, sand and goats.
- Gran CanariaColumbus put in at Las Palmas in 1492 to mend a rudder on his way west, and the house he is said to have stayed in is now a museum about him.
- La CorunaThe Spanish Armada sailed from this harbour in 1588, and it is still guarded by the Tower of Hercules, a Roman lighthouse from about the year 100 which has never stopped working: the oldest one on earth still doing its job.
- LisbonOn All Saints' Day 1755 an earthquake, then a tsunami up the Tagus, then three days of fire destroyed most of the city and shook Europe's confidence in a benign universe.
- TenerifeMount Teide stands 3,715 metres over the island, the highest point in Spain and, measured from its base on the sea floor, the third largest volcano on earth.
- VigoEurope's biggest fishing port by weight landed, and it smells honestly of it near the market.
Money and language in Portugal
Euro (EUR, €). Cards are widely taken. Madeira is Portugal and uses the euro as well. Onboard is always charged in sterling, so this only matters ashore.
English is widely spoken in Lisbon and in Funchal.
| English | Portuguese | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| Hello | Olá | oh-LAH |
| Goodbye | Adeus | ah-DEH-oosh |
| How much? | Quanto custa? | KWAN-too KOOSH-ta |
| Thank you | Obrigado | ob-ree-GAH-doo, and obrigada if you are a woman saying it |
| Please | Por favor | poor fa-VOR |
Free, and it works with no internet. Give it the dates you sail and it works out your own stops and saves the street map for each one. It shows you round the ship too.
All the ports written up so far, the things to do before you sail, or the ship pages for Iona and Arvia.