Madeira Island Travel Forum

Hello.....I am arriving by cruise ship to Funchal. I would like to have tea at Reid's Palace. The cruise ship offers this excursion for $80US. It includes a short city tour and tea.

Does anyone think it would be possible to obtain my own transportation to the Palace, have the tea, then transport myself back to the ship for much less than $80US.
Do taxicabs go from the port to the Palace?

Ship tours are always expensive....but they do get you back on time....and that's a consideration.

I don't know where Reid's Palace is in relation to the pier at Funchal.

Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!!

Joyce

I am not exactly sure where your ship will dock but I do not believe it can be very far at all from Reids.
Tea at the Hotel will be around 30 Euros pp. (plus Tip). So it seems you are paying a good bit for the short city tour.

There will be taxis at the Terminal or somewhere very close to it. The hotel is steeply uphill from the port area - in fact Funchal is very hilly.

I suggest you work out the exchange rate, find out precisely how much time you will have ashore, if you can share a taxi with someone and base your decision on that.

Just one word of Caution- even if the taxi ride is no more than say 10-15 minutes, the traffic in Funchal can be very busy and yours may not be the only cruise ship in port that afternoon.
And, as you imply, the ship won't wait for stragglers!

Thank you, Barbara. I did the exchange, etc...and the tea will cost about $45US, plus cab fare......so we're talking about $55US, minimum. That's only $25US less than the ship charges...then, like you say...the traffic is heavy. The ship leaves at 5pm...we have to be back on board by 4:30pm. I presume that the tea is only available in the afternoon.

I think I will take the ship's tour. I would like to walk around town in the morning, we dock at 7am....so that gives me lots of time to see the port sites.

Thank you very much for your insight and information!!

Joyce

You're welcome, Joyce. I hope you have a good cruise, enjoy Funchal - and tea at"The Palace". B.

No doubt I'll have a good cruise, Barbara....always do!! I'm sure I'll enjoy Funchal as well. I'm really looking forward to the tea!! :)

Joyce

I think that your only problem may be time as the first sitting is 3.00pm ( you will need to prebook) so you need to be sure that you can get back in time, a taxi can take 10 minutes but as previously said, can get caught in traffic so you need to be aware of the time you will need.

Thank you for your information...I have pre-booked. I've been told that the hotel is about 1 and 1/2 miles from the ship. What I think I will do, is ensure that we are served right after 3pm.....enjoy everthing until 4pm....hopefully I can also pre-pay, or at least pay by 4pm...then walk back to the ship. I'm a frequent walker, and will it being downhill....I should be able to have no trouble getting back to the ship. If traffic looks good...I can get in a cab for the rest of the trip!

Thank you, again!!