On Sea Day morning we woke to a crimson sun rise over the North Atlantic Ocean. It was a mill pond and remained like it all day. Calm cruising to Portimao on the Algarve coastline, the southern most region of Portugal.

The Nautica is a small ship and doesn’t have a big atrium into which the floors above look, always a prominent feature in bigger ships. The staircase off reception to the floor above though is quietly elegant.

We were late risers again and had a quiet morning aboard. The Wave Grill called at lunchtime.

Nice range of offerings. Sauce accompaniment was appropriately colour coded to assist the Americans on board in decision making. Offerings were heavily orientated to our American travellers tastes, they represented probably 80% of those onboard. So a Reuben sandwich and a hotdog were the go for lunch this time.

Into the afternoon the sea remained calm with a very low swell and some sea mist. We did not hear any stories of sea sickness on this trip, the night time crossing to the Canaries from Morocco had been a little rocky rolly but nothing to be excited about.

After dinner the show band and singers entertained with a selection of classic sixties and seventies hits from some of the big acts of the time.

Allthego thought Chicago’s ‘If you leave me now’ was done well! Video below is a short cut from it.

Portimao is situated about 2 or 3 km up the mouth of the Rio Arade. The river empties into the Atlantic Ocean at the southern end of Praia Da Rocha, one of the Algarve’s widest beaches. The beach and Old Town are short bus drives from where the ship berthed.

The waterfront at Portimao faces across the river towards a big marina. Much of the historical town was destroyed in the big 1755 earthquake and Tsunami (seems a common problem in this part of the world). Because of this many of the buildings are relatively new and you have to venture off into parts of the former old town to see life in the narrow streets and squares.

The mural below highlighted the importance of the fishing industry to Portimao.

Igreja Matriz de Portimao is the city’s major church. Originally built in the 15th century it was extensively damaged in the 1755 earthquake and was subsequently restored. The late gothic wooden doorway is a major feature from the original building.

After having our wander around town we caught the shuttle out to the beachside area to see if we could find a good fish lunch, not just a sardine shop!

This main street above the beach is a very touristy locale, tourist traps everywhere. It would buzz at night time.

We found Cafe del Mar overlooking the beach. It was a real fish cafe and had some great simple seafood offerings. Not just sardines!

We strolled back down the ‘glitter strip’ in order to catch the shuttle back to the ship. A major task for the evening was packing up everything prior to dinner and getting ready to depart when we reached Lisbon in the morning.

We departed Portimao in bright sunshine, down the river to the Atlantic for the overnight sail to Lisbon.

The overnight sail to Lisbon was uneventful, the packing up was too!

We came up the Targus River to Lisbon during the early hours of the morning and unfortunately saw little. A leisurely breakfast was had before we were whisked away in a bus to the airport for the flight home to Australia, via Dubai. It all seemed to end so quick!

Arrived back home after 24 hours or so at midnight Brisbane time, a bit weary. But we had enjoyed the trip!