TR: Exchanging to a Rock in the Ocean
- Thread starter 4Pluto
- Start date
lsutigger2
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2002
- Messages
- 1,848
Yes, I understand your craving for ice also. Many years ago ~ 25-26, took a tour of Europe and in Rome we stayed at an "American" hotel. They had ice!! I was soooooo happy to see it. You sometimes don't know what you are missing until it isn't there anymore.
Your pics are fabulous! Did you special order the great weather or is that typical for the time of year?
Waiting for more
Your pics are fabulous! Did you special order the great weather or is that typical for the time of year?
Waiting for moreAugust 29. Lisbon to Madeira.
I should start by saying a little about airfare. The obvious difference between exchanging into the Caribbean or Mexico versus Madeira is transportation.
Once upon a time, lots of big national airlines flew into Funchal (the main city on the island)--KLM, SAS, Air France etc. These days, the only "legacy" carrier flying to Madeira is TAP, the Portuguese airline (according to the airport website, there are Lufthansa flights, but I couldn't find any on the Lufthansa website, so I'm thinking those are just code shares with TAP).
Most flights to Madeira are discount carriers. Many are from Lisbon (SATA, EasyJet etc.) and the rest from Great Britain and Ireland (London, Manchester, Glasglow, Edinborough, Dublin) on Thomas Cook and other discount carriers. Even using TAP, the ticket were as low as $150 roundtrip. So the real issue is getting to Europe inexpensively. My airfare was fairly high because of the timing and routes, but I think if you can find a cheap flight to London (maybe on Virgin) you could come close to the airfares required for the Caribbean and Mexico, particularly if you are traveling on a US vacation date that isn't a vacation period for Europe.
And just a note on timing. I don't have a lot of experience with timeshare stays other than Disney, but I'm sure timeshare veterans would anticipate that there are set checkin days for timeshare resorts. The checkin day for Miramar is Monday. So it wasn't just that I wanted to stop in Lisbon on the way to Madeira--I couldn't let a weekend go to waste on vacation so I was definitely planning to do some sightseeing on Saturday and Sunday before the Monday checkin. Then I stretched my vacation to include the Friday before and Labor Day afterward to get the most bang for the buck.
I had most of the day before my flight to Funchal. So I wandered through the Alfama, which is an old fishing quarter of the city full of tile front buildings, steep narrow streets and lots of character. Honestly, at some times charming was easily mistaken for shabby which I discovered as I sat in a small park across from some tile buildings featured in my guidebook, while next to sat some nice gentlemen who had spent the night on the same bench and were all enjoying the cheaper of the local wines.
Back near Rossio Plaza, I took the famous "elevator" up to the higher neighborhoods in Town. It's a funky elevator:
At the top, in the back where you can't see it in this picture is a bridge to the neighborhood streets. The top of the elevator is a great place to take pictures of the city as a whole. Here's yet another shot of my favorite statue.
After a quick soda at the hotel, I caught a ride to the airport for a 6:30 pm flight. Lisbon's international terminal is a nice modern terminal with lots of shops and places to eat and sit.
Lisbon's domestic terminal is a large metal warehouse, with a wall of temporary checkin desks, followed by a sea of chairs with a small cafeteria tucked in the corner. When your flight is called, you rush into a large almost line (at least that's what I saw) and then board a bus out to the tarmac, to climb up into the plane. It's fine, just a little primitive compared to the international terminals.
The flight was a quick 2.5 hours. As the sun was setting, we began our descent into Madeira.
Actually, looking out the window, it looked like we began our descent into the open ocean. It takes a while before you can see anything but water, and even then it looks like you are aiming for a deep see landing.
I knew when I booked this trip that the airport was special. Normally, when I'm planning a trip (or just day dreaming about the trip), I go to youtube and search for videos on the destination. Normally, you find videos of other people's travels--their pictures of train and tram trips, tours etc.
Put Madeira into the youtube search engine, and you find video after video of planes landing. Its kind of an obsession with people.
I keep missing the relevant part of the show, but History Channel has a "World's Most Extreme Airports" program that ranks Madeira as 9th in the world.
The problem is that the island is a large rock that dives steeply down into the ocean. There are no flat spaces large enough to land a plane.
So they solve this problem by building what looks like a large highway bridge along the side of the mountain over the ocean:
The photo is from a later trip. It used to be shorter (and hairier), but this was plenty enough fun for now.
We landed "without incident", I caught a cab into town (its 30 minutes out of town, which is a kind of expensive cab ride), and then checked into my "home" for the next week.
Still to come, much promised photos of Pestana Miramar.
I should start by saying a little about airfare. The obvious difference between exchanging into the Caribbean or Mexico versus Madeira is transportation.
Once upon a time, lots of big national airlines flew into Funchal (the main city on the island)--KLM, SAS, Air France etc. These days, the only "legacy" carrier flying to Madeira is TAP, the Portuguese airline (according to the airport website, there are Lufthansa flights, but I couldn't find any on the Lufthansa website, so I'm thinking those are just code shares with TAP).
Most flights to Madeira are discount carriers. Many are from Lisbon (SATA, EasyJet etc.) and the rest from Great Britain and Ireland (London, Manchester, Glasglow, Edinborough, Dublin) on Thomas Cook and other discount carriers. Even using TAP, the ticket were as low as $150 roundtrip. So the real issue is getting to Europe inexpensively. My airfare was fairly high because of the timing and routes, but I think if you can find a cheap flight to London (maybe on Virgin) you could come close to the airfares required for the Caribbean and Mexico, particularly if you are traveling on a US vacation date that isn't a vacation period for Europe.
And just a note on timing. I don't have a lot of experience with timeshare stays other than Disney, but I'm sure timeshare veterans would anticipate that there are set checkin days for timeshare resorts. The checkin day for Miramar is Monday. So it wasn't just that I wanted to stop in Lisbon on the way to Madeira--I couldn't let a weekend go to waste on vacation so I was definitely planning to do some sightseeing on Saturday and Sunday before the Monday checkin. Then I stretched my vacation to include the Friday before and Labor Day afterward to get the most bang for the buck.
I had most of the day before my flight to Funchal. So I wandered through the Alfama, which is an old fishing quarter of the city full of tile front buildings, steep narrow streets and lots of character. Honestly, at some times charming was easily mistaken for shabby which I discovered as I sat in a small park across from some tile buildings featured in my guidebook, while next to sat some nice gentlemen who had spent the night on the same bench and were all enjoying the cheaper of the local wines.
Back near Rossio Plaza, I took the famous "elevator" up to the higher neighborhoods in Town. It's a funky elevator:
At the top, in the back where you can't see it in this picture is a bridge to the neighborhood streets. The top of the elevator is a great place to take pictures of the city as a whole. Here's yet another shot of my favorite statue.
After a quick soda at the hotel, I caught a ride to the airport for a 6:30 pm flight. Lisbon's international terminal is a nice modern terminal with lots of shops and places to eat and sit.
Lisbon's domestic terminal is a large metal warehouse, with a wall of temporary checkin desks, followed by a sea of chairs with a small cafeteria tucked in the corner. When your flight is called, you rush into a large almost line (at least that's what I saw) and then board a bus out to the tarmac, to climb up into the plane. It's fine, just a little primitive compared to the international terminals.
The flight was a quick 2.5 hours. As the sun was setting, we began our descent into Madeira.
Actually, looking out the window, it looked like we began our descent into the open ocean. It takes a while before you can see anything but water, and even then it looks like you are aiming for a deep see landing.
I knew when I booked this trip that the airport was special. Normally, when I'm planning a trip (or just day dreaming about the trip), I go to youtube and search for videos on the destination. Normally, you find videos of other people's travels--their pictures of train and tram trips, tours etc.
Put Madeira into the youtube search engine, and you find video after video of planes landing. Its kind of an obsession with people.
I keep missing the relevant part of the show, but History Channel has a "World's Most Extreme Airports" program that ranks Madeira as 9th in the world.
The problem is that the island is a large rock that dives steeply down into the ocean. There are no flat spaces large enough to land a plane.
So they solve this problem by building what looks like a large highway bridge along the side of the mountain over the ocean:
The photo is from a later trip. It used to be shorter (and hairier), but this was plenty enough fun for now.
We landed "without incident", I caught a cab into town (its 30 minutes out of town, which is a kind of expensive cab ride), and then checked into my "home" for the next week.
Still to come, much promised photos of Pestana Miramar.
Pestana Miramar is on a hill overlooking Funchal Harbor, and consists of several pink buildings with balconies surrounding a pool (which is located directly above the reception area and front desk) and a mansion like building housing the restaurant. It is connected by interior halls and exterior paths with Pestana Village, another timeshare resort with its own pools and restaurants. Guests are invited to use the facilities at both locations.
Here is a daytime photo of the resort from poolside.
It was dark when I checked in and despite my first inclination to collapse on the bed, I knew that I had to take pictures of the unit now before my suitcase exploded all over the furniture.
So here is quick tour of the "Studio" apartment at the Miramar.
View from the front door:
Views of the bathroom (always very important for generously sized people like me):
(Mental note. Don't take photos of mirrors.)
The Kitchen. Really pretty useful and well equipped (stove top, m-wave, fridge, lots of shelves).
The bed area. One drawback is that these are two single beds pushed together. It doesn't necessarily stay that way during the night (I am a restless sleeper).
The living room area (a little fuzzy; I was getting tired).
The view from my balcony. I wasn't really sure what kind of view I had, but it looked pretty nice at night (I think all of the suites either faced the pool or directly out towards the harbor; there are no "garden view" rooms to my knowledge. Rooms were located on only one side of the hallways, which ran along the back of the building along a wall of rock and mountainside).
Tomorrow, pictures of the resort in the daylight!
Here is a daytime photo of the resort from poolside.
It was dark when I checked in and despite my first inclination to collapse on the bed, I knew that I had to take pictures of the unit now before my suitcase exploded all over the furniture.
So here is quick tour of the "Studio" apartment at the Miramar.
View from the front door:
Views of the bathroom (always very important for generously sized people like me):
(Mental note. Don't take photos of mirrors.)
The Kitchen. Really pretty useful and well equipped (stove top, m-wave, fridge, lots of shelves).
The bed area. One drawback is that these are two single beds pushed together. It doesn't necessarily stay that way during the night (I am a restless sleeper).
The living room area (a little fuzzy; I was getting tired).
The view from my balcony. I wasn't really sure what kind of view I had, but it looked pretty nice at night (I think all of the suites either faced the pool or directly out towards the harbor; there are no "garden view" rooms to my knowledge. Rooms were located on only one side of the hallways, which ran along the back of the building along a wall of rock and mountainside).
Tomorrow, pictures of the resort in the daylight!
I am loving your TR!!Can't wait to hear how your RCI stay went-
and WOW- can I just say, you really handled that airline situation SO well- I am glad it all worked out for you.
I don't always handle those situations so well, so I think I surprised myself this time too!
Thanks for this TR, 4Pluto... I love how you made a vacation of going to you vacation. I'll be sure to keep "watching"...
Thanks very much for keeping up with my trip. I'm having fun reliving it every night!
I understand from the locals that this is typical. I couldn't get enough blue sky and warm weather.
Madeira has rain. It seemed like it was raining somewhere on the island every day, but not necessarily where I was headed. But rain gear is definitely advisable.
FigmentLady
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2010
- Messages
- 336
As much as I love Disney, this is probably my favorite TR ever.
Sammie
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Aug 20, 1999
- Messages
- 22,130
Wow, you are definitely braver than I would ever be.
Had to go to YouTube and Google after your mention of the airport, one particular video Difficult Landing in Madeira would have been enough that I would probably never left unless it was by boat.
Loving the report.
Harlemgirl720
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 27, 2007
- Messages
- 1,817
What beautiful pictures. The architecture is amazing. Now the airport in Madeira is something I have to think about.
KatMark
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2007
- Messages
- 42,443
Well, since I hate flying and it is a job just to get me on a 2-1/2 hour flight from Chicago to Orlando, there is no way in heck I'd be landing on that!
Great update, Jim.
The resort is absolutely beautiful and the studio looks very nice and roomy too; the view from your balcony in the evening is spectacular.
chepic
I tear up whenever I hear "Welcome Home."
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2006
- Messages
- 2,313
Love your report so far, love the photos, and I find it refreshing to hear that someone other than myself seems to colapse into bed at the end of the day of sightseeing. I never can quite make it out at night!!
Cheryl
podsnel
<font color=blue>just skippin' around, amusing mys
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2007
- Messages
- 7,069
Oh...the airport.... That is NO JOKE!!! Do they have alot of incidents there, or is it fairly and incredibly safe?
The view from your studio at night is GORGEOUS!! Can't wait to hear how you spent your days in Madiera!
That is NO JOKE!!! Do they have alot of incidents there, or is it fairly and incredibly safe? The view from your studio at night is GORGEOUS!! Can't wait to hear how you spent your days in Madiera!
Tuesday August 30
There is a really different feel to a weekly timeshare. At the registration desk I was handed a booklet explaining the activities, theme buffets and restaurant choices for the week. Tuesday is orientation day. After breakfast, the "owner representatives" meet with all the guests to explain what kinds of activities and options are available (and hand out a bottle of Madeira Wine to each guest). The fancy restaurant is closed Tuesday, but you're encouraged to eat at the buffet restaurant for "Madeira Night" (Paella). Its coordinated in the sense that Wed through Fri are set aside for tours, Saturday for casino night, Sunday for arranging transportation home. With DVC there's no sense of everyone being on the same schedule.
Mind you, there are lots of people who ignore the schedule and do their own thing, and many who stay multiple weeks. But I definitely had a sense that the resort was anxious to help me fill my week with activities.
I started breakfast at the Village Resort. I don't normally take restaurant pictures, but here is one exception:
After breakfast, I took a quick tour of the Village Resort. Here are pictures of the pool area.
It's uphill from the Miramar (but accessible through the same hallways AKA the same elevators, so it was pretty convenient).
When I turned around 180 degrees, here's the view looking at the Miramar.
I was in the building to the left in this picture, one level above the outdoor pool (and directly above an indoor pool, but I never heard a noise from below!).
This is a better picture of my building. The middle room just above the red bouganvillea.
After breakfast, I met with my "owners representative" in their office near the reception area and she gave me lots of suggestions for tours. I signed up for a full day tour for Wednesday, a full day cruise to a neighboring island for Friday and a special tour for Saturday morning.
Then I learned about the meal plan. You can buy a meal plan for breakfasts (6 breakfasts for essentially the price of 5). And a dine around plan for dinner, where you pay 120 Euro for three dinners (about $60 a night) which includes beverage, bottle of wine, appetizer, entree and dessert, and you can use it at any of the Pestana restorts (there are 7 or 8 in the area). On average, that would save you about 10Euro on the meal. The nice part, was that it was for 3 nights so that you can go out to eat the other nights and still participate in the plan.
One last note on this resort. There was daily housekeeping, which was nice in the sense that the room was always clean and the towels were fresh (when I wanted fresh towels). On the other hand, there was no laundry room. Like a hotel, they had a service that returned the clothes 48 hours later, which was not inexpensive, but I think everyone within stink distance was glad I opted to use the service.
After planning my tours, I went back up to the room for a quick rest and a photo of the view from my balcony:
Here you can really see off into the harbor.
Next: Checking out Funchal
There is a really different feel to a weekly timeshare. At the registration desk I was handed a booklet explaining the activities, theme buffets and restaurant choices for the week. Tuesday is orientation day. After breakfast, the "owner representatives" meet with all the guests to explain what kinds of activities and options are available (and hand out a bottle of Madeira Wine to each guest). The fancy restaurant is closed Tuesday, but you're encouraged to eat at the buffet restaurant for "Madeira Night" (Paella). Its coordinated in the sense that Wed through Fri are set aside for tours, Saturday for casino night, Sunday for arranging transportation home. With DVC there's no sense of everyone being on the same schedule.
Mind you, there are lots of people who ignore the schedule and do their own thing, and many who stay multiple weeks. But I definitely had a sense that the resort was anxious to help me fill my week with activities.
I started breakfast at the Village Resort. I don't normally take restaurant pictures, but here is one exception:
After breakfast, I took a quick tour of the Village Resort. Here are pictures of the pool area.
It's uphill from the Miramar (but accessible through the same hallways AKA the same elevators, so it was pretty convenient).
When I turned around 180 degrees, here's the view looking at the Miramar.
I was in the building to the left in this picture, one level above the outdoor pool (and directly above an indoor pool, but I never heard a noise from below!).
This is a better picture of my building. The middle room just above the red bouganvillea.
After breakfast, I met with my "owners representative" in their office near the reception area and she gave me lots of suggestions for tours. I signed up for a full day tour for Wednesday, a full day cruise to a neighboring island for Friday and a special tour for Saturday morning.
Then I learned about the meal plan. You can buy a meal plan for breakfasts (6 breakfasts for essentially the price of 5). And a dine around plan for dinner, where you pay 120 Euro for three dinners (about $60 a night) which includes beverage, bottle of wine, appetizer, entree and dessert, and you can use it at any of the Pestana restorts (there are 7 or 8 in the area). On average, that would save you about 10Euro on the meal. The nice part, was that it was for 3 nights so that you can go out to eat the other nights and still participate in the plan.
One last note on this resort. There was daily housekeeping, which was nice in the sense that the room was always clean and the towels were fresh (when I wanted fresh towels). On the other hand, there was no laundry room. Like a hotel, they had a service that returned the clothes 48 hours later, which was not inexpensive, but I think everyone within stink distance was glad I opted to use the service.
After planning my tours, I went back up to the room for a quick rest and a photo of the view from my balcony:
Here you can really see off into the harbor.
Next: Checking out Funchal
Funchal was founded in the fifthteenth century by Portuguese explorers. Originally, the island was home to sugar plantations. Later, vines were planted higher up on the mountainsides and the island began to produce wine. Eventually, the sugar was no longer economic and was replaced with banana plants. These bananas are smaller than our grocery store bananas and many varieties are not sweet. Which is why they add banana slices to turkey club sandwiches. Which was NOT what I was expecting when I bit down into my lunch on Tuesday.
I took a hop on/hop off bus (I did that alot this trip . . .) into town. At the center of town is a small botannical garden with trees from all over the world:
I was sitting across from the park when I had my banana club sandwich.
Here's a photo of the municipal square. The building on the left is a church.
Most of the interior is tile. The scenes from the bible, the portraits of saints. All tile.
I wandered through town for a while, found the boat that was advertised as the Beatle's yacht, and then made my way back to the resort for dinner (the "Madeira Paella") and then another collapse into bed.
Next Installment: West Side Story. (I'm traveling for business tomorrow, so I'm not sure if I will get the TR done. If not, then I promise to resume Thursday.)
I took a hop on/hop off bus (I did that alot this trip . . .) into town. At the center of town is a small botannical garden with trees from all over the world:
I was sitting across from the park when I had my banana club sandwich.
Here's a photo of the municipal square. The building on the left is a church.
Most of the interior is tile. The scenes from the bible, the portraits of saints. All tile.
I wandered through town for a while, found the boat that was advertised as the Beatle's yacht, and then made my way back to the resort for dinner (the "Madeira Paella") and then another collapse into bed.
Next Installment: West Side Story. (I'm traveling for business tomorrow, so I'm not sure if I will get the TR done. If not, then I promise to resume Thursday.)
rentayenta
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2007
- Messages
- 27,424
(and I don't eat bananas at all).-
Why the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular Still Shines at Walt Disney World
-
Discover the Hilton Anaheim: The Disneyland Area's Largest Hotel
-
New Caramel Treats from Karamell-Kuche at EPCOT in Walt Disney World
-
How Do Disney Cruise Line Gratuities Work and What's the Best Way to Pay?
-
LIVE Disney News & Discussion Podcast | 09/09/25
-
Could This Be the Best New Disney x LEGO Build Ever?
-
Do You Remember? 'September' Taking Over EPCOT's Cosmic Rewind
