DAY FIVE: (12TH APRIL, 2026) DAY ONE AT LISBON

We managed to get up early today, so that we could see Ventura sail underneath the 25 de Abril Bridge.

It was extremely windy and cold up on the top decks, but we stayed there until she had safely passed under this iconic bridge. You can get some amazing video footage of this, which is, of course, in my vlog of Day Five. Please consider subscribing, it is totally free and it would really help me to create more travel content.

After having eaten breakfast, we got ready to go on an excursion that we had booked through P&O which was to visit some underground caves. The blurb about this had me a little worried as I was reading it, as it stated there were about 200 steps to go down, and I thought, “So, there must be 200 to climb up!!” But thankfully I then read that there was an elevator to take you back up to ground level…

The caves were spectacular, it was mindblowing to hear how they were created. There was lots of steps, but they weren’t too steep and most of the time there was a handrail to hld on to. Obviously it wasn’t suitable for wheelchairs or pushchairs. It took about an hour to walk through as we stopped every so often to listen to our guide explain the geology of everything.

After the tour of the caves, we were taken to a restaurant for lunch. Just a word of warning here, if you struggle to walk up hills this may be a bit of a challenge as the walk was steep and long. But, the coach was at the top of it in the car park, so after your lunch it was there already.

Lunch was vegetable soup to start and then you had the choice of either pork or fish. I chose the pork and Phil had the fish. It was very tasty, especially when it was washed down with as much wine as you wanted. There was also orange juice available. I didn’t bother with dessert, but Phil loves his desserts and so he had pannacotta.

We had a little time to have a browse around the souvenir shop and we crossed the road to admire the stunning view.

There are cloakrooms there which you can use before you go down to the caves and also toilets in the restaurant. This is important for me as having a stoma, I need access to a toilet at a moment’s notice sometimes…

We then returned to the coach for our journey home. I’d just like to say that our tour guide was excellent. He sat with us during lunch and explained lots of Portugese customs and advised us where to go when we explored Lisbon the next day.

We had booked The Beach House for dinner which has a cover charge and there is also an additional cost on some of the menu items.

Phil chose Crab Tostadas for his starter and I had Crispy Bacon and Cheese Potato Skins and for mains, Phil had 10oz beef fillet on a lava rack and I had the Beach House Rib Combo. I was far to full for dessert, but Phil had a Banana and Strawberry Daiquiri Sizzler.

The whole meal was superb: the ribs were succulent and juicy, Phil’s steak was perfect and the side dishes were tasty. Our only minor complaint was that there wasn’t enough sauce in the pots, but that was quickly remedied by asking the waiters for some and they very quickly provided more.

We then went to the Arena Theatre where we watched juggler, Jon Udry. Juggling isn’t really our thing, but there was a lot of humour injected into his act and so we quite enjoyed it.

As we were still feeling pretty full, we decided to retire to our cabin, watch a bit of TV and then fall asleep. I think I fell asleep before I had watched any TV!!

Join us next time, when we’ll be exploring the beautiful city of Lisbon!