Last year, cruise talk members were surprised to read that Madeira island had 7 cruise ships calling at our port to view our fireworks display and celebrate the New Years Eve...however, this year it will be even better, much better, because we shall have in total 11 CRUISE SHIPS, namely:-

QE2 - Cunard

AURORA - P & O

ALBATROS - Phoenix Reisen

VAN GOGH - Travelscope

SAGA ROSE - Saga Shipping

MSC OPERA - MSC Cruises

BLACK PRINCE - Fred Olsen

ATHENA - Vivamare Travel

MAXIM GORKYI - Phoenix Reisen

LILI MARLEEN - Holiday Kreuzfharten

COSTA MARINA - Costa Kreuzfhraten

So, all ship lovers & enthusiasts world-wide are welcome to visit us...or take a look at the port at:-

www.madeira-live.com

Comments about this cruise ship meeting are welcome....

Kindest regards & wishes of a magnificent 2006 to all cruise talk members!

Shipping Agent

[ 12-28-2005: Message edited by: SHIPPING AGENT ]

[ 12-28-2005: Message edited by: SHIPPING AGENT ]

This card shows 1969 new year´s eve with the following ships:-

-Ancerville
-Andes
-Funchal
-Hamburg
-Irpinia
-Franconia
-Empress of Canada
- Apollo
- Vera Cruz
- Angra do Heroismo

From all these great liners portrayed, sadly only three survive nowadays:-

-Funchal
-Maxim Gorkiy ( Hamburg)
-Ming Hua ( Ancerville)

Regards

quote:

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Originally posted by mec1:
[...] Sad to see that of the eleven ships, three are owned by Carnival.

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11 ships is something indeed. I will watch on the webcams and hope to see some great photos.

quote:

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Originally posted by SHIPPING AGENT:

From all these great liners portrayed, sadly only three survive nowadays:-

-Funchal
-Maxim Gorkiy ( Hamburg)
-Ming Hua ( Ancerville)

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Inside the port of Funchal there will be only four cruise ships:-

South Quay: QE2, AURORA, COSTA MARINA + (local ferry Lobo Marinho )
North Pier: BLACK PRINCE

All other liners will be at anchorage using ship's tenders for passengers operation.

Concerning the best place to see the fireworks...well, we shall have 40 different fireworks stations situated in the bay, in the middle of the hills and finally on the top of the hills....plus 6 sand dredgers displaying fireworks at sea...

The reuslt is a coordinated ring/carousel of fireworks for nearly 15 minutes...so whatever may be your place...the show is granted.

Kindest regards

[ 12-29-2005: Message edited by: SHIPPING AGENT ]

quote:

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Originally posted by PamM:
awww Rich, Funchal is *the* place to be aboard for New Year's Eve. It has been for as long as I can recall and probably for many years before I was even around. But perhaps across in the US it is not so well known as it is to Europeans?

Pam

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Well, we all know that Americans (in general) are geographically challenged, and I would bet that probably 95% of Americans have never heard of Funchal or even Madeira! Heck, even Portugal would be a stretch for most people!

I've been to Funchal 3 times myself, and Madeira is one of my very favorite islands, but I still did not know it was so famous for its New Year's Eve celebrations!

Rich

[ 12-29-2005: Message edited by: Linerrich ]

quote:

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Originally posted by Linerrich:

Well, we all know that Americans (in general) are geographically challenged, and I would bet that probably 95% of Americans have never heard of Funchal or even Madeira! Heck, even Portugal would be a stretch for most people!

I've been to Funchal 3 times myself, and Madeira is one of my very favorite islands, but I still did not know it was so famous for its New Year's Eve celebrations!

Rich

[ 12-29-2005: Message edited by: Linerrich ]

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Madeira has got much more things to see than fireworks...believe me...such as:-

- History
- Fantastic landscapes & gardens
- World Heritage forest & the world-wide famous levada walks ( small water streams made since 18 century through the valleys of Madeira)
- Excellent for radical sports & others
- Madeira Wine ( not fake like californian made style)
- Hotels & resorts
- Nigthlife....etc...

Concerning American tourists, it is always a great surprise to see them discovering our traditions and heritages, because as an example, Funchal city is much more cosmopolitan than many famous european cities....

Just a quick note:-

On 1787 the ‘Founding Fathers’ devised new constitution for United States of America, and on that day they celebrated this mark on US history with a rich flavoured Madeira Wine...

So, we have much more than fireworks...

Regards

quote:

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Originally posted by mec1:
The best place to be is on the pier until 11.00 watching the locals throw fireworks at one another, then moving just out of the harbour for the display at 12.00 - it is stupendous. Sad to see that of the eleven ships, three are owned by Carnival.

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Why is it 'sad' that Carnival owns three of the ships?

Please note that I was comparing only fake "madeira wine" type produced in USA, which is commonly used for cooking sauces.

Logically I am not speaking about the famous California table wines, which certainly we all know quite well.

quote:

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Originally posted by SHIPPING AGENT:
So, all ship lovers & enthusiasts world-wide are welcome to visit us...or take a look at the port at:-

www.madeira-live.com

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Argh!! Shipping Agent, there are "technical problems" I hope someone manages to fix things if they have time. Only Aurora is ahowing anything worthwhile on a cam:-

Pam

[ 12-31-2005: Message edited by: PamM ]

Hope you are all have a great display in Funchal anyway

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