It may come as surprise to many but Madeira does not have a regular ferry service between continental Europe and the island. Many passenger ships do dock here including cruise ships such as the Queen Elizabeth II, the Oriana, its sister ship the Arcadia, the Edinburgh Castle, the Black Prince, the Cunard Princess, and many others arriving from destinations as diverse as Malta, Miami, Marseilles, Italy, Southampton, Tenerife, Spain, Portugal, and even, on the rare occasion, Morocco. It is even possible to journey from the Funchal port on these cruise liners. Unfortunately, you have to know the right travel agency to take care of that possibility. As some of the cruise liners are associated with travel agencies on Madeira it might be an idea to visit one of these travel agencies - Blandy's Travel Agency situated right in front of the marina may be a good place to start. Blandy´s Travel Agency did mention to us that it is possible to board a cargo ship that can take up to 12 passengers on its weekly trips from Oporto in Portugal. It should be possible too, on the occasions that cargo ships stock up in Lisbon, to depart from the Portuguese Capital too. But this means a bit of hunting to find the right office or person to talk to.

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