Cruise The World With Us 2026

Thursday, January 8, 2026 – cruise day 4

Today was the first of two days at sea as we make our way to Funchal, Madeira. The featured photo is us with the Master of the Magnifica. He was captain on last year’s world cruise. When we stood for the photo, he said he remembered us from last year’s cruise. He probably says that to everyone, but it was nice to hear.

We passed along the coast of Spain and saw the highest peak in the Sierra Nevada range – Mulhacen at 11,414 feet. I thought the Sierra Nevada range was located in the United States – and it is – but the range in Spain must have been the basis for the naming of the range in the U.S. As you can see from the photo, there is plenty of snow on the mountains. The city of Granada is located in front of the mountains you see in our photo.

Today the workers were at it again and fixed the heater in our living room. It was nice to be able to sleep without all the covers and to feel comfortable as we move around the cabin. We did, however, find another couple items that need to be fixed – leaking shower door and rattling balcony door in the bedroom. More on both later.

In addition to taking our photo with the captain, tonight was the time that the senior staff was introduced by the captain to the passengers. That was done in the theater before the evenings show. You’ll see a photo of the captain making those introductions in today’s photos.

The show today is very similar to one we have seen on both of our prior MSC cruises – A Circus Story. The show combines singers, dancers and acrobats and is very entertaining. There are a couple photos in today’s group.

Over the night we will gain an hour’s sleep as we change from GMT+1 to GMT+0 (Greenwich Mean Time). Between today and when we reach Barbados, we will be gaining 5 hours so it will be GMT-4. The daily program on ship gives us notice when these changes occur so we can adjust our clocks.

You can view photos from today here.