Spanish Serenade

We are seriously considering this cruise and trying to decide whether to go Barcelona to Lisbon (my preferred way - but $200 pricier) or Lisbon to Barcelona. Any advantages one direction or the other?

Also - what excursions are must do's and through the ship or independently. I am thinking of doing the Alhambra via the ship although it is expensive.

It's our first time to Spain and Portugal, so any tips are appreciated. We plan to spend 3 nights in Barcelona and 2 nights in Lisbon before/after the cruise.

Either way should be the same. The Algambra IS expensive, but we had a good guide and a great day.

Either direction works so I'd see if there is a difference in air fare from either port. We primarily do independent excursions, many through Tours By Locals or a great friend we made on Portugal tours, Oportoshoretours. There are all kinds of options. We just did this itinerary and the people who took Alhambra tour said it was a very long day mostly on the bus. It depends on whether you can deal with busses. I can't and won't. Both cities are fabulous. We like small or private tours rather than hoho busses but everyone has a budget. I always assume I'll not get back to most places because there is so much to see so I splurge a bit. Figure I can't take it with me and would rather spend it now than on a nursing home.

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Either direction works so I'd see if there is a difference in air fare from either port. We primarily do independent excursions, many through Tours By Locals or a great friend we made on Portugal tours, Oportoshoretours. There are all kinds of options. We just did this itinerary and the people who took Alhambra tour said it was a very long day mostly on the bus. It depends on whether you can deal with busses. I can't and won't. Both cities are fabulous. We like small or private tours rather than hoho busses but everyone has a budget. I always assume I'll not get back to most places because there is so much to see so I splurge a bit. Figure I can't take it with me and would rather spend it now than on a nursing home.

 

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The Alhambra is a long journey from port.

Thanks for the responses. Strangely, the earlier cruise is cheaper airfare but the cruise is more and the more. It's almost even money!

I'm not a huge fan of a bus on a long drive. However, it sounds like it is worth seeing the Alhambra -or not??

What do you recommend as an alternative, or is it worth the 2.5 hr bus each way to see? Looks like the excursion is 10 hours of which 5 hrs is getting there and back. I expect to be wowed for that amount of investment in time on a bus!

On this cruise, what was your favorite stop/sight/activity?

Thanks!

Thanks for the responses. Strangely, the earlier cruise is cheaper airfare but the cruise is more and the more. It's almost even money!

 

I'm not a huge fan of a bus on a long drive. However, it sounds like it is worth seeing the Alhambra -or not??

 

What do you recommend as an alternative, or is it worth the 2.5 hr bus each way to see? Looks like the excursion is 10 hours of which 5 hrs is getting there and back. I expect to be wowed for that amount of investment in time on a bus!

 

On this cruise, what was your favorite stop/sight/activity?

Thanks!

The Alhambra is a lifetime experience. Worth the journey.

Hi,

When are you going on the Spanish Serenade?

Haven't booked yet but looking at the July 2016 cruises and favoring the July 9th one - we will decide in the next day or two

We are going in November and have a private guide hired to take us to Alhambra from Malaga. Good luck with your plans.

We were just on this cruise and took the ship's excursion to the Alhambra. The Alhambra has long been on our bucket list and we wanted to see it despite the $$ and time.

I have to tell you we were disappointed. I know. Everyone says how wonderful it is. Well we obviously missed something. We had just been to Sevilla and we enjoyed the Alcazar more, even though we had pouring rain.

Now maybe it was the guide. We had a private guide in Sevilla and she was great. The local guide through the company Windstar used in Granada was not so good. (There were several groups from the ship and we were the only group that were not happy.)

Yes, the gardens were beautiful and the view from them spectacular. We had a great bus guide. And the luncheon afterwards was excellent.

Are we sorry we did it. No. It had to be done. If it is high on your bucket list do it. Windstar does a nice job including not stuffing each bus to the gills ... every bus was approximately 60% full. My husband and I were each able to have a window seat on each side of the bus for picture taking.

What were your favorite tours? Did you use private guides and who did you use?

What were your favorite tours? Did you use private guides and who did you use?

We used Marta of Toursevilla and she was great. Highly recommend.

Aquidneck1

Could you tell me the name of the private guide for Alhambra? We are sailing on the Surf on Oct 26.

http://www.unique-almeria.com/private-tours-of-spain.html

Maike Ange

Diane, if you are still reading this, can you tell me about the special event in Palma de Majorca. I am curious as to what time it started if you had one there. Thanks

Diane, if you are still reading this, can you tell me about the special event in Palma de Majorca. I am curious as to what time it started if you had one there. Thanks

Still here :D

It started at 2 pm. We were taken to tour a private residence and then we had tapas in the courtyard while watching native dancing. We had beautiful weather that day which really helped. It was very nice but it meant I had to give up my original plan ... taking the scenic train ride across the island.

Thanks - that will be my dilemma as well. I will have to put it to vote. Would you make the same choice again?

Thanks - that will be my dilemma as well. I will have to put it to vote. Would you make the same choice again?

Hard to say because I haven't done the train.

We made the choice because of the spectacular private event we had in Morocco on the previous leg. (You can read about it in my personal travel blog below.) I thought it would be comparative. It wasn't.

Although we did enjoy the tapas and dancing and had a chance to try vermouth, I think I would vote for the train.