Caitlin's Mom

We had prebooked a taxi from the port through Solhop transfers.  Cost was 79 euros.  A taxi was waiting at the taxi stand in Mijas when we were ready to go so that wasn't a problem.  Cost back was only 50 euros.  There were four of us, so split four ways it wasn't quite so bad, about $36 each and took about half an hour each way.  Not really necessary to prebook the taxi and probably cheaper.  There was a taxi line a short walk from where our ship was docked.  As it turned out there are two places to dock and our taxi was waiting for us on the other side so we didn't really save any time by prebooking.  We made it back to Malaga with plenty of time to see the Picasso museum and wander the city a bit.  The Picasso museum (and audioguide as mentioned above) was great, however, if you've already seen the one in Barcelona and/or are not that into Picasso, there's plenty of other sites to see and it's a lively city if you just want to hang out.  We were very glad to have made the trip and it's still one of the places we talk about the most fondly when remembering our trip.  It's just a small town though -- and the attractions are also small .... like the miniatures museum which is a hoot.  We enjoyed the walk the tourist office has mapped out which takes in all of the attractions.  If you are an ice cream and/or chocolate lover don't miss the Mayan Monkey ice cream shop or chocolate factory.

Back from our cruise and just posting a quick update in case anyone else is planning a similar trip.  We ended up taking a taxi to Mijas which was great fun.  It's a small village and it's really easy to wander around the main sites.  The tourist office has a good map and a circuit planned out to see everything and involves an easy/pretty walk.  We had wanted to start off with the electric Tuk Tuk Spain tour, but because it had rained that morning and the roads were slick it wasn't running.  We did do the donkey ride which was good for laughs, but really not necessary to see the town.  It was easy to get a return taxi and we had time to see some of the sights in Malaga upon our return.  Malaga really does have a lot to offer and if we wish we had had more time to spend.

The Vino Mio flamenco dance/dinner was fabulous!

Caitlin's Mom

Thanks New Cruiser -- good to know.  I read another post about missing Almeria due to weather so I hope that's not a common experience!

We made a reservation at Vino Mio for the flamenco dance.  Campolady -- very much appreciate all of your great posts on Malaga.  Would you recommend this show?  The show starts at 8:30 and we have a 7:30 reservation so the show will be over in time for us to get back to our ship.  We don't leave until midnight.  So, I'm not worried about this.  I did look at prebooking a taxi to Mijas -- there's 4 of us and to get a van/taxi, I think it was around 55 euros -- so not too bad shared by four.  Could be more expensive on the way back I suppose if we don't prebook, but was thinking taxi would give us more time to try to do both.

One thought I had was heading over to Mijas in the morning/early afternoon and leaving 2-ish in order to see a few of the sites in Malaga.  If the taxi dropped us at the castle, it looks like we could walk downhill to Alcazaba then perhaps have time for the picasso museum and/or the cathedral.  It's not ideal but with only one day there's a lot to see!  Is this doable?

I'm sort of leaning towards trying to do both, but also know sometimes less is more.

Thanks for all of your input!

Caitlin's Mom

Thank you so much Milepig and Ducklite!  It really eases my mind about getting an early start.

We have a full day an evening (a Saturday) in Malaga and are thinking about taking a taxi to Mijas Peublo in the morning.  I'm torn between spending a leisurely day there, or doing half day in Mijas and leaving half the day to see some of the sites in Malaga.  Definitely want to hit the Picasso museum and the Alcazaba, Roman Theatre and Cathedral also sound interesting.  Are we pushing it trying to do too much in one day?

Also, looking for recommendations for a good place for an authentic Flamenco show and tapas/dinner not too far away from the port.

Any thoughts or recommendations would be very much appreciated.

Thank you!

Caitlin's Mom

Thanks CruiseOrLand.  This is helpful.  I will reach out to the tour provider and see what their experience is.  Definitely concerned about the port days where we are expecting long drives such as to Granada as we want to get as early a start as possible.  I just don't remember this ever being an issue before on any cruise we've been on and thought since it's a relatively small ship, it would be easy to to get off whenever we wanted to.

We are sailing on Windstar Spanish Serenade Oct 29 and are booking primarily non-Windstar excursions and arranging for pickup at the port.  When talking to an agent about what time we could realistically get off the ship in each port he said 30-45 minutes because all of the Windstar Tour groups get off first.  Has that been your experience or will we be able to get off as soon as the ship is docked and clears customs?  I don't remember having to wait to disembark on other ships.  Are their scheduled times pretty accurate?

Thank you!

Caitlin's Mom

Hi Danish Viking,

Could you recommend a restaurant near the Admiral hotel in Copenhagen that has good food and can accommodate a group of 8-10? We are trying to meet up with other Cruise Critic members before our cruise and the restaurant in the hotel is requiring that we agree on the same entree to accommodate a group this size.

Thank you!

Caitlin's Mom

I was told that they are switching over their computer system and you will need call to book excursions until the new system is up.

Just wanted to post what happened in case anyone else has the same question. Ended up booking 5 shore excursions prior to departure and got 25% discount. Havana fort trip, most of the good Costa Rica excursions, the domed train Panama Canal, cayman island cultural/city highlights and cartegna rosario island excursions were all sold out a few weeks before the cruise. So, you may want to consider booking those ahead of time if it's something you really want. Booked a few more excursions onboard to use up some obc and was able to get 25% discount on those as well since had previously booked 5 to qualify for discount.

Just to clarify for others who are thinking of traveling solo on Oceania, the way the shore excursions promotion is worded and confirmed with TA and Oceania directly, on this cruise it's 4 shorex per person based on double occupancy. So if you're a single you only get four shorex and all of the OC are excluded. However, if you take the OBC you get $800 as it's $800 per cabin. That's why doing OBC makes more sense in this case.

My main concern is does anyone who has done similar itineraries on Oceania know of particular excursions that are very popular and sell out, so if interested in those I book ahead?

Thank you all for being so helpful!

Yes it is one of the Cuba cruises, however, it's for a single only so the OBC credit is actually better than the shorex offered as most of the excursions that would be of interest are excluded. I was thinking of perhaps booking the cuba and maybe ruins ahead of time, then the others onboard. Perhaps this would be the safest route?

I believe I read elsewhere that they will look at total combined excursions for discounts, so if I go this route, then I could still get the Your World discount on all if I book at least five in total (2 before and 3+ on ship)? Is it 25% discount even if onboard and even apply to those already purchased? That seems to be a point of confusion.

Thanks so much for your help. I am booking last minute as I just found out it is going to Cuba and will likely not arrange tours independently.

Thank you so much!!

Caitlin's Mom

Traveling on the Marina in March and wanted to know if there's any problem in waiting to book excursions onboard the ship. Do they sell out early? If we book the first day will we likely get everything we want? We have quite a bit of OBC and want to use it on excursions.

Thanks!

Caitlin's Mom