London to Barcelona "Vineyards & Vignettes"

[pier]

We're thinking of booking the Sept.5 cruise from London to Barcelona. Does anyone know the logistics of getting from Rouen to Paris? Would we be locked into taking Oceania excursions at this port? We have the same question about going from Cadiz to Seville. I tried a search without success. Any help would be most appreciated.

 

Thank you.

Pier

[Mura]

Rouen is a not too long train ride from Paris as I recall. (We had a rental car when we did this and my notes are not explicit. But we drove from Paris, visited the Monet gardens in Giverny, then went to Vernon and ended up at our Rouen hotel around 6pm.)

 

But if your port is Le Havre, you have a long bus ride into Paris. The ships often provide a "transportation only" shuttle that takes you there and returns you to the ship as well as official tours of Paris.

 

__________

 

I checked your itinerary and see that indeed you are supposed to be in Rouen. I'm really surprised! I didn't think such a big ship could go there. I know river boats do. Also, Oceania says it's a 2 hour drive on the bus into Paris which would gibe with my recollection of the driving time. But I am pretty sure that you can go by train if you want to see Paris rather than Rouen.

 

I will say that Rouen is a lovely place to visit. We spent 3 days there and were never bored.

[jms]

Hi

We're booked on this itinerary and I received an email from Oceania today saying that it is a 1 1/2 hour ride from Rouen to Paris. I believe they're offering a shuttle (not free). I had requested information on how close all of the ports were to the individual towns. Apparently the ship is docked right in town in Rouen - so you can walk there in 2 minutes.

[Mura]

I will just post another suggestion that you will find plenty to do on an overnight stay in Rouen ... we really enjoyed it. (So did Julia Child on HER first visit!)

 

If you've never been to Paris, this would be a good opportunity to take advantage of an overnight stay in a nearby city. It isn't hard to get to Paris from Rouen and you have an overnight to boot.

 

But Rouen and environs is very special ...

 

You are also close to Giverny and Vernon ... much closer than Paris! (Although you probably would need a car to visit those two unless O has tours set up ... and I say that as someone who really does try to avoid ship's tours.)

 

It can be hard to decide what to do!

 

I am compelled to confess that we have been to Paris a number of times, which is why I advocate staying in the vicinity of Rouen which we also enjoyed very much. But for passengers who have NOT been to Paris, this could be a good opportunity to take advantage of this stop and leave the ship for a night ... Whereas when the ship docks in Le Havre there is a 4 hour bus/train ride into Paris and probably no overnight stay. Which means, no real time in Paris.

 

So, you do need to make your choices...

 

(Having played devil's advocate, I'd still stay parked in Rouen and environs! But I do understand why someone would prefer to go into Paris.)

[IguanaJ]

We are already booked on this cruise and can look at the O's shore excursions after logging in as already booked. I just browsed through offerings and learned Cadiz is 1 hour and 45 min. each way from Seville on one of their excursions. There is already a thread going for this cruise if you search: "Sept. 5, 2011 - Vineyards and Vignettes" .

[jpalbny]

Seville is reachable by train from Cadiz, and very easy to do so. The Cadiz station is just down the street from the ship docks, about a 5 minute walk. There are two stations in Seville (one is Santa Justa and can't remember the other name) but either will put you near enough to the Cathedral and the Alcazar. Cabs were very cheap as well.

 

The downside is that it's a longish ride, about 1h45, so you have to consider whether you want to spend almost 4 hours on the rail. Especially true if it's a short port stop. When we did this we were only in Cadiz until 6PM, so we did a whirlwind tour of the Real Alcazar and then the Cathedral, and didn't have time for much else.

 

We did this a few years ago and at that time the train was dirt cheap - maybe €35 for two RT tix. You can check the current prices and timetables at www.renfe.es, and you can even buy your tickets on-line and print them out so you don't have to do anything at the station but get on the right train!

 

So: If you have your heart set on Seville then, it's doable. If you're open to other suggestions, perhaps try a trip to Jerez de la Frontera. It's less than half the distance, the train station is quite convenient there as well, and you won't spend half the day on a train. Also, Cadiz is very pretty in and of itself. So there are some options for you!

[ClaudiaF]

Cadiz is a fabulous city..so if you are only there for a day..maybe do Seville another time and enjoy.. Lots of excellent shopping..shoes, leather, and the city is very quiant with lots of street mimes , stores etc.

did I mention the shoes?:D

Also can take in Flaminco show right here..

[orchestrapal]

Cadiz is a fabulous city..so if you are only there for a day..maybe do Seville another time and enjoy.. Lots of excellent shopping..shoes, leather, and the city is very quiant with lots of street mimes , stores etc.

did I mention the shoes?:D

Also can take in Flaminco show right here..

 

Cadiz also boasts a very beautiful art museum, if your not a shopper, and don't miss the wonderful walk around the city on parts of the old city ramparts.:)

[pier]

Thank you all! Your suggestions are terrific. We've already been to Paris, so Rouen is looking really interesting now. I don't think we'd dash to Seville for such a short visit. Cadiz looks interesting as well.

 

If anyone has suggestions for Lisbon--we'll only be there from 8 AM to 2 PM--they'd be appreciated. We'll really have to dash to see the high spots. I'll look to see if Lisbon has a city tour bus to give us an overview. Or perhaps we'll find a taxi driver to hire as we've done in other cities.

[pier]

To IguanaJ: Sorry for this second posting. I did a search for the thread "Sept. 5, 2011 - Vineyards and Vignettes" and didn't find it.

[Mura]

Pier,

 

I'm glad to hear that you're going to look into Rouen and Cadiz. They are both lovely places to visit -- not that big but lots to see and do.

 

As to Lisbon, this is one of our favorite cities. It's a pity you have so little time there. I have three suggestions -- you'll probably only have time for one of them (in case any of them strike your fancy).

 

The first is the Gulbenkian Museum. This is one of my favorite art museums anywhere. And it's not too big! Gulbenkian was a Turk who made his fortune in the oil business. He needed a new home after WWII so he promised his private art collection to any country that would take him in, and Portugal won the lottery. He had very eclectic tastes so his collections goes from the ancient Greeks and Romans through China through Georgian silver who fabulous furniture ... you name it, it's probably there.

http://www.museu.gulbenkian.pt/main.asp?lang=pt

 

 

Going in another direction is the Tile Museum located in a former convent. This has azulejos dating back from Moorish times up to the contemporary. It also is not too large. http://www.golisbon.com/sight-seeing/tile-museum.html

 

Last in my list is the Jeronimos Monastery out by Belem. Don't forget to visit the church as well. The Monastery is a fascinating example of Manueline architecture. The subway goes there these days but you can also take a cab. Don't take a cab ordered by the ship! They charge twice as much as the real fare. Hail a cab once you leave the ship. http://www.golisbon.com/sight-seeing/jeronimos.html

 

I have photos of the Tile Museum and the Monastery if you are interested in seeing them. Email me if so at mura @ speakeasy. net

 

If you had more time I would suggest the possibility of taking the train out to Sintra but you really need a full day to do that.

 

Or you could just have a nice meal at a little out of the way place called Rei dos Frangos ...

 

Mura

[jpalbny]

Pier,

 

...

 

If you had more time I would suggest the possibility of taking the train out to Sintra but you really need a full day to do that.

 

...

 

Mura

 

Depending on where you disembark, and how much you want to push it, Sintra is reachable despite the short stop in port. We were there on the Silver Wind in September from 8-2 and did just that. The NEW cruise ship terminal which is upriver from Praca do Comercio is extremely convenient to the Metro - the ship docks within a few steps of Santa Apolonia Metro station, and from there it's 3 stops to Restauradores. This puts you at the Rossio Central Train Station, where the train to Sintra leaves every 10 minutes (weekdays, at least) and it's a 40 minute ride.

 

We were able to get to Sintra by 9:30 easily doing that, and it only took us that long because we were there on a Sunday and fewer trains were running (every 20 minutes, and we just missed the 8:20 one). We had enough time in Sintra to climb to the Moorish Castle and tour the Royal Palace, but couldn't make it to the Pena Palace. We caught a train back ~12:15 and made the ship in plenty of time. All in all, it was a really fun day! It would have been nice to have had more time, but we liked it anyway.

 

Depending on whether you've been to Lisbon (we have, and thus wanted to see something different), this is a consideration. We thrive on rushing around to try to do as much as possible, but if this isn't your cup of tea you might not want to try it... :D You are scheduled for 8 - 2:30, and you're in port on a weekday, so you should have an easier time of it than we did.

 

Note that if you dock at the old terminal by Alcantara, you can't get to Sintra easily at all from there. However, the train to Cascais runs right by there, and that was our Plan B depending on where we docked...

[IguanaJ]

For a roll call pertaining to this cruise: Go to Cruise Critic Message Boards; Pick Oceania Cruises; Pick Insignia Roll Calls; Use thread tools for search; Type in Sept. 5, 2011 and you will reach the site. I do enjoy reading the recent info posted here from your OP and feedback from others in the know.

[Mura]

It does depend a bit on a person's touring style. I admire you for doing Sintra in such a short time but I wouldn't want to try it myself. Certainly, it can be done. I like to take my time at places ... also I like to see more of a place. And I don't like to have a heart attack thinking about missing the ship!

 

I *can* see going up there to see what you can see, especially if you know Lisbon well. But I'd have wanted at least one more site possible.

 

Another idea is to take the train to the Queluz Palace which is also worth a tour. Same train as to Sintra, I think, but it's closer to Lisbon. And I wouldn't worry so much about not having enough time if I were only going to one place.

 

Sorry you missed Pena Palace. It is most unique!

[ClaudiaF]

...you wrote in part...If anyone has suggestions for Lisbon--we'll only be there from 8 AM to 2 PM--they'd be appreciated. We'll really have to dash to see the high spots. I'll look to see if Lisbon has a city tour bus to give us an overview. Or perhaps we'll find a taxi driver to hire as we've done in other cities.

 

for Lisbon try this company who do fantastic tours !

http://www.toursforyou.pt/

[traveledlots]

There is another roll-call thread for this sailing...Follow IGUANAJ's instructions to get there.

 

On it, a post gives this neat link:

We've been on Oceania cruises before, but this link was good to see.