Spain Day Tours??

[Coral]

On 12/3/2022 at 1:36 PM, EllieinNJ said:

Is there a minimum number of people that have to go on a tour?  I asked on my roll call if anyone was interested in doing tours in any of the six ports in Spain and Portugal on my cruise.  Some said they will review this company but no one gave me any confirmed interest.    My cruise is not until May, 2023.

I should also add that that all 3 tours that were posted on our roll call were organized in the last 2-3 months before we sailed and did meet the minimum of 10 to go from our ship. On our excursions - their tours had between 10-18 individuals. One port (Lisbon that went to Sintra) we had 3 buses go. They will fill one bus with 18 people and then start a 2nd bus.

 

Spain Day tours is easy to work with. If you post the tour with the link on your roll call - everyone contacts Spain Day tours individually and pays with them directly (you don't pay until the tour is confirmed with 10 individuals). So one person doesn't have to worry about collecting money or on the hook if someone cancels. 

 

They were great to work with. Tour guides exceptional. Timing on getting back to the ship was fine also. They know what they are doing.

 

-------

 

You can organize a private tour with less than 10 people and that is a different process. I believe you are in charge of collecting all the money, etc... We had no problems getting 10 people from our roll call to meet the minimum to go the other route.

Edited December 5, 2022 by Coral

[mchell810]

I have recommended SDT several times on these board and have had mostly positive experiences with them; nevertheless,  I feel I need to post about the mixed service I received last month especially  bc when I gave this feedback SDT offered me a discount on a future tour and asked me directly not to post my experience on social media.  That act seemed like a red flag to me:  I can't help but wonder how many other less-than-stellar reviews have been suppressed in this manner. Overall we were happy with our tours; however, there were some hiccups. 

 

For our Barcelona City tour the driver guide was knowledgeable and friendly.  I was disappointed in that he didn't bring us directly to the entrance for Sagrada Familia -- as had been promised.  As a result, we had to find the right line on our own through the crowds. 

 

We had planned another tour with SDT to Monserrat, but we never met the numbers for a small group.  The SDT rep offered us a private tour (for twice the price) which we turned down.  Then, just 2 days later he suddenly said he had another couple interested so the small group tour was back on, so I cancelled the booking I had made with the cruise line.  Just one week later -- 2 days before our tour -- the rep emailed to say the other couple dropped out and he could only do the tour as a private tour at that higher price.  Yes, it's possible the other couple dropped out, but it all felt too coincidental to me.  I refused the private tour (again) and luckily was able to book the tour with the cruise line as soon as we boarded. 

 

Finally, we had a private tour from Seville to Cordoba.  For this, we had excellent service from SDT.  The driver waited patiently when our ship was late in docking; his car was immaculate and the ride to/from Cordoba was very smooth.  Once in Cordoba the guide was very pleasant and knowledgeable.  He made a point of ensuring we visited all the things I had mentioned when organizing the tour.  This day was everything we wanted; SDT delivered beautifully.

 

Bottom line: I still recommend SDT, but I would NOT say they are flawless.  When setting up tours for this trip I only looked at SDT, next time I am in Spain I am likely to explore what other companies have to offer as well.

 

[Coral]

10 hours ago, mchell810 said:

I have recommended SDT several times on these board and have had mostly positive experiences with them; nevertheless,  I feel I need to post about the mixed service I received last month especially  bc when I gave this feedback SDT offered me a discount on a future tour and asked me directly not to post my experience on social media.  

 

We had planned another tour with SDT to Monserrat, but we never met the numbers for a small group.  The SDT rep offered us a private tour (for twice the price) which we turned down.  Then, just 2 days later he suddenly said he had another couple interested so the small group tour was back on, so I cancelled the booking I had made with the cruise line.  Just one week later -- 2 days before our tour -- the rep emailed to say the other couple dropped out and he could only do the tour as a private tour at that higher price.  Yes, it's possible the other couple dropped out, but it all felt too coincidental to me.  I refused the private tour (again) and luckily was able to book the tour with the cruise line as soon as we boarded. 

 

I appreciate you posting your experience. In Lisbon - we had 3 buses going (50+ people). I know we had 4 people cancel before the cruise and then 2 more cancel once on the cruise (they didn't think they could keep up based on earlier Princess tours in the trip). We had enough of a buffer but I wondered what would happen if that had happened on the two earlier tours that only had 14 people going. I agree that is frustrating - glad you were able to go on a ship's tour.

[bigwawao]

I found this tour agency while searching the web for a Monserrat half day tour.

For just a little bit more,  they include a Barcelona tour.  Why not?  But relatively cheap for 2 tours. Is it good?  Reliable? Fired a question, not expecting an answer, or an answer several days later.  Nope,  got an answer right away.  As an FYI I had several other questions that all got a prompt reply.  For me, a company that promptly replies is a good sign.  

So I booked the tour.

I was so impressed that I booked two other tours with them.  One in Cadiz (Cadiz and Seville with skip the line Alcazar ticket)  and one in Valencia (Valencia-Segunto).

In my 3 tours,  they sent reminders- like for Cadiz-Seville tour to bring your original passport for the Palace tour.    They had that item on the original email confirming your tour but they resent one anyway about two days before the actual tour.

For the Monserrat-Barcelona tour,  they asked that we moved the pickup time from 830 to 8 a.m. and that they will do the Monserrat tour in the morning and the Barcelona tour in the afternoon.  Reason, they monitored Monserrat and found that the place was literally invaded with tour from close to noon onward.

When we reached Monserrat in the morning (like 930 a.m.) there were very few tourist.  When we left like 1145,  big buses were disgorging loads of tourist.  

A company that acts like this is 5 star in my list.

Another example of price.  For the Cadiz-Seville tour,  our cruise ship had a tour that simply brings you to Seville and you are on your own.  For practically the same price,  we had a small group tour ( we were 13)  with a tour guide.  Same price, small group, tour guide thrown in.  You can't beat that.  All the tours I did had tour guides. Made the tours not only enjoyable but also educational.

Emily and Dory were the Spain Day tour reps who replied to the emails.

Highly recommended.

 

This is my experience.

[kochleffel]

On 5/30/2022 at 5:17 AM, radarcruiser said:

Tried to book a tour of Palma only to get the notice that not enough people had signed up yet and they would get back with me.

 

That's unfortunate. I had booked with them for Palma in 2018 and the group didn't reach critical mass, but they moved me to another group with the same itinerary. They hadn't assigned me to it initially because it was a group of eight women traveling together, but I had a great time.

 

I also used them in Barcelona and was pleased. They couldn't include the Jewish quarter in a tour because the streets are so narrow, but they recommended one that would end near it and gave me directions for visiting on foot. I will probably book with them again in 2023, for a few ports at the beginning of a transatlantic cruise, and for a tour to Toledo from Madrid, where I'm staying before embarking from Barcelona.

[kochleffel]

On 4/13/2022 at 1:57 PM, victory2020 said:

You can join a larger tour? I am on my own & would like to do a quick tour either right before the cruise (with drop off at the ship) or right after with drop off at airport

 

Sorry not to have seen, and replied to, this earlier. IME, the tours that they list for each port can take individual bookings and they will match you with others for it. There is a risk that the tour you choose won't reach critical mass, and they handled it OK for me but from reports here, not always for others. The same tours can be booked as private tours, for which you would assemble your own group, or they can construct one to suit your interests.

 

I toured with them in Barcelona on a cruise that interported between Barcelona and Rome, so for some passengers it was disembarkation day, for others it was embarkation day, and for those who embarked at Rome, it was an ordinary port call. They did fine with sorting out who needed to be picked up from a hotel and taken to the ship at the end, who needed to be picked up at the ship and taken to the airport at the end, and who was both coming from and returning to the ship.

[Coral]

Hi -

 

I had hoped to write a good review of all 3 tours I did in November with Spain Day tours. 

 

Lisbon Port

This is the tour we signed up for: https://www.spaindaytours.com/lisbon-tours/lisbon-sintra-estoril/.   

 

I was first introduced to Spain Day tours as I wanted to see Lisbon and Sintra (with Pena Palace). The cruise line did one or the other and both tours seemed to fill up quickly and were sold out on our cruise shortly after I booked. We visited Lisbon on a Monday and many things were going to be closed so I was most interested in exterior sites to get a feel for Lisbon. I posted info on my roll call trying to get the required 10 in order for the tour to be a go. We ended up with 3 buses and 50 some people. Our bus (bus #1) had 16 individuals. I don't know about the others. I did have 4 people drop out of bus 1 (illness, realizing that they probably couldn't keep up) but they must have added 2 more couples to our bus.

 

Pena Palace was on my list. I thought Pena Palace was pretty crowded but our guide informed us that it was probably at 30% capacity of what it was in August. I had put in a request to get some Portuguese tarts. In Lisbon, we did stop at Pastéis de Belem which is near some exterior stops we were making anyway. I was in heaven as I love these and others on our tour also enjoyed them.

 

Most of our tour was at Pena Palace and then Lisbon. We did stop at Estoril and Sintra to get a feel and I would like to spend more time there in the future. We saw quite of bit in Lisbon including monuments and then we went to a shopping area for some free time. The weather cooperated for the day up until the last 10 minutes of the tour where it started to rain.  Our guide did narrate the inside of Pena Palace and did a great job.

 

I was pleased with this "over view" tour of the area! This was my first time to Lisbon and I feel like I got a taste of the area. I would definitely return to this port in the future and would repeat this tour. Or maybe spend more time in Lisbon city itself.

 

We were very clear we needed to return at 3 pm to give us a cushion for all onboard for 3:30 and sailaway at 4 pm. Our guide was very good at making sure our desires were granted. The coach in Lisbon was probably for 18 and was very comfortable. It was smaller than the other 2 coaches but it was fine. Our guide was very good. I heard from others on my roll call who were on the other 2 buses that they were also pleased with their tours.

 

Here are some pics:

 

 

 

 

[Coral]

More from Lisbon tours:

 

 

[Coral]

I mentioned Lisbon was what brought my interest to Spain Day tours as I wanted to more than what the the cruise line offered. Though Balbao was the first tour I did with them. I joined their tour for a few reasons. They seemed to do more than the ship's tours for less money and I wanted to make sure the tour went (needed 10 for the tour to go). We ended up with 14 individuals on our tour and had a very large and comfortable coach which seemed brand new.

 

This is the tour: https://www.spaindaytours.com/spain-shore-excursions/bilbao-shore-excursion/  Highlights of Bilbao and Guggenheim

 

Our guide showed us around the city and then we ended up at Guggenheim museum. Our guide guided us around 1st and 3rd floor and then gave us time to explore 2nd floor and the rest of the museum on our own. One could have left immediately and self guided. I have to say I benefited from the guide. This is a very modern museum and I benefited from the guide explaining some of the art to us. One example is a blue wall with electronic panels running down with words. I had no idea one could walk between the electronic panels - somewhat of an optical illusion. This is a great museum and I am so glad I chose to spend the day in Bilbao. I had considered some coastal towns through the cruise line but friends said they spent 3 days in Bilbao and loved it and am glad I did this tour. After Guggenheim, we went to downtown area where we could shop or just walk around and take in the area. I thought the tour was very balanced. A great tour of the city, the museum and then free time to see the city on our own.

 

Here is an example of that blue wall with electronic panels from a few different views:

 

 

 

Edited December 20, 2022 by Coral

[Coral]

Pictures of Guggenheim museum. I loved this museum. Definitely different than anything I had seen previously. So glad I went. I am not a modern museum person and thoroughly enjoyed this museum.

 

 

 

 

[Coral]

More Guggenheim museum (so much more to this museum - this is just a taste of what I saw):

 

 

Edited December 20, 2022 by Coral

[Coral]

Here are some pics of the Bilbao. The bridge was really interesting and it wasn't until it got closer - that I understood how it worked. This includes pictures we took before the museum and then after when we had free time to walk around. I was very pleased with this tour and the guide.

 

Edited December 20, 2022 by Coral

[KY Deb]

Wow!  Great photos!  Looks like an amazing trip and tour.  Thank you for posting.  

[Coral]

 La Coruña to Santiago de Compestela

 

Got distracted yesterday - my last post. The 2nd port I did Spain Day tours with was in La Coruña to Santiago de Compestela. Rosanna was our guide here and she did a great job. Very professional and fun. We had 14 on our tour and we had a very large, new, clean bus which would easily hold 2x as many people or more. I joined this tour as we needed a few more on our roll call for the tour to go (needed 10) and it was cheaper than the cruise line. I was hesitant to go to this port as I thought I would be bored but I was truly amazed at the architecture. Every single turn, was a gorgeous, beautiful building. We had a great introduction tour of the city and then had plenty of spare time to wander around on our our.

 

https://www.spaindaytours.com/spain-shore-excursions/la-coruna-shore-excursion/

 

Here are some pics:

 

 

Edited December 21, 2022 by Coral

[Coral]

 La Coruña to Santiago de Compestela - Pt 2

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

On 5/22/2022 at 7:08 AM, joycee23 said:

We just returned from a Carnival Pride cruise departing from Barcelona.  We used Spain Day Tours for 2 excursions.  The first was the Lisbon, Sintra, Estoril full day group tour and the second was the Malaga to Ronda & Mijas full day group tour.  Both were excellent and well organized and fun.  Having just a small group is much more enjoyable than a large 50 person tour bus.  I highly recommend Spain Day Tours.

Hi.  Just wanted to ask you:  Do you remember about how much time you had at Pena Palace?  That's the primary thing I want to see in/around Sintra.  But I want to go up to it for pictures, not just stay in the garden.  And someone mentioned that in one Sintra tour, the guide convinced the group to tour the gardens due to crowds inside the palace.  I don't know whose excursion that was, but just wanted to make sure that if Spain Day Tours says we'll enter the palace, we will.  I do understand that there's an extra cost for the tram and palace, which is OK. Thanks for any info you can give me.  And by chance, you didn't see any lighthouses in Estoril, did you?  And did you have time for drive throughs in Lisbon when you got back to the city?

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

10 minutes ago, Coral said:

 La Coruña to Santiago de Compestela - Pt 2

Thanks for the photos.  Looks wonderful.  I'll be in Vilagarcia, Spain in April, and Santiago de Compostela is not far from there, so I hope to get there.  I knew nothing about it before I booked my cruise.

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

On 12/20/2022 at 8:13 AM, Coral said:

Pictures of Guggenheim museum. I loved this museum. Definitely different than anything I had seen previously. So glad I went. I am not a modern museum person and thoroughly enjoyed this museum.

 

 

 

 

 

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

Coral, thanks for the detailed info and photos.  We'll be in Lisbon, Santiago, Cadiz, and Bilbao in April on Oceania, so I'm loving the photos.  And while I wasn't planning to actually enter the Guggenheim, maybe I SHOULD.  And maybe I'll let Spain Day Tours do the driving in several of these places.  Our cruise line doesn't offer an excursion that actually visits Pena Palace in Sintra, just time in the town of Sintra plus a view of Pena.  So I'm left with a choice of going there on my own (which is a little complicated) or using SDT.  Did you find any cost changes on your excursions STD?  My cruise isn't until April, and I hope the cost doesn't change by then.

[Coral]

42 minutes ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Thanks for the photos.  Looks wonderful.  I'll be in Vilagarcia, Spain in April, and Santiago de Compostela is not far from there, so I hope to get there.  I knew nothing about it before I booked my cruise.

I am not extremely religious so I wasn't sure if I would enjoy it. I watched the Rick Steves video and was still iffy (though he sort of bores me). Though I figured my ship was docked nearby and this was the main attraction. I posted earlier on this thread and @marazul

said it was a must and so did a coworker. Nothing else looked that great.  I figured if it was the main attraction - I should go. It was definitely worth it! While I only got a pastry here - some others on our trip had some amazing meals at outdoor cafes when I walked past them. We all were really surprised at how cool of a city it was. I am just glad I didn't walk 500 miles to get there but had a lovely coach ride!

Edited December 21, 2022 by Coral

[Coral]

12 minutes ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Coral, thanks for the detailed info and photos.  We'll be in Lisbon, Santiago, Cadiz, and Bilbao in April on Oceania, so I'm loving the photos.  And while I wasn't planning to actually enter the Guggenheim, maybe I SHOULD.  And maybe I'll let Spain Day Tours do the driving in several of these places.  Our cruise line doesn't offer an excursion that actually visits Pena Palace in Sintra, just time in the town of Sintra plus a view of Pena.  So I'm left with a choice of going there on my own (which is a little complicated) or using SDT.  Did you find any cost changes on your excursions STD?  My cruise isn't until April, and I hope the cost doesn't change by then.

Lisbon, Sintra and Pena Palace - so this is hilarious. I was with a friend who had been in Lisbon probably 2 years ago and he could not remember what he did. He travels a lot but this is rare. It wasn't until we were in Sintra that he said "this is where I was". I can say we walked around Sintra but probably didn't do it justice and I don't think we saw much of Estoril Coast. Though my friend did an excursion to Sintra previously and could not remember it at all through the cruise line. I had another friend who said the same thing.

 

The cost of Spain Day tours was: - Price: 75 Euros per person + 17 Euros per person for the tram and Pena Palace entry fee. Otherwise -that day, I only spent 5 Euros on 4 Portuguese tarts. 

 

We did run into someone on our tour who did this on their own. They asked how much we paid for our tour and they wished they had done it through Spain Day tours. Our guide fully narrated the interior of Pena Palace also. 

 

I wanted to see some of Lisbon and Pena Palace. Princess didn't have any tours that would do both. So I found this tour. I posted it on my thread. A few thought it was "too much to do both" and posted that. Though I had 50+ people sign up and we had 3 buses. Several came up to me after and said they really enjoyed the tour.

 

[Coral]

48 minutes ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Coral, thanks for the detailed info and photos.  We'll be in Lisbon, Santiago, Cadiz, and Bilbao in April on Oceania, so I'm loving the photos.  And while I wasn't planning to actually enter the Guggenheim, maybe I SHOULD.  

Guggenheim museum - I am not a modern art fan but friends told me it was a must. I have to say I got more out of the museum because of the guide than if I had done it on my own. I probably would have just looked at that blue wall with the digital words running through it for a few minutes and then walked on. But with the guide, when he walked between the digital words - all of our eyes popped out. I don't fully understand what the white balloon thing was but people were lining up to go into it (I didn't stand in line so I have no clue what that was about). I did benefit from having a guide in that museum to point things out. Maybe if I had all day - I would have caught on to a lot of the art but it is different than enjoying a Monet painting. I thoroughly enjoyed the museum.

 

The Vizcaya Bridge in Bilbao was the weirdest thing. I thought it was odd that we were stopping for this until I saw how it worked. 

 

I have to say we got a really good overview of Bilbao with Spain Day tours. The coach was very comfortable, felt new, we were not crowded at all. Everything worked like clock work as far as timing and being transported from one place to the other.  We actually saw a lot that day - and it was a good balance of seeing a variety of things that Bilbao offers. We started with the bridge, then went to a park which had the views of the city, then the sports museum (which was actually a coffee shop, etc)... but we could see the arena from within there. Next Guggenheim museum where we had a guide plus free time, lately we had our guide walk us through Old Town and showed us a few things and then we had free time to explore on our own. It was a very good tour.

 

I was impressed with all 3 tours I did with Spain Day tours and impressed with their guides (sorry I only remember one of their names). All of the coaches were comfortable, I didn't feel rushed, good balance time wise, I wasn't worried about getting back to the ship at all and I felt like I saw a lot more on my tours than if I had gone with the cruise line tours. This was my first experience with Spain Day tours.

 

Edited December 22, 2022 by Coral

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

On 12/21/2022 at 7:34 PM, Coral said:

Guggenheim museum - I am not a modern art fan but friends told me it was a must. I have to say I got more out of the museum because of the guide than if I had done it on my own. I probably would have just looked at that blue wall with the digital words running through it for a few minutes and then walked on. But with the guide, when he walked between the digital words - all of our eyes popped out. I don't fully understand what the white balloon thing was but people were lining up to go into it (I didn't stand in line so I have no clue what that was about). I did benefit from having a guide in that museum to point things out. Maybe if I had all day - I would have caught on to a lot of the art but it is different than enjoying a Monet painting. I thoroughly enjoyed the museum.

 

The Vizcaya Bridge in Bilbao was the weirdest thing. I thought it was odd that we were stopping for this until I saw how it worked. 

 

I have to say we got a really good overview of Bilbao with Spain Day tours. The coach was very comfortable, felt new, we were not crowded at all. Everything worked like clock work as far as timing and being transported from one place to the other.  We actually saw a lot that day - and it was a good balance of seeing a variety of things that Bilbao offers. We started with the bridge, then went to a park which had the views of the city, then the sports museum (which was actually a coffee shop, etc)... but we could see the arena from within there. Next Guggenheim museum where we had a guide plus free time, lately we had our guide walk us through Old Town and showed us a few things and then we had free time to explore on our own. It was a very good tour.

 

I was impressed with all 3 tours I did with Spain Day tours and impressed with their guides (sorry I only remember one of their names). All of the coaches were comfortable, I didn't feel rushed, good balance time wise, I wasn't worried about getting back to the ship at all and I felt like I saw a lot more on my tours than if I had gone with the cruise line tours. This was my first experience with Spain Day tours.

 

Thank you for the information.  I have a half day to explore Bilbao before going to the airport and while my spouse and I do a lot on our own, I have been looking a little for a tour that would take us from the port (not right in Bilbao - in Gexto (spelling?) to the places in Bilbao I want to see, even if just briefly.  Those places include at least the outside of the Guggenheim, the Vizcaya Bridge (pretty unusual!), a little of Old Town Bilbao, probably the cable car to the park atop the city (or maybe drive?) and the footbridge designed by Calatrava.  We'll see what I come up with....

 

And the Sintra visit might have to wait until after the cruise, when we're doing a stopover in Lisbon and will have a little more time. Spain Day Tours and other vendors go there, but everyone wants to leave at 8:00 or 8:30, and that's iffy for me to make on our cruise day in Lisbon.   But I understand why an early start is needed, given what I've heard about the crowds in Sintra. 

 

Anyway, thanks for the information.

[Coral]

34 minutes ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

 

And the Sintra visit might have to wait until after the cruise, when we're doing a stopover in Lisbon and will have a little more time. Spain Day Tours and other vendors go there, but everyone wants to leave at 8:00 or 8:30, and that's iffy for me to make on our cruise day in Lisbon.   But I understand why an early start is needed, given what I've heard about the crowds in Sintra. 

 

You will have fun in Bilbao however you decide to spend your time. Pretty place.

 

Lisbon - we had 50+ people (3 buses) in Lisbon. Our ship was delayed in getting clearance. I think we were all in line to get off the ship just waiting for the clear to go. We then all got off the ship as soon as we could, found the guides and then left. I wouldn't worry about doing the tour from a ship in Lisbon because everyone they are picking up are in the same situation - they are on the ship.

[Richbutnot]

We are looking at SDTs for excursions in Alicante, Cartagena and Palma. Each tour requires a minimum of 14 people. Is it common for tours to be cancelled due to lack of participation? Do they give enough notice to book something else? I do not wish to recruit others for the excursion via the roll call.