Eurodam Trip Report: Gems of Spain (April 2016)

[TeDaKi]

Love your report and photographs. We will be sailing on the Eurodam in August so your report is building up the anticipation.

 

HAL have announced that they have teamed up with BBC Earth. Have you noticed any activities/shows etc relating to BBC Earth?

 

There were no activities or shows etc. in relation to BBC Earth on this cruise.

[TeDaKi]

I am enjoying your tour on CC. Will be in Gibralter in a month on the Oosterdam. I have friends who have twice not gotten to dock there because of high winds. So, I like the idea of getting off ship and getting a tour, if we get to port there. What is the name of the company you used?

Thanks.

 

Definitely consider doing the tour. I can't recall the name of the tour company we used, but they were all charging the same price for the "standard" 1hr 30min tour - GBP22 or EUR35.

[travellovers2]

I am enjoying your tour on CC. Will be in Gibralter in a month on the Oosterdam. I have friends who have twice not gotten to dock there because of high winds. So, I like the idea of getting off ship and getting a tour, if we get to port there. What is the name of the company you used?

Thanks.

 

We are also on the Oosterdam next month and booked a tour with the ship. This is only 1 of 3 tours we booked to avoid the lines. We feel we can do the other places on our own.

 

This is our first time on HAL, but our 28th cruise and comparing to the other cruise lines we've taken, I have to say that the ship excursions on HAL are very expensive. But, we put our trust on the ship and like to avoid the hassle of finding an independent tour.

 

If they cannot dock due to high winds, then they have to refund the money we paid for the tour.

Edited April 29, 2016 by travellovers2

[TeDaKi]

Day 7: Cadiz, Spain (Docked 08:00-18:00)

Weather: Mostly sunny, Max temperature 20C / 68F

Free Wi-Fi: in the cruise terminal

 

This morning, Eurodam docked at just after 05:00AM, which was 3 hours ahead of our scheduled arrival time! Once we got up around 09:00AM, it was very quiet around the ship. Presumably many people were gone to Seville for the day. After a leisurely breakfast in the almost deserted Lido Market, we got off the ship at 10:50AM to begin our tour of Cadiz.

 

Welcome to Cadiz!

 

 

We really enjoyed our day in Cadiz. It was really beautiful. There are so many narrow streets and squares.

 

We first went to Plaza de San Juan de Dios and the City Hall.

 

[TeDaKi]

Then, we proceeded through a narrow street until we reached Plaza de la Catedral, where the Cadiz Cathedral is located. It was much larger than we expected. We went into the cathedral. There was an admission charge and it cost €5 for adults and €3 for students. Free audio guides were also provided so it was nice to listen about the different aspects of the cathedral.

 

 

 

[TeDaKi]

After spending about 30 minutes wandering around the cathedral, we headed back outside to the square and visited a neighbouring church. This church was called Iglesia de Santiago.

 

 

 

[TeDaKi]

We then continued our walk along the sea front. We also got another nice view of the cathedral.

 

 

 

The market was next, however it was mostly closed.

[TeDaKi]

Just beside the market is Plaza Topete which is another pretty little square. The main building on this square is the Post Office (Correos).

 

 

 

We continued our walk along Calle Ancha which is one of Cadiz's main shopping street.

[TeDaKi]

After walking along Calle Ancha, we arrived onto Plaza de San Antonio, where we visited yet another church.

 

 

 

[TeDaKi]

We sat on a bench for a while enjoying the sunshine. Then we continued our walk back toward the port, passing through Plaza de Mina:

 

 

 

 

and finally Plaza Espana:

 

 

[TeDaKi]

We got back on the ship at 14:10 and had a quick lunch at Dive In ... yummy burgers and fries! We then went back out by 15:00.

 

We headed back into Cadiz to do some last minute shopping and walked around the narrow streets.

 

 

 

We made our way back to the ship by 17:15 and there was a queue getting back on board. Eurodam set sail at approximately 17:55.

 

Looking at Cadiz after sailaway:

 

Dinner at the Dining Room was unusually quiet this evening. In fact, it was the second time in the 7 days that we didn’t have to wait for a table.

[TeDaKi]

Day 8: Cruising at sea

Weather: Clear and sunny. Max temperature 20C / 68F

 

Today was our last day on this 7 day voyage, and our one and only sea day. This cruise was port intensive, so after 5 busy port days, we were looking forward to a well needed rest.

 

There isn’t much to report of today. We just ate and spent the day relaxing on the promenade deck getting some last minute sunshine and watching the sea go by.

 

 

 

As you can see, the sea conditions were excellent for today’s sea day…calm and very smooth. In fact, for the whole trip, the sea conditions were very favourable. On this 7 day voyage, there were hardly any waves nor motion.

 

[TeDaKi]

Day 9: Barcelona, Spain - Disembark Eurodam (Arrive 07:00)

Weather: Clear and sunny. Max temperature 18C / 64F

 

This morning, we woke up at 07:30AM. Disembarkation had already begun at this stage. We went to the Lido Market for breakfast and it was busy. It actually took a while to find a table. Once we eventually found a table, we had a leisurely breakfast. We had late disembarkation this morning, so we could take our time.

 

After breakfast, we had one last walk around the top deck outside. It was another beautiful sunny cloudless day in Barcelona today.

 

Just before our disembarkation time of 09:30AM, we proceeded to the gangway where we walked off the ship without delay. Our bags were waiting for us and we were able to pick them up right away. There was no delay at all. The time between we disembarked the ship to the time we were in a taxi was just over 5 minutes. The taxi to the airport took around 25 minutes and was a fixed cost of €39.

 

Once we got to the airport, it was really busy. There were queues everywhere… a complete contrast to the quiet airports when we were flying to Barcelona last week. Our flight to Dublin wasn’t until 13:00 so we had plenty of free time to roam around. After a rather turbulent flight, we arrived back into Dublin on a chilly day.

 

Holiday over – back to reality now …

 

Next cruise: South America & Antarctica on Zaandam (January 2017)

[mollyanne]

What a wonderful report! I will re-read it to make notes for our cruise in October - same itinerary. Thanks for taking the time and for posting your beautiful photos.

[back-at-it]

This was a great review, and you did what we do and just enjoy the port. The pictures are very nice. What camera did you use for all these photos?

[nikebrinsgr]

Thank you for sharing, our family thoroughly enjoyed your cruise review pics!

[hbrote]

Thank you for your wonderful review and pictures. I really enjoyed it.

[jimbri]

Wonderful photos!

[lilybob]

Great pictures and review. Thanks for sharing. We are looking at this itinerary for October....

[Junelovestocruise]

Thanks for all of the great pictures and information about what you did in each port. My sister and I are on a Koningsdam sailing from Amsterdam to Rome in September and we will be stopping in Gibraltar plus several of the Spain ports that you visited. Your input will be very helpful for planning our own time ashore. It looks like there is lots to do just staying in the port city.

[TeDaKi]

This was a great review, and you did what we do and just enjoy the port. The pictures are very nice. What camera did you use for all these photos?

 

I always use a small digital compact camera : Panasonic Lumix TZ60. I love these type cameras and they take great photos. I find them so handy that they just fit into your pocket and I don't have to be lugging around a big DSLR type camera :D Whenever I show people my photos, they sometimes don't believe that they were taken with this type camera!

[TeDaKi]

Thank you all for the good feedback! :) I'm delighted that you all enjoyed my commentary and photos and that you might find it useful when visiting these ports on your future travels!

[GillyMary]

Thank you all for the good feedback! :) I'm delighted that you all enjoyed my commentary and photos and that you might find it useful when visiting these ports on your future travels!

 

You have greatly helped me TeDaKi with some of our port decisions as we head to Barcelona in a fortnight :eek:for our cruise on the Oosterdam. I followed your whole thread appreciating the details, the photos taken with a great eye and your writing. Thank you.

[travellovers2]

Thank you for taking the time to post your report and pictures. We are visiting some of the ports you went to. Very nice. I have one question. How safe was it to walk around Cadiz?

[TeDaKi]

Thank you for taking the time to post your report and pictures. We are visiting some of the ports you went to. Very nice. I have one question. How safe was it to walk around Cadiz?

 

We felt very safe walking around Cadiz. It doesn't have a "big city feel", like Barcelona for example. There were lots of other tourists around, as well as those off the ship.