Hyelva, Why Hyelva of all Ports?

We are sailing on the Oosterdam to Barcelona on April 3rd.. There are great ports along the route, several of which we will visit. I have been doing some research on this city. There really is little of interest there, much less than in other nearly ports. To add to the problem we are there on a Sunday (things are supposed to very quiet on Sundays in Huelva). Also the center of Huelva is 18 km. from the port and the taxis are few.

I believe that the only reason HAL is docking there is to its proximity to Seville, about 1.5 hours away. The only excuse that I can imagine to stop at Hyelva would be because there was no docking at Cadiz, an interesting city equally close to Seville. However, that ain"t the case! Only the Konigsdam is docked is docking at Cadiz that day. The port can accommodate another ship.

I have experience this annoyance (going to dull ports when interesting ones are nearly) particularly in Central America.

What do you guys think?

Usually people complain here that HAL isn't going to new and different ports. Now when they do...

Can't win for losing...

You may have gotten caught in a "testing" process, to see if the port can handle the tourism, and if the stop is worthwhile. Locals may be providing incentives for ships to stop there.

We are sailing on the Oosterdam to Barcelona on April 3rd.. There are great ports along the route, several of which we will visit. I have been doing some research on this city. There really is little of interest there, much less than in other nearly ports. To add to the problem we are there on a Sunday (things are supposed to very quiet on Sundays in Huelva). Also the center of Huelva is 18 km. from the port and the taxis are few.

 

I believe that the only reason HAL is docking there is to its proximity to Seville, about 1.5 hours away. The only excuse that I can imagine to stop at Hyelva would be because there was no docking at Cadiz, an interesting city equally close to Seville. However, that ain"t the case! Only the Konigsdam is docked is docking at Cadiz that day. The port can accommodate another ship.

 

I have experience this annoyance (going to dull ports when interesting ones are nearly) particularly in Central America.

 

What do you guys think?

Are you talking about Huelva, Spain?

It's an enchanting port. Did you know that Christopher Columbus stayed in the monastery there while petitioning Izabella of Spain for $ to sail to the Indies (America)?

His original sailing point is very close. Many of the original sailors were from Huelva on his famous discovery?

They have fabulous seafood, great restaurants there.

We did a private tour (very reasonable) and I reported on my live thread at the time. We looked forward to this port and for very good reason.

The people are fabulous. There are interesting sights and it's a port that we enjoyed.

JMO and experience though.

If it is of any help - here is the link to my LIVE thread from last year https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2474965&highlight=Huelva&page=22. The posts on Huelva begin at post 421.

Usually people complain here that HAL isn't going to new and different ports. Now when they do...

 

Can't win for losing...

 

You may have gotten caught in a "testing" process, to see if the port can handle the tourism, and if the stop is worthwhile. Locals may be providing incentives for ships to stop there.

Not a new port for HAL but not visited often.

One of the reasons we chose the itinerary that we did for last year is that they were going there ;)

Thank you Kazu. I shall read your post right away. There was not much on the port reviews or threads on Spain. I will let you know what I think. Again thanks!! :p:p:p

Oops, apologies, I forgot to say that the port supplies a shuttle to get you to town.

If you are doing a private tour, they pick you up right at the port.

Kazu, your review was wonderful. I loved the pictures. YouTube does not have many good offerings, at least not in English. How about a nice near the center of Hyelva?

Kazu, I left out the point of my reply. What I would like is a nice casual cafe near the center of town. I'm loosing it!

Kazu, your review was wonderful. I loved the pictures. YouTube does not have many good offerings, at least not in English. How about a nice near the center of Hyelva?

Our guide gave us the option to go back to port or be dropped off in Huelva. We opted to "savour the flavour" and stayed in Huelva.

A couple of my pics are of the centre of town.

We enjoyed the town centre but totally confess that we didn't have much time to enjoy view a lot as we were busy "savouring the flavour". The food was marvelous.

If you can, and if you like history, I would do what we did and stop in Huelva after. Our guide showed us where the shuttle stop was (free) and it was a smooth trip back to the port.

Depending on what you want, it can be a lovely port.

Kazu, I left out the point of my reply. What I would like is a nice casual cafe near the center of town. I'm loosing it!

Lots right near where the shuttle bus drops you off. Our guide told us the good one.

I think I posted a pic in my live thread? My memory is short, sometimes.

It was down a bit from the shuttle stop, fairly large but not just tourists - a lot of locals and tourists. It was very comfy, not overly priced and we all enjoyed our time there.

We had a light bite (excellent seafood) and a drink. The bill was quite miniscule actually by European standards.

I was led to believe that the Prinsendam was the only HAL ship small enough to visit Heulva. Here is my report on Huelva from November, 2016:

Tuesday, November 8, 2016, Huelva, Spain

 

Last night's singer, Petrina Johson, had a beautiful voice, sorry the late night crowd was thin. Best singer I have heard on a ship.

 

I foolishly thought that by saying we would dock in Huelva, we would dock in the city of Huelva. We docked about 18 km from Heulva, position 37°08.96'N, 006°52.66'W. I had a good feeling about this town, there was a free shuttle and a helpful woman from Huelva's tourism department who took over Brett's desk on deck 8 and gave me a much better map and plenty of helpful suggestions. Holland America's maps are nearly worthless.

 

Holland America pushed shore excursions to Seville, we felt we had seen Seville's sights well enough already and were willing to just walk around Huelva and see what we could see.

 

It was too cool for shirtsleeves this morning, expected high 64°, I wore a light jacket for a while. A shuttle bus escort provided commentary on the 20 minute ride, we were dropped off near the Museo Provincial de Huelva and made that our first stop. Not another archaeology museum! That was my first thought, but the museum was free and had some unusual neolithic artifacts, including some flat, rectangular rocks that were artistically etched and reminded us of Picasso. A group of school kids added their vibe to the museum visit.

 

The nearby Reina Victoria Quarter was worth a walk through with English style houses in the former English enclave.

 

Next stop was a shopping mall, El Corte Ingle. I was sorry to see the same brands from home, Levi, Playtex, Mattel, nothing unique or decidedly Spanish. We walked the pedestrian streets, checking out a few shops and searching for a good lunch spot. Stopped in a big supermarket, selected a few items including a couple of bottles of unusual beers. While bagging our purchases I tried to put a bottle in my backpack and missed. Crash! One less beer bottle. I was so embarrassed I did not go for a replacement bottle.

 

After more walking we chose a busy cafe, P'al Rocio, took one of the last outside tables. Waited a long time to order and then a long time for our food. Saw staff carrying dinners in from across the square and thought they must be tired of eating their own cafe's food. Nope. They were carrying over our dinners, don't know where they were cooked. Mrs. Whogo got only one of the tapas she ordered, I got pork instead of the chicken I ordered and it was the driest, toughest pork ever, and I have overcooked some pork on the grill in my day. Absolute disaster, worst dining experience ever.

 

An ex-pat at the next table told us a good place to go and there we found the tapas experience we had envisioned. La Teja was a bustling little place with an energetic waiter. I had tortillas de patatas, Mrs. Whogo had red pepper tapas. All good, a most enjoyable experience.

 

Back on the ship before 4:00. The Huelva tourism people tried real hard to please us and lure more ships to their port, what with the tourism person on board, the decent maps, the shuttle with commentary, their tent near the coach, and a wine tasting as we alit from the bus at the ship. We did not partake of the wine, but we appreciated the effort.

 

We won at trivia. The only prize they give out is the HAL Mediterranean pin, we have a bunch of them. Good company at dinner, I had the orangiest orange duck ever. Coconut ice cream and hot fudge sundae were our choices of dessert.

 

"Critically Acclaimed Clarinet Virtuoso" Woytek put on a good show, finishing with the wild "Sing, Sing, Sing".

I was led to believe that the Prinsendam was the only HAL ship small enough to visit Heulva. Here is my report on Huelva from November, 2016:

We were there last year on the Rotterdam. Not a big ship, but certainly not the size of P'dam ;)

Thank you Kazu and Whogo. Between both your recommendation we expect to have a fine day.

With no research done beforehand, we had no idea what to expect. A free shuttle with costumed greeters and a lovely city, great for walking, made for a nice low-key day.

Thank you Kazu and Whogo. Between both your recommendation we expect to have a fine day.

This is the information we were looking for because we too are on the April 3 sailing. Thanks again.

We stopped at this port on a Sunday, while on a Prinsendam cruise. Took the shuttle into town and started walking around this very sleepy (dead) town. As we walked passed one street we noticed a few folks sitting outdoors at a cafe...dunking churros into cups of chocolate. So we went into this tiny place and ordered a bag of churros (right out of the hot oil) and their hot chocolate (very thick). It was amazing and we still dream about that treat. It was the highlight of the port.

Hank

Fortunately, we were not there on a Sunday, so we had many places open that day, the same day as Whogo. We hired a taxi to take us out to the replicas of Columbus’ ships. It is not far from Huevla and is an interesting place to visit. There were two hamburgesa stands in the main square. We stopped at the busier one, and were pleasantly surprised. We also found an a good place to get gelato. All and all it was an good day.

This just how a site like Cruise Critic should work. All the good information from a few nice participants giving valuable advice. This a much better use of Cruise Critic than lots of lamenting of "used to was". I will start a thread to point out the good and valuable advice from sites like this one. Thanks to all for the help.:p:p:cool::cool:

This just how a site like Cruise Critic should work. All the good information from a few nice participants giving valuable advice. This a much better use of Cruise Critic than lots of lamenting of "used to was". I will start a thread to point out the good and valuable advice from sites like this one. Thanks to all for the help.:p:p:cool::cool:

Spend some time on the various Ports of Call boards where it's all pretty friendly and helpful. Those boards have some of the best travel advice that you can find online 😨

Hank

We stopped at this port on a Sunday, while on a Prinsendam cruise. Took the shuttle into town and started walking around this very sleepy (dead) town. As we walked passed one street we noticed a few folks sitting outdoors at a cafe...dunking churros into cups of chocolate. So we went into this tiny place and ordered a bag of churros (right out of the hot oil) and their hot chocolate (very thick). It was amazing and we still dream about that treat. It was the highlight of the port.

 

Hank

Bingo! Highly recommended, especially the hot chocolate.