Belichikchick Posted August 19, 2012 #1 Share Posted August 19, 2012 We land in Motril on Sept 17 and need an excursion to the Alhambra as Oceania says they are sold out. We cannot find an alternative. Anyone have any ideas? We are crushed we will miss one of the highlights of this cruise. Belichikchick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
candbgirl Posted August 19, 2012 #2 Share Posted August 19, 2012 When we were in Motril (on the Regatta)many people used Spaindaytours.com They picked the people up at the ship etc. I didn't hear anyone complain about the tour. Just about the heat and humidity which no body can help. It was considerably less expensive than the ships tour. Have a wonderful cruise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pickypicky Posted August 20, 2012 #3 Share Posted August 20, 2012 We land in Motril on Sept 17 and need an excursion to the Alhambra as Oceania says they are sold out. We cannot find an alternative. Anyone have any ideas? We are crushed we will miss one of the highlights of this cruise.Belichikchick We have traveled extensively, but have not yet been so fortunate as to visit the Alhambra...I would not miss it. My experience in other places is that you can always find an independent tour (either private or with others you can find on your Oceania roll call) which is at least as satisfying as the ship's tour, and usually for the same price or less. Happy travels... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaswill Posted August 20, 2012 #4 Share Posted August 20, 2012 We are visiting the Alhambra on a private tour with Spaindaytours in early September. Check the roll call for your cruise and see if anyone has set up a tour with them already. If not, contact the tour company and see if you can join a group that has been set up already from Motril on that day. Good Luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacheco18 Posted August 20, 2012 #5 Share Posted August 20, 2012 I have used Spain Day Tours in other ports -- very reliable company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2travelers Posted August 20, 2012 #6 Share Posted August 20, 2012 We land in Motril on Sept 17 and need an excursion to the Alhambra as Oceania says they are sold out. We cannot find an alternative. Anyone have any ideas? We are crushed we will miss one of the highlights of this cruise.Belichikchick Hi - We did this cruise in June. We used Granada Picnic Tours for the Alhambra Palace. The company run by Americans (a husband and wife) is not only ridiculously expensive, but totally disorganized. What we booked was a small group tour with 12 people. What we got was an email less than two weeks before the cruise advising us that they added to our "group" and that we were now 30 people in three groups and would have three guides. Neither the husband nor the wife toured with us, they just tried to keep the masses together. Unfortunately we got a guide who barely spoke English, so for us, the day was lost. :mad: Stick with Spain Day Tours. A really wonderful and reliable company. Great guides. You can sign up with them right on-line and they will add you to a group that has room. We used them in Seville and everyone was happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldmann Posted August 20, 2012 #7 Share Posted August 20, 2012 We did alhambra last year. Went directly to the alhambra web site. We were able to schedule tour with their official guides and arrange transport. Tour options were private to group. The web site was most efficient. Ground performance of their transport and guides was perfect. Obviously party size impacts cost competitiveness versus other possibilities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlouise Posted August 20, 2012 #8 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Remember, you have to buy your entry tickets in advance. We did not know this when we were there in June, so we missed it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
findacruise Posted August 20, 2012 #9 Share Posted August 20, 2012 We used Spain Day Tours when we did Alhambra from Oceania in April of 2011 and were very pleased with them. They had the entry tickets and all arranged for us. It was very warm even then, but well worth it. Make sure you have water and dress comfortably. We used them again for a full day tour of Barcelona the day we disembarked (w/2 other couples) for a private tour until we could get into our hotels. (We sltayed 3 days) Had an excellent guide and a very comfortable van. We booked both through the roll call for our cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TERRIER1 Posted August 20, 2012 #10 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Hi - We did this cruise in June. We used Granada Picnic Tours for the Alhambra Palace. The company run by Americans (a husband and wife) is not only ridiculously expensive, but totally disorganized. What we booked was a small group tour with 12 people. What we got was an email less than two weeks before the cruise advising us that they added to our "group" and that we were now 30 people in three groups and would have three guides. Neither the husband nor the wife toured with us, they just tried to keep the masses together. Unfortunately we got a guide who barely spoke English, so for us, the day was lost. :mad:Stick with Spain Day Tours. A really wonderful and reliable company. Great guides. You can sign up with them right on-line and they will add you to a group that has room. We used them in Seville and everyone was happy. I was with 2Travelers and agree completely. If you are on a cruise ship use Spanish Day Tours. Granada Picnic Tours would have been a good choice only if they did what they promised which was to keep the tour to 12 people. A small tour experience was what we paid for and it it turned out to be an expensive crowded tour bus experience of which they are incapable of handling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pier Posted August 20, 2012 #11 Share Posted August 20, 2012 We did alhambra last year. Went directly to the alhambra web site. We were able to schedule tour with their official guides and arrange transport. Tour options were private to group. The web site was most efficient. Ground performance of their transport and guides was perfect. Obviously party size impacts cost competitiveness versus other possibilities. This sounds like a good choice. Our group did Seville with Spain Day Tours, and our guide was impossible to understand. She spoke rapidly in a mixture of English and Spanish--she coined a lot of new words!--that had us shaking our heads. It would have been funny if it wasn't really, really frustrating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare jpalbny Posted August 20, 2012 #12 Share Posted August 20, 2012 If you're set on a guided tour, then this option may not be for you... But, you can potentially do this on your own. The drive from Motril to Granada is about an hour, and it should be pretty easy. We've driven from Marbella to Granada which is twice the distance. There's plenty of self parking at the Alhambra, and if you want to split your day between the castle and the city, you can leave your car in the Alhambra lot and walk to the city. The castle is on the outskirts of the city proper, so no driving on tiny, crowded, center-city streets. The sticking point here is whether you can rent a car in Motril. Not sure if there are any agencies that would work for you. But if you can, it's an easy drive, and something you might consider. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldmann Posted August 20, 2012 #13 Share Posted August 20, 2012 another sticking point re #12 is whether you will gain alhambra access. as i remember it full access daily numbers are controlled. see the alahambra web site for entry availability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms Understood Posted August 20, 2012 #14 Share Posted August 20, 2012 I am afraid that we are not going to get the small tour we expected from Spain Day Tours either, especially with O sold out and everyone who has been shut out being referred to Spain Day. Last I heard my "private/shared tour" that I thought was limited to 18 people had in excess of 50 going. Hopefully it is at least well-organized. ---------------------- Helen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geekybiker Posted August 20, 2012 #15 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Remember, you have to buy your entry tickets in advance. We did not know this when we were there in June, so we missed it! And they are for a specific time at that. I did the ship trip when we went this spring for that sole reason. Its totally worth the effort to find a guide on your own if the ship is booked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wendy The Wanderer Posted August 20, 2012 #16 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Do some hunting for other guides, perhaps on the Spain board hear on CC. There should be plenty of them, or at least drivers. We did this from Malaga (further away), and hired a driver only, for 6 of us. He didn't come into the Alhambra with us, nor did he take us down into the city (apparently there are licensing issues with guides), but he did get us our tickets in advance--this is imperative! It was fine doing it on our own, but I wish he'd been able to take us down into Granada as well--it's such a lovely little city. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
su-arizona Posted August 21, 2012 #17 Share Posted August 21, 2012 As Jim & Stan said in your earlier post, check the Roll Call for this cruise. There are many posts. Ignore many posts to this topic; it is easy to rent cars in Marbella or Malaga, but several of us have been unable to locate car rentals in Motril. There are many from this cruise visiting the Alhambra with Spain Day Tours...perhaps too many! We might be interested in joining you in Provence, but it's too difficult to exchange info on these boards - go to the Roll Call.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2travelers Posted August 21, 2012 #18 Share Posted August 21, 2012 I am afraid that we are not going to get the small tour we expected from Spain Day Tours either, especially with O sold out and everyone who has been shut out being referred to Spain Day. Last I heard my "private/shared tour" that I thought was limited to 18 people had in excess of 50 going. Hopefully it is at least well-organized. ---------------------- Helen Hi - Spain Day Tours may have 50 passengers on the bus, but when you get to your destination they break you into small groups (if you have your own group you stay together). They have guides to take each group on their own. If you are concerned, email the company and voice your concerns. They are prompt to answer and if you are all on the same ship, they may give you the names of the people in your group. I was the one who organized the Seville trip and they were very accommodating when I said I wanted to cap the tour at 13. As I said, they are very good about responding. Ronnie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare msn123 Posted August 21, 2012 #19 Share Posted August 21, 2012 Echoing what others have said. In June we were part of a large group that did the Alhambra with Spain Day Tours. While there were 40+ on the bus, they were very well organized. Once we got to Alhambra we were in groups of about 10 (the maximum that they will let go with a guide). We had headsets so we could hear perfectly and everyone agreed it was a well organized day. We then had about 1 1/12 hours in Granada to walk around/eat/shop as people wished. Spain Day Tours is a family owned company. They worked very hard to do a good job....we have used them in other places in Spain, also and have been pleased. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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