Port - Seville (Cadiz) Spain

[patrick486]

We're sailing on the Noordam on April 15th and will be docked at Cadiz on the 25th from noon to 8:00 pm. Anyone have any info on Cadiz & Seville. Is it worth the time (60 to 90 min.) to go to Seville? If so, can anyone recommend a driver/guide for Seville. If we decide not to go to Seville, can we do Cadiz on our own or do we need a guide? Any suggestions on Cadiz & Seville will really be appreciated.

 

Patrick

[cocobird]

You can find private shore and chauffeur guided excursions from Cadiz at Euroadventures.net. We have never used them but are researching for the Prisendam 10/17/06 sailing and came across them. They sound like they can put together just about anything you want. 5 private shore excursions from Cadiz can be viewed at http://www.euroadventures.net/vacations.asp?CitiesID=50&Product_Start_City=Cadiz&SID=&AID=0&AN=&AT=&AF=&View=CityList

[ldog]

We were in Cadiz on the Rotterdam last Oct/Nov. It was the last of a very port intensive cruise so we decided against the long drive into Seville.

 

There is a nice Hop on Hop Off double decker bus that gives a great drive around the main areas of the city. Beautiful beaches and a neat botanical garden.

 

The town itself is very walkable and the cathedral is pretty. Good shopping too.

 

j

[trubey]

We opted to stay in Cadiz for the day. We simply walked off the ship and in two blocks were in the center of a lively European small city. We had a wonderful day, just walking around, looking in windows, buying gifts (3 hand-made purses), and stopping in a cafe for coffee and ice cream.

 

I know many people do spend the day in Seville, but I don't understand why. Cadiz was a lovely city. In my opinion, and this is just my opinion, the European cruises--and I've done two of them--advertise ports that are 1 to 4 hours away from the major city (e.g. Piraeus/Athens) and make it sound like a good idea. But put this idea in another perspective. Suppose you were a European or Asian tourist whose American tour stopped in Philadelphia. Would you recommend spending the day on a bus to see New York City? Or would you recommend that as wonderful as NYC is, it would be better to visit it on another journey? susana.

[SDHALFAN]

Hi Susana,

 

That's a great post and makes a lot of sense.

 

When we were in Cadiz a few years ago it was a Sunday and almost everything was closed. Instead of going to Seville we opted to take the Jerez tour, which lasted about 3 hours. It was a lot of fun - Jerez is also a lovely little town and we got to sample lots of Sherry - not my drink of choice but it was very good, and I thoroughly enjoyed visiting Jerez.

 

When we got back to Cadiz we wandered around the city for an hour or so and I took lots of photos of interesting little side streets (I was "into" street scenes at that time). We met some of the staff from the ship that we knew and spent an hour or so at an outdoor cafe drinking coffee and gossiping. We did actually manage to find a couple of small shops that were open and so were able to buy some souvenirs. All in all it was a lovely day and much more relaxing than an all day trip to Seville would have been.

 

I loved Spain and would love to go back there but I would allow more than an hour or two to explore Seville.

 

Valerie:)

[luv2cruise450]

Patrick...if you've never been to Cadiz...you might want to spend some time in Cadiz...from the port it is an easy walk into the heart of Cadiz to just explore and wander thru the shops and little side streets. As another poster mentioned, you can also buy a day pass for an 'on & off' bus that will go by the main sights.

But if you are so inclined...Seville is a fascinating city and it is worth the longer ride for a taste of an amazing place. That's all you can really get is a taste of a place when you are in port for a few hours. But this can give you some insight as to whether you might want to come back on a land trip that will give you more time to explore further.

On one of our transatlantics....when in Cadiz...we did take the Seville tour thru HAL and enjoyed it very much. They covered the main sights and we also had a nice lunch there. When we returned to Cadiz...we still had a short time to explore Cadiz a little before returning to the ship. Whatever explorations you decide on...enjoy!

[ekerr19]

We also stayed in Cadiz for the day - when we get the chance to do it over, we'll probably opt out and choose something else. I'm not saying Cadiz is not nice, but we found it to be much different than we heard it was.

 

My DH & I actually walked the entire circumference of the city and stopped at numerous shops along the way - we did not find the folks to be near as friendly as we'd thought they might be, also you may want to watch for the numerous dog "droppings" if you walk around the shore areas. There did not seem to be any "poop & scoop" policies... :(

[eldercruser]

Based on you relatively short port time in Cadiz I agree Seville is a bit much. You'll spend over half your time traveling. The above post regarding Jerez is worth looking into if you don't want to spend all your time in Cadiz. Sipping sherry is a nice way to spend an afternoon! I also agree with the majority who found Cadiz an intersting place to wander. we enjoyed it. One note - many in the smaller shops do not speak English, although we still manged to communicate.

[patrick486]

Thanks to all of you for your imput. Looks like we'll probably just tour around Cadiz for the day. Sounds like there's plenty to see and we agree with most of you, Seville would be quite a trip with not much time to enjoy the city.

[tjcox9]

In my estimation, the trip to Jerez is a worthwhile way to spend part of the day. The grounds of Tio Pepe are very nice and the tour was well done. In addition, upon returning to the ship, there was time to wander around Cadiz. We had lunch at one of the sidewalk cafes and had a truly enjoyable afternoon. I'd like to go back and do it all again!!