HAL sponsored Transfer to Seville from Cadiz

[tyrannosaur]

Our ship calls in Cadiz, Spain, in June, and one of HAL sponsored excursion is "Transfer to Seville" for $75.  Has anyone used the transfer?  And if so, how was your experience?  The HAL website only says the tour is 8 hours, leaves at 8:30AM (though the ship is in port from 7AM to 5PM, why wait until 8:30AM?), and passengers will be drop off in a "central location".

I also looked into other big private tour company but the schedule seems to be rigid and not flexible (we are mainly interested in Alcazar, Seville Cathedral, and Plaza de Espania).

Thanks in advance!

[Oregonpoppa]

It's been a looong time since my tour of duty in Spain (Franco was still in power), but that time doesn't compare with how long those historic sites have been around...and I doubt the distances between them have changed any.  You have to figure it'll take an hour at least each way, leaving  you 6 hours  in Sevilla.  We lived in an apartment complex close to Maria Luisa Park and Plaza de Espana, which isn't too far from the center of town...but if it's a hot day, it can be a tiring walk.  The Giralda (I'm assuming that's the cathedral you're talking about) is in the center of town and the Alcazar not far away .

If you just want to say  you've seen these places, fine, but not if you want to absorb much of their history and beauty. Take out another hour or so for lunch and you'll really be cutting things short. 

Maybe someone who  has taken such an excursion can give a first hand review, but to me, trying to appreciate Sevilla in such a short time span isn't optimal.  You'll also be bumping into siesta hours. And getting everyone back to that "central location" for pick-up for the ride back to Cadiz for a 5 p.m. sailing could prove interesting. 

[Caribbean Chris]

We were on HAL to Cadiz in 2011 and it happened to be Easter Sunday. I’m so glad we took a HAL tour to Seville because we saw a lot, had a very nice lunch in a hotel, and the guide was excellent. I’m not a big fan of any Shorex but felt we really made the right choice that time. If they had offered a transfer on that one, I probably would have booked theirs, but the full tour turned out to be a good value. 
 

I looked into the train schedule but none worked well. And due to the distance from the port, I found it very relaxing to not worry about missing the ship. 

Edited January 3, 2020 by Caribbean Chris

[FlaMariner]

We just did this in October.....

 

We booked with Spanish Day Tours.  I believe they offer pretty much the same tour but smaller group and smaller price. They have other tours as well.

 

On the bus to/from Seville, we stopped at the same rest areas as the Holland buses and we ran into them at the same places in Seville.  Our tour guides were great and very knowledgable.  No worries about not getting back to the ship.  The've got this down.

 

We also used Spanish Day Tours for other ports.

 

Go check out the port of call boards for more info.

[taxmantoo]

We did the transfer to Seville a few years ago and found it an excellent way to see the city.  We had time to do a full tour of the Hop On Hop Off circuit, got off and toured Plaza de Espana, had a wonderful lunch at an outdoor cafe and had a horse carriage ride through the older parts of the city.  Lots of time to do it all.

[tyrannosaur]

Thanks for all the helpful replies!

To Oregonpoppa: agree, I debated about whether to go to Sevilla from Cadiz due to the little time in Sevilla.

To Caribbean Chris: glad to know you had a great time with HAL sponsored tour.  Their prices start at $200 vs $75 for the transfer, that's the reason I am exploring the transfer option.

To FlaMariner: yes Spanish day tours (SDT) is the other good option I considered.  They go into Alcazar but not the Seville Cathedral, and might stop in Plaza de Espana if time allowed as mentioned by the reviews.  Prices are about the same as HAL transfer.

To taxmantoo: you did the HAL transfer!  Do you recall where they dropped you off in Sevilla?  I am also concerned that the transfer starts a bit late at 8:30AM (ship arrives to Cadiz at 7 AM).

[Vict0riann]

We did a HAL transfer to Seville in 2016, but from a different port.  If I remember, we were dropped near the Plaza de Espana, and we raced off to get in the queue for the Alcazar.  Be sure to do that first - it fills up quickly.  Everything else was nearby.  We went into the Cathedral and had a snack in the square.  They make sure the timing works out, and if you are late back to the ship,  they'll wait for you.  Spain Day Tours is another option, they are very reliable, but their timing may be the same as the ship's.

[cruiseaholic78]

We booked the transfer via HAL too, the advantage is that for the return journey you can leave it much later than if you were doing a private tour.

I would really advise you to prebook Alcazar and the Cathedral though, nothing better than sailing past the lines of people. We went to Alcazar first, then the Cathedral in retrospect I would have preferred it the other way around because we found Alcazar more interesting.

Rosalyn  

[KirkNC]

We did it as well as the train schedule was not good.  You get dropped off about ten minutes from the central point in the city.  We had already been to Alcazar so we wondered the old town.  As I recall, we had four hours.

 

i will say that Spain Day tours does an excellent job if you want to see Alcazar.  I think it is $79/pp.  While we went on a big bus to Seville, once there they broke us up into groups of sixteen.

[tyrannosaur]

Thanks again for all the helpful replies!  Good to know that the transfer drops off close to Plaza de Espana (I searched CC and someone mentioned RCCL transfer dropped them on Calle La Rabida), and KirkNC thanks for mentioning that you had 4 hours in Sevilla.

To Rosalyn, thanks for the advice on prebooking the Alcazar and Cathedral, and good to know that you actually had more time to explore Sevilla than with a private tour, and I'd have to figure out the timing of arrival to Sevilla in order to prebook the entries.