This excursion was booked independently with Spain Day Tours, and not through a Royal Caribbean sponsored vendor. Several folks on the social media site Cruise Critic got together to organize a small (10-15 person) private tour for our first port of Cadiz. The logistics were handled professionally, but the ship's late arrival to Cadiz created some challenges for the group because we had a scheduled timed entry reservation (tickets) for the Royal Alcázar of Seville . . . but more on that later. All of that said, we did enjoy our whirlwind tour of Seville.
From the cruise port, it was about a 90 minute drive to Seville. The large motor coach was about half full, so we had plenty of room to stretch out. In fact, Pam & I had the entire back row to ourselves! This was great for comfort . . . but challenging for taking photos from inside the bus as we rode through the city.
Our first stop (besides a convenience store for the restrooms) was the
Plaza de España. Built in 1928, it features 48 beautifully tiled alcoves for each of Spain's provinces. This one is for Barcelona. The intricacies of the tile work is exquisite. Sadly, my photo doesn't do justice to what we actually saw. It was nice, however, to be able to get photos without a lot of people milling around.
Our group spent around 30-45 minutes here, giving ample time to explore the semi-circular plaza and the more than 7,000 ceramic tiles used to tell some of the history and folklore of Spain.
From here we headed to the old Jewish quarter of Seville. Our bus dropped us off outside of the narrow streets of Santa Cruz, one of the most picturesque areas in Seville.
This was an area where we had a very brisk walk on cobblestone paths. There wasn't any time allotted to stop and shop or really even rest as we made our way towards the
Royal Alcázar of Seville. The styles of architecture were very interesting as we walked the maze of streets. I did my best to keep up with our group. Sometimes I was bringing up the rear, especially if I got distracted taking photos along the way.
Unfortunately once to the Royal
Alcázar, we encountered an issue at security with my walking cane. Due to my physical limitations, I opted to not enter the palace area with our guide & group. As it turns out, only the ground floor areas are accessible to visitors, as the upper levels are occupied by the royal family when they are in residence here. From
what others reported back to us, the rooms seen on the tour were void of
furnishings and not particularly interesting. Honestly, I don't think
we missed much. This was my view from one of the few sitting benches
located on the property. It was a beautiful afternoon outside, so I enjoyed the fresh air as we awaited the group's return from inside.The entire area surrounding the Royal
Alcázar had a lot of historic old buildings. I could see spending a full day exploring this neighborhood . . . not just taking in a visual look during a 2-3 hour walking visit like we did. So much of what I don't like about Alaskan cruises, with visitors thinking they've "experienced" Alaska was borne out for me here. I know I only got a very small sampling of what Seville is all about . . . but with a cruise ship port visit of around 8 hours (and 3 hours of that is drive time from/to the port) . . . there is no way to do justice to really learn about a culture or its people, or their history. That said, I have to accept it for what it is and appreciate the time I did have to see a part of the world I probably would have otherwise never visited.
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