When doing my internet research on this port we were surprised by the dearth of available information. Most brief summaries of the city ended with a comment on their attempt to revitalize tourism. Usually this results in the port being disappointing. We are happy to report that Cartagena was a pleasant surprise. The Prinsendam docked right in front of the city walls, an easy three block walk to the city. As we disembarked there was an information kiosk (www.cartagena.es) staffed by two very knowledgeable locals armed with maps. There was also a booth where they were giving complementary samples of the local liquor called “42”, this was a bit much for 9:00am, but we of course stashed one (ok two) for later sampling. We didn’t take advantage of it, but were thrilled to see that the tourist office provided free new bicycles to explore the city. They looked like nice new ones and before long we saw many of the crew greatly enjoying this service. They were like kids with a new toy; it was great to see them enjoying themselves on a break from their hard work onboard. We headed through the city gates to the main street Carmen Mayor which was nice, wide, level and pedestrian only. This was not planned as sightseeing day, more a mission to find an internet café and stock up on supplies (meaning Lays potato chips for me and Diet Pepsi for Janis). So we walked though the old town to the new wide and tree lined boulevard Alameda de San Antí³n on a bee-line course to the El Corte Inglés department store (www.elcorteingles.es). We really enjoy popping into a Corte Ingles as in addition to reasonable prices for our supplies, we can get a taste of the local life. In the case today we wandered around the grocery section to get an idea of the food cost. Beef was very expensive about $12 per lb for sirloin, vegetables were about the same as the US and Spanish wine very inexpensive. We had to laugh as in addition to the standard box table wine, they also have wine in small six pack “sippy” boxes (similar to what we have juices in for kids). We then went to the café section and had a café con leche paired with the requisite pastry. It was five minutes of heaven, excellent coffee and pastries at a reasonable price (€5). As we still hadn’t found an internet café so we decide explore a bit off the beaten track. We discovered that in this area of Spain it is the grandfathers who take the children out in the strollers for the morning walk. It was fun to watch these older gentlemen act gruff in front of their friends and at the same time “cooing” their grandchildren. While in the neighborhood school had let out so we were flooded by a sea of kids in school uniforms. It seems that they take siesta seriously as school was out by 1:00pm. We also dropped into to a local pub to cool off and sample the local beer. (it was great beer and a deal at one Euro!) We eventually found out internet café caught up with our email and reluctantly started our walk back to the ship. In all we found this Cartagena to be small and very pleasant. There were no massive must see sights (though there were some nice Roman sites and the Castillo), but it was a nice slow paced seaside city which we would return without hesitation.
View of "The Rock" of Gibraltar.
We were looking forward to Gibraltar, as it was one of our favorite ports on our honeymoon cruise on the Rotterdam in 1999. While most European cities seem to change fairly slowly, we were surprised to see how much “the Rock” had changed in 8 years.
On our prior visit, we recalled walking between the port area where the ship docked and the downtown area on a single lane road with not much around but port facilities.
Cruise ship port and new condos in Gibralter.
Now, there is a new cruise terminal, and the area is filled with high rise condos and apartments, a 4-lane road, a Safeway store, hospital and McDonalds, and much more building in progress. Of course, we can understand why people would want to buy a condo in this beautiful destination.
The other big change was the high value of the British pound to the US dollar (about $2 to £1. Looking into the Burger King, a Whopper was a whopping £4.59. A $9.63 fast food hamburger quickly reminded us of the value of our cruise in US dollars. Plus, we gained greater appreciation for the cheeseburgers at the Terrace Grill back on the ship, thank you very much!
Since it was Sunday morning, the downtown was fairly quiet. Later, it got busier as Cunard’s QE 2 arrived in port and stores opened.
We` headed to the cable car (after a rest break for a cold pint) and rode up to the top of the Rock. (1 way tickets are £8.) What a view in all directions at the top! The facilities at the Top of the Rock are much improved in 8 years – with clean, new bathrooms, a café, gift shop and pub.
We found it quite interesting to watch a British Airways flights take off from the runway (located directly next to Spain’s border) and then bank hard left to stay out of Spanish airspace. The airport runway also bisects the major road between Gibraltar and Spain.
Despite many warnings about the monkeys at the Top of the Rock (often referred to as apes but actually tailless monkeys) many visitors still can’t resist their charms. The mothers have had babies in the spring – who are now extremely playful and cute! But, set your soda down for a second to take a photo, and the mother monkey has it, pours it on the ground and drinks it, and if you try to get it back she will hiss and bite. We also watched another monkey steal a bag of Doritos out of a woman’s bag.
After taking photos we started our walk down, choosing the path heading down to the right (toward the Moorish Castle). The hike down is long, but the views are terrific the entire way. We peaked into the Great Siege tunnels (which were closed), and worked our way back downtown.
Later at sail away, we went on deck 12 for Port Lecturer Frank’s commentary. As the Prinsendam sailed around THE ROCK, the sun came out and we were treated to a glorious view.
It was a formal evening with the 2nd seating show at 6:45. We missed it (soaking in the hot tub to relieve sore muscles) but learned from our table mates that Selima Wazir, a young woman who played the oboe and the English horn, was excellent.
There was some excitement during dessert when the fire alarm sounded (see other post) but all was handled by 11pm. Another great day!
We had visited Casablanca eight years ago on our honeymoon – so wanted to get out of the city. Casablanca was a 15 hour port call, to allow time from tours to Marrakech and Fez. The Marrakech tour involved 8 hours on a bus, ruling it out for us. We booked Holland America’s “The Imperial City of Rabat”, a 5.5 hour tour with 1 hour of driving each way. The tour left at 7 am ship’s time, and it was 6 am Casablanca time, so the city was very quite. Security was highly visible at the port and throughout the city. On the drive to Rabat, Morocco’s capital, we gained a first-hand glimpse of the dire poverty some in the country face. Housing were shanty structures appearing to be made of scraps of tin and wood – like squatter’s camps. Interestingly, almost all to had satellite dishes for TV. In Rabat, we walked the Oudalia Kasbah in the old town. At the first stop, a young women approached our group and started drawing henna tattoos on women’s arms and hands. Then she would demand 5 euros. “No, Merci!” seemed to keep her and other hawkers at bay. Next we visited the outer courtyard of the Royal Palace. No one gets into the inter courtyard except the Palace workers and guards. We were surprised to learn that there were more than 2000 members of the extended Royal family living in the Royal Palaces. The workers and guards live outside the palace, but still inside the huge walled compound. Another stop was ruins outside of Rabat where the Roman town of Sala stood. This area was a stork nesting area, and was swarming with storks and their young, just about old enough to be pushed out of the nest. The last stop was the Mausoleum of King Muhammad the 5th, who died in the late 1990s. His son — now in his mid-thirties, is now the king. On the drive back to Casablanca, many of us slept since the departure was early. In Casablanca, the guide made a shopping stop. We were amazed that it was the exact same store that our tour guide took us two eight years ago. Across the street is the Hyatt Hotel which has “Rick’s Café”, based on the café in the movie Casablanca. (as you probably know, none of the movie was actually filmed in Casablanca. ) One positive change – we were told 8 years ago that women were not allowed outside at the coffee houses. This visit, we both had espressos outside on the street café. However, it appeared that the only women at the cafes were tourists. Back at the ship, it was a great afternoon for catching up on sleep!
For this port, we booked our first Holland America shore excursion to Jerez de la Frontera. We traveled by bus from Cadiz inland to nearby Jerez, the center of the sherry industry. This area of Andalusia is also known for its horses and flamenco.
The Prinsendam was docked directly in the Old Town of Cadiz, along with a Costa ship. Cadiz is a peninsula with beaches on most sides and a major ship-building yard. Our tour guide, Maria Carmen (Mika) enthusiastically explained the city highlights as we drove toward Jerez. She mentioned the one beach is still nicknamed “the women’s beach” because 40 years ago it was the only beach where bikinis were allowed.
On the way to Jerez, we saw several large black billboards, in the shape of a black bull, with no writing. They are the famous advertisements for Osborn, a major producer of port, sherry and brandy with the black bull on its label. Osborn is headquartered in nearby Puerto de Santa Maria.
In Jerez de la Frontera, we walked a short distance admiring the sites, and then headed to the Gonzalez Byass bodega – the maker of Tio Pepe. We learned about the unique sherry production process which is aged in America oak barrels. Then we tasted both the fino (dry) and the Croft original (sweet but good). There was a fun gift shop with sherry to buy as well as various forms of the famous Tio Pepe character.
Back to Cadiz, our guide provided as overview of Cadiz as our bus drove around the old town. She pointed out where Halle Berry was filmed in the James Bond movie (which was supposed to be in Cuba).
After dropping our purchases at the ship, we headed out to explore Cadiz. A great Old Town was easy to walk with an interesting Mercado (market) nearby. Besides excellent beaches, Cadiz has beautiful parks. Many of the stores closed in the afternoon for siesta, but cold Cervesas were only .80 to 2 euros. The Carrefour store (similar to Wal-Mart) is beside the Mercado and was a great place to stock up on Diet Pepsi and fortificante (hair conditioner in Spanish).
Once the full day tour guests arrived back from Seville, the Prinsendam sailed out of the harbor. Port lecturer Frank provided in-depth commentary as we sailed over the spot of the famous naval battle of Trafalgar. Lord Nelson was killed in this battle; his body was shipped back to England preserved in Rum. Rum and its watered-down version (grog) became the official drink of England’s Navy.
Cadiz is a great port and somewhere we’d like to visit again!