This post is a synopsis of the rest of our trip. Previous post provided info about the most prominent stops. Not that the remaining stops don’t merit their own post, but I don’t want to drone on about this trip.
Gibraltar (UK)
I thought Gibraltar was a small peninsula with a big rock at it’s point. Wow, was I ever wrong because it’s primarily a rock with 30,000 people living around it’s base. We walked from the dock to the tram (which took us to the top), then we walked down, and back to the ship. Of all our days on this trip, this was our highest count of walking steps – 24,500+.
Caves, tunnels, views, and monkeys entertained us on the way down. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of the airport with a main road crossing the runways, so see this 1-minute video. The return trip through the strait was at night … and with city lights on each side of the ship, one can tell Africa and Gibraltar are closer than one may think.
Montserrat
We visited Montserrat while in Barcelona. Located about 30 minutes outside the city, it’s a monastery located at the top of the Serrated Mountains. Within the altar is the Black Madonna. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to experience the stunning views because of the lingering fog – but we are glad we went. Because of the fog, here’s a link to a Google Images search to accompany mine.
Cadiz
Cadiz (KA diz) is the closest port to Seville (Sevilla), but getting there is a 2-hour trip in each direction. Given we were only in port 8-5, we first visited Jerez (the next section), then spent the afternoon in the Cadiz’s Old City. To me, Cadiz was the most unexpected surprise of the trip. The Old City was vibrant, and a grand cathedral serves as its hub. Thumbs up!
Jerez de la Frontera (Jerez)
From Cadiz, we took a ship’s tour to Jerez, a 20-minute ride from the port. Walking through it’s main square and past the Alcazar castle of the Moors, the focus of our tour was the Gonzalez Byass Bodegas that produces sherry (wine). We loved both the tour and the sherry samples.
Cartagena
Founded in 227 BC by the Carthaginians, today’s Cartagena is a small city for 200,000+ nestled in a small bay flanked by 5 mountains. The dock is close, so we strolled the streets to the Roman theater, the old bullring, the waterfront, and to the Castillo de la Concepcion for panoramic views of the city.
Palma de Mallorca
Palma de Mallorca, the largest city and capital of the Balearic Islands, was our first stop after leaving Barcelona. It was a Sunday, so many stores were closed and the local free walking tour we wanted wasn’t available. The weather was beautiful, so we made the best of what we could without a map.
Although more posts about this trip may appear over time, the links to past posts from the rest of the cruise are below.
Such an interesting trip. Thank you for the lovely photos.
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Katy,
Welcome first-time commenter. Not only a fun and interesting trip, but one I would highly recommend. The previous posts (linked at the bottom of this post) share the highlights … and to me, Barcelona is extra wonderful!
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It seems like you had an amazing trip, Frank–one spectacular sight after another!
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Merril,
That is a good description. Of course some ports were better than others, but we were never bored. Then again, like Europe a lot … and my wife wants to visit all the countries … well, until I gave her a list. 😉
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😉
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That’s some trip, Frank. Looks like you had an amazing time. How long was it?
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George,
The cruise itself was 13 days/12 nights … we built an extra day in Barcelona at each end (and that wasn’t enough for that wonderful city). .. but yes – a wonderful trip … good weather, wonderful sights, good people, and good health all add up to make it special.
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Sometimes it’s OK to drone
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Derrick,
Priceless … and a laugh at this end. Thanks.
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I’m with Derrick on this one… Do drone on! We can live vicariously through you!
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High praise indeed … thanks.
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Likewise, please feel free to drone on.
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Yay!
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Yahooey,
Thanks for the confidence … but I’m moving on .. but will slip in a return.
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Lots of history in your photos today, causing me to once again re-examine my bucket list TOP 25.
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Tim,
I expect a report on the official Top 25.
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What an amazing trip, Frank. Thanks for taking us along with you. 🙂
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Robin,
That it was it was. Knowing that many enjoy travel posts, I tried to capture the stops with images and brief words. Thanks for coming along!
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We also loved Cadiz. We were disapponinted with Jerez and Gibraltar…the other places we haven’t been to…next time.
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Debra,
Outside of the Rock, Gilbraltar wasn’t spectacular … but the rock intrigued us … and wow … we walked a lot that day. For us, Jerez was a half day with most of the time at the bodegas. Cheers to Cadiz!!!!
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Wonderful all of them.. Palma we love… We often go to Mallorca for our vacations… but have travelled the UK this last two years.. 🙂 Pollensa and Cal D’Or are two of our favourite places there..
You certainly Packed in some wonderful places and sites Frank.. Brilliant.. thank you for sharing them.. Loved all of your photo’s.. And Gibraltar looks better in the Boucher than when I went lol 🙂
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Sue,
Just searched Pollensa and Cal D’Or on Google Images. WOW … but Pollensa is the one that caught me eye the most. Many thanks.
Thanks for coming along on our little journey. It was a wonderful trip in so many ways … but Barcelona is the place that captured my heart.
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Yes its wonderful.. did you walk along that beautiful avenue that stretched for what seemed like miles, with shops and wonderful interesting things.. It was paved with living statues when we visited… The patience they have to stand perfectly still amazed me.. 🙂
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No we didn’t as we spent the majority of the time in the old city … but did make it a park closer to the water by the cathedral. Ship was only there 8-5 … and the dock is a bit out, but we had a shuttle into town.
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You helped bring back some fond memories Frank thank you.. 🙂
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Beautiful photos Frank. The 24,000 plus steps was a surprise. Loved the whole journey.
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John,
We like to walk – but that day was quite the journey. Long walk to the tram – long walk down – long walk back to the ship. We logged each day, so the numbers are interesting.
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Would expect nothing else from Frank Angle.
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I have a sneaky suspicion you might hit some of those spots again, in the future….beautiful trip!
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Cynthia,
Time will tell, but I would like to cruise further up the Portuguese coast then to the top of northern Spain. If out of Barcelona, yes … some return stops … but out of England, not so much. Overall, this was a wonderful trip … and I want to return to Barcelona.
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Thank you for taking us along with you, Frank. It sure does give one the urge to go and see it for ourselves. Which I definitely plan on doing!
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Dale,
I imagine you love travel … and knowing you also enjoy fun and food, Spain and Portugal are very good for that. This itinerary was outstanding … and a tip of the cap to Celebrity Cruises for their part. … and we miss our two delightful servers.
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Celebrity are my favourite cruise line. And yes, I love to travel – food is a very important part of my vacation! (And the main reason I’ve avoided Cuba!)
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You have good taste.
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That’s obvious…I “hang out” with you, don’t I?
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LOL …. Cheers! … .clink!
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Clink!
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Wow, you really saw some wonderful sights. Thanks for taking us along with you. I want to go for real now!
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Carrie,
Many thanks … and this could be a celebration trip for you and hubby once the boys are out!
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That would be lovely.
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Hey hey … I’ve planted on idea.
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Wonderful, wonderful! You and Mrs Right Angle are most fortunate indeed! The odd bit of mist doesn’t destroy beauty, it just makes it more mysterious don’t you think. I’m beginning to think a cruise ship is the best way to see the world! Thanks for sharing your vacation Frank, it has been most enjoyable.
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Pauline,
We love cruising … they take you port to port, and only pack/unpack once. I particularly enjoy getting the first glimpse of the new stop as soon as I get up in the morning. Downside is that each port is typically one day (8-5) … just enough for a taste. At least on this itinerary we had 3 ports with an overnight, thus giving us two days.
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Sounds like you had a nice cruise – but aren’t they all? At least I haven’t found one I didn’t like yet. I had no idea there was a Cartagena in Europe. We were just in Cartagena as one of the port stops on a Panama Canal cruise – but it was Cartagena, Columbia. It will be in my blog eventually, but not for awhile because unlike you I do drone on about every aspect of my cruises since that is the whole point of my blog.
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LB,
I figure the Cartagena, Spain is the namesake for the one in Columbia – but maybe not. As a port, it was low key, but actually found helpful info from a blogger. (Can you imagine that?) 😉 … Overall, a fabulous cruise … and we look forward to a future Panama Canal cruise because that is one we haven’t done.
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There does seem to be a lot of places in the Americas named after places in Europe. The Celebrity Infinity was a great ship for the Panama Canal cruise. It takes 10 hours to transit the canal, which would be a long time to sit out in the sun taking in the sights. Infinity has a lounge at the front with picture windows so we staked out a spot there at 4:30 am (and only beat the next people to the room by about 20 minutes.) There we had comfortable chairs in the front row for a full day of canal watching. Anyone not coming early did not get front row seats, although not everyone stayed all day so some got to move up eventually. They opened up the helipad on the bow and people would come and go there just for the locks.
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Thanks for the Panama Canal tip. I’ve been on the Millennium class ships (but not the Infinity) … and I like that class!
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Nice photos, Frank and I’m glad you had a nice trip…minus the motion sickness. Hubby and I love to cruise and are looking for another one to do. This one sounds great…maybe we’ll try it one day…
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Kayjai,
No motion sickness on the cruise (thank you meds) … only coming off the meds after I get home (yuk!) … but my step-down method worked like a charm. This was a fabulous trip … I can’t say that enough!
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Such beautiful pics!!
It was a lovely trip!! 🙂
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Mithai,
In its entirety, an outstanding trip. Thanks for coming along.
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And the pictures are proof of that!! Enthralling 😀 It was itself a journey going through your posts and the wonderful narration!! 🙂
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Glad you enjoyed these … I tried to keep the narration short and not do too many pics. Placing them in a collage helps.
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I really enjoyed each and every post!! 😀
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Thank you!
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Spain is an amazingly beautiful country! Thank you for taking me there, vicariously! 🙂
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Resa,
Glad to take you to Spain, Portugal, and a touch of the UK. Thanks for coming along.
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What an amazing trip
You made me go back to my childhood when I was going to all these places every year
What a beautiful journey
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Agnus,
The fact that I triggered your memories makes me smile. Cheers to your past intersecting with my recent memory.
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I’m feeling like a broken record that keeps saying “thanks for taking me with you!” “thanks for taking me with you!” “thanks for taking me with you!” “thanks for taking me with you!” “thanks for taking me with you!”
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Elyse,
You’re words mean a lot … so thank you! I don’t think I put it in the post, but Gibraltar intrigued my wife – thus one of her favorite ports.
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It sounds fascinating to me, actually. Would love to go!
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It’s different. The airport is a hoot (see the video). … a strong UK flavor in town.
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Wow! I need to catch up on your trip, Frank. Such splendid photos. I really like the foggy ones. This makes me want to travel big time.
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Was that your ship? It is enormous. How many on board?
We cruised in the early to mid 80s with Carnival. It wasn’t a huge ship like the ones today. Still, we had a lot of fun going from Miami to Nassau.
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Jim,
Celebrity Equinox is over 1000 feet long carrying 2850 passengers and 1200+ crew. Celebrity has several other ships of this design, which are the biggest in their fleet. We like Celebrity … and ships have changed since we started cruising in the mid-90s — so I can’t imagine the change since the mid-80s.
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Such a wonderful experience to have had such a trip!
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RoSy,
It was an outstanding trip, and a pleasure to share it here … thanks for coming along for the quick trip.
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Any time 😉
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Such feasts for the eyes, Frank. A trip to remember for ever. 🙂
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Sylvia,
Yep … the entire trip was a feast for the eyes … plus one to remember.
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You picked a good trip – perfect line-up of places. Gib is a fascinating place. (oh, those monkeys). And ti is so close to Africa which clarifies why it was strategically important.
So much history and so many stories. Thanks for all the pictures!
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Mouse,
Gib was interesting. I could see the Atlas Mountains in the distance during the day, but the night time position on the ship emphasized the closeness. … and a grand trip it was.
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Okay Frank, I will admit, I absolutely loved these photos… but the monkeys stole the show for me. I don’t know what it was but I couldn’t stop looking at them and smiling. They are just so adorable. Thanks for sharing this with us. It made my day.
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Kia,
There are many of them. We just in the tram station/gift shop at the top of the mountain on the observation decks … and suddenly one was standing in the middle … probably waiting for food. That was the first one I saw. The best one was the guy standing beside the mother with child – and the child on tugging on the man’s shirt … and mom was totally calm. I think you would have loved that scene.
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What a trip Frank. I wish I were more inclined toward cruising, this sounds simply spectacular. Your pictures and narrative are wonderfully done.
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Val,
The trip was spectacular … and I know you have experience with this area. To me, cruising is a wonderful way to get a taste … on the downside, 8-5 isn’t enough time many places. Then again, cruising isn’t for everybody. Have you taken one before?
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Yes, didn’t love it.
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It really looks like the most spectacular set of experiences! You’ll be so glad, too, that you did these posts about the trip because the posts will serve as a journal, to help bring back details and memories!
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Kerry,
Truly an outstanding trip. Doing these posts also gave me a chance to make passes through the many photos … thus deleting some … much more to delete before making a small book for friends to see … and hopefully a video about Barcelona to music. Cheers to good memories!
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There are some names here that really hold allure, from history and literature. As destinations go, this trip holds a lot of appeal because so many of the locations have a little romance and mystery associated with them. So nice, Frank!
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Debra,
This trip was filled with all the things you mentioned … then again, that’s what Europe offers! Glad you enjoyed the journey.
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