Fantastic Iberian Cruise
Britannia Cruise Review to Europe
Contributor Level:
Third Mate
Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 18
Spain And Portugal
Sail date: April 18, 2022
Ship: Britannia
Traveled as: Singles/Friends
Reviewed: 2 years ago
Review summary
Britannia still rules the waves on this fantastic 11 night cruise to the Iberian peninsular.Embarkation
Despite long queue for covid testing, it seemed to go down pretty quickly. Probably queued for 45 mins for test then 30 mins wait for results, then pretty quick check in and security check
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
We mainly ate in the buffet, where the choice and food was always excellent and it was much quicker. We did eat once in the Beach House and 3x in the Limelight, where food was great but service a little slow.
Onboard Activities
We did not partake in any sports, dancing or cooking activities, but did partake in some quiz's, which were great fun, especially the Battle of Brodies @ noon on sea days.
Entertainment
headliner's show were short at 50 mins but 1st class and equivalent to what we would see on West End or Broadway. We had some guest singers, groups and comedians and all were very good.
Service and Staff
Could not fault any of the staff - all very happy, friendly and willing to help.
Ship Quality
Cleanliness top class. Layout took some time to get used to and got lost a couple of times early on, but soon got used to it.
Cabin / Stateroom
Size, cleanliness and comfort was excellent. Position was great as 1 deck below buffet for easy access. Only down side was near back of ship so had some vibrations from engines some times.
Ship tip
Perhaps try nearer front of middle of ship to avoid engine noise.
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
Did not see much of this port as purely arrival and departure. Had been before and nice shops
Hilly, old and quaint city. Shops within easy walking distance of docking area. Did not book excursion but paid €125 for a 90 min tuk tuk ride to see the city. Plenty of these to choose from and we picked up ours from outside hard Rock Cafe. great way to see city and we were taken to 3 different panoramic viewpoints for photostops., also driving past many of the key sites.
Lovely clean city. Booked a Panoramic Malaga excursion, which took us up to a castle viewpoint above the city for great photo opportunity, then into town centre to see Roman Theatre and quick olive and wine stop for 30 mins. For final part of the day we walked down to the modern and new shopping and food area at the opening of the port, which was wonderful.
Lovely naval port and ship docked very close to the centre.
We booked an excursion to see a horse ranch, which was fantastic. You visit a family home, learn all about the Andalucian horses, meet some, see a stampede and watch a horse dance with a flamenco dancer. Magical visit well worth it.
We had time after the trip to explore the town, which was quite busy as a local running race was being held. There is a nice roman theatre to see too amongst the city centre and walk up to a small castle on the hill.
This was the jewel in the crown of visits. A little piece of UK tucked away in the med.
We booked a whistle stop tour that included cable car to top of the rock to see the monkeys, visit to St Michael's caves (magical experience) and also a trip to the war tunnels. When tour ended we were dropped in the town centre for some shopping. The tour itself was very good, with the only downside being that we did not get to spend much time in each place, as so much to see in so little time.
Shopping is great with some familiar names like M&S, Next, Morrisons and Matalan. Added bonus of being a duty free port.
Would love to come back here one day.
Nice flat island city with ship docking close to town centre.
We booked a tour called Andalucian drive, which took us into the hills, then past fields of Bull's bread for bullfighting, had a brief stop for drink then a final stop at the lovely beach resort of Conil. We only had 45 mins here and I would of preferred longer without having the drink stop in the middle of nowhere or avoid drink stop and allow us to get of the coach in the town in the hills to take pics.
Time allowed to walk round Cadiz centre after tour. We managed to pay to go into the famous Cathedral and go into the vaults underneath.
Disembarkation
Very quick and hassle free embarkation. Cases laid out for collection by floor number, so easy to get in collection hall.
Traveler Photos
