Lisbon: This is a fantastic port to arrive into and my advice would be to listen to when the ship is due to dock (if during light hours or when the ship is due to depart) and be up on top deck to pass the monuments along the quayside and to watch the ship skim under the memorial bridge. If you do this then do not book the river cruise excursion some cruise lines will try to sell you – although it might sound lovely it will only take you back down the river you sailed in on.

Gibraltar; This has become one of my favourite ports and we decided the key things we wanted to do was the cable car to the top of the rock and then visit the apes den.

The ship to the cable car is approx. 45 minutes walk and is a very easy route to follow. We decided to go to the top on the cable car and then walk down to the apes den via St Michaels Cave (although we didn’t go in) and then to get the cable down the rest of the way. We had asked about how claustrophobic the caves were but no-one would commit to giving an answer – however whilst we were at the top of the rock we started to listen to the ships tour group who were told if you can walk into a cinema when the lights have gone down then you can manage St Michaels Cave. The view from the top of the rock is stunning and you can see Africa and Spain. The cable car return cost £10.50 per person and if you want to go into the cave or any of the other attractions within the nature reserve then you need to buy a different ticket which is £20.50 per person.

         

Malaga: Our ship ran a shuttle bus to Plaza De La Marina and then it was a 2 min walk across the road into the main town. The centre is easy to navigate and we just headed off with our map and found the Cathedral, Museum of Picasso, Plaza de la Merced and also the main shopping streets of Malaga. The ship was offering to buy tickets for the hop on hop off buses but we never saw them

   

Cadiz: At this port some of the tourist board representatives came into the atrium on board and were giving out street maps which showed us the four walking tours available to do. We were advised to follow the purple route which would take an hour to do. This was easy to follow as the streets also had the routes painted on them. Our route took us to the Cathedral, the Congress Centre, the many churches and then into the shopping streets of Cadiz. For those who don’t want to follow the route the city centre is only a 5 minute walk across from the ship and you will pass the Plaza de Espana y Monumento a las Cortes. There were also hop on hop off buses waiting outside the dock.

   

Casablanca: We chose to stay on board this day as we didn’t dock until 11am and then as it was a Friday and this is a holy day – which then means everything closes at 12pm so didn’t see the point in disembarking. Our ship did run shuttle buses to United Nation Square

La Coruna: We have called into this dock before and next to the dock is a shopping centre and across the road from the docks is the main town centre. Unfortunately we docked on a Sunday so everything was closed. There is a fort you can walk round the harbour to – Castillo de San Anton, churches and a lighthouse.

Hopefully that has given a little inside knowledge and you find my tips helpful. Just remember when you do go off on you own you know what time you have to be back on by and your watches are set to the same time as the ships.

Have you been on a sailing where people have missed the ship or have any other tips to add to the above?? If so please let me know as I would love to hear them.