The Magic of Spain
Discover the magic of Spain including Cadiz, Malaga, Alicante, and even Gibraltar on this All-Inclusive cruise with the option of a hotel stay in Majorca.
What's Included
- Return flights from Dublin to Palma, Majorca
- Transfer from airport to port
- 7 nights onboard 3* Marella Explorer based on 2 sharing
- Excellent dining on a full board basis while onboard
- Varied onboard entertainment
- All-Inclusive
- Onboard gratuities included
- Kids clubs and fun family activities
- Transfer from port to airport
- 20kg check-in bag per person
Your cruise departs from Palma in Majorca and sails to Gibraltar before you cruise on to beautiful Cadiz, close to Seville. Your next stop is Malaga on the famous Costa del Sol. You then cruise to historic Almeria before cruising to Alicante. Your cruise comes to an end as you sail back to Palma.
Things to do
- Gibraltar’s monkeys
- Tapas in Seville
- Malaga’s bars
Why not add a hotel stay in Majorca before or after your cruise? Contact us for more details.
Marella Explorer
In summer 2018, Marella Explorer was welcomed to the fleet. The ship stepped up to the plate, with a bumper batch of 10 restaurants and 10 bars. There are fleet favourites like Snack Shack and Kora La, plus brand new spaces like The Dining Club for foodies and a swanky bar, club and casino. The highlights don’t stop at food and drink, though. There’s also an indoor cinema, a Sports & Family Deck and a Champneys spa, where you can sign up for everything from body-balancing acupuncture and slimming treatments to body wraps and facials.
DINING OPTIONS
Marella Explorer’s dining scene is worth shouting about. On top of a load of new waiter service restaurants and an around-the-world buffet, you’ve got speciality places like Surf & Turf, Umi Sushi and an experimental eatery.
ENTERTAINMENT VENUES
The entertainment onboard Marella Explorer doesn’t disappoint. Not only does it have the biggest ever Broadway Show Lounge, it also boasts the flash, new Indigo bar, club and casino. Alternatively, you can listen to live music in The Lounge – a stylish space with a bright-pink piano and colour-changing bar.
SHIP FACILITIES
Marella Explorer has enough facilities to keep everyone happy. Children can head to the Kids’ Club, Hideout or go for a game of minigolf, while grown-ups can sink in to Balinese beds at The Veranda or book in for pampering at the spa – it’s the biggest in our fleet.
Champneys
Marella Cruises has partnered with Champneys to bring you this state-of-the-art spa. Like at any other Champneys spa, you can book in for treatments, like facials, body wraps and massages, plus there’s a beauty salon. The spa doesn’t scrimp on size. In fact, it’s the biggest in the fleet – packing in a relaxation room and made-for-two suites. There’s also an adults-only sauna with floor-to-ceiling windows and a steam room. Just so you know, there’s a charge for treatments and use of the facilities. Alternatively, you can work up a sweat with the sea in sight at the gym.
Pool bar
This bar sits next to the pool on Deck 11, so it’s great for grabbing drinks and frozen cocktails.
The Veranda
Balinese beds and call-for-drinks buttons give The Veranda a luxe, adults-only feel. Plus, it’s at the front of the ship, so the views are first-class.
The Shack
This deck bar provides cool-down drinks, like frozen cocktails, in between sunbathing. You’ll find it just above Snack Shack, overlooking the pool.
Click here for more information about Marella Explorer including Deck Plans.
Marella
Agent
Booking Remarks
Prices are per person based on two adults and two children sharingInclusive of taxes and service charges as indicated
Non-refundable or transferable booking deposit due at time of booking.
Optional Insurance available (conditions apply)
These prices are guidelines only and are subject to change and availability. Pricing will be confirmed at time of booking.
Itinerary
Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Following your flight, you will be transferred to port to board the Marella Discovery for your Mediterranean cruise.
At Sea
Enjoy the facilities onboard during this day at sea cruising to your next destination.
Gibraltar
The Rock crouches over the sea like an ancient stone beast, looking Sphinx-like to Africa. Beneath the white cliffs of this natural fortress grows a profusion of palm, pine, and cypress. No fewer than 600 varieties of flowers thrive here, some not found anywhere else on Earth. Gibraltar’s stunning setting is matched by its history – five countries have battled for 13 centuries to control the passage between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. The result made for a cultural melting pot. Veiled Moroccan women in caftans and vacationing Englishmen and Spaniards stroll along the narrow, steep lanes. The locals revert to a liquid Spanish when talking among themselves. And visitors to a 15th-century cathedral pass through a blue-tiled courtyard, once part of a 13th-century mosque.
Helmeted bobbies, pillar-boxes and pubs make for a bit of Britain in the Mediterranean. Gibraltar is a fascinating place, from its caves and batteries to the Barbary apes gamboling on the slopes of the Rock.
Cádiz, Spain (for Seville)
The oldest continuously populated city in Spain, Cadiz is a unique ocean port in south west Spain that has been inhabited for the last 3000 years. Located on a peninsula jutting into the Gulf of Cadiz, the city is surrounded almost entirely by water and thanks to its historical trade links, it has many foreign influences that are still visible today. Narrow cobbled streets, small squares and weather-beaten buildings dating back to the Moors make the old city a charming place to explore with look-out towers used by merchants to spot returning trade ships scattered along the skyline. Cadiz also has a fine collection of ancient and contemporary art in its many museums and galleries.
Malaga, Spain
The elegant central zone of Málaga – a stop-off on your cruise of the Mediterranean – is largely pedestrianized with the focal point, marble-paved Calle Marqués de Larios, lined with fashionable stores, its most elegant thoroughfare.
Plaza de la Constitución, Málaga’s main square, hosts a monumental fountain flanked by slender palms and the terraces of numerous cafés and restaurants. Málaga centre has a number of interesting churches and museums, not to mention the birthplace of Picasso and the Museo Picasso Málaga, housing an important collection of works by Málaga’s most famous son.
Perched on the hill above the town are the formidable citadels of the Alcazaba and Gibralfaro, magnificent vestiges of the seven centuries that the Moors held sway here.
Málaga is also renowned for its fish and seafood, which can be sampled at tapas bars and restaurants throughout the city, as well as at the old fishing villages of El Palo and Pedregalejo, now absorbed into the suburbs, where there’s a seafront paseo lined with some of the best marisquerías and chiringuitos (beachside fish restaurants) in the province.
Cartagena, Spain
Discover Cartagena on your Mediterranean cruise to Spain: when you arrive in the old town from the Mediterranean Sea and the port, you can see the real character of the place, with its narrow medieval streets, packed with bars and restaurants. Hannibal’s capital city on the Iberian peninsula, it was named after his Carthage in North Africa, and was a strategic port and administrative centre for the Romans.
In this connection, the Museo Nacional de Arqueología Subacuática, on the outer walls of the Arsenal on the way to the lighthouse, has a reconstructed Roman galley and lots of interesting exhibits, including one section focused on naval history and navigation, and another on Mediterranean ports and items salvaged from shipwrecks. Continuing on the theme, the Museo Archeológico Municipal is built on a Roman burial ground and offers a good introduction to the ancient history of the city.
The excellent collection of Roman artefacts includes an impressive display of glass, plus Romanesque art and sculptures.
Alicante, Spain
Alicante, located in the Costa Blanca, is one of the most beautiful cities of the Spanish East Coast.
During your Mediterranean cruise you will discover a vibrant city connected to the sea and rich in history and architecture. From the Santa Barbara fortress, the main castle of the city, to parks and boulevards, such as the Explanada de España where you can enjoy Alicante’s breathing fresh air and relax in cozy bars and terrace cafés.
Some of the great sights to see nearby include:
• Santa Barbara Castle
• Mountain village of Guadalest
• Explanada de España
With an Excursion you will discover the Santa Barbara Castle, Alicante’s main historical sight. Sant Barbara Castle is an imposing medieval fortress located on the bare rocky hill above the town beach. From the old walls you can admire spectaculars views of the city and the whole bay.
A cruise excursion can also be an opportunity to discover the Mountain village of Guadalest, one of the most popular tourist attractions in the area. The sixteenth-century Moorish castle town and former Muslim settlement is built high up in the surrounding rock, and you enter through a gateway tunnelled into the mountain.
With one of our excursions you can also discover the Explanada de España, Alicante’s famous maritime promenade. It runs parallel to the port, from Plaza Puerta del Mar to Parque de Canalejas and has a mosaic pavement that mimics the waves of the sea. This boulevard is full of cafés and terraces where you can try some typical food or just relax while enjoying the Mediterranean views.
Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Following your cruise, you will be transferred to the airport for your flight back to Ireland.
Alternatively, you could add a hotel stay on this wonderful island.
Palma is a stunner. Rising in honey-coloured stone from the broad waters of the Badia de Palma, this enduring city dates back to the 13th-century Christian reconquest of the island, and to the Moors, Romans and Talayotic people before that. A richly studded diadem of historical sites, Palma also shelters a seemingly endless array of galleries, restaurants, craft studios and bars – it’s without doubt Mallorca’s greatest treasure. Wander in any direction from the awe-inspiring Gothic Catedral at its geographic and historical heart and you’ll find bent medieval streets lined with aristocratic townhouses, looming baroque churches, teeming public squares, vibrant bohemian neighbourhoods and markets overflowing with all the bounty of the island. You could spend weeks in this city alone, and still uncover fresh joys every day.