Our Dream "Full of Firsts" 13-Night EB Transatlantic (Portugal & Spain) Cruise + WDW ~ w/pics ~ May 2023 ~ Completed!

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 12 continued.

We then went to Belém. We walked by the Monastery of Jerónimos that stretches for 300 yards in front of the Belém waterfront. We enjoyed hearing about the history of the monastery, but opted not to go in. There were a lot of people lined up for tours.















We were heading to Pastéis de Belém, the birthplace of the custard tart, pastel de nata, as it is known all over Portugal. In Belém, it is known as pastel de Belém! The beloved tart has been around since 1837!



The line just to order pastries to go was very long.



Marta took us inside to show us where they make 20,000 of these famous custard treats per day. Calories don’t count on vacation, right?







While the recipe is a very well kept and guarded secret, Marta promised to share her family recipe, which she claims is close.

After a much-needed bathroom break, Marta went and ordered some custard pastries as well as some savory pastries for us to try. The bakery made more than just the custard treats. No line required for us. We took our pastries to go and found a nice shady picnic bench near the maritime museum nearby.





I have to say, the pastries lived up to their fame and were delicious! Better than the one we had in Ponta Delgada.

Marta told us briefly of the Belém Tower and the Monument to the Discoveries, but we did not go down to them.





There was also a memorial to the first air flight across the South Atlantic.



We did see this amazing 3D piece of artwork, a Raccoon Sculpture by Bordalo II, made entirely from recycled car parts.



We drove by one of the town squares that had a flower market. The cobblestone pattern reminded me of pictures I’d seen of Rio at Copacobana Beach.



Which shouldn’t be surprising since Brazil was once a Portuguese colony.

Then it was back to the ship at around 2:15 PM. All aboard was at 4:00 PM. We went back through the terminal. There was a small gift shop and duty-free shop we stopped in. We had to show our KTTW card and go through security. Nobody asked for ID.









While we didn’t do very much walking through Lisbon, I was beat and immediately went up to our stateroom and took a nap. It helped!

A little after 4:00 PM we started leaving port. Fortunately, for us, we had a great view of us leaving port from the starboard side of the ship so we could sit on our verandah and watch Lisbon as we sailed away.

The Celebrity Infinity was also in port today.



We passed the main square in town, the Praça do Comçricio (Commerce Square). You can see the statue dedicated to King Joseph I.





You can also see the Rua Augusta Arch which is prominently in the middle of the square. It was built to commemorate the reconstruction of the city after the 1755 earthquake.







We went back under the 25th of April Bridge.







To be continued. . .

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 12 continued.

We had a great view of the Monument to Discoveries on the way out. It was built in 1940 for the Portuguese World Exhibition. It was placed along the river where ships had departed to explore and trade with India and the Orient.



We also had a nice view of the Monastery we saw earlier.



We saw a futbal, or soccer, stadium.





And finally, we passed the Belém Tower. It is the ceremonial gateway to Lisbon. In 1983 it was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with the Monastery.







At 5:45 PM we headed down to dinner at Royal Palace. At this point, we stopped dressing up for dinner and just wore our tour clothes. Tonight’s menu was Land and Sea. I almost didn’t go to dinner, but I needed to eat and clear out of the room so Kadek could turn it down. I tried to eat bland and light, so I ordered:

Celery Soup
Romaine Wedge
Lemon and Lime Roasted Half Chicken

I just had a plain old Mickey Mouse ice cream bar for dessert.



I have to say, I’m used to, and prefer, the Mickey bars from Disneyland. You know, the ones that are so hard you could break a tooth. This one was a little too soft.

Since last night was so rough, we decided to make tonight a do-nothing night. They had a comedic juggler at the WD Theater tonight, but I couldn’t get excited to see him.

Since we were more than halfway through our cruise, I started by putting some clothes I didn’t need for the rest of the cruise in our luggage. However, I would still need to do 2 more loads of laundry on Malaga day.

I checked the bridge report and settled down to read for a bit.



And then I saw this out of the corner of my eye. Now that we were heading south, west was on the starboard side of the ship. We watched this incredible sunset from our verandah. I love it when the sun disappears into the water.











Twilight from our room.



We set our clocks forward one hour, yet again, for last time. Yay!! That makes a grand total of 6 times! No wonder I’m so tired!



We had another full day in port tomorrow, so we called it a night.

Our towel animal tonight was a bunny.



Steps: 6183
Miles: 2.72

While we only scratched the surface in Lisbon, I found it to be a wonderful old-world city steeped in history. It would have been nice to have more time to explore the many plazas and squares. We really appreciated Marta’s knowledge and sharing her city with us. Looking back, I’m glad today was mostly a sit in the car and look around kind of day. Today was also a day that I was really glad to have a stateroom on the starboard side of the ship.

Next: The rain in Spain. . .

 

[bcwife76]

I'm sorry you had a rough night coming into Lisbon sounds like that tour you booked was absolutely perfect! I can almost smell and taste those gorgeous tarts

 

[Flossbolna]

Those tarts are to die for! One of my most favorite memory of going to Lisbon a few years ago. We actually went into the monastery and the cloister was spectacularly beautiful. Lisbon is very high on my list of European cities that I want to revisit. Unfortunately that list is far too long for my own good!

Sorry that you felt so bad that day, no sleep and sea sickness really sounds like a very unpleasant combo!

 

[FriendsOfEeyore]

Been following along with every post. My wife and I are booked on the EBTA next May. We also are booked b2b on the May 20th Med cruise from Barcelona. My employer knows about the Barca cruise, but the EBTA yet. I am so in love with your posts, that the employer is going to find out very soon. "Hey boss, so I am taking all of May 2024 off..."

Appreciate all your details and photos. Lisbon has sold me 100% to keep our plans. THANK YOU!

Did you talk to anyone who purchased the internet plan? Office would like me to have "some" access if possible.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Been following along with every post. My wife and I are booked on the EBTA next May. We also are booked b2b on the May 20th Med cruise from Barcelona. My employer knows about the Barca cruise, but the EBTA yet. I am so in love with your posts, that the employer is going to find out very soon. "Hey boss, so I am taking all of May 2024 off..."

Appreciate all your details and photos. Lisbon has sold me 100% to keep our plans. THANK YOU!

Did you talk to anyone who purchased the internet plan? Office would like me to have "some" access if possible.

Thank you for following along! I'm glad you're enjoying my posts. Lisbon is just the start!

My DN purchased the 2nd level so she could use email. She didn't have any problems.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

I'm sorry you had a rough night coming into Lisbon sounds like that tour you booked was absolutely perfect! I can almost smell and taste those gorgeous tarts

Thanks. The tarts were sooo delicious!

Those tarts are to die for! One of my most favorite memory of going to Lisbon a few years ago. We actually went into the monastery and the cloister was spectacularly beautiful. Lisbon is very high on my list of European cities that I want to revisit. Unfortunately that list is far too long for my own good!

Sorry that you felt so bad that day, no sleep and sea sickness really sounds like a very unpleasant combo!

Yes, the tarts!!! We knew we were going to see other cathedrals and such, so we didn't want to take the time that day for the monastery. Maybe someday, if we get back.

Thanks! Fortunately, on a cruise I have only felt sea sick very few times. I'm glad I was still able to go on the tour, but solid ground helped.

 

[Pens Fan]

I just discovered this review and am thoroughly enjoying it . We will be on the EBTA next May which will be our first DCL cruise since 2016. This review is so helpful and making me even more excited about our cruise. Thanks so much for taking the time to do this!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

I just discovered this review and am thoroughly enjoying it . We will be on the EBTA next May which will be our first DCL cruise since 2016. This review is so helpful and making me even more excited about our cruise. Thanks so much for taking the time to do this!

Thank you!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 13
Wednesday, May 17, 2023
Cadiz, Spain (Sevilla)



Today was our first stop in Spain. Our all-ashore time wasn’t until 10:00 AM so we could sleep in a little. The only problem was, I set the alarm on my phone, but I forgot to change the time an hour ahead. I did change it on my travel clock, but didn’t set an alarm. Fortunately, the weird sounding telephone woke us up at about 8:10 AM. Unfortunately, it was our DNs telling us they had a rough night with DNM being up and sick with very little sleep all night, so they would not be going on our tour with us.

We arranged another Tours by Locals to Sevilla with Carlos. He is a native of Sevilla. It was about an hour and a half drive to Sevilla from Cadiz and we had tickets to see the cathedral at 12:20 PM.

I got up and checked outside. It appeared to be overcast. I could just start seeing land.





The bridge report.



I slept really well and was feeling much better today. We went up to Cabanas for breakfast at around 9:00 AM and ran into DJ. We arranged to meet with her at the deck 8 midship elevator at 9:45 AM. We then went and got some photos of the Puerto de Cadiz. We had some company in port today.







We figured we were getting off again on Deck 3 midship.



There was some confusion with meeting DJ as DNC decided to join us after all. But we straightened it out and waited down in the Atrium until they let us off the ship. Finally, at 10:15 AM we were walking down the ramp.

I hadn’t seen this the 2 previous times off of the ship.



We got Shutter’s to take our group picture with the life ring.

We met Carlos our guide and Eduardo our driver outside the cruise terminal. We were just a little late.

We drove through old town Cadiz. It was beautiful. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any time to enjoy it.











Cadiz, like so many European cities, was once walled. This is part of the old wall.





Before we knew it, we had circled back to the port.



We then crossed the Puente De La Constitución de 1812 Bridge, otherwise known as the La Pepa bridge, on our way inland to Sevilla.



After a quick stop at a gas station/café (we got there just before the DCL bus), we got quite the agriculture lesson the hour and half drive to Sevilla. First, Spain is way behind in their rain fall. So much so, that farmers had to harvest their wheat crops early. However, we did see a lot of olive orchards and sunflower fields.





We passed a village.



Next thing we knew, we were entering Sevilla. This was an old part of Sevilla with the old stately homes. Some are embassies.











To be continued. . .

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 13 continued.

Eduardo dropped us off in the neighborhood of Santa Cruz, mere steps away from the cathedral. Carlos told us about the rosemary scam and told us not to accept any rosemary from anybody. Basically, an older lady will hand you a rosemary sprig and tell you your fortune, then expect you to pay anywhere from €5 to €20. We saw them, but nobody approached us.











The monument of Immaculate Concepcion.



The Giraldillo tower sits outside the cathedral watching over the city. It was part of the original Moorish tower that called people to prayer. On top is the Triumph of the Victorious Faith statue.



The cathedral was built on the site of a great mosque from the late 12th century. You can see some of the original walls as well as added naves. It is the second largest cathedral, not to be confused with Basilicas, in Europe, behind St. Paul’s in London.

We pre-purchased our tickets for entry into the Sevilla Cathedral at 12:20 PM. Carlos took us right to the back entrance and we were in with hardly any wait.

We entered the cathedral. The first thing we saw was a crocodile hanging from the ceiling.





Carlos was very knowledgeable about the cathedral and took us all around. I’ve been to some of the largest cathedrals in Europe and this one was very majestic.

The first thing we see is the Alter de Plata, which is made entirely of silver. It gets polished regularly by a host of volunteers. It was stunning.



The windows and main nave of the cathedral.





Then we saw the main altar piece. This 80-foot wall of gold covered with statues is considered the largest altarpiece ever made.







The choir.



Notice the little organ on the right.



Then we entered into the Chapter House.





“The Immaculate Conception” painting.



Then we walked out into another meeting area.



Then we walked into the Greater Sacristy.









Then we saw this monstrance. It is 1000 pounds. They actually parade this around town during Corpus Christi Festivities. Just stunning.



The Santa Justa and Rufina painting my Murillo. The 2 women are stylized as the martyrs.



That led us to Christopher Columbus’ final resting place. I say that because this was the 5th and last place he was buried. Unfortunately, by now, there’s not a lot left of him. He is also buried with a piece of his son.



The four figures represent the four kingdoms of Spain during Columbus’ life: Castille, Aragon, Navarre and Leon.



We then looked at another chapel.



Another ante chamber.



The pipe organ. Remember the little organ in the choir.



Here is where Christopher Columbus’s son is buried.



To be continued. . .

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 13 continued.

Some more of the nave.





We then went into the bapistry. There is an interesting history about this painting. The painting is called “The Vision de San Antonio” by Murillo.





Part of the painting was stolen in 1874, the canvas cut right out of the frame. It was later recovered and restored back into the painting. You can faintly see where it had been cut away.



We left the beautiful cathedral and started our walking tour of Sevilla.

We passed the Plaza Virgen de los Reyes.







We passed by restaurants that were once Turkish baths.



We went to the old Jewish neighborhood and saw places that the Jewish people would have lived with beautiful tile work.





The doors in the city were fascinating. Some had little doors within a door for the servants.





There were markers showing old Jewish neighborhood landmarks.



We then went to the building with the Rosina’s Balcony from “The Barber of Seville.”





We walked down small streets and by other pedestrian streets.











Then we went to a very nice little restaurant for lunch.



The place had lots of bull heads hanging on the walls, evidently the ones that didn’t beat the Toreador (Bull Fighter). And, of course, the Iberian Ham.





We had a very refreshing local white wine as well as Tapas:



Fried Eggplant with molasses
Cold tomato creamy soup
Beef coquette
Iberian ham

It was delicious.

DH enjoyed a sangria! When in Spain!



We passed by Calle Betis and this very narrow building with Moorish architecture.





We walked by Calle Sierpes. Barcelona’s major shopping street.

We walked by a statue honoring Miguel de Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote.



To be continued. . .

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 13 continued.

We then went into another church and found this wooden statue of the San Cristobal. Everything in this church was done in the baroque style. You know; if it’s not baroque, don’t fix it!









Next, we walked to where the most modern structure covered the oldest structure in Seville. The Metropol Parasol.





The roman ruins underneath.







Eduardo met us with the car, and we made our way to the Parque Maria Luisa. But first, we drove by what was once the tobacco factory but is now the university. It is the 2nd largest building in Sevilla. When it was a tobacco factory it inspired the opera, “Carmen.”



Eduardo dropped us off in front of the park where we walked down tree line walkways to:



This:



The Plaza de España! It was used as the main building for the World’s Fair in Sevilla in 1929. It was absolutely breathtaking!





















George Lucas used this site as inspiration for and to film a scene from Star Wars: The Clone Wars.



Check it out.

After taking a little time here, it was time to head back to Cadiz. Eduardo was waiting to take us back and we bid adios to Carlos.

On the way back, we ran into a thunderstorm, and it was raining so hard, Eduardo could hardly see a car length in front of him for about 10 minutes. Eduardo was the best driver!



Nothing like a good raindrops on the window photo!



We crossed the La Pepa bridge and made it back to port.



To be continued. . .

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 13 continued.

We made it back to the ship at around 5:15 PM. We did a little shopping at the shop in the cruise terminal, showed our KTTW Card (no ID requested), and boarded the ship at 5:30 PM. All aboard was 6:30 PM.

We made it back in time for dinner at 5:45 PM. Dinner tonight was in Animator’s Palate, and it was Animation Magic night. DNM was feeling better so both DNM and DNJ joined us for dinner.

We submitted our drawings but had to wait for water and drinks, and even had to ask a couple of times. I must admit that by this time, I wasn’t looking forward to dinners at night. The menu items were all starting to look alike and the service with Paloma was not really getting better. I ordered.

White Cheddar and Broccollini Soup
Grilled Garlic – Marinated Shrimp (w/ Linguini)
No dessert for me tonight as I had other plans.

They started the show, but we weren’t directly in front of a screen.





After dinner, we went to watch us leave port. I noticed a fireboat saluting us as we left. I thought maybe because it was the Dream’s first visit to Cadiz. It was pretty cool regardless.







The pilot boat.



I had been wanting to get a 25th Anniversary dessert from Venellope’s, so I purposely didn’t have dessert after dinner.



I thought the door handles were cute too. But they were not on the door handle scavenger hunt.



This is what I got. We went to the seats over by the Cove Cafe.


Well, it sure was pretty and tasty, but unfortunately very dry.

As I mentioned before, I pre-purchased the photobook for this cruise, so we would stop at Shutters on Deck 5 midship occasionally to look at our photos and add them to our book. We did that tonight.

Here are directions to get your photos after the cruise. You can also go to the DCL website under already booked and scroll down to My Cruise Photos. They are watermarked until you download your purchased number. It was super easy. I like this system so much better than in years past.



A singing group, called the Fly Boys were in the WD Theater tonight. But I decided not to go. DNs were still recovering from little sleep and went to bed early. We made an early night as well and rested as we had an early tour in the morning. The dreaded tip envelopes had also been delivered earlier by Kadek.



Checking the bridge report, we were heading south from Cadiz at 12 knots. It felt like we were crawling after going 19-21 knots for so long.



At around 1:00 AM we were expected to enter the Strait of Gibraltar and pass the Rock of Gibraltar. We were not on the right side of the ship to see it from our verandah, so we would have to go up on deck. DH said we wouldn’t see anything in the dark, so I did not set an alarm.

Our towel animal for the night was a lobster.



We were so happy to be done with moving our clocks forward!

Another beautiful sunset.







I woke up at about 12:50 AM to go to the bathroom. I decided to look outside knowing that we were not on the right side of the ship to see the Rock of Gibraltar. However, I did see these lights.



Best we can figure is they were from Tangiers on the coast of Africa! The strait is only about 10 miles wide, so this is probably the closest I’ll ever get to Africa! DH decided he would get dressed and go up and see if he could see anything. He saw some lights and an outline of a mountain. I wish we had passed through during daylight hours.

A quick look at the bridge report showed us where we were.



I absolutely loved Sevilla! It was my favorite city that we visited. The city was beautiful, clean and so charming. The people were so nice and we felt very safe walking through the maze of streets. I hope to one day go back and spend more time there. There was so much that we didn’t get to see!

Steps: 11,274
Miles: 5.01

Next: . . . falls mainly in Malaga!

 

[ukintheus]

I'm just catching up and you've been busy!! So sorry you weren't feeling great but Lisbon looked amazing, as did Seville. I love the private tours, you get to see so much more, and locals know the best places to grab something to eat. The Pasteis are something Susana Moreira has mentioned to us in the past, so it's on our "to do" list if we ever get to that part of the world. Shame about the rain in Cadiz/Seville, but it looks like you dodged it for your walking tour!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

I'm just catching up and you've been busy!! So sorry you weren't feeling great but Lisbon looked amazing, as did Seville. I love the private tours, you get to see so much more, and locals know the best places to grab something to eat. The Pasteis are something Susana Moreira has mentioned to us in the past, so it's on our "to do" list if we ever get to that part of the world. Shame about the rain in Cadiz/Seville, but it looks like you dodged it for your walking tour!

Thankfully it was just the one day I was not feeling well, and at that point I was just tired. We are addicted to the private tours as well and love eating at the local restaurants. You definitely have to get the pastries in Lisbon. If you get a tour guide, you too can jump in front of the line!

We were very lucky with the rain. We are glad it did rain because Spain certainly needed it, but we were fortunate to miss it while actually touring. Barcelona was another matter all together.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 14
Thursday, May 18, 2023
Malaga, Spain (Alhambra)



Today we had arranged another adventure with Tours by Locals to Granada with our ultimate destination being Alhambra. We would be cutting it close today on time. Our 7.5-hour tour would start at 8:30 AM. Our all-aboard time was 4:45 PM.

I am a huge Amazing Race fan and got our neighbors hooked as well, so much so that we get together to watch the episodes. Last season they went to several of the places we went to on our August cruise and one place, in particular, we would be going to on this cruise: Malaga, Spain!

In Season 34, Episode 9, AR started a mega leg in Malaga! Even though I knew we weren’t going to see a lot of Malaga, I was looking forward to seeing the sites where they held their competitions.

We were up at 6:45 AM.

I looked outside. It was still a bit dark, and we were approaching the port. I was in time to see this beautiful sunrise. We were no longer in the Atlantic Ocean having gone through the straight last night.









The pilot boat approached.







Bridge Report.





We went up to breakfast at Cabanas and found that only DNC would be joining DJ and us today. DNJ was not feeling well. He was staying back with DNM.

We found out that we were getting off at Deck 3 Midship again.



We met down in the atrium at 8:15 AM to get off the ship. They were doing a scavenger hunt again today, this time it was statues. Another one we wouldn’t be able to complete.



I made sure we had the emergency port information.



By the time they let the DCL tour groups get off the ship, it was just about 8:30 AM. They had a shutters photographer in the terminal for a picture. We wanted to grab a quick one, but his “card reader” wasn’t ready yet. He took one with DNC’s phone, but it didn’t turn out very well.

We met our driver. In Spain, your tour guide cannot also be your driver. So, we would be driven up to Alhambra and meet our tour guide, Juan, there. Our driver was all business and hardly said 2 words to us during the entire drive.

We drove by the beach where Amazing Race was filmed last season along the beach in Malaga while heading to Granada. This is the beach where they had to put the sardines on a stick and cook them. Remember, Claire was a vegetarian and wouldn’t even touch the sardines, so Derek had to do all the work.



Welcome to Malaga, Andalucía.



The drive was pretty uneventful. We did run into a couple of small accidents on the way, but nothing that delayed us. In AndalucÍa, their mascot is a bull. So, you will see these massive billboard silhouettes of the bull along the major roads. We saw one on the way to Sevilla yesterday too.



We passed fields of wheat, olive trees and a few vineyards.





We made it up the hill from Granada to Alhambra.



Alhambra is the last Moorish palace. In 1492 it became the royal court of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand. This is where Columbus received his endorsements for his explorations.

After a small snafu with the tickets we purchased online, we made our way inside. We had timed tickets for the Palace, but we could enter any time after our appointed time. Juan took us through the tour group line, with no wait, and we had our passports scanned since they were attached to our tickets.

It is said that Isabella and Ferdinand chose the pomegranate as a symbol of their victory over the moor. It has become a symbol of Andalucía and you will find them everywhere.



Juan took us up Cypress lined walkways through gardens currently being restored in an Italian style. It was a beautiful day.















I love the cobblestone patterns.








To be continued. . .

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 14 continued.

We were there admiring the garden and the pond when all of a sudden, we heard a croak. We started looking among the water lilies and found this little guy making his presence known.



The roses were just past their prime but beautiful nonetheless. Please indulge me while I share all the incredible flowers in the gardens.





















Then we made our way to the Generalife. Basically, the country estate of the Nastrid kings.

The Patio de la Acequia.

























The views back to Alhambra from here were incredible.













To be continued. . .

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 14 continued.

We started making our way to the palace along the ruins of Alcazaba.

The remains of the aqueduct, which had to be cut to make the walkways to the palace.





















We passed by the Palace of the Convent of San Francisco, which was most recently a hotel.







There’s a small village with shops before we got to the palace. Juan showed us an old Mosque steam baths.

They essentially made sky lights.













Fun fact: The American writer, Washington Irving, stayed in Alhambra in 1829. He was one of the first to fight to get Alhambra persevered and reconstructed.

DJ and I decided to put our big bags in a locker. Free lockers were provided. Backpacks needed to be worn in front of you if you took them into the palace. Items were x-rayed before putting them in the locker. The x-ray had its own guard. They took their security seriously.



By this time, we started hearing thunder in the distance and seeing rain clouds build in the not so far distance as we made our way into the Alhambra Palace. With any luck at all, we would be inside when it started raining. We were for the most part.













To be continued. . .

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 14 continued.

Finally, the entrance. We got the bags we kept searched upon entering.

This was the first room we entered. Here they showed some of how they restored the walls.







While the Christians kept most of the moor designed intact, they would add their own embellishments to show their superiority.



One of the ways was by adding gold to the already immaculately carved ceilings.





Juan pointed to the Arabic writing pattern on the wall that would repeat over and over.



It says:

Power belongs to God.
Glory belongs to God.
Kingdom belongs to God.

Moving on.






The intricacies of the carvings in the ceilings and the plaster on the walls were extraordinary. I got a crick in my neck just looking up at it all.















The Courtyard of the Myrtles. By this time, it was raining. Otherwise, the water would have made a great reflection pool.









The next room.




This part of the floor was roped off.





The other side of the courtyard.



The Courtyard of the Lions. This was my favorite part of the palace.















To be continued. . .