Palma is the first of our four consecutive port days that will start our 14-night cruise.  Back-to-back port visits, each with all-day excursions, don’t leave much free time for other activities.  We are looking forward to all the sea days on the transatlantic so we will have time to explore the ship.

The Wonder of the Seas moored in Palma

The Wonder of the Seas moored around 8 AM at the cruise terminal, which is located about 1.5 miles from the main city streets and about 4 miles from the town center.  The port offered a shuttle bus from the ship to the base of the Palma Cathedral for €10 round trip.

Map of Mallorca showing ship location and Vallidemossa

Close-up of Palma showing key points of interest

We can’t hear any announcements (except emergency announcements) in our cabin which is typical for most cruise lines.  On other cruise lines, we could hear a chime or something that indicated an announcement was forthcoming so we could open the hallway door, balcony door or turn to a certain TV channel.  The good news is our cabin door is soundproof, but the bad news is that we can’t easily hear the pre-announcement chimes to let us know to open the door.  What this means it that we never hear the announcement that the ship has been cleared and we can go ashore.  Broadcasting non-emergency announcements on the same TV channel as the ship’s location would seem to be an easy solution.  Nevertheless, we now know that we won’t hear anything in our cabins so for now we will assume the ship has been cleared on schedule and proceed accordingly.  We may just leave our door open in the morning so we can hear the ship clearance announcement.

ROOM SERVICE BREAKFAST

We ordered room service breakfast using the hang tag that was available on request.  There weren’t any hang tags in our cabin, but our room steward brought us a handful when we asked.  I’m not sure if they are supposed to be in the rooms in the first place.

The rooms don’t have any tables, so you have to either clear off the dresser or desktop or use the bed.

Continental Breakfast is delivered free, while anything else on the menu will cost you $7.95 per delivery, not per item, plus an 18% gratuity.

They seem to deliver on the early side of the 30-minute window you select and they will call about 10 minutes beforehand to alert you that they are on the way.

LEAVING THE SHIP

We were concerned that with the large numbers of passengers on this massive ship, there might be delays while departing but there weren’t any lines or delays in leaving the ship.  There are two gangways, one forward and one aft, on Deck 2, with escalators down from Deck 3.  We haven’t experienced any delays so far.

The cruise terminal is a large empty hall without any services.  Guides for private tours were holding signs and there was a booth selling the €10 round-trip shuttle bus tickets.

SPAIN DAY TOURS

We booked an all-day Palma and Valldemossa Tour with Spain Day Tours for €69.  Gabriel, our guide, holding a sign, met us in the terminal.  Spain Day Tours limits the group size to 18 people (we had 13) but we still were using a large 40-passenger bus.  Our driver was Domingo.

Our first stop was Castell de Bellver, which was built in the 14th century for the King of Majorca and is one of the few circular castles in Europe.  The castle is open after 10 AM if you wanted to take a look inside.

Castell de Bellver

We spent about 20 minutes here walking around the perimeter and enjoying the view.

Our tour continued and we headed to Central Palma where the bus stopped near the Palma Cathedral long enough for us to get off and start our walking tour.

Although the Cathedral was open, there was a line and our group decided not to go inside.

There were numerous horse-drawn carriages around the Cathedral offering rides for €60.

We stopped by the pastry shop, Ca Na Cati, near the town hall to get a snack.

Inside the nearby Palma Town Hall were several giant puppets that are used in an annual Gathering of the Giants in Palma.

These giant puppets, made of cloth and plywood, were inside the Palma town hall

A giant Panda was posing in the park with passing children

Gabriel led us on a 45-minute walking tour where we learned about how Chopin, George Sand (aka Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin Dudevant), Catalina Homar, and Archduke Ludwig Salvator had spent time here back in 1839.  We had free time afterward and we enjoyed a snack at the Sa Foganya Café before exploring some of the shops on Valldemossa’s main street.

One of the small streets in Valldemossa

Statue of Chopin

This is where we enjoyed lunch

 

Judy found a Robin Ruth bag at one of the shops in Valldemossa

Pete with our driver Domingo and guide Gabriel

Dinner was at 8 PM in the MDR where our table for 6 remains empty of the other guest assigned.  I suspect that when people get the Unlimited Dining Package they are determined to get their money’s worth and avoid the “free” MDR.

As we packed for this cruise, we wondered if many people would bring costumes for Halloween.  That question was answered this evening with a Halloween Parade on the Royal Promenade at 9:30 PM.  There were hundreds of people in costume, many of them very elaborate.  Here is a video that shows the parade along with the follow-on-party in Studio B.  One of the advantages of a large ship is that the energy level for parties and events can be off the charts for what you may be used to on smaller ships.

We had a great time.