Cadiz (tours to Seville) cruise port, Spain
Probably the oldest continuously lived-in city in western Europe: the Phoenicians founded Gadir here around 1100 BC. Columbus sailed from Cadiz on his second and fourth voyages. The ship berths beside the old town, so this is one of the few ports you can simply walk into, and the old town is small enough to cross on foot in twenty minutes.
Worth knowing. Francis Drake raided this harbour in 1587 and burned the fleet being gathered against England. He called it singeing the King of Spain's beard.
What to do in Cadiz (tours to Seville) for free
There is no shuttle here and no queue for one, which is worth knowing because most ports have both. The Roman theatre is open to walk into and costs nothing. La Caleta, the beach between the two old forts, is about twenty minutes through the fishermen's quarter.
What costs money
The ship's own excursions usually cost more than booking the same trip yourself. Two things come with the price. The ship waits for its own excursions and does not wait for you. And if the port is missed, P&O refunds its own without you asking. A trip you booked yourself is a claim on your travel insurance, so check what your policy covers. The ship sells its own trips to all of these, and the desk is open on board if you would rather do it that way.
Seville. A hundred and twenty kilometres north. The station is ten minutes from the ship and the train takes about ninety minutes each way, so this is one you can do without a tour. It is also most of your day.
Jerez de la Frontera. Sherry country, and much closer than Seville on the same line. The bodegas and the horses are what people go for.
Which ship calls at Cadiz (tours to Seville), and when
Every call here between 15 August and 28 November 2026, with the hours ashore P&O published. These times are a guide, not a promise: the captain gives the real ones the day before.
| Ship | Sails | Day | Ashore |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arvia | 16 August 2026, 14 nights | Day 12 | 08:00 to 17:00 |
| Arvia | 13 September 2026, 14 nights | Day 12 | 08:00 to 17:00 |
| Arvia | 27 September 2026, 13 nights | Day 11 | 06:00 to 17:00 |
| Arvia | 10 October 2026, 13 nights | Day 11 | 06:00 to 17:00 |
| Iona | 7 November 2026, 14 nights | Day 10 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 5 December 2026, 14 nights | Day 10 | 07:00 to 17:30 |
| Iona | 19 December 2026, 16 nights | Day 12 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 27 February 2027, 14 nights | Day 10 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 9 May 2027, 14 nights | Day 4 | 09:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 6 June 2027, 14 nights | Day 4 | 09:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 20 June 2027, 14 nights | Day 12 | 08:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 4 July 2027, 14 nights | Day 4 | 09:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 18 July 2027, 14 nights | Day 12 | 08:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 15 August 2027, 14 nights | Day 4 | 09:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 12 September 2027, 14 nights | Day 4 | 09:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 2 October 2027, 14 nights | Day 11 | 08:00 to 17:00 |
| Iona | 30 September 2028, 14 nights | Day 11 | 08:00 to 17:00 |
How long you get ashore in Cadiz (tours to Seville)
The published times give you between about 9 and 11 hours alongside, depending on the sailing. Take off the time it takes a few thousand people to get off, and the time you need to be back on board before the ship leaves, and that is your day. P&O give the real hours the day before, and the all-aboard time is earlier than the departure time.
The other stops on these cruises
Every one of these is on at least one of the sailings that calls at Cadiz (tours to Seville).
- AlicanteSanta Barbara castle stands on the bare rock of Benacantil straight above the town, held in turn by Carthaginians, Romans and Moors because whoever had the rock had the harbour.
- Arrecife de LanzaroteBetween 1730 and 1736 the ground opened and buried a quarter of the island under lava; the Timanfaya field is still hot enough a metre down to cook on.
- BarcelonaThe Gothic Quarter is built on the Roman town of Barcino, and the Sagrada Familia has been under construction since 1882: Gaudi knew he would not see it finished and said his client was in no hurry.
- Civitavecchia (for Rome)Rome's port since Trajan built it in 106, and his harbour walls are still under the modern quays.
- FuerteventuraThe oldest of the Canaries and the flattest, a hundred kilometres off Africa and made mostly of wind, sand and goats.
- Gran CanariaColumbus put in at Las Palmas in 1492 to mend a rudder on his way west, and the house he is said to have stayed in is now a museum about him.
- IbizaFounded by Carthage in 654 BC, and a World Heritage site for the Renaissance walls of Dalt Vila and the Phoenician village at Sa Caleta rather than for anything that happened after 1987.
- La CorunaThe Spanish Armada sailed from this harbour in 1588, and it is still guarded by the Tower of Hercules, a Roman lighthouse from about the year 100 which has never stopped working: the oldest one on earth still doing its job.
- La Seyne-sur-Mer (for Toulon)A shipbuilding town across the water from Toulon, France's main Mediterranean naval base.
- La Spezia (tours to Florence /Pisa)A naval city at the head of a gulf, and the reason ships call is what sits either side of it: the Cinque Terre villages up the coast, Pisa and Florence inland.
- LisbonOn All Saints' Day 1755 an earthquake, then a tsunami up the Tagus, then three days of fire destroyed most of the city and shook Europe's confidence in a benign universe.
- MadeiraPortuguese sailors found it uninhabited in 1419 and set the forest alight to clear it; the fire is said to have burned for years, and the island is named for the wood.
- MalagaPicasso was born here in 1881, in a flat on the Plaza de la Merced, and there is a museum of his work a few streets away.
- MarseillesThe oldest city in France, founded by Greek sailors from Phocaea around 600 BC as Massalia, and it has faced the sea rather than Paris ever since.
- TenerifeMount Teide stands 3,715 metres over the island, the highest point in Spain and, measured from its base on the sea floor, the third largest volcano on earth.
- VigoEurope's biggest fishing port by weight landed, and it smells honestly of it near the market.
Money and language in Spain
Euro (EUR, €). Cards are normal, though a small market stall or a taxi may want coins. The Canary Islands are Spain and use the euro too. Onboard is always charged in sterling, so this only matters ashore.
English is common in the ports and thinner a street back.
| English | Spanish | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| Hello | Hola | OH-la |
| Goodbye | Adiós | ah-DYOSS |
| How much? | ¿Cuánto cuesta? | KWAN-toh KWESS-ta |
| Thank you | Gracias | GRA-syass, and GRA-thyass on the mainland if you want to blend in |
| Please | Por favor | por fa-VOR |
Free, and it works with no internet. Give it the dates you sail and it works out your own stops and saves the street map for each one. It shows you round the ship too.
All the ports written up so far, the things to do before you sail, or the ship pages for Iona and Arvia.