Mediterranean Cruise: Palma de Majorca

Mediterranean cruise: Palma de Majorca

If you’re up for a tour of Western Europe from a lovely, floating hotel, try a 10-night Mediterranean cruise like I took — to Palma de Majorca, Corsica, Malta, Sicily, Naples, Rome, Florence and Pisa. It was wonderful!

Before signing up for this cruise, though, I had to look up Malta, Corsica and Palma de Majorca on a map!

After departing from Barcelona, the first stop was Palma de Majorca.

Palma is a resort city and the capital of the island of Majorca off the coast of Spain.

ocean view at palma de majorca
Took a guided bus tour to see as much as possible in a day and we went to Bellver Castle, a 14th century round castle at the top of a hill with a great view of the harbor.

bellver castle in palma de majorca

Also saw the Royal Palace of Almudaina, where the King of Spain spends the summer near the harbor.

Royal Palace of Almudaina in Palma de Majorca

Next to it is the Cathedral of Santa Maria of Palma, which has the largest stained glass rose window in the world (which, unfortunately, we didn’t get to go inside to see). It was a beautiful, ornate building.

cathedral at palma de majorca with largest rose window in the world

We boarded the bus then and drove into the country to a 16th century farm building (Son Amar) to  see authentic Flamenco dancing. On the way there, the guide told us that Majorca has six million almond trees — and he pointed out a few!

almond trees in palma de majorca

He also showed us their jail, which has a pool for the inmate and conjugal visits.

entrance to flamenco dancing in palma de majorca

As we walked the path to the farm house at Son Amar, a Flamenco dancer on a horse greeted us outside the archway.

flamenco dancer on a horse in palma de majorca

We had a chance to pose for a photo with another dancer (couldn’t resist — see below).

diane and flamenco dancer at son amar in palma de majorca

Once inside, we were served  tapas and sangria before the show. All the seats were covered with bright red, embroidered scarves and the tabletops were decorated with flowers.

flamenco dancing show in palma de majorca

The dancers — both male and female — wore leather shoes with high wooden heels, and the women had bright flowers in their hair (just like you see on TV and in the movies!). They wore swishy skirts and danced on a wooden stage, where several musicians played. At various times during the performance, the male dancers pounded the floor with wooden canes — so it was a very lively show!

couple in palma de majorca

After the show, we went to an area with shops and had about 40 minutes to browse. Since my luggage was lost again (yes, for the second European cruise in a row!) I bought a pair of sandals.

shopping at palma de majorca

Palma de Majorca was beautiful and charming. If you get a chance to see it, go!

celebrity equinox at palma de majorcaRelated blog posts:

16 Ways to Save Money on Cruises

12 Reasons Cruises are Better than Land Vacations

Why I Love Solo Cruising

Traveling Solo: Why I Love Princess Cruise Lines

Regal Princess Review: Top 20 Amenities

Celebrity Equinox Review: 14 Cool Features

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Mediterranean Cruise to the Greek Islands and Venice: Off to a Bumpy Start

Mediterranean Cruise: An Adventure in Montenegro

Mediterranean Cruise: A Day in Santorini, Greece, Climbing a Volcano and Exploring a Mountaintop Village

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Ode to Lost Luggage

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26 Responses to Mediterranean Cruise: Palma de Majorca

  1. Elisa says:

    Looks great! Is this your first time in Spain? Can you still understand native French speakers?

    • blogqueendiane says:

      Yes — and because my plane got rerouted at the last minute, I didn’t get to go on the tour of Barcelona scheduled! So this is all I saw. Wanted to use French — and even kept thinking in French — while I was out and about, but never got a chance to. Do you ever get to use it?

  2. Elisa says:

    Hi, I taught French in 90 and 91, and for about 9 weeks in 93. It was French I, though. Since then, I haven’t used it. I’ve downloaded books in French on my Kindle, and sometimes I’ll read a little. It’s easier for me to read it than to do anything else with it. That’s great you still found yourself thinking in French!

    • blogqueendiane says:

      Wow – I don’t think I knew you ever taught French! Very cool. After all those Saturday morning French conversation classes…

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