July 6-7, 2016 Bilbao...

A bit off still, but we will be cruising on the Celebrity Constellation on these dates...Yes, the date of the "Running of the Bulls" in nearby Pamplona...

Celebrity is offering a shore excursion--9 hours for $399 per person...which leaves the ship at 5:00 am!!! Of course, it's about an hour and a half drive into Pamplona...and the Running actually starts at an ungodly 8:00 am...And, of course, this includes balcony viewing--and balcony space is limited...and costly even if booking on one's own...

I am imagining that doing this on our own or through an independent company has its risks--like getting back to the ship in Bilbao for our early 4:00 pm departure...or trusting the location or quality of the viewing area...

The other shore excursion offerings are relatively cheap--between $51 and $180 per person--to places other than Pamplona.

Last time we cruised into Bilbao, we just toured the town of Bilbao on our own, visited the Guggenheim, etc. And that cruise also stopped in Saint Jean-de-Luz, so we had some additional time in the Basque Country... I've also visited San Sebastian before (though my wife hasn't...and my sister and brother-in-law are coming with us and haven't visited this region at all).

Does anyone have any recommendations as to what to do...or any recommended tour guides or companies for this port?

Thanks...

Tough call. We have twice been in the area of Pamplona (on long driving vacations) when they had the "running of the bulls" and DW did not want any part of the crowds and traffic. In your situation, if we really wanted to go to Pamplona, we might actually just rent a car. The key would be where the ship is going to be the following day just in case extensive traffic caused us to miss the ship. We have often gambled on missing the ship in Europe, but only when we had a good "Plan B" that would allow us to easily catch-up to the vessel the following day. In fact, in your situation we might even consider staying off the ship that one night (on purpose) and catching up the following day. Ironically, after about forty years of cruising and many hundreds of port calls we have never missed any ship (came close a couple of times).

And by the way, the actual driving time from the Port of Gexto to Pamplona is closer to 2 hours (each way) which will be somewhat slower because of the heavy traffic in and around Pamplona.

Hank

We actually just made the quick choice to go with the Celebrity excursion...

...even though it means dropping $800 eighteen months before the cruise...

This is the one time when they say "limited space" and likely really mean it. There are only so many balconies along the bull route through town. Not like they can take 2,000 passengers to Pamplona and have any place to put them all.

Doing it through Celebrity does mean we should not have to worry about timing back to the ship. Even though we usually do our own thing or hire a private tour and have never missed the ship, this is the one occasion on which I'd worry about it.

Rental cars might be hard to come by, especially at 5:00 am or thereabouts...and renting one the day before means parking it somewhere at the pier overnight. Hotel rooms in Pamplona, if we decided to go the night before and stay overnight, are very expensive...and most hotels in the town require a 3 night minimum stay during the festival...

So, it looks like the most practical way to insure the timing and the balcony viewing spot is to take the Shorex option...

We will use the day prior to do something in Bilbao (possibly return to the Guggenheim)...

But, at least, the most problematic port day on our cruise is now covered...

Our other ports, sailing in and out of Barcelona, are Cadiz, Oporto, La Coruna, Lisbon, Gibraltar and Malaga...

We've been to Barcelona many times... and to Cadiz and La Coruna...Last time in those latter two, we did private tours to Seville and to Campostela de Santiago...May try to find something a bit different this time. From Malaga, I've been to Granada--but my wife and others in our party haven't, so we may do a tour there...Gibraltar, Oporto and Lisbon are new to us...

Any suggestions or private guide recommendations are appreciated...

Sounds like that tour might be your best option if you really want to see a lot of bull :). As to Bilbao, we think its actually a pretty nice city for walking. On all of our visits we like to stroll around the old town area and the market. There is also a nice walkway along the river which is enjoyable if the weather cooperates.

As to Malaga, there are many options (if you have a long port day) whether it be by tour or rental car. With a car you can certainly drive to Mijas for a stroll and morning coffee and then perhaps drive on to Ronda for lunch and the fabulous view of the gorge. Another option is to simply drive to places along the coast such as Marbella (and the nearby Porto Banus) where one can shop till they drop (and eat too) or perhaps drive over the Nerja or even the nearby caves. This is a fabulous region where many Europeans choose to spend 1 or 2 week vacations (or even longer) for good cause.

Hank