Have YOU ever been to Palma de Mallorca?

[cruzy-sue]

Well, I have not. I am trying to decide what excursion to do there.

Questions:

Where the NCL Jade ports - is this close to (walking distance) from the town where there are great shops and restaurants?

Do I need to take a ship excursion in order to see the best of Palma?

Thank you in advance for this info!

[jocap]

Like most people from the UK, we've had many holidays on Majorca, but we've only cruised into Palma once. The terminal is at the west end of the long sea front of Palma, and we walked the mile into town, although a shuttle bus was provided, which goes to a large carpark below the Cathedral. Palma is a large, beautiful city, and you'll be able to stroll into it from the car park. There are many shops, some quite expensive, and plenty of cafes etc. It is more expensive to eat outside in the plazzas than inside. The cathedral is a must-see.
If you want to be on the beach, there's usually a bus to holiday resorts east or west, on the main road behind the sea front. Not far to the west of your ship is the palace of the Royal family of Spain.
One excursion worth doing- if you like this sort of thing- is the train thru' the mountains to the orange town of Soller. The track runs thru' tunnels, and people's back gardens! At Soller, you can transfer to old trams down to the port.
One tip we always pass on for Palma.....If you can't find a public loo, buy a cheap coffee in MacDonald's, which entitles you to use their clean toilets! It works for us!- Enjoy...jocap.

[euro cruiser]

We stopped there on an MSC cruise several years ago. We didn't take a ship excursion, we hired a driver ourselves and went to the caverns ... where we ran into the ship excursion group. However, we weren't forced to stop at the pearl factory on the way back and we came and went on our own schedule.

We went back and had dinner on the ship, then returned to town by cab to go to a nightclub one of our tablemates recommended. A good time was had by all.

[jspirit]

Anyone do the segway tour here, thru the cruiseline? Comments? Thanks.

[tom_uk]

We've visited Palma several times, though never in fact on a cruise. (Will do next year, however).

Palma itself is large city with a population approaching half a million. It's a centre of government, administration and tourism, so it has a wide range of shopping, restaurants and nightlife to accommodate wealthy & sophisticated locals as well as the tourist trade.

You can walk from the cruise terminal into the city centre, but if there's a shuttle service I suggest that you use it. In the city we like the Cathedral and the old town. On the outskirts we had a good visit one day to Castell Belver, a medieval fortification on a high point overlooking Palma Bay.

The island has a lot of mass tourism, but most of the main resorts are clustered in specific locations, e.g. Arenal, Palma Nova, Magaluf, etc, around the Bay of Palma. Off to the north and west things are less intensively developed, and a visit to Pollenca or Soller would be enjoyable, as would Port Andratx or Valdemossa. Port de Soller is a little jewel of a place on the NE coast. We also enjoyed beaches at Porto Cristo (E coast - quite a way from Palma) and Illetes (actually, quite close to the cruise terminal). The drive along the mountains of the N coast is, ahem, 'fun', and there are magical places in them, for example Deia at the western end, or Monastir de Lluc near the other end.

Have a look at this website for bus information: