Valencia Cruise port & taxi (Industrial port arrival)

[clearlake_cruiser]

*** Long post *** Maybe this will be useful to others arriving at Valencia for the day, seeking info on Taxi service from Muelle Cruceros (Valencia cruise pier for large ships)...

 

We just got off RCCL Voyager of the Seas May 1-16 2024 transatlantic ended in Barcelona Spain. For our Valencia port call, RCCL advised before arrival of only 3 options to get off. Pedestrians are not permitted to walk in the dock area (container port terminal): 1. Ship sponsored shore excursions; 2. Paid ship city center transfer bus round trip to downtown for $20 per person; or 3. Free bus transfer to port gate for access to public transportation. The ship implemented a free ticket system to manage crowds for the free bus to the port gate.

 

We had researched ride share app Cabify (like Uber) but they couldn't enter the port. We didn't know if taxis were only available at the ferry terminal Trasmed-Grimaldi which is outside the port gate & is where the free bus drops off & picks up.

 

Since we had an early independent excursion, and the port call was relatively short, we planned to get an early Free bus number & were able to get off quickly & then took a public bus for €1.50 per person. We had a 10 minute walk to our tour office which was all good. 

 

Unfortunately we failed to ask & RCCL made no mention of pier side taxi access, and we mistakenly assumed that fell in the category of public transportation. See below for signage and one-way taxi fare estimated costs to various locations.

[Hlitner]

It is not an oversight, when cruise lines fail to tell their customers of decent options that can be used in lieu of the cruise line's overpriced/overcrowded shore excursions.  Cruise lines are in the business of making money, and shore excursions (and even paid shuttle buses) are a profit center.  There are quite a few ports in Europe (and elsewhere) that are closed to pedestrians (usually for safety reasons).  In nearly all closed ports, there will be a free internal port shuttle bus to get folks to a place (often near the port entrance) where they can go off on their own.  Some closed ports do have a taxi area adjacent to the ship, and others will require that you take their free shuttle to the "port terminal" or other area where there is usually local taxis and access to local transportation.

 

As long time (over 50 years) DIY travelers (who consider "tour" a 4 letter word), we have learned to do much of our pre-cruise "homework" here on CC.  There are usually more than a few folks that can give detailed info on just about any port.  In over 50 years of extensive world cruising, I can only recall two ports where we were forced to use a paid cruise line transfer to get out of the port area, and that was in Murmansk, Russia and Constanta, Romania.  I should add that in those ports, we did take cruise line excursions, and later thought, (we should have saved our money and stayed on the ship).

 

Hank

[Mariester22]

The paid city center bus, so you have to be back at a certain time to get back to ship or are there multiple return times? Traveling with our four kids and trying to determine best way to navigate this port. We do not have excursion booked. Thought it was easy enough to explore/walk ourselves. Kids want to go to city of arts and science and see some of the old markets. 

[Mariester22]

33 minutes ago, Mariester22 said:

navigate

Trying to determine if we will be ok on our own or if i should be looking at your or what since there’s 6 of us, can’t risk getting lost but would love to explore and maybe even go into oceanagraphie if we have time if not just walking around city of arts and sciences. 

[JBare]

13 hours ago, Mariester22 said:

Trying to determine if we will be ok on our own or if i should be looking at your or what since there’s 6 of us, can’t risk getting lost but would love to explore and maybe even go into oceanagraphie if we have time if not just walking around city of arts and sciences. 

 

I don't think you'll get lost in Valencia, it's really easy to do on your own just using the local buses. We have been before and will be there again in September. A bit of research indicates things will be the same. The free port shuttle to the port gates stops at the ferry terminal entrance. Across the road about 100 metres is a bus stop for the No's 4 and 95 buses. catch the No 4 into the old town/centre of Valencia. A number of buses will take you from there to the futuristic science park and the No 95 will take you back to the port. Bus fares are 1.5 euro. If you use smartphones download the official EMT Valencia app which has all the bus routes. Inside the ferry terminal was a information counter with bus maps etc but they can be downloaded from the EMT site.

[windex]

Hello , Can I buy a bus ticket directly from the bus driver .

[clearlake_cruiser]

On 5/28/2024 at 7:40 PM, Mariester22 said:

The paid city center bus, so you have to be back at a certain time to get back to ship or are there multiple return times? Traveling with our four kids and trying to determine best way to navigate this port. We do not have excursion booked. Thought it was easy enough to explore/walk ourselves. Kids want to go to city of arts and science and see some of the old markets. 

Hi Mariester22,

We didn't use the ship paid city center bus. But I believe that they had multiple return times, with an announced "last bus pickup time" to make it back before all aboard. I think the city center bus would be better for visiting the central market & historic area. City of Arts and Sciences might be a trek on foot. Or you could use local transit once you're in city center. Check out the free app Moovit which has detailed bus, metro, etc ride mapping selections all over the world. Or Google Maps can do that for you.

[clearlake_cruiser]

On 5/29/2024 at 2:38 PM, windex said:

Hello , Can I buy a bus ticket directly from the bus drive

Yes, we did that from the free shuttle drop off outside the port gate, then a short walk across the roundabout to the city bus stop.  I believe the local bus fare was €1.50 per person & we paid with contactless credit card using an payment terminal onboard the bus. 

 

I agree completely with JBare above, great details re: bus numbers, the EMT app & route; exactly our experience too.

Edited June 1 by clearlake_cruiser
duplication