This is the first stop on our 12 day cruise around Spain, to both sets of Spanish Islands, two stops in Morocco, and ending in Lisbon, Portugal. I would first like to comment on NCL.  We have not been on an NCL cruise since we went to Alaska two years ago.  The ship we are on now is a sister ship to the one we were on then.  I enjoyed that trip immensely.  The service on that cruise was memorable because it was amazing.  I have enjoyed all our NCL cruises, but even though it’s only the second day, I can already see a bunch of differences in those two trips.  Today I played trivia with a couple I met and we won.  We didn’t receive anything at all.  That was very disappointing.  I mean, how much can a pin cost the cruise?  The entertainment schedule here is also very minimal.  We once saw the musical Six on an NCL cruise.  Tonight our only option was a violinist or a game show.  Last night the Welcome Aboard show only had a band play, instead of a variety of examples of the entertainment.  The food has also gone downhill.  Tonight I ordered a bruschetta.  The cheese on it was cream cheese. Yes, like you put on a bagel.  It listed mozzarella and ricotta.  It was not and it was gross.  These are just my initial impressions.  I did have a lovely dinner at Le Bistro last night, but my husband had to send back his steak three times before it was the right temperature.  

Our first stop was Palma de Mallorca.  We chose to not take a tour for this city.  It seemed fairly easy to navigate.  We noticed on our Freestyle Daily that they offer a shuttle service to the city. It cost $20 per person. Since it’s a 40 minute walk to get to the city center, this seemed reasonable…until you look at taxi prices.  We had to wait about half an hour to get a taxi, but it took us up to the castle, then we took another taxi to the city center, and then another taxi back to the ship.  It cost us less than $40. On tonight’s freestyle, there is another offering for this shuttle into the next city.  I just don’t understand why this is so expensive, it feels like the cruise is taking advantage of the older people on the cruise, especially since it’s cheaper to take a taxi, even though it doesn’t leave right from the ship. 

The taxi took us to the top of the hill to Castillo Bellver.  (I would never drive in Spain.  The number of obstacles we whipped around was incredible.) The cost of entering the castle is only 4 euros (a bit less than $4), which I thought was well worth it.  The castle was built in the 1300s and it is one of the only round castles.  It only took ten years to build, which was very fast.  There is a beautiful moat around the castle.  You have to climb stairs to enter (although I believe there is wheelchair access because there is wheelchair access to the second floor).  You can also climb a building on the side which houses public restrooms.  

The ground floor of the castle has a bunch of exhibits on the history of Palma de Mallorca with some pottery, coins, models, and old photos  on display. There are also quite a few statues and cannons outside these rooms.  If you climb to the second floor, there is a room that is set up as it would  have been historically.  There is one steep staircase that is one way up to the top floor (no one pays attention to the signs though, so be careful). The view from the top in amazing.  The way down is also a lot less steep than the stairwell up.  

I learned a valuable lesson about taxis when we left the castle.  If it has a 0 on the top, it is a tour taxi and not free. You need to look for a green light and another number, like 2.  We managed to find one to take us down to the Mércat.

On the way to the market, I noticed a lot of what looked like Catalan language on buildings.  I asked the taxi driver what is the major language on the island.  He said Spanish, but the second language is Catalan and it’s what kids learn in school. However, there is also a Mallorcan language that is a dialect of Catalan.  The things I could tell my former students.  I love learning new things about Spain.  

The market was awesome.  My husband got a delicious pastry and I got my favorite tortilla española and some cafe con leche.  We then went to a pizza place for my husband’s lunch.  It was Neapolitan style and quite yummy.  

We walked from there to a church and then continued wandering the city center.  We visited a modern art museum (which is not my favorite) and we saw quite a few interesting pieces that we enjoyed.  It was definitely worth it to check out. 

We then walked to the Basilica, stopping on the way to admire some patios and their decorations and the beauty of the stone.  The Basilica was 10 euros and we didn’t feel like paying that much for a church, so we did a little window shopping and found this 600 year old tree and some beautiful buildings.  We stopped for my husband to get some fresh squeezed orange juice and I got an iced latte.  We ended our tour of the city at the Cathedral.  We wanted to go inside, but it was roped off and we didn’t understand why. The palace is also right there, but we didn’t feel we had the time or inclination to explore.  Instead we took a bunch of pictures and then headed back to the ship.