I spent almost two weeks cruising around the Iberian peninsula, which included about a week's worth of days in cities around Spain.

This was my first time exploring the southern coast of the country, and I got my first taste of what I think most people associate with the country.  While I had been to Northern Spain once, I didn't feel Galicia and the Basque country are what most Americans think of when they imagine a visit to the country.

While sailing on Silversea's Silver Ray ship, I spend two days in Cadiz and Malaga each, and got to also visit Valencia and Alicante.

It was an incredible opportunity to explore the history and culture of Spain's Mediterranean coast, and I came away with some important lessons learned.

Here are the 7 things I either didn't expect or jumped out even more than I expected to me during my week sailing around Spain.

Meal times are much later

The siesta is real, and you need to plan around it.

In Spain, a lot of businesses shut down between 2 and 5pm for an afternoon break. This makes touring in the morning far more important, which might be a problem for those that like to sleep in.

The siesta is a socially accepted "nap" during the mid-day. Not everyone participates in it, but you'll notice a slow down around then.

The benefit to this schedule is they re-open businesses in the evening, and it's common for restaurants and shops to stay open until seven, eight, or even nine at night.

Many cities were easy to explore without a tour

If there's one thing I've come to accept more and more as a truth of cruising in Europe vs the Caribbean, it's that organized tours aren't nearly as necessary.

In almost all the ports we visited, our ship docked so close to the city center that it required either a short walk or a complimentary shuttle bus ride and then you could explore quite easily on your own.

Armed with Google Maps and some pre-cruise research, I was able to easily track down what I wanted to see without needing to rely on a cruise ship tour.

That being said, I did take a few different tours and while it's nice to have background and context provided by a guide, I found these cities were just as enjoyable to walk and see what was around the next corner.

I'd recommend anyone taking a cruise to these cities to embrace the idea of walking around the city on your own.  Download a walking tour or outline a few must-sees beforehand, and you'll find it quite manageable.

I didn't need to convert currency at all

I admit, I fell for a trap of European cruising I've written about before to avoid: I wasted money converting currency to Euros.

I watched a lot of videos before my cruise about what to do in each city, and I became increasingly concerned I'd need cash instead of a credit card (or tap to pay).

After spending a week here, I never needed cash in any restaurant, store, or street vendor I ran into. Everyone took tap to pay. In fact, I stopped bringing a credit card and just relied on my phone to pay with it.

The threat of pickpockets made touring more worrisome

Spain, unfortunately, has a reputation for having a lot of pick-pocketers. The worst is in Barcelona, which is the city I would fly home from.

Knowing this made touring anywhere with any kind of a crowd rather unnerving. It was probably more paranoia than anything, but I felt less safe in a Mercado or historical site with a lot of people around because it seemed like there was a higher chance of pick-pocketing.

Luckily, it didn't happen to me, but I was sure to keep my hands in my pockets when there was a crowd and I sometimes flipped my backpack around.

There's nothing wrong with being a vigilant traveler, so always be aware of your surroundings.

Real paella doesn't have seafood in it

During my Silversea cruise, they had a cooking class to learn how to make authentic paella from Valencia.

The chef leading our class said (and we later confirmed with locals) that real paella never has seafood in it.  Chicken and/or rabbit is the protein that you'd find in the place it originated, Valencia.

The other thing to know about it is that it needs time to be cooked.  Avoid any restaurant that has paella available in less than 25 minutes.

Every region has its own culture

Andalucia, Valencia, Catalonia: regions of Spain are quite different.

Spain is a country that holds different autonomous regions together and it's far less homogenized than you might assume.

It reminded me a little of how Texas, Quebec, or Puerto Rico are parts of their respective countries, but retain a very distinct cultural heritage, language, and approach to life.

As a tourist, you might notice things like how they pronounce basic words in Spanish, how much influence there is from other cultures in their architecture or food, or simply the look of the city.

It was fascinating to visit cities and find a different look and feel to it all.

The mercado was the easiest way to find local food

As a solo traveler, a sit down restaurant isn't as enjoyable as if I was going with a group.  Even with friends, sometimes a quick bite to eat is the right play to keep your adventure going

Every city had a market (called a Mercado) where you could find all sorts of food vendors.  Most are fish, produce and meat sold to be cooked or prepared, but I found food stalls too.

What I loved about eating in the Mercado was I got very fresh food to try, but I didn't have to commit to an entire sit-down meal either.

I regretted not going to the beach

I assumed April would be too cold to enjoy a swim in the Med, but I was totally wrong.

We had picture perfect weather in Alicante and Malaga, and I regret not bringing a bathing suit with me. Or at least, carving out time to spend hanging out on the beach.

I think I was also jaded from being to so many beautiful Caribbean beaches that the thought of going to the beach in Spain seemed unnecessary.

The truth is I wish I could have at least stopped for a bit at the beach in many ports I visited just to sit, relax, and enjoy the view. I was pleasantly surprised how beautiful these beaches were, and I would have loved to have found time to go there too.

One of the most important countries to the cruise industry in Europe is set to reopen its ports to cruise ships.

The gateway to Western Mediterranean cruises is Spain, and it looks as though they will welcome back cruise ships next month.

Spain's Transport Minister is reported by Reuters to have said its ports will allow cruise ship traffic once again, beginning on June 7.

With new cases falling and an increase in vaccinations in the country, Spain's government officials believe the time is right to let cruise ships back in.

In April, the European Union announced plans to allow fully vaccinated Americans to visit their countries this summer.

Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Croatia are the countries leading the charge to allow Americans, since their economy relies so heavily on tourism.

Spain's Prime Minister said fully vaccinated people from anywhere in the world would be allowed in last week, beginning June 7th.

Royal Caribbean has two ships scheduled to sail from Spain this summer, Harmony of the Seas and Rhapsody of the Seas.

Harmony's summer season is scheduled to begin on July 4, 2021 and is still on the cruise line's schedule to sail from Barcelona.

Harmony of the Seas European season is scheduled to run between July through October, wwith 7-night Western Mediterranean cruises that visit Palma de Mallorca, Provence, Florence, Rome, and Naples.

Rhapsody of the Seas has a transatlantic sailing scheduled for November 30, 2021 from Barcelona.

Cruise ships have been prohibited from operating in Spain since June 2020.

Royal Caribbean has not officially cancelled or made any updates to scheduled cruises in July, including Europe or the United States.

As of the posting of this article, Harmony of the Seas is off the coast of Barcelona, and Rhapsody of the Seas is in the Bahamas.

The world's largest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas, made a stop in Vigo, Spain today on its maiden voyage from Southampton, with some 8,000 people on board, including passengers and crew.

The massive ship, which was build at STX France, made her first stop in the city earlier today.

To commemorate the occasion, the ship's captain and the President of the Vigo Port Authority met to officially welcome Harmony of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean's General Director of Spain and France, Bethlehem Wanguemert, has been estimated  an economic impact to Vigo of some 350,000 euros. 

Harmony of the Seas spent almost 12 hours in port, and as the ship sailed away from Vigo, about 200 blue balloons were released to celebrate the world 's largest cruise ship's presence.

Harmony of the Seas headed next to Malaga, Spain and from there to Barcelona, ​​where he is scheduled to arrive on Sunday.

The city of Malaga, Spain is getting ready to celebrate the arrival of Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas with festivities to commemorate the occasion.

Oasis of the Seas arrives on Thursday and will be the first stop in Europe for this giant cruise ship.

Malaga's Department of Tourism has prepared musical activities in different parts of the historic center.  Activities are planned between 10:00am and 2:00pm. At noon the Flamenkura group will perform on stage on the main square of the Constitution. Between 12:00 and 2pm Alcazabilla street will host performances of Laura León Sánchez, Isa and the Flemish Flamenco Group.

At 11.00am, the mayor, Francisco de la Torre, and the Councillor for Tourism, Julio Andrade, will go aboard Oasis fo the Seas to deliver a commemorative plaque to the ship's captain.

Royal Caribbean is sending the largest cruise ship in the world, Allure of the Seas to Barcelona, Spain in summer 2015 to offer Mediterranean cruises.

Sailing from Barcelona, while also offering embarkation in Rome, Allure of the Sea’s seven night itinerary will feature calls in Palma de Mallorca, Marseilles, La Spezia (Florence and Pisa), Civitavecchia (Rome), and Naples.

Allure of the Seas will arrive in Barcelona in May 24, 2015 and offer cruises until October 2015.

The Mediterranean cruises will go on sale to Crown and Anchor Society members Febryary 12, 2014 and then go on sale to the general public on February 18.

Moving Allure of the Seas to Spain makes sense considering Royal Caribbean is bringing three new large cruise ships online over the next three years, with many (if not all) of them coming to the United States.

Royal Caribbean is looking to attract more cruisers from Spain and has developed an interactive online cruise guide to help those new to cruising become acclimated to the process.

The guide is a series of videos that are introduced by a friendly hostess, who takes novice cruisers through various sections that address typical concerns for people who are cruising for the first time. 

These short videos show statements by people that have cruised a lot and they also can learn about the destinations Royal Caribbean serves as well as the ships in Royal Caribbean's fleet.  There's also access to frequently asked questions.

Royal Caribbean representatives along with representatives from Norwegian Cruise Line met with port officials from Almuñécar, Spain as a possibility for shore excursions on future cruises.

The port cities of Motril and Malaga, Spain were also on hand as these cities were looking for ways to bring back Royal Caribbean after they announced the company would cease port calls to Malaga next year.  

This visit is part of the campaign to promote the Port of Motril as a destination for cruise ships where other cruise lines are already operating with some regularity.

The visit began with a welcome by the Municipal Tourism Coordinator, Rafael Caballero, at the headquarters of the Tourist Board of Almuñecar. In addition to delivering information about the town municipality, Caballero informed the group of the availability of a guided service to show some of the most prominent monuments and archaeological sites.

For municipal representative, Rafael Caballero, the visit of two large cruise line representatives "is very important to Almuñécar so can be assumed in the projection of our community be included in brochures and possible destination of tourists arriving to the port as we have had the opportunity to meet, "he said.

Royal Caribbean has committed itself to serving the port of Barcelona, Spain through 2013 and will make about 50 stops next year.

During 2013, Liberty of the Seas and Serenade of the Seas will home port in Barcelona and offer western Mediterranean itineraries but they will soon be joined by other Royal Caribbean ships.  Splendour of the Seas will arrive in May and Serenade of the Seas will offer a new route from Barcelona in January to the Middle East.

The news comes after Royal Caribbean opted to drop other Spanish ports such as Malaga, Valencia and the Balearic Islands will be dropped in 2013.  Royal Caribbean has promised to re-evaluate the situation in 2014 but for now, Barcelona remains a key port of call for Royal Caribbean in Spain.

In 2013, over 20,000 cruise passengers will call at Barcelona on Royal Caribbean ships that are based on other ports and that will mean about 1.2 million euros spent in Barcelona by tourists.

Royal Caribbean will cease home porting its ships in Malaga, Spain in 2013.  Currently Adventure of the Seas is there and will complete its 28 cruises but by 2013, she will move to be ported out of Southampton, England.

The move by Royal Caribbean to leave Malaga isn't permanent.  Royal Caribbean describes the change as "transitional" and anticipates reassessing the possibility of returning to Malaga in 2014, "given the interest of the company for the city".

Royal Caribbean has spent three years operating out of Malaga, near Valencia, as a base port for the western Mediterranean. The Adventure of the Seas, with capacity for 3,840 passengers, currently covers the route Málaga, Valencia, Civitavecchia (Rome), Livorno (Pisa and Florence) and Ajaccio (Corsica). 

The change was characterized by a Royal Caribbean spokeswoman as "reprogramming of the ships to meet new demand" and she also indicated that Malaga has received very high results in passenger satisfaction surveys.

Sebastian Camps, the Malaga port manager, insists Royal Caribbean's departure is "temporary" and blames the economic situation in the Mediterranena area.

The Port of Gijón, Spain will host the docking of Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas tomorrow.  This will be the first cruise of the season and will bring the city 2,435 passengers and 765 crew.

The Royal Caribbean ship will dock at North Pier Extension area, from Vigo bound for Portland (United States).

This is the same ship that opened last year the springs in the area of enlargement, reports the Port Authority of Gijón.

This is the first of nine cruise ships expected this year will host the Port of Gijón, reinforcing the role that has been gaining in recent years in passenger traffic.