Our Air Transat flight to Barcelona left at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 28. We arrived at the airport the requested three hours ahead, had a very quick check in and then headed up to the Premier Lounge where for a nominal price you can sit in big comfy armchairs watching the planes arriving and taking off, and eating and drinking as much as you like. As I was now officially on vacation, I started it with two crab meat wraps, a veggie wrap, some chicken and mushrooms and three glasses of wine. The waiting time certainly flies when you're stuffing your face! Thank goodness we went to the Premier Lounge, as when we finally made our way downstairs to the boarding area, it was a scene of absolute chaos with over 300 people crammed into a boarding area with about 50 seats available! You could not hear any announcements regarding which seats were boarding, which didn't matter anyway, as the herd was just pushing through regardless. It's so funny to watch people trying to be first on the plane... your seat is there waiting for you, so what is the hurry? Our seats in this case were row 5, and were two seats together. On the Airbus 330, the configuration is two, four and two across, so if you book Air Transat, try to get one of the two side seats. The airplane was brand new and had loads of leg room, plus many options on the screens in the seat ahead of you. Movies, TV, games, radio, music... and of course the map to show you where you are. I took the picture above just as we were coming into Barcelona.
Our Air Transat transfer bus was waiting for us (and dozens of others going to the three ships waiting in port) and within 40 minutes or so we were on our way. The port is about 20 minutes away from the airport, so if you can't get a transfer, a taxi will only cost 25 to 30 Euros, and in my opinion, is the better option, as you are not waiting for a bus to fill with people before heading out. It was strange to be viewing Barcelona from the water! I have been there twice before, once to spend a week with my daughter who lived there for a year on an exchange program, and once for a day on a tour of Spain. The weather, as you can see, was perfect!
As we flew in over Barcelona, I could see the four ships lined up at the port below... Norwegian Epic, Liberty of the Seas, Holland America Noordam, and Carnival Sunshine, which is Carnival Destiny refurbished. Mom and I were on that ship a few years ago, and we could certainly see the changes that have been made to upgrade it! We went immediately to the Café Promenade, where I got my favourite sandwich... the ham and cheese croissant. Then off to explore while we waited for our cabin to be ready. We sat in the Solarium (pic above) and had a little snooze, then headed down to our cabin.
Our cabin was located inside, overlooking the Royal Promenade, and had a handy little window bench where we could sit and people watch or watch the parades if we couldn't find room down on the Promenade. I watched the Soca-licious parade from here the first night while Mom slept (in spite of all the loud music!)
After dropping off our carry-on bags, we went out again for a more indepth exploration of the ship (even though I've been on it before with Gareth in 2008, it's fun to re-discover all the little corners and features). Walking the promenade deck outside we got a great view of what I consider to be the ugliest ship ever built....Norwegian Epic. I can't comment on the cruise experience on this ship (my friend Sue and her husband had a wonderful Mediterranean cruise on it last year), but I can't say I would ever book it, as you have to pay for so many of the restaurants on it. What I like about the promenade deck on Liberty of the Seas is that it wraps around the entire ship and you can even go right onto the bow (see above), where there are benches and the helicopter pad.
Norwegian Epic
After the obligatory and interminable life-boat drill, we went up on deck for the sailaway... always my favourite part, as you have an entire week ahead of you, and you feel that your vacation has truly begun! I always have a drink of the day for sailaway, and this day it was a Bahama Mama.
Sailing out of Barcelona, I tried to get a picture of the cemetery we had passed driving in on the bus. It is built onto the mountainside and is absolutely massive. I intend to look this up on the internet.
After sailaway, we finished unpacking, and then went to the dining room. To reserve a table for two in My Time Dining (always try to make reservations the first day), we ended up having dinner at 6:45 each evening. Not the greatest time, as I missed every sailaway, which I usually like to see, but for the sake of having a quiet dinner without having to converse with different people every night about the same things (yes, we're anti-social!), it was worth the price. We had two wonderful waiters, and a great view from the third level of the dining room. Day One ended with an early night in the oh-so-comfortable beds (which we had to request be changed from King to Twins, as happens EVERY time, in spite of requesting twin when booking --- why can NO cruise line get this right?!?) Stay tuned for Day Two .... Toulon, France!
CATHY'S CORNER:
I wasn't able to get a picture of all the food we had, as sometimes I started eating before thinking about it, and ruined the shot!! Here are my favourite croissant sandwiches, and the dessert I had the first night dinner, Mango Mousse with Raspberry Coulis. The mousse desserts on this ship are absolutely fantastic, so light and rich with taste. I had many!!
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