It was a lovely spring day in Barcelona when my husband and I boarded the Norwegian Epic. We had arrived in Barcelona 3 days before in Madrid and stayed at the BCN Gotic Apartments in Barri Gotic, in the heart of the old city. Being Labour Day, it was a public holiday but there was a demonstration right in front of our street. We were worried and took a cab. The journey was only supposed to take 15 minutes but due to road blockages, it took us 45 minutes to reach the port. Fortunately we made it on time and was at the pier at 1.00pm. The boarding process was slow and laborious. We waited for almost an hour before we were on the ship. We were very excited as this was the biggest ship we had ever cruised - 4100 passengers! The cruise was sold out. There were signs in the Guest Relations saying that they had no more room for people who are thinking of switching cabins.

To avoid the crowds, we went to Taste for lunch. It was surprisingly quiet. I think most of the crowds were in the Garden Cafe having the lunch buffet. After lunch we checked out our room. It has a lovely balcony and in a quiet location towards the bow of the ship. We were happy with the room but did not like the separate bathroom and toilet arrangement. That night we went to Taste again for our dinner and we were served Surf and Turf. That is my favourite dish during the cruise. Someone was playing at the piano and the place had a lovely garden-like atmosphere.

We were booked for the Blue Men Show at the Epic Theatre. I had already prebooked this online prior to the cruise. It was certainly an unique show and the Blue Men were very versatile performers. We enjoyed the show and wandered over to Fat Cats Jazz & Blues Club for more live entertainment and our night cap. Read more