We started our cruise out of Barcelona on May 29th. After reading a number of reviews, we decided to fly in a day ahead of time and stay one more night after the cruise. Good thing going one night early. Our Continental flt out of Newark was delayed 11 hours on May 27th. We would have been hard pressed to make the cruise if it was leaving on May 28th. Our Continental flt back was even worse. We had a 5 hour delay in Barcelona and 12 hour delay in Newark. That made us miss our connecting flt in Newark at 8pm on June 11th. All told we were in the airports going and coming some 29 hours. Continental air is a nightmare of a company - whose service - SUCKS! I would ride a camel 3000 miles before I would ever fly on Continental again. We used Continental as the tickets were of little cost. Since we used our air miles. Give yourself at least 1 extra day before your cruise.

Take in Barcelona. Fantastic city with great people! Very people friendly city. We went out walking downtown during the evening and never felt any fear. Fantastic cafes and shops everywhere that we stayed. We stayed at the Claris Hotel on May 28th and the Amister Hotel on June 10th. Both are nice hotels, but high priced compared to the states. The 2 night cost almost $1400.00. Both were in great locations. These are rated as 4 and 5 star hotels. The rooms are simple clean. Nothing fancy considering the price. From the Claris we were about 15 minutes from the ship and 15 minutes to the airport from the Amister Hotel. If you want to take tours of Barcelona, get the maps on the tours. They are a great help. Or do as we did. Just go out walking and enjoy the blocks around your hotel. Before you go out on the town, get some Euros. Many places do not take credit cards or U.S. dollars. This I found out early the first morning in Barcelona. I was up early 5am. Went for a walk around the city. Around 7:30 found a nice cafe. Went in had breakfast. Found out they did not take credit cards or dollars. My Spanish is not great as it has been many years since taking it in school. There English was about like my Spanish. Still I was able to understand that they were telling me that there was a bank at the corner of the block where I could exchange for Euros. Like I said the people in Barcelona were great. These ladies in the cafe were not upset that the gringo did not think to get Euros before eating and drinking in their cafe. They did not ask me to leave my watch or passport until I returned. They just went about taking care of other people in their cafe. I returned a short time later with my Euros in hand to their cafe. They still had smiles on their faces and thanked me. Now to the ship and crew. You can check in as early as 11am on the day that the ship is due to leave. As you check in you pass through a hall where where you can buy wine and soda packages. If you like a lot of sodas, buy a pass. If you are in a suite on the 10th deck, you will have access to the Private concierge club and manager.

All the liqueur and wine in the club is free. So you do not need to buy one of the wine packages unless you just want to have a bottle in your room. Check in early. Then sit back on your balcony with a glass of wine while everyone else is coming in late in the afternoon! Read more