We embarked in Barcelona on October 3rd. One of the people in the roll-call for our cruise organized a cruise critic meet and greet on the first night, that was very well attended. Some of the crew introduced themselves and the ship and tour groups were created or got acquainted.

When you embark in Barcelona, you should consider either a day extra upfront or after your cruise, to get a taste of this fantastic city. On embarkation day we took a walk from the Columbus monument to the Cruise terminal. It is quite a walk (approx. 30-40 minutes), but for us worth it as we enjoy walking and especially the great views of the cruise ship while walking. You can also take either a cab or the special port bus (blue bus from Columbus monument). When taking a cab, be sure to tell them to go to "Mol Adossat", which is the name of part of the port the cruise ships dock. If you just say "terminal 1" you might very well end up at the airports terminal 1.

First impressions of the cruise ship (exterior) were very good. People were still working hard cleaning the outside of the ship, that looked brand new, probably because they take good care of it. We got really excited watching the boat. Read more