My husband and I took this cruise in June of 2011. Prior to our cruising date we stayed in Barcelona for 2 nights. There are alot of mixed reviews about Barcelona and prior to this trip I was a little aprhensive about being there for two nights. In our case, we didn't have a choice because we only had one flight out a day so to give us peace of mind, incase a flight was cancelled, we wanted to give ourselves extra time to reach Barcelona to make the ship.

With that being said, Barcelona has some remarkable landmarks that you don't want to miss. I was not crazy about the Las Ramblas strip and that is the area where you will read about horror stories and pick pockets. Now, the reasons it did not appeal to me may not be reasons you may not like it. For me, its just too touristy in a way that you are asking for trouble. We live in NYC and to us Las Ramblas was like Times Square, we just don't go near it. Just alot of people shuffled into one area with alot of things going on around you. The strip itself it interesting, there are areas to sit and eat, lots of vendors selling you things, very annoying men with these noise makers in their mouths, trying to sell them, cages with lots of birds, and of course the statue people.

All I can say is that from what I read the strip was not as 'bad' as I thought but it was just not for me. My advice to anyone that is heading that way- just mind your surroundings. Ladies,do not bring purses without zippers and always wear them in the front of you or cross body. I do not advise backpacks and if you sit to eat just be smart and do not leave your things behind you or out in the open on the tables. I did hear of someone being pick pocketed but the lady from what I understood had on a purse that did not contain zippers. Make no mistake the pick pockets are out there but they are not going to go for someone that is aware. They are going to go for the people with the open bags, and men wearing wallets in their back pockets--a BIG NO-NO, guys. Be smart. Don't put all your money in one place. The inside the pants money belts are good. I wore the leg money belt and that was just for things I did not plan on reaching for but things I wanted to keep on my body and not in the room like my passport and credit cards. I had some money on me and my husband had some and we were fine. I used a safety pin to hook the zipper of my purse to the bag itself so in the event someone got me they really couldn't get far. Read more