Transatlantic Cruise - Day 1

Saturday - Step 1, taxi to the cruise terminal. It took quite a bit of searching to determine which terminal Royal Caribbean used in Barcelona. The RC app gave just a general address for the cruise terminal location which has at least five terminals. I ended up looking at a live map provided by the port which showed what ship was where. 

We are boarding Explorer of the Sea, an older (smaller) Royal Caribbean ship heading for Port Canaveral in Florida. This is a repositioning cruise which means a one way trip to move the ship from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean for the winter. These are usually cheaper and there are a lot of sea days. I believe there are four stops. Two in Spain, the Azores, and Bermuda. 

The Royal Promenade shopping area is in the first picture and it is much narrower than the other Royal Caribbean ships we’ve been on recently. Nowhere near as many shops, which is fine. On this cruise, we did spring for the Internet package as we will be on for 13 days. 

We have a balcony on the starboard side, which for most of the trip, will not be in direct sunshine. That makes the balcony more usable if it’s mostly sunny. The fancy building in the picture is a fancy hotel right on the beach. This is the view from the front of the ship. 

In the background, you can see that cathedral we went to yesterday. It really does tower over the rest of the city. It’s 3:15 and we are supposed to be getting underway soon. 

We had lunch at the buffet and, I must admit, the best item I had was the hot dog w/sauerkraut. Kind of pathetic. Bridget pointed out the made-to-order station that I missed. Those are usually pretty good.

Dinner in the main dining room was delicious, as usual. We share a table with David and Marilyn, complete strangers. This is the first time we are on a cruise without knowing anyone in a long time. The last time was a Carnival cruise to Ensenada in 2015.

Barcelona, Spain - Day 2

Friday - We decided to try out a new to us tourist option. The hop-on-hop-off bus. It was €28 (senior fare) and we ca use it for 24 hours. And there is an English audio to plug into. The only negative is that not many people get off. 

I’m not sure what to think of our first stop. Pretty weird in a Dr Seuss way. It is the Basílica de la Sagrada Família and it looks like it’s still under construction. 

We got back on the bus on the upper level and stayed there for the remainder of the loop. It was a nice tour of the city. 

Lunch today was a burger w/sweet potato fries. I know, not from the area but for us, an occasional burger is a nice change. My burger had goat cheese. Not feta but something with a stronger flavor. It was good as have all three of the burgers I’ve had in Europe (Florence, Rome, and Barcelona).

Last night we tried a couple of tapas. One was olives stuffed with anchovies. I already knew I’d like that one. The other was a waiter recommendation. Patatas Bravas. Basically fried potatoes with a sauce made from mayo and spicy tomatoes. Not a favorite even though it is supposedly the most ordered tapas according to the internet. 

Leaving Rome to Barcelona

Thursday - We took the hotel recommended car to the airport this morning. It was €10 more than a cab, which was close enough. It was a very pleasant ride though the ridiculous traffic that is Rome. Everyone cutting in front of everyone else with scooters cutting in front of and around everyone. We arrived with plenty of time, which was fortunate, as the check-in line was over an hour long. Security was trivial though you weren’t even allowed to carry your passport through. And like everywhere else, lots of pushing as the trays of stuff didn’t necessarily go through in the same order as people. 

We had lunch while waiting for the gate assignment. I guess the airline we picked, Vueling Airlines, must not have permanent gate assigned. The Rome airport is huge with tons of shopping. I keep wondering who buys all this high-end stuff. The flight itself was fine, no issues. We initially had concerns about Bridget’s carryon being slightly oversized for under the seat but it turns out that our ticket included a bag in the overhead compartment. 

Arriving in Barcelona was a new experience. It took a long time for our checked bags to show up. Then trying to negotiate the taxi system. Yelp has a fixed rate to/from the airport but we just joined the regular taxi queue. The price ended up being about the same. And the cars are the same.

 

For dinner, I had one of the classic dishes of Barcelona. Seafood paella. I must admit that I was a little disappointed. No socarrat, the scorched rice on the bottom. Both DaveS version as well as my own attempts have more vegetables and more flavor. But then again, this is a tourist version made in single serving. 

Rome, IT - Day 4

Wednesday - Today was a rest & relaxation day plus some chores. We dropped off laundry a couple of blocks away and it was €12/load. Much cheaper than on the ship. We then walked to a shop that Bridget wanted to see. While she shopped, I had a cappuccino and ricotta cornetto (pastry). We then walked around a bit more ending up back at the hotel around 12:30. Our laundry still wasn’t done nor was the room cleaned so we just waited in the lobby. 

At a tourist shop down the street, I picked up a MagSafe charger as my phone charge usually runs out by mid-afternoon on this trip. A lot of gps use and taking pictures. 

While walking, we passed a 2-door Jeep Wrangler and it looked huge compared to the other vehicles. In Italy, even a Smart car is not as small as they get. Numerous two passenger and a few one passenger cars are much smaller. Scooters too numerous to count. We’ve seen a couple Harleys and BMW GS bikes and they seem huge compared to the majority of the local bikes. We’ve even seen a couple of sidecars all attached to scooters. 

We think that Italy may be a one-and-done for us. There are still many places in the world to see and, at least for me, walking isn’t as easy as it used to be. Travel with suitcases is a lot of work.