Barcelona SOS Mediterranean Greek Isle Cruise w/Paris and Copenhagen Review

Wow!!!! It almost didn't all fit in the title and I almost can't believe we did it. Three weeks overseas for the first time.

I hope you all bare with me as I intend for this review to be very thorough with pictures, pricing, daily compasses.......well you get the picture.:) Those who where on this cruise as well please join in as well.:D

First an introduction of sorts, so you kind of get a idea of what type of people we are when you are reading this review of basically my opinion. I am a 39 year old single parent of an 18 year old girl, Ciera, and a 12 year old boy, Cai, and we are New Yorkers who have lived in Florida for 9 years. *Once a New Yorker always a New Yorker.* We, or rather my children have 2 small dogs, Cinnamon and Caiya, who were quite happy to see us return. My name is Ayasha and I am an insurance agent and also work fulltime for a sinkhole company. *kudos to my boss for the time off* This was a graduation and 18th birthday gift for Ciera and Cai got to come along.;)

I am what you would call a planner. I usually have at least 3 lists going on any given day. And I would usually plan this at least a year in advance except I didn't think of it then. I thought of it in December, my happiest time of year Christmas! As I bought Ciera, a much needed, car for Christmas *surprise* what was I going to give her for graduation and her 18th birthday that was just 11 days after that......of course a trip. Let's just say, "What the hell was I thinking?" and "I am an absolute genius for picking this!"

At first it was just the cruise but a few days later I said to myself how can you go overseas and not see Paris and this is how it snowballed. I am a little over the top with enthusiasm, well a lot, and a very positive thinker who doesn't say no to a challenge often. My son, Cai, is very athletic and competitively sails on weekends during the school year so we are usually away 1-2 weekends a month at regattas, this is in between senior activities for my daughter, a Cali trip to Cal Poly when she was accepted, 2 Chinese exchange students for April and May, Graduation and dinner for instate and out of state family and friends and lastly a 3 day trip for orientation at Auburn, War Eagle!, the weekend before this massive trip. It was also supposed to be a secret but I couldn't hold my excitement anymore and told her 2 days before prom in March. Plus she works 2 jobs and would have to take off and I needed to get passports for both her and Cai.

I don't remember if I picked the cruise before or after I read Middle Aged Drama Queen's review, but let's just say I read that review in 2 days never leaving my bed. Her review inspired pretty much my whole trip so thank you Drama Queen!

Well, I am not independently wealthy, and always looking for a bargain so I booked the cruise ( had to splurge and do a balcony for this one) and our hotels in Barcelona the day before and Paris after. I waited until 6 weeks before the cruise to book our airline tickets. There were so many choices and prices and I just didn't want to commit until I was sure I had read all of the reviews.

I finally settled on Norwegian Airlines, would I regret this choice later......we shall see. With that decision comes the decision of only taking a carryon plus a personal bag each as a checked bag would cost us. Also, since they don't fly daily from Florida to Europe or vice versa I chose to fly out the Thursday before our Monday cruise, adding 2 more nights in Barcelona, and fly to Copenhagen from Paris gave us 1 extra night there and an overnight in Copenhagen. Alas, that is how we arrived at 22 days of vacation. That means I had to add nights to our hotel stay. Unfortunately both the hotel in Barcelona and Paris did not have availability and I had to book another hotel in each for those extra nights.

I booked all private tours for each port except Santorini and signed up on our roll call where fortunately some very awesome people signed up for every spot making it much cheaper and more personalized than the RCI excursions. Would this be a mistake? Let's just say we made it back to every port on time for now!

Next up will be departure day!!!!!

How did we do 22 days in a carry on and personal bag each? We each took 2 pairs of shoes only including those we would wear. We wore our heaviest clothing on the way there, i.e. jeans, jacket/sweatshirt.... and I used this video to help us pack

Information on our flights: Norwegian Airlines Orlando-Oslo-Barcelona

Ryanair Air Barcelona- Paris Beauvais

Norwegian Airlines Paris Orly- Copenhagen

Norwegian Airlines Copenhagen- Ft. Lauderdale

Enterprise Rental Ft. Lauderdale-Tampa

Total cost $1000 each

Can't wait for this review! I did a 12nt Med Cruise in 2008 and have always wanted to go back for the Greek Isle.

Subscribed!

Note: I didn't do private tours, but really wanted to on the Almafi Coast. Interested to see how your private tours went.

Can't wait for this review! I did a 12nt Med Cruise in 2008 and have always wanted to go back for the Greek Isle.

 

Subscribed!

 

Note: I didn't do private tours, but really wanted to on the Almafi Coast. Interested to see how your private tours went.

Thanks for subscribing! It was definitely a trip of a lifetime. I should have all 3 days in Barcelona done and loaded by tomorrow evening and I expect to do at least a port a day after that.

Thanks for subscribing! It was definitely a trip of a lifetime. I should have all 3 days in Barcelona done and loaded by tomorrow evening and I expect to do at least a port a day after that.

I loved Barcelona! Only had a day and a half there. Wanted to see so much more.

Thanks for the report!

Have been interested in a Mediterranean cruise. Subscribing. [emoji3]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Very nice report. review.

Keith

Looking forward to reading your review. Thank you for taking the time to do this.

I loved Barcelona! Only had a day and a half there. Wanted to see so much more.

I felt the same way with 2 full days. Definitely need a week there.

Thanks everyone! Everyone should do this cruise at least once in life!

Very nice report. review.

 

Keith

Thanks!

Looking forward to reading your review. Thank you for taking the time to do this.

No problem! I hope my writing style is enjoyable.

Fantastic!! I can't wait to read your review. I'm doing this cruise in 2016. I suffer from your problem....I'm a VERY enthusiastic planner :-) The funny thing is that I think we may have a similar thought process since I, too, was thinking of adding a couple of days in Paris. So, I'm very, very excited to read your review. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. I know it must take a lot go time , but you have some avid followers!

Okay......so the day is here to leave and before we get started would like to also say that I do not have a credit card. I subscribe to the Dave Ramsey method, if you know who he is. I did think about getting a credit card for this trip but decided against it and felt this would really put practice what you preach to work. (not that I am against credit cards) So everything was done with cash or debit.

So the day is finally here and I of course decided I would work a 6 hour day before leaving because.....hey let's face it....I can do it all, not. My son and daughter where both packed before I left for work but I was not. our ride to the airport was picking us up at 5:30, will I make it. I had better!

Well I did! We arrived at the airport on time and I was so giddy with excitement that I had the airline clerk laughing at me. Now most people have to do the luggage shuffle at the airport on the way back from vacation, not me. I of course was 4 lbs over the carry on allowable and they were strict at Orlando. Luckily my children had 2+ lbs extra in each of there bags. Problem solved and we moved on pass security and to our gate. I already knew that Norwegian was a pay for food and drinks kinda airline, including water. So I sent the children off to purchase some waters and food to carry on.

Time to board this plane and see what we are working with for the next 9 hours....drum roll......IT WAS AWESOME!!!!! Norwegian uses the brand new Dreamliners to and from Florida and it didn't disappoint. Very comfortable seats, awesome lighting, air and individual screens with lots of free movies, albums, games etc to choose from. It was hard to sleep because I wanted to watch all the shows and movies I hadn't seen yet.:confused:

We landed in Oslo, Norway with a 6 hour layover. The initial plan was to go into the city a bit but because we had carry ons and were tired we crashed in the airport until our next flight to Barcelona. My plan for this trip was to buy a postcard and stamp everyplace we went as a souvenir. Technically we didn't really go to Oslo but I bought a stamp and postcard in the airport anyway.

I will say that just from our experience in the Oslo airport Norway is extremely expensive. we bought 3 slices of pizza 2 drinks and a sandwich while we were there and that equated to $60 USD. Breaking my budget already. And no free wifi. Booooo

Our flight to Barcelona boarded on time and was packed. This plane was your typical one we would fly in the states on Delta etc. No big deal as it was only for 2 and a half hours.

We did have to go through customs, of course, in Norway but not in Barcelona.

We landed on time but it was late at night. We were going to take the bus which went straight to our hotel but it was 10:30pm and it had stopped running, or so I had been told. I speak no Spanish and it seemed that most in the airport did not speak English. No issue, just a heads up for anyone else. We grabbed a taxi to the hotel. My first night I got taken. Yep, I already got taken. In my research I knew that a taxi should cost me no more than 30 Euros to the hotel from the airport. It winded up costing me 36 Euros as the driver drove past the exit and turned around but acted like that is they way you go. Definitely wish I took spanish in school.

sidenote * I bought 100 Euros that I purchased from my bank before the trip*

We are on our way.

Cai catching up on sleep in Oslo airport

I

First Barcelona hotel we stayed in for 2 nights.

Fantastic!! I can't wait to read your review. I'm doing this cruise in 2016. I suffer from your problem....I'm a VERY enthusiastic planner :-) The funny thing is that I think we may have a similar thought process since I, too, was thinking of adding a couple of days in Paris. So, I'm very, very excited to read your review. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. I know it must take a lot go time , but you have some avid followers!

Thanks! I am trying to be as detailed as possible without being boring.

Great review! I love a detailed review like this (as folks that are following my review know all too well...lol!). I'm a budget-minded traveler also, so I love to see reviews from other folks that travel in my "price range" so to speak (don't get me wrong, I also love reading how the other half lives, but I love all of the money saving tips I get from those who travel with a similar budget to mine).

BTW - your kids are beautiful... they look so happy to be on the voyage (well, except when they are sleeping that is....lol)

Melissa

Great review! I love a detailed review like this (as folks that are following my review know all too well...lol!). I'm a budget-minded traveler also, so I love to see reviews from other folks that travel in my "price range" so to speak (don't get me wrong, I also love reading how the other half lives, but I love all of the money saving tips I get from those who travel with a similar budget to mine).

 

BTW - your kids are beautiful... they look so happy to be on the voyage (well, except when they are sleeping that is....lol)

 

Melissa

Thanks Melissa! I love your review! It is so awesome that you and your mom went together. I tried to get my parents to go but my mom doesn't like cruises (although it has been years and years since she has been on one). Then she asks me why I didn't make her come after I sent here some pictures while we were there, lol. Yeah, like I could make her do anything :rolleyes:.

I don't know why my pictures are so big. I posted them through tapatalk app. Is the size bothering anyone else?

I don't know why my pictures are so big. I posted them through tapatalk app. Is the size bothering anyone else?

The photos are fine for me, but I have a widescreen monitor. Might require some scrolling for those with smaller displays.

Thanks Bob! We shall see for the next set.

So as you can see we stayed in the Novotel Sant Despi Barcelona. It was okay. Basically, your run of the mill chain hotels.

*side story*

I originally booked one night in Barcelona with Hotel Lloret and when I need to add 2 nights on the front end they were booked. I found another hotel and booked that quickly as it is hard to find triples in the price point I wanted and so late in the planning. For some reason I went back to read more reviews and came across the fact that the hotel I booked was above a jewelry store. Not really a problem except that you had to enter through the jewelry store. Say what?????? Yep! No bueno! Especially since we got in at 10pm. Canceled that quick. Then I came across Novotel, which is right outside Barcelona City limits.

*end side story*

The front desk staff spoke English and the hotel had a bar, restaurant, room service, a child's indoor play area and 2computer stations for guest use. Our room was clean, comfortable and came with a safe. For some odd reason I only have pictures of the bathroom and entrance but I loved the bath/shower combo so I will post that.

Thanks Melissa! I love your review! It is so awesome that you and your mom went together. I tried to get my parents to go but my mom doesn't like cruises (although it has been years and years since she has been on one). Then she asks me why I didn't make her come after I sent here some pictures while we were there, lol. Yeah, like I could make her do anything :rolleyes:.

Thanks for the compliment on my review.... glad you are reading along. I noticed earlier in your review you said you hoped to post one port a day.... I can only to be that fast in my review....lol!!! It's taking 3 days and 5 posts just to get through day 1 :eek::D

BTW - Moms are just all sorts of trouble, aren't they? :p Haha! Maybe after seeing all of your pics and reading your review she will decide to go on the next one. My mom and I really do have a great time traveling together (strange, since as a teenager I couldn't stand to be in the same house with her...lol)

Pics look good via tapatalk (phone app).

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Pics look good via tapatalk (phone app).

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks! I will continue to use it for now due to ease of use and all my pictures from my camera are also on my phone now.