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Froufie Breezes across the Atlantic - Nov 3, 2012


Froufie
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Well I sure hope everyone has a Transatlantic cruise on their bucket list - I sure did!...and I am happy to report that I had so much fun that I don’t want to cross it off the list as I plan to do it again!

 

 

Firstly let me say this was the BEST CRUISE EVER EVER.....EVER....I never anticipated having so much fun, making so many new friends and having so much time to enjoy the ship.

 

So here we go - please note this is a long, and detailed review with pics so those looking for ‘short and sweet’ may be disappointed. Please feel free to skip over any parts you may find boring!

 

I booked this cruise almost a year and half out when the Breeze TA itinerary first came out - loved the itinerary and happy to hear about the Miami homeport so I finally, after much deliberation, grabbed the last 1A porthole cabin as I was going solo.

 

I should also add that I jumped onto the Roll Call shortly after I booked to find a very active group of cruisers many of whom already knew each other from previous transatlantic cruises and lots of activities/shared tours/parties were already in the works with someone creating a ‘dedicated’ website where we could post tours, cruiser info and other details. It was a blast getting to know everyone pre-cruise and finally meeting them in person on the ship.

Edited by Froufie
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So wanting to use my airmiles to keep the cost down I was able to book a one-way flight from Montreal to Barcelona via Heathrow (only $300 in taxes) - I live in Ottawa - about 2 hrs from Montreal so easily hopped on an airport bus with my super big and heavy luggage (ya I knew I would pay extra....) and arrived in Montreal at around 5:15 pm for my 8:50 flight.

 

All good while I waited in line - but the nasty counter agent (yup I got the meany) said I had to check my rolling duffle (my carryon) cuz it was too big! In fact other passengers started arguing with her saying it was fine and would fit - but she wouldn’t budge - so I had to do some last minute ‘transfers’ as I had packed my carryon with my valuables and stuff I would need should my luggage go astray.

 

Luckily I had a ‘tote bag’ in there so was able to stuff it full of the minimal stuff I needed, used the extra cable ties I always carried and locked it up and checked it - this of course made me extra cranky and very frazzled so I ‘treated’ myself to the fancy shmancy airport lounge to sit it out for the 2+ hours to boarding.

 

It was actually quite lovely - with great seating, free computers/internet, a full self-serve bar, and lots of food and drinks. I had my ‘supper’ there and even grabbed a couple of water bottles and cookies to bring on the flight....

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Boarding was okay - but again I was a bit pissed as I saw everyone loading their big carryons into the overhead bins while mine was not allowed...oh well.

 

I did have an aisle seat (row of 3) - strategically picked of course - and ended up sitting next to Italian Model Girl and her mother. Now the good news is, as you can expect, Italian Model Girl was tall and slim, important features in a seat mate as there were no issues with ‘spreading’ into someone else’s personal space (I just don’t know how she sat for over six hours in those tight ‘painted on’ jeans?). The bad news is she was sitting next to her mother (I presume?) on the other side and they proceeded to speak (not quietly) in Italian for the next few hours (it would have been more interesting I guess had I understood the language?).

Edited by Froufie
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I entertained myself with a movie, then dinner was served (some sort of chicken?) complete with wine or drinks!...and finally around 11:30 pm (current time) they doused the cabin lights - luckily this was a sign for Italian Model Girl to pop some sort of pill (??) and to stop talking! I forced myself to turn off the movie and to try and ‘rest’ - ya right! So I am not a good plane sleeper and I was religiously popping my ‘no jet lag’ pills but to say I actually slept would be a big fat lie. I kind of dozed on and off as best as I could given the environment.

 

Then 4 hours later (2:30 am my time but 6:30 am london time) the lights came back on. OUCH - that was extremely painful - and was a sign to Italian Model Girl and mom to resume their italian dialogue. I must say British Airways was good with the food/drinks as they started serving a small breakfast with coffee and juice.

 

Now I never have much luck in airports and with connections and this was no exception. The planned landing time was 7:20 am with a 9:20 am connection to Barcelona (another 2 hr flight).....but we did land a bit late 7:45 - but that was not a huge problem...yet.....

 

The problem was sitting on the tarmac forever and ever when the captain came on to tell us a plane was at our gate and needed to be towed and they would not give us another gate so we had to wait......remember I have to be at my next gate around 9 am (and go thru customs at Heathrow) so I was getting quite antsy.

 

7:50, 7:55, 8:00, 8:10 - 8:15 - we start to move!!! YAAY - but wait we are not moving to a gate, we are ‘driving’? Maybe we are driving all the way to Barcelona? (Well it sure seemed like it). We end up in the middle of the tarmac and of course it’s pouring rain in London and now I see busses approaching? Is this normal I ask some of the Brits - nope they say - we should be at a gate..... So off the plane we go- down the stairs - into the pouring rain, onto several busses to bring us back to Terminal 5.

 

Now I didn’t realize how BIG an airport Heathrow is - we boarded the busses at 8:15 - then drove around and around (thru streets, with stop lights, merge lanes - like a mini city) finally arriving at the Terminal at 8:30 am!!! (Did I mention I was cranky, sleepy and anxious about my connecting flight?)

 

Finally exit the bus into the terminal and follow the purple connection signs (another beef there are not ‘departure information’ signs available at this point so you have no idea where your connection may be or if it’s on time or anything like that).

 

Get into some big hall - with a bunch of customs officers/desks - I deem myself to be part of the ‘fast track’ process and get into one of those lines. That was pretty easy - but after that was the security machine/body check - the place is huge with about 20-25 lines - I go to the ‘express’ one which is busieer than the rest??? And then decide to move to another seemingly shorter line (ya right).

 

So if there are BIG SIGNS everywhere telling you to REMOVE YOUR JACKET, and OPEN YOUR LAPTOP - please don’t stand there with your jacket on and your computer still in its bag and look around helplessly when you turn comes up (yes I was doing a lot of deep breathing trying to stay calm - it is now 8:50 and there is a line ahead of me). And all’liquids baggies’ are also being thoroughly inspected....sigh....

 

I finally get thru (around 9 am) - and stagger out of the line looking for a ‘departures info’ sign - I’m in luck - I find one and my stomach sinks as I realize Terminal 5 consists of 3 buildings A, B and C and heaven help me if I am not already in the right building cuz the others are a fair ride away (10-15 mins) . So I try to find my flight on the board -not by city???? not by airline??/ but by flight time (go figure)- finally locate it in my sleep deprived stupor and lucky for me I am in Terminal A and my flight leaves from Termianl A - just down the escalator YAAY!!!

 

I hurry down to see people still milling about which is a good sign -I had just enuf time for a bathroom break and was able to buy a bottle of water and onto the plane I went.

 

This is where I encountered ‘your space is my space’ guy! (Where’s Italian Model Girl when you need her?) Okay I know the seats are cramped - and many men have ‘long legs’ but must you lean then towards me? (I am in the aisle, he is in the middle seat) - by mid-flight he has taken over the ‘shared’ armrest and is literally leaning on me as he sleeps - I DON’T KNOW YOU - DO NOT INVADE MY SPACE! And yes I am kinda cranky when I haven’t slept :)

 

There are also 2 young men on the flight (one across the aisle and one in front of me) who seem to have also been on my flight from Montreal (I grew up in Montreal) and I notice that as we are landing in BCN one is looking out the window pointing out CRUISE SHIPS to the other - who responds but of course ours is not here yet. Being the nosy - I mean friendly- person that I am I politely inquire if they are going on a cruise? Yes - what ship? The Breeze you say? What a coincidence - I then introduce myself to Martin and Nathan from Montreal - who I will see quite often on the ship and who are the lucky recipients of one of my ‘extra’ bottles of wine later on in the cruise.

 

We land - my (slightly wet?) luggage arrives - I do some repacking again (getting my plane stuff back into my carryon) and out I go. Getting thru BCN customs was a breeze - I don’t think the customs guy even spoke to me - just looked at my passport, at his screen, stamped it and I was through.

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I had pre-booked a transfer with suntransfers.com and just like in the movies there was someone holding a sign with my name on in when I walked out of the arrivals area. It was a small petite blonde woman who didn’t really speak any english (I do speak a bit of spanish) talking into a cell phone. She insisted on pushing my luggage trolley along and I followed her to the parking garage....all the while she seemed to be trying to contact someone?

 

We finally get to the garage - I am assuming a town car or something like that will pull up with a big burly guy driver - but alas I am led to a small mercedes hatchback and this tiny woman insists I get inside while she tries to heave my big suitcase and rolling duffle into the tiny trunk area of the car. She finally manages and off we go.

 

It is about 1pm in Barcelona and the place is hopping. I am awake now and sucking up the atmosphere and the sights. It was SO COOL to finally see things in ‘real life’ that I had only seen in pics or on a map (like passing by the port where 2 ships were parked and driving by the Columbus statue at the bottom of Las Ramblas). I was so excited, especially seeing all the ‘cruisers’ walking around the port area.

 

We finally get down Las Ramblas (only one lane?) to the Hotel Continental Barcelona, yes pink, quirky and directly on las Ramblas steps away from Plaza Catalunya. My luggage gets heaved out, I offer a nice tip and in I go to the teeny tiny elevator up to the lobby on the 3rd floor of the building. I am buzzed in (love the security) and as soon as I step in I am accosted by two women!

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The hotel has free wifi so I was able to make contact back home to let them know I had arrived safely and was later able to do some Facetime which was fun as I showed everyone my pink room!

 

The Lobby Area

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The 'front' room (great gathering/eating spot)

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The drinks/snack area in the back room (continental as a free 24/7 buffet including ice cream/drinks/wine/beer, etc)

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The 'panel' by the door of my room

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The room:

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The precarious 'balancing act':

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Edited by Froufie
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The Bathroom (yes much to my embarrassment I had to call down to ask how to flush the toilet!)

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I did happen to post a pic of my hot pink pacsafe purse on the roll call and this seemed to become my ‘calling card’ as everyone that saw it immediately recognized me - hence I was greeted with shouts of ‘Froufie’ and big hugs when I got to the hotel to check in. That was so nice!

 

And so I met up with Ruth and Elle from the roll call - they were supposed to be at the other hotel (Continental Palacete) but Ruth was ‘bumped to this hotel while Elle was still there.

 

I managed to check in and had someone help me with my bags into my teeny tiny quiet and very pink room on the 3rd floor (I had requested the 3rd floor having read reviews saying this floor was renovated while the 2nd was not?).... The problem was putting my suitcase somewhere - there is really no room for an open suitcase (I was only there for 2 nights) - so I managed to ‘balance’ it on one of the night stands (partly on the bed) so I could open it and get what I needed for the couple of nights.

 

I was of course exhausted so I tried to lie down and rest but didn’t want to fall asleep as I knew if that happened I would sleep thru the night and be really screwed up the next day. I also left a message for roll call friends Nancy and Julie as we would all be touring together the next day (Viatour Best of Barcelona Skip the line - booked in June when they had a half price sale!).

 

After ‘resting a bit I meandered down around 5 pm and met up with Nancy and Julie (back from their day’s tour) and it was another great reunion. Also found many more Breeze and other cruisers at the Continental - they have a 24 hr buffet there as well as a ‘front’ room off the lobby which was always full of cruisers and cruise stories. We also found Capt Allan there - another roll call buddy - who had some custom ‘rubber’ bracelets made for the Breeze crowd and were able to get ours then and wore them throughout the cruise!

 

Also met Anne (and her husband Al) there - and she became a great friend and buddy througout the cruise as well!

 

We chatted for a while and decided to grab some dinner - Julie got a recommendation from the front desk - I ran up to grab my hoodie (weather was great but cool in the evening) and Nancy, Julie, Anne and I walked up towards Plaza Catalunya in the dark trying to take some pics as we went. Anne left us at the restaurant (Ciudad Condal) to go back to the hotel to find her hubby while Julie, Nancy and I got a table for 3 upstairs.

 

The Purse!

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Pic of Plaza Catalunya in the dark:

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Restaurant:

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I was surprised to see here (and in some other spots) how little English was spoken by the wait staff - however this was not a big problem - yes even with my limited spanish I was able to ask questions and decipher some of the things on the tapas menu. So we started ordering until the waiter started jumping up and down telling us to stop - seems we were getting carried away and were ordering too much (he was right!). We enjoyed an excellent tapas dinner with lots of variety and ended up spending about 15Eu pp and were very very full. As wel left we noticed a huge line had formed with people waiting for tables (yes it’s true everyone eats very late in Spain).

 

Back at the hotel we called Ruth to join us and we relaxed with some coffee and ice cream from the buffet - also met up with more roll callers Linda and Mike!

 

I was by then fading fast and at 10 pm up I went to bed with a 6:30 wakeup call so meet up with Julie and Nancy for breakfast at 7:30 before heading out on our tour!

 

 

Edited by Froufie
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Beautiful pictures! What camera did you use? And how DO you flush the toilet?

 

I'm uber jealous, although I think a TA has too many sea days for my liking.

 

Oh no - the sea days are the best! I turned into a slug - it was awesome:D:D

 

As for camera I have my cute pink Sony Cybershot - just point and shoot - usually kept it on the 'auto' setting but did fool around with a few sunset shots (as you will see later on!).

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Well let’s just say the walls are paper thin and I can’t say I slept great but up to shower and get to the breakfast area to meet up with my tour mates. It was quite brisk/cool this morning but the day was beautiful with blue skies and sunshine so I knew it would warm up eventually.

 

After breakfast we got directions and did the 10 min walk thru the interesting streets of Barcelona to the Explore Catalunya office (booked thru Viatour) to check in and meet our guide Enrique.

 

Some pics from our walk to the tour office:

 

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We have arrived:

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I noticed some familiar faces and found the Calders who were also on my Montreal/BCN flights (they are from Cornwall, Ontario) so we introduce ourselves and it seems they too will be on the Breeze.

 

Also on the tour are several other roll callers who booked the tour as it was mentioned on the roll call when it went on sale. So we get to say hi to Ken and his gang along with Doug and Kayfrom Florida - who’s company I also enjoyed throughout the cruise!

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The tour was amazing and well worth the cost (original price $150 - we paid $75 which included 2 entrance fees worth about 30 Eu)- we saw everything and more starting with Montjuic, then past the Olympic park, to Sagrada Familia (AWESOME) where we had audio guide equipment, from there we went to the Barri Gotic for a 1 hr walking tour (Enrique was a fabulous guide!) which included the King’s Palace, the roman gate, an old synagogue, and of course various old and beautiful churches.

 

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What a view!

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Old bullfighting ring - now a shopping mall!

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Sagrada Familia - words and pics don't do it justice!

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Hos DID the toilet flush? Inquiring minds....

 

Well if you must know the 'silver knobbie thing' was not a pull or push (which is what one would assume) - but required more of a twisting/turning action :eek::eek:

 

...and don't get me going on the 3 foot climb into the shower over the tub edge - and the fact that the 'shower' and faucets were on the 'long' wall and not on either end of the tub as one would expect! :D

Edited by Froufie
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Nov2012BreezeTA168.jpg

 

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Time for lunch and Enrique offered various options - I ended up at Golfa de Bouzakia (along with Ken and his gang and Doug and Kay) as I was intrigued by the pinxhos concept (pronounced pinchos) - long bar/buffet set up with different little sandwiches/pieces of food all with toothpicks - and at the end your bill is tallied by the number of toothpicks you have on your plate! Once I saw the smoked salmon sandwiches I was hooked and had a great lunch for about 10Eu (Nancy and Julie ended up at another restaurant with a 3 course meal including wine for about 12Eu). We were all to meet back at a designated spot at 2 pm to board the bus and continue our tour!

 

So being brave and having some time left after lunch I went out on my own to backtrack to this candy shop we had passed along the way - it was about a 5 min walk and I was careful and determined not to get lost! Found the shop (handmade candy, cookies, chocolate truffles) and it smelled divine in there. I saw these huge ‘barcelona’ lollipops that I wanted to get for my kids so I bought 2 to bring home along with 3 chocolate truffles for Nancy, Julie and I to enjoy! They were delish.

 

Then back the way I came to find the meeting spot picking up a fancy cappuccino along the way. To be very honest Iwas quite paranoid about Barcelona hearing about all the pickpockets and scams but I am happy to report that I didn’t see or was not the target of anything strange. However I must add that I was rarely alone - except for this one time - and only carried what I needed leaving everything else in the hotel safe.

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Back onto the bus and off to Parc Guell - wow I loved it and took tons of pics. Those that didn’t want to do the ‘walking and stairs ‘got to sit it out at the restaurant on site.

 

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Cruise mate Nancy poses for a pic on the 'world's longest bench'!

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Beautiful mosaics

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Edited by Froufie
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After that we ended up visiting La Pedrera/Casa mila - another Gaudi extravanganza. Loved the rooftop views altho at this point our feet (hips/ankles/legs) were killing us and we were so very tired - but all the great sights kept us going.

 

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After visiting the attic and the apartment it was time to go - and we decided to walk back to the hotel - Enrique said it was only 8 blocks away - did I mention how LONG the blocks are in Barcelona?

 

Yup 8 long blocks (with Julie counting them off) we walked down Passeig de Gracia, noticing all the fancy high end shops, and the crowds in the streets - it was around 5:30 pm and I guess everyone was out and about on their way home?

 

Back at the hotel I met up with Elle who was sitting there and waiting as we had a pre-cruise dinner planned that evening and were to meet at the Continental around 7 pm. We chatted a while then I went up to change and try to re-energize for the evening.

 

Back down to the lobby at 7:15 pm to be greeted by many happy faces and roll call participants. We ended up with a group of about 14 going next door (thank goodness no more walking!) to a very nice Italian place with a ‘fixed’ 3 course menu (including wine of course) for 16Eu -you could actually get a ‘full’ bottle of wine as well for only 3 Eu - food was very good - company was great and we had a great time getting to know each other prior to boarding the next day.

 

Back in my room by 10 pm to do some repacking, facetime with my family back home and preparation for boarding the ship the next day....still didn’t sleep much this night!

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Froufie, it's wonderful to read your review and relive all the fun things we did! You really make them come alive. I can't wait for more! Nancy

 

Thank you Nancy -one of my 'special' featured cruisemates in this review! :D:D

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Still didn't sleep well - up at 6 am and meeting Ruth (from Israel) at 8:30 for breakfast and then a jaunt to pick up some souvenirs and a visit to La Boqueria down the way. I was able to find a barcelona soccer hat for my son (he collects hats!). Then to La Boqueria market which I loved! So colorful and busy with almost anything one would ever want to eat. I was able to pick up some limes to bring onboard (for my gin and tonics). Took lots of pics there as well.

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Olives anyone?

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Mushrooms?

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Seafood! (looks pretty fresh to me)

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