06.03.16 on the Vista!!

Hello Everyone, I know it is super early to worry about vacation planning for a cruise that isn't until 6/3/16, but we are pretty excited. This is the 3rd cruise for my wife and I, all have been on Carnival, but we are pretty young (Both in our Mid 20's). I have been to Europe once, Finland, so completely different than where this cruise will stop. On our other 2 cruises we got balcony rooms because they're fairly cheap. This time, however, we are in a "porthole" room :/ so here are our questions: My wife thinks that the "porthole" room is going to make the cruise worse, any thoughts? What is the best way to try and plan excursions if none are yet listed? We are planning on going to Barcelona a few days early, any recommended areas of the city to stay in, hotels, things to do, etc? Should we expect any differences "on board" in a Carnival Med cruise vs Carnival Caribbean

I can't answer all your questions as I'm new to crushing but there is a roll call for this sailing which might be worth posting in too :) some of the guys in the roll call have done European crusies before

Do you have a link to the roll call? When I searched for it I couldn't pull it up, thanks!!

You will be fine in a "porthole" cabin. It is a very port intensive cruise with only 1 sea day. You will find that there really isn't enough time to enjoy every thing there is to enjoy on the ship and will want to book another cruise on the Vista just to use all the amenities.

As has been suggested, join in on the roll call. Not only will there be great people on your board but there will be the opportunity to join in on private excursions, usually at a savings over the cost of a ships excursion.

Listed here in the "everything Vista" threads, there are several topics with reference to excellent port guides. I use a trip advisor a lot and then follow up with Youtube.

For me, planning is half the fun and by doing the research time will fly by and before you know it 6/3/16 will be here.

Tom

As far as planning excursions, read read read. I was all nervous about planning excursions in Europe before my first trip there in 2013. I spent a lot of time reading and researching and everything was fantastic. To be honest, we probably enjoyed our less structured days as much or more than we did our planned ones.

Rome in Limo is fantastic if you want to do a planned day. You can go to their website and actually start or join a group in any size you prefer (we chose 8) in order to control costs.

Rome itself is super easy to DIY, as is Barcelona and Marseille. Not sure what the ports are for your dates, we are on the May 24th sailing.

Just ask questions and read in the ports of call section! The planning is half the fun!

My 3 sons and I spent 3 days in Barcelona and it is a fantastic city! I rented an apartment hotel from Tendency Group for my large group, but a friend of mine stayed at the Hotel Colon and it was fantastic.

Sagrada Familia is amazing - but get your tickets online ahead of time so you don't have to stand in line. And Parc Guell is fantastic as well!! Take a cab to Parc Guell as it is a steep hill to get to the entrance.

Montserrat was a do not miss for us and it did not disappoint. If you are interested in that, it is easy to DIY and I will be happy to tell you how.

We visited La Pedrera, I think one of the Gaudi houses (Pedrera or Battlo) is enough in one visit IMO. But it is worth walking down Passeig de Gracia at night to see them lit up! If you have extra time, Parc de la Ciutedella is a really nice place to go sit for awhile and relax and watch the street performers! This is pretty near the Columbus Monument.

We missed the Font Majic last time and will go there this next trip as well as Tibidabo.

You will find Barcelona to be a very clean, friendly city that is easily walkable but has abundant cabs if you tire of walking. We had no trouble finding English speakers there (much to the dismay of my son who was looking forward to using his Spanish!)

Obviously you must go to La Rambla!

@baseballmomof4 I wasn't sure what Montserrat was, but once we googled it we also decided that we have to see that, so I would definitely appreciate any info that you could give me on that. Thanks!!

@baseballmomof4 I wasn't sure what Montserrat was, but once we googled it we also decided that we have to see that, so I would definitely appreciate any info that you could give me on that. Thanks!!

Love to! First thing I recommend is a Borch map of Barcelona. It is awesome and show all the attraction in easy to read fashion and makes mapping out what you are going to see a snap!

The train to Montserrat leaves from Pl. Espanya (I believe this to be the main station in Barcelona). When you get there, you will see stairs going down and there is a big sign saying Montserrat. Just go to the bottom of the stairs and you will see a tourist desk with people who can help you purchase your tickets from the machine. There are various combinations you can buy, but be advised that to use a card in the machine you MUST have a PIN. So if you are planning on using a credit card, make sure you have a PIN for it.

The train will take you to Montserrat station. From there you will already have chosen when you purchased your tickets to take the cable car or the rack rail. We chose the rack rail and it was very simple. The trains every hour.

One there you will find the monastery, a nature trail and much more. It is truly an experience. You can also choose to go further up the mountain and actually hike to the top. I went with teo of my three sons but readily admit that when the "trail" became stairs cut into the side of the mountain and a rope, I called it quits!

There is also a cafeteria style restaurant there and the food was actually really good!

The link I entered is not solely Montserrat, but there are a few good photos of it in there as well as Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, the Aquarium, Parc de la Ciutadella and the Columbus monument.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10201450064757819.1073741828.1361419784&type=1&l=b19ddb23b1