An "Epic" European Adventure -Review of Western Med with pics

[elsplace2]

Today was our 28th anniversary! We were planning on sleeping in a bit then doing Palma on our own, but I of course couldn’t lay in bed much after 7:00 am. So I got up and looked out…..what a beautiful port.

 

Edited June 11, 2011 by elsplace2

[sinclaj]

I am just loving your review. Thanks so much for the pictures and details. I will be doing this next month. I can't wait.

Judy

[quercus alba]

...Needless to say, Barcelona won….off to our balcony to watch the celebration…..WOW, do they celebrate! It was fun to watch the excitement….dancing, fireworks, etc….not our fireworks just LOUD noise, noise boomers and some roman candles, which they held in their hands aiming aimlessly…but around midnight, we had seen enough and tomorrow was cruise day!! We popped the earplugs in…helped a little but still heard some noise and fireworks….fell off and on to sleep…still celebrating at 1:00am…2:30am……4:00am…..….needless to say we didn’t get much sleep!

We were on the Epic that night, so were disembarking the next morning.

I thought Barcelona was eerily quiet--figured everyone was sleeping in or hungover!

[elsplace2]

DH reluctantly got up too. We had breakfast and off we heaed into port around 8:30am.

We read about the #1 bus on CC….and found where to catch the #1 bus. It only cost 1.25 Euros each but I think exact change is preferred or close to it.

Anyway, we had NO IDEA when to get off…we heard another trio who was in the same predicament as us, ask someone, and the gentleman told us a place to get off. Although I think maybe we should have gotten off sooner, but that is OK, because it was a beautiful day and we enjoyed the sights heading to the Cathedral. Word of advice, it is very difficult finding English speaking people, so try and have some sort of idea of where you have to go. DH has been to Palma, years ago…so he got us heading in the right direction.

 

[elsplace2]

We found the Cathedral about 10-15 minutes later. It was beautiful. It was very difficult getting a photo from the front because of the building behind it. After walking around a bit we decided we would walk back to the ship. We took our time and took many photo opportunities. We also had to use the restroom, so we decided to stop off at a café and enjoyed some carmel cappachino…..it was delicious. Too bad the cups weren’t bigger!! We also picked up a bottle of champagne/wine to celebrate our anniversary this evening. We figured it was the last night and if they confiscated it, we should be able to get it back this evening anyway……also we were willing to pay the $15 corkage fee if necessary. So we put it in the backpack and made it through security with no problem! Not sure if we got lucky, or if they don’t care if you bring a bottle back on board on the last day?? We certainly weren’t going to question it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 11, 2011 by elsplace2

[sjbdtz]

Then back to the metro for Casa Batllo and La Pedrera…"Passeig de Gràcia" (Green Line, L3). They are next door to each other. We weren’t really sure where it was…so we asked at a vending booth and it was actually, right there across the street….again, not really what I expected, but worth seeing.

 

Casa Batllo

 

 

La Pedrera

 

 

 

 

 

A neat thing about Casa Batllo, Gaudi wanted to build without any straight lines. Everything in the house is curvilinear.

 

 

Your photos are AWESOME. I may supplement my own, with some of yours. ;)

 

 

What kind of camera are you using?

 

 

Thanks,

Stephen

 

 

.

[elsplace2]

We got back to the ship around 12:00-12:30pm. It took us about an hour and half to get back, seeing we stopped so many times but it was an enjoyable walk.

The weather looked like it was going to take a turn for the worst…..there were thunder storms from afar and it really cooled down. The good thing the thunderstorms never did come by but the bad thing our plans for hanging out by the pool and going on the slides were altered. But it was nice sitting on our balcony and watching it from afar. I’m not sure if it did end up raining in town, but as far as we know the ship wasn’t affected besides being very cloudy and cool. The sun did eventually come out later on in the afternoon, but we had to get ready for Cirque Dreams.

Cirque Dreams was awesome. We went in line around 5:50, because we had seen people in line already around 5:30pm when we walked by earlier. They started letting us in around 6:00pm. I think they may have changed the show a bit due to the fact that I had reviews of people saying they didn’t like the story line. There was no story being told when we went. It was constant entertaining changing performances. They were very talented. It was your typical circus acts and there were a few funny moments. We sat up in the balcony and had great seats. Personally, I don’t think there really is a bad seat in the house but of course I wouldn’t know for sure. The show ended around 8:00pm.

After the show we went to the casino, again another donation was given by us. Walked around a bit then remembered we needed to get our luggage tags. Got there around 9:30 most of the colors were already gone. A word of advice go early to get your choice (I think it’s at 6:00pm when they put them out. They put them on the back wall behind Guest Services.) It worked out Ok, we got the 9:00 am slot, and we weren’t in any big hurry getting off the ship seeing we were spending an extra night at the hotel.

 

 

Our last sunset at sea! :(

 

Edited June 11, 2011 by elsplace2

[NEW 2 CRUISIN]

AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME!!!

 

Thanks so much for sharing your story and pictures here!

We are on this same cruise in 100 days and are now more excited than ever!!!

 

Glad you had such a fantastic trip! We are looking forward to the same!

 

:)

[elsplace2]

We were up by 6:45am. I realized that I must have packed my room card in my back pants pocket, so I had to run to Guest Services and get a new one, so I can disembark. Luckily no one was in line. After that we went to breakfast by 7:30am. The buffet was packed!! We have not seen it this busy in all the cruise. We even had a foreign couple ask to sit with us, which was fine….but a little awkward because they didn’t speak any English so we basically ate in silence besides to each other. We were back to our room by 8:00am to get our stuff and left by 8:15 (Everyone has to be out of their rooms by 8:30am, but can hang around in public areas, I believe until 9:30am) We headed to O’sheehan’s bar, overlooking the atrium, seeing they were disembarking on this deck. We stayed until 9:00am then got off the ship, got our bags (which are in a turnstyle thing like they have at the airport). Then off to the taxi line for about a half hour. It was very long line, at least 100 people but it moved pretty quickly and the cabs kept on coming. We got to our hotel by 10:00am. It cost about 15.50 Euros.

[elsplace2]

We got to Hotel Continental by 10:00am and was just planning on leaving our bags with them, so we can go to Montserrat. But it just so happened our room was ready, ironically the same room we had pre-cruise. We put our bags in the room, caught up on our email and headed to Montserrat.

Montserrat

Montserrat is a Benedictine monk mountain retreat and for some people it was the highlight of their Barcelona visit. So it was on my must see list. I’m really glad we did get to see it, even though we did not stay up there very long. It took approx 1 hour and 45 min. total time to get there but well worth it in my opinion. Also, it is a little complicated getting there to a certain degree… so be sure to do your homework, or speak to someone at the Tourist Info Booths. Anyway, the views from up there were so beautiful! Unfortunately it was very cloudy and hazy but we were still able to get some great views. It was very busy up there so we didn’t go inside the Montessary. After getting plenty of photos, we left and headed back to Barcelona.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 11, 2011 by elsplace2

[elsplace2]

While in Barcelona we did some more walking around and ate dinner at a local bar offering for 6.95 euros, for a Margherita Pizza and beer/drink combo. What a great deal! Although the pizza did not compare to the one we had in Sorrento. We walked around again on Las Ramblas then headed back to our hotel for some free beer/wine, wifi and repacking. Again, we had another wonderful day in Barcelona!

 

The next morning we checked out and headed to Plaza Cataluyna to catch the Aerobus. There were 3 sitting there. So we just hopped on the one that everyone was getting on. NOT realizing what the A2 meant on the bus. As I said earlier in my report, A1 is Terminal 1 and A2 is Terminal 2. Well we get to Terminal 2 and see there are no American Airline flights. So we check with the info booth and she said we were at the wrong terminal. So we had to catch a shuttle to Terminal 1. So as we are checking in, they said our flight is already delayed an hour and that we will have to go with Delta for our connecting

flight, which was 4 hours later then our original flight but that’s OK with us, because we were alittle leary about the hour and half between flights anyway, seeing we had to go through customs at JFK.

So we get to JFK and get into the Customs room. What a madhouse!!! There had to be at least 150 people in the US Citizen line and the same for the Non-US citizens. We couldn’t even figure out where the end of the line was and we couldn’t even move to get to it!! They had to stop any additional foot traffic in the hallways, until the lines got a little smaller. Obviously several international flights came in at the same time. Anyway, we got through customs got our bags, (which they told us the wrong baggage claim #) So we thought our luggage was lost, then I heard them announce the correct one over the loud speaker, 10 minutes later. Luckily they were able to take our bags at the connecting flights booth, even though we were flying with Delta. All this took about an hour. So seeing we were in an American Airline terminal we had to go over to a Delta terminal. Which after finally finding an information booth, we were told we had to catch the tram. So we find the tram, go outside, go through a small parking area, cross a street and start over like it was our first flight. Check in at the desk, go through security etc. All this took another hour. So from the time we touched down to our gate it took us 2 hours. Crazy, huh? Luckily we had plenty of time between flights!!

Despite our flights….this cruise was wonderful! It was one of our most fascinating, cultural and historical cruise vacations that we ever have been on. Although, it was one of our most difficult at times too, with the language barrier. I recommend going with tour groups like RomeinLimo, the cruise line or whatever you find that fits your budget. The only downfall with RomeInLimo is you have to organize your own group and HOPE everyone shows up for the tour because you pay at the end of your tour not upfront. We were lucky and had an awesome group, but we did get a few people back out before we got our final group together….so start early! The downfall with the ship’s tours is that the European excursions are very expensive especially compared to other cruise excursions. But they can be worth it just for the peace of mind!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this review and hopefully it was a little helpful. If anyone has any questions….fire away!

Edited June 11, 2011 by elsplace2

[elsplace2]

Thanks everyone for your kind words, so far...I will probably answer any questions tomorrow....it has been a long day writing this....I had lot's of "technical difficulties" with my computer. I saw that there were duplicate posts and font changes....I don't know how that happens??

 

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it.

 

Oh as far as the camara we used. Just an Olympus digital, not sure of the particular model. But I cheated and enchanced my photos so they would look sharper. VERY TIME Consuming, I may add!

 

Oh and Craig, you mentioned the NON rocky seas.....hmmmm, I wonder where you were?? We were all talking about it the next morning!

[manateemike67]

Thanks everyone for your kind words, so far...I will probably answer any questions tomorrow....it has been a long day writing this....I had lot's of "technical difficulties" with my computer. I saw that there were duplicate posts and font changes....I don't know how that happens??

 

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it.

 

Oh as far as the camara we used. Just an Olympus digital, not sure of the particular model. But I cheated and enchanced my photos so they would look sharper. VERY TIME Consuming, I may add!

 

Oh and Craig, you mentioned the NON rocky seas.....hmmmm, I wonder where you were?? We were all talking about it the next morning!

 

Have to agree, what ship were you on Craig ! Eight of us went to Taste for dinner and only 5 managed to end the evening together.

 

Have to admit i was somewhat disappointed about so much movement. It surprised me considering the size of the swell was not that great.

[Single Cruiser]

Have to agree, what ship were you on Craig ! Eight of us went to Taste for dinner and only 5 managed to end the evening together.

 

Have to admit i was somewhat disappointed about so much movement. It surprised me considering the size of the swell was not that great.

 

What night was that, Weds? One of the things I commented on when I got home was no fun in the seas. Checking out the stats we only encountered 2foot wavelets !! I missed having a little bit of ship motion!

 

Some great pics El, glad you enjoyed it! 7 day cruises are always too short!

[RollTideRollRich]

Awesome review! Can't wait for my turn at the cruise in just over 2 weeks!

[ansmom]

Thanks for the review sounds like you had a great time! We are going in sept and cannot wait. We are going on the ncl tour in Rome you took it was nice to get a first hand review of it.

[mais318]

Great review! Were leavimg out of barcelona and this geve us some great information, thanks, i cant wait tonread more :D

[daffodiliaz]

Once again, thanks for the awesome review!

 

Questions:

 

How large was the Rome excursion group? Any issues staying with the group?

 

Do you know how full your sailing was?

[Imani68]

Thanks for the great review! My turn can't come quick enough!

[Single Cruiser]

Once again, thanks for the awesome review!

 

Questions:

 

?

 

Do you know how full your sailing was?

 

I can answer that. We had (according to the cruise director) 4300 passengers (so just over the double berth occupancy as it was school holidays quite a few 3rd and 4th).

 

Just under half (2000) were American, just under a 1/4 (1000) were British (I would imagine most of the kids were in this group). 500 Spanish, which leaves 800 spread across the rest.

[parrotheads]

Great review and pictures! Was there a White Hot Party? We will be onboard on June 19th! I am putting together my clothes and had read that we should pack a white outfit. :cool:

[Single Cruiser]

Great review and pictures! Was there a White Hot Party? We will be onboard on June 19th! I am putting together my clothes and had read that we should pack a white outfit. :cool:

 

Yep White Hot Party was held on the Thursday night after leaving Naples in Spice/H2O.

 

It started at 10:30 but was about 11:30 when it started getting busy

[elsplace2]

Once again, thanks for the awesome review!

 

Questions:

 

How large was the Rome excursion group? Any issues staying with the group?

 

Do you know how full your sailing was?

 

 

Thanks Craig for answering the how full the sailing was and any other questions, I haven't had a chance to get to!

 

As far as the Rome excursion...there were 38 people in our group. There was no problem staying with the group, she carried something in her hand and held it in the air the whole time. The sites and streets were packed with tourists....as you saw in the Trevi Fountain photo. She didn't really let you wander off on your own, with the exception of Trevi Fountain and Colisseum....and those were for only about 20 min to 1/2 hr...And everyone came back when expected.....no waiting around for stragglers....to be honest there really was no need to wander on your own. Our guide walked and talked us through all the highlights. She was unbelievable with the knowledge she had at each site!!! Well worth it, in my opinion!!!

[elsplace2]

Thanks for the review sounds like you had a great time! We are going in sept and cannot wait. We are going on the ncl tour in Rome you took it was nice to get a first hand review of it.

 

 

Personally I think you will really enjoy it, but the guide talks almost constantly, so it can be a little of information overload....yet it is nice to know what you are looking at!

[Waihekean]

Just found your review. Just love these travel reports with photo's. We are researching doing the Grand Med in a couple of years, so I'm coming along by armchair:D