LIVE from the Mariner of the Seas Barcelona to Dubai

[CAT GIRL]

Barcelona to Dubai was my all time favorite cruise. Petra is

simply breathtaking. Check the weather, although it was sunny

it was chilly there. I had to buy a wrap at one of the shops

there.

I envy you !!! Have a great time.

[LABCHICK]

Can't wait to hear more. What a great trip.

[jeffmylene]

I'm so excited to have found your live review! My parents have been traveling on the Mariner of the Seas since it left Galveston. They will be continuing on after Dubai and head to Singapore on her. Your blog will give me the chance to see things that they are seeing as well, so, thank you! Have a great trip. I'll be following along!

[voyager70]

Really enjoying this, thanks for taking us along with you Rico! You are one fortunate young man to have the opportunities to travel the world so extensively at your age. Enjoy!

[RicardoC]

Friday, May 3 – Barcelona, Spain

 

Good afternoon from Catalunya! I just got to the hotel where I met my parents (sleeping…:confused:), took a shower, and off course had to check with you guys…but first things first.

 

 

The way here was surprisingly nice; Lufthansa’s Business class was great with amazing service, good food, and all those “details” that make (in my opinion) all difference. The first flight from MCO to FRA was on a packed A340-600; I’m pretty sure there was not empty seat, not even on first class, but they managed to make things work out smoothly (even used 2 gates at MCO – one for first & business, the other for economy – to board faster). After drinks, appetizers, drinks, food, drinks I was ready to sleep like a baby…and so the day ended somewhere over the Atlantic:cool:. Before I knew we were over the Celtic Sea, breakfast was served over the English Channel, and touchdown Deutschland!

 

Horrible picture taken right after I woke up (obviously).

 

Connecting flights couldn’t have been easier; we stopped at gate A50 and my flight (in exactly one hour) was A38, a short walk “around the corner”, passport control (no one in any line), and I got to the gate about 40 minutes before the flight. That one, though, was the big surprise of the day/night; I knew the seats would all be the same because it was a smaller plane (A321) but the service was amazing! They even served shrimp, a “lychee cream” with fruits, and gourmet chocolate…besides the “usual” drinks, champagne, etc…all on a 1hr30min flight! I found that an example of great service and exemplary customer care…good job Lufthansa!

 

The new Terminal (it’s around 3 years old) at BCN is beautiful and functional; I was out in 20 minutes…and then got stuck in traffic for a bit till I got to the hotel around an hour after I landed…not bad.

 

Ok, I really wanted to talk about the hotel BUT the mother is driving me crazy because she woke up and wants to go “walk” around the mall in front of the hotel…I know what kind of all she means:rolleyes::p…Anyways, I will be back later tonight; we have a reservation at our favorite restaurant here. Will it still be awesome? Will we find the same dishes as the past few times? Will it remain our favorite? Stay tuned!

[Coolcruise02]

Love your "childhood" pictures. You were so fortunate to be able to travel at a young age!

[nyonefivetwo]

Loving it, Rico!!!

[scoob2010]

Awesome so far.

I did the Mariner in Galveston this past March.

 

I'm looking forward to following your adventures.

[RicardoC]

I said I’d be back, right? So…the restaurant first…it was AH.amazing! We heard of this place called Botafumeiro back in the late 1990s right before our first trip here. It’s a traditional place here and apparently everyone knows about it. Turns out we “visited” it twice in a week back in 2002 and came back in 2008, that besides all the people I have indicated to go and absolutely loved it. Tonight wasn’t any different; my parents loved their Fideua, we all tried my Pulpo a Gallega with Risoto Nero, and the Croquettes de Marisco weren’t behind. To finish, a traditional Crema Catalana and now I won’t be able to sleep for a few hours :eek:(though jetlag has just hit me). After all, it may as well remain our favorite in town…we’ll see in the next couple days.

 

 

Now, the hotel… We decided to do something a bit different this time; in 2008 we drove by this newer, mostly residential area, further from the main points of interest, and found it interesting. I kept the name of a huge mall nearby (the one across the street from us) in my mind – Diagonal Mar – and remembered it when looking for a hotel. We booked the AC Barcelona Forum and, in my opinion, it was a great value. The hotel is about a block from the sea and across the street from the mall, a park, and public transportation. Also the rooms are bigger than the usual hotel rooms, probably twice as big with a living room, bedroom, and bathroom with closet and separate toilet, tub, and two showers – I know, huge! All that for a fairly good price…I have only been here for a couple hours but as of now I highly recommend it. There are some “weird” or unusual aspects, such as no safe inside the rooms (you have free individual ones in a room behind the front desk) but that can be easily forgotten while you relax in one of the indoor hot tubs or tan by the pool – all on the 13th floor.

 

How cool is this place?:cool:

QUIZ TIME! Who can see the Sagrada Familia?

 

I gotta go get some rest now and “vacant” the laptop for the others…see you tomorrow! :D

[RicardoC]

Barcelona to Dubai was my all time favorite cruise. Petra is

simply breathtaking. Check the weather, although it was sunny

it was chilly there. I had to buy a wrap at one of the shops

there.

I envy you !!! Have a great time.

 

Thanks for the tip and welcome aboard!

[RicardoC]

Can't wait to hear more. What a great trip.

 

Thanks for following! Glad you're enjoying :)

[RicardoC]

I'm so excited to have found your live review! My parents have been traveling on the Mariner of the Seas since it left Galveston. They will be continuing on after Dubai and head to Singapore on her. Your blog will give me the chance to see things that they are seeing as well, so, thank you! Have a great trip. I'll be following along!

 

Oh that's cool...I guess you'll be able to say you were on the cruise then hahah

[RicardoC]

Really enjoying this, thanks for taking us along with you Rico! You are one fortunate young man to have the opportunities to travel the world so extensively at your age. Enjoy!

 

Thank you! I'm so glad and grateful for that...it's the most valuable thing (in my opinion) one can get :)

[RicardoC]

Love your "childhood" pictures. You were so fortunate to be able to travel at a young age!

 

Hahah those are great right!?

[RicardoC]

Loving it, Rico!!!

 

Thanks for following!

[RicardoC]

Awesome so far.

I did the Mariner in Galveston this past March.

 

I'm looking forward to following your adventures.

 

Thanks for reading!

[krev]

Can't wait for the cruise portion! Now get some rest!

[Notaworryintheworld]

Ah so jealous! Following along with you! Sounds awesome!

[RicardoC]

Saturday, May 4 - Barcelona, Spain

 

Today, I'm trying to post from my phone...we'll see if I like it :D

 

View from our room about an hour ago.

 

As you can see it's a beautiful day out, about 15 Degrees Celsius, and no clouds...my type of weather :)

 

Plans for today are go check the progress at Sagrada Familia (hey, not many people can say they saw part of its construction!), visit the Catalunya History Museum (never got to go), and walk around the Market. After that we'll do whatever comes to our minds.

 

I know most of you should be sleeping so I'll check back in later today. Buenos Dias :D

[drarill]

Rico!!

Good morning from Puerto Rico!! I'm having such a good time reading your wonderful review!! Have a great time in Barcelona, we love "La Boqueria"!! BTW, how long was your parents flight to BCN??

Have a beautiful day!

[krev]

Good morning from beautiful Victoria Canada, really enjoying your blog so far. We have a stop in Barcelona on our next cruise, I wonder if that restaurant is open for lunch? I've already told my husband about it and would love to try it. Enjoy your day.

[RicardoC]

Sorry didn't get to answer yesterday...

 

Can't wait for the cruise portion! Now get some rest!

 

Me neither :p we board tomorrow!

 

Ah so jealous! Following along with you! Sounds awesome!

 

Thanks for following :)

[RicardoC]

Rico!!

Good morning from Puerto Rico!! I'm having such a good time reading your wonderful review!! Have a great time in Barcelona, we love "La Boqueria"!! BTW, how long was your parents flight to BCN??

Have a beautiful day!

 

I'm glad you're enjoying traveling along! Unfortunately we didn't make it to La Boqueria...and probably won't have time today (we'll see) :(

 

I guess we'll have to come back soon :rolleyes::p

Their flight was a bit over 10 hours and they said Singapore Airlines was really good.

 

Good morning from beautiful Victoria Canada, really enjoying your blog so far. We have a stop in Barcelona on our next cruise, I wonder if that restaurant is open for lunch? I've already told my husband about it and would love to try it. Enjoy your day.

 

Thanks for reading and glad you're having fun :D

As far as I know Botafumeiro is opened for lunch (we had lunch there in 2008) but it's probably a good idea to check on their website...

[Mycruises62]

LIVE from the Mariner of the Seas Barcelona to Dubai

 

 

Wednesday, May 1st – Orlando, FL

 

Welcome everyone!

 

Everything is (almost:o) packed, reservations are checked, and pretty much all is ready for our month long trip! I have been wanting to do a “live” review for a while, but never really got to do it. Since this is a rather different itinerary I decided it would be nice to take you all in my luggage (or should I say in my laptop?) with us. Our pre and post cruise hotels will have free wifi and I made a pretty good international data plan for my phone, so I should be able to be fairly consistent with posts…I’ll do my best. I’m flying out tomorrow night but wanted to give you some general info as well as leave you some time for questions and things like that. So there you go, Enjoy!:)

 

Background

 

I’m Ricardo (Rico), 19 years old, born and raised in Brazil but have been in Florida for the past 5 years or so. We like traveling, A LOT, and started thinking about this summer back in January. My father had been wanting to go to Alaska, so we promised this would be the year…we promised it for third time and didn’t do it. I found this repositioning cruise on the Mariner and the itinerary, on a ship like that, and with an unbelievable price sounded like an obligation to take:rolleyes:.

 

The Cruise

 

As many of you know the Mariner of the Seas is the fifth and last ship built for Royal Caribbean’s revolutionary Voyager Class; it has everything from the traditional pool to an ice skating rink, so a repositioning cruise on her should be a nice experience. We had tried to go to Egypt twice in the past couple years but had to cancel both due to the Arab Spring and political tensions in the country. The idea of giving Egypt a third try was already good, and let’s say Barcelona, Petra, and Dubai helped out with the final impulse:p.We researched, talked about it, and eventually booked it.

 

Stay tuned for info on our land portion, packing, and more! Later on tonight!

 

Looking forward to your live review! Have a great trip.

[RicardoC]

Sunday, May 5 – Barcelona, Spain

 

 

 

Hey Everyone! I failed to check in with you guys last night…I was a victim of jetlag! I’m back, though, typing this really quickly before I head to breakfast and then our last full day in BCN. Enjoy and sorry again.

 

 

Yesterday we had some changes of plans; first time we were here we had a car for a week and remember it was pretty easy to drive around. Since the father loves driving, I love maps, and we were thinking about going to Montserrat today, we decided to check out the Avis store a couple blocks from the hotel. Thank God we didn’t wait till today as they were closing in an hour and would remain closed until Monday morning! We rented a small A1 for two days, total of 150 Euros…not bad (considering just the tour bus to Montserrat, for example, would be that for the three of us). We then drove to Sagrada Familia to find a huge line (I should’ve expected it) so decided to get tickets online (on ticketmaster) and go back today (Sunday) with no lines. The day was pretty “chill” since we were still affected by jetlag; we drove/walked around Montjuic which was nice with the great weather, visited the new (for us) mall “Arenas”, which they took an old/abandoned arena and mixed the original façade with a modern structure…awesome! They have several stores (including a FC Barcelona – which father and I are watching a tonight at Camp Nou, by the way), an observatory looking at Plaza Espana, and several restaurants.

 

 

 

 

Jetlag started to hit again and we didn’t want to get on a bad mood (with headaches and such) so we had a quick (but great) lunch at a place there and made our way to the hotel for an hour nap. At night, our adventures continued on the way back to the Gothic neighborhood through the city (which remains as beautiful, clean, and opened as the previous times), walked around the narrow streets, accidentally parked in front of a police headquarters (ooops), and had a great dinner at the famous Els 4Gats. This place was opened in the 19th century as a cabaret and it is amazing how preserved it is (sorry, no pics)...food was great but Botafumeiro still remains our favorite.

 

Ok, I have to go now for our visit at Sagrada Familia and then head to Montserrat. Later we’ll drive back and head to Camp Nou for the game…I will try my best to come back later tonight instead of falling asleep…heheh

 

Have a good day!