Day 1 and 2

One last look at Barcelona

Here's a little disclaimer for those who haven't been in a cruise. When they say your cruise is 12 days, it means both embarkation ( 7 pm) and disembarkation (7-9 am) days are counted. On all three of my cruises embarkation process starts at 1 pm.

I was keen on getting checked in early, I just don't wanna be caught up in the log jam when everyone else comes in to get checked in.

So we checked out from our accommodations, took the Metro to Drassanes station where the port of Barcelona is located. Along the way we met a wonderful mother and son from Texas that was taking the same cruise as we are, so we all went to the bus station where for a Euro or something you could get to your cruise line.

Our check in was quick - didn't I tell you going in early makes for a quick finish? When we entered the boat, we were met with welcome drinks. Hurriedly we downed the drinks, put our luggage in our cabin, and made a dash out. The boat leaves at 7 pm we had plenty of time to take a quick peek at Rambla del Mar (see post earlier), buy that sardine for a sardine lover friend, get more souvenirs, grab a 6-pack of bottled water, and visit the flea market by the port.

We can leave the boat and the port again, as long as we get back to the boat by departure time. On board, everything is free except alcoholic drinks and bottled water. Seasoned cruisers knew how to bring their own wine and bottled water. What people do is check in their luggage, leave the port, shop for water, then return to the boat without going through the x-ray machine again :D

By the time we got back to the boat, it was nearly on it's way out of the port. We managed to look around first and spotted from the atrium a bar that serves coffee and alcohol :D

Across the bar, is the main desk. This would be imperative to know.

A must do is participate in safety drills that are conducted before the boat leaves the port. However, this was shot on the second day because we were out when the drills were conducted. I thought we were excused from participating the drills (while important, it could be a drag, a repetition, like the ones on every plane trip we take), but we got summons :D, letter informing us of a make-up drills for those who missed them because they weren't on board.

The important thing to remember about this I believe is in case of emergency and the boat needs to be evac, which is your group and where do you meet. Our group meets in a bar. We all laugh at the irony.

Also on the second day, as a token of thanks for return customers (called members of Latitudes club), we were invited to a private Latitudes only cocktail party where we got to meet the captain. He's the one with the mike. Too young, isn't he?

At this party, the drinks were overflowing. It was like an hour long meet and greet, but I thought I had 3 or 4 of this (and hors d'oeuvres) and walked out of the room with one in hand :D

By lunchtime, there was a barbecue set up in the pool area. As you can see I was more interested in taking a shot of the blue sky, always thinking of Skywatch :D If you must know, hubs and I walked away plateless from this bbq set up.

Instead we chilled on the deck, put our feet up and waited for the sunset. Took some photos for Watery Wednesday too.

And then it was my first Mediterranean sunset. That silhouette is my husband. At this time, while watching the sunset, we met another cruisemate, a lovely lady from Montreal who would be a part of our Cairo trip.