We're off!

Sunday, October 30, 2016
Barcelona Port, Catalonia, Spain and Canary Islands
Here are memories from our first cruise, a trans-Atlantic
from Barcelona to Tampa, Florida on Norwegian Cruise Lines . Because we’re independent
land-travelers, we never thought about cruising before, but I wanted to
experience crossing the Atlantic, to sense the expanse and power of the ocean. We certainly did.

 

To help prepare, I became active on the Cruise Critic
website, picking up numerous tips about cruising, Norwegian Cruise Lines, our
ship, and our particular roll call--that’s the group of people cruising on the
same ship. We corresponded for months before our first meet up in Barcelona.
Thanks Cruise Critic!

 

So day one, Steve from Massachusetts organized a group
transfer for us. Being the cruise virgins of this very experienced group,
people were pointing out the other ship leaving that day (the Epic). That’s a
5,000-passenger monster. Ours, this sailing, is only 2,248 passengers and 1,062
crew, which is small compared to what they’re building today. Give the bags to the porter, get processed, and
up the gangplank—ok, really escalators and a little walkway—to the ship.
We get
our first washy-washy—hands sprayed every time you enter the ship or a
restaurant to fight the dreaded Noro-virus, which can send half the passengers
to diarrhea hell for days and the ship into quarantine.

 

Thanks to our Cruise Critic pals, Steve and Marcy led us to
the buffet for lunch, while Caren had a nice table on an outside deck where we
join her for lunch . When a crew member clears away a dirty dish, I learn that
we don’t even have to bus our table. Everything is done for us, done well, and
spotlessly for the next fourteen days.

 

Next, time to explore the ship from top to bottom
discovering decks, the library, restaurants, and spa, before we stop for our
Sail Away Party, organized by Paul from the Cruise Critic group. Free
drinks—did I mention that we had a drink package, so we could have drunk our
way across the Atlantic trying every drink on the long cocktail menu.

 

Dinner offers a wonderful variety of food, listen to music
in the different venues (guitar player in the Atrium, piano and singing of pop
songs in the Champagne Bar, ballroom dancing in another venue, a rock and roll
show in the large theater). We had
several French conversations with Quebecois on board, so all languages
represented . Finally, we shove off from Barcelona.

By the way, the map is incorrect, but I don't know how to change it. It includes travel from our May/June 2016 trip. This October/November trip started in Paris, went to Roquebrune-Cap Martin next to Nice, and then we flew to Barcelona where the story picks up.
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