laurieal

10 hours ago, little britain said:

Happiness is…

So happy you can finally make it home! What an ordeal... 😔

20 hours ago, dbancroft said:

@lauriealMy wife and I usually only have 1 drink a day. So we hardly ever use our 10 drinks a day I am going to try a papjac on my Freedom cruise in August.

Excellent. If you like it, share the info with all your friends. Let's save the Papa Jac! 💪 Have a great cruise on the Freedom!

4 hours ago, dpostman said:

Glad to hear you had an uneventful trip back.  I was mostly offline this weekend and missed the opportunity to wish you a safe flight back.  I'm looking forward to your next Live in October.  By then, it's looking like I might be able to post our own kitty pics.  My daughter has moved back in after being away at university for the past 2 years since her next 2 years have many internships and most of her remaining university classes will be online.  She has somehow been able to successfully negotiate that we let her bring in a cat. She is just waiting for the right one to show up for rescue at the SPCA.  Anyway, we'll see how that pans out.

 

Once again, Merci Beaucoup for the great live review.  I've taken several notes for our future cruises.

 

d (Dennis) p

And a pic of our late Dexter

 

Kudos to your daughter for rescuing a cat (and to you for welcoming it into your home 😊). I hope the perfect match shows up soon. 
 

Pictures of dogs are also enthusiastically accepted. Dexter was beautifully floofy. I’m sorry for your loss 😔 

8 hours ago, little britain said:

Thank you again for your comments -

 

to those who we will never know who helped, the ladies at the airport to called the police, the Swiss police who restrained the guy until the Spanish police turned up, the lady in the hotel who gave us an upgrade when she heard our story, the waiter in the restaurant who gave us free shots… the kindness of strangers. God bless you. 

 

The Consulate have processed our Emergency Travel docs (£100pp if you ever need one!) and we can collect at 11am tomorrow. Booked on the first possible flight after that outta here! 

This little shindig will cost close to £2000 once we have added up hotel/ flight/ emergency travel docs/ new passports/ new glasses for me/ new sunglasses for DH/ meals/ excess parking fines… 🤞insurance pays up.

And to the Albanian low life scum thieves. 
Karma bites back

Oh no, what a horrible way to end your trip. I’m so sorry you have to go through that. It must be so stressful and disheartening. 
 

I’m glad there were nice humans on your path to bring some light to the whole situation with their kindness (and some wrestling). 
 

Hoping everything works out as planned tomorrow and that you be home as soon as possible. Keeping my fingers crossed for the insurance. 

8 hours ago, jmh2006 said:

@laurieal So glad to hear you made it home safe and sound.  I was wondering if you could tell me where you stayed when you were at Disney?  Thanks ever so much!

I stayed at the Pop Century resort. 

Hello, everyone!

Just wanted to let you know that I made it home safely to the softest, purriest cat in the entire world. I'm back at work this morning, but I'll get caught up on comments later in the day.

I’ve made it to the airport! In the end, it took close to an hour and a half for the accessible taxi to arrive. It’s fine. I was going to be waiting either at the port or at the airport. 
 

When he arrived, the driver was very nice and efficient. Here’s my last look at the Oasis…

For now 👀 

I have made it past security and I’m in the process of updating my Disney game on my Nintendo Switch so I have something to do during my 8 hours flight. 
 

Once that’s done, I’ll go looking for snacks. 

Earlier during the cruise I had inquired about getting an accessible airport transfer from the port and I had been told it was available. Since my flight is only at 15:00, I got a “late” transfer with a disembarkation time of 8:30 and luggage tag 51. 
 

I skipped breakfast again, because I plan to eat 7 bocadillos at the airport. Around 8:00, I went to the Royal Theatre on deck 5, which was my assigned departure lounge. It was my first time seeing the upper level of the theatre. 

They had a table set up with water, juice, coffee and some pastries. 
 

Around 8:30, I got a notification from the app saying that I could get off. I had one last look at the Promenade. 
 

The gangway was backed up. 
 

After waiting for about 30 minutes, the wheelchair assistance train went by and told me I could join them. I didn’t need to be asked twice. 
 

On the way I caught a glimpse of the Scarlet Lady. 

It was the immigration of non-Europeans that was backed up. Once they reached the terminal Europeans could get through pretty quickly. The wheelchair assistance train got to skip that huge immigration line. 
 

I picked up my luggage and went to the bus transfer area. 
 

The chaos level seemed minimal with port employees directing people to the correct buses based on terminal number. 
 

I spoke to the guy supervising the transfer operations and he said that he didn’t have any buses with wheelchair lifts, but that he would call me an accessible taxi. 
 

The taxi is currently picking someone up from the airport, but it should be here in around 30-40 minutes. 
 

Since I have a 15:00 flight, this is completely fine. I will get a private taxi ride for the price of a bus transfer. However, if your flight is earlier in the day I would personally skip the RCI transfer and arrange for a taxi. 

1 hour ago, Rogueperson said:

 no.  I got a hotel room to spend the day here and fly home tomorrow.

 

Too bad we never actually got to meet.  This has been fun.

It has! Have a fun day in Barcelona today and a safe flight home tomorrow. 

Guys!

I’m seeing my cat, today!! 😁 

36 minutes ago, Rogueperson said:

@laurieal

 

Not sure who won the race as I just woke up.  But we don’t have to disembark until 10:15.

 

I think you win because you get to sleep in later 😊 

Are you flying home today or staying in Barcelona?

9 hours ago, Ginlyn said:

Fellow Canadian here.  I don’t post hardly at all but wanted to say how much I always enjoy your “lives”.  When are you cruising again?  DH and I just did the Panama Canal cruise on Radiance about two weeks ago and already I am missing cruising.  Safe travels tomorrow and I look forward to following you again in the future.  Ginny from the land/island of Anne of Green Gables 😜

Thank you! The Panama Canal is definitely on my bucket list, but my next cruise will be the westbound transatlantic on Oasis in Octobre. 
 

Love the Anne of Green Gables books so much! ❤️ 

9 hours ago, little britain said:

DH is loving you and cursing you for introducing him to Papa Jacs!!

- nice travelling with you.

- safe travels home 

LB x

It’s a delicious drink! The world needs to know about it. 
 

It was nice travelling with you, too! Thank you for sharing your thoughts along the way. 

Departure Info

Barcelona info provided by RCI

I had dinner at the Windjammer. I got there around 19:00 and it was busier than last time I was there. I found a table in the back, but it was a bit too far from the food. When I went to get food and spotted a closer table, I decided to move my stuff. 
 

There was some wait at the more in demand stations. The ribs were particularly popular and had 5-6 people waiting in line for them. 

I started with my usual cheese and cheesy bread. The second cheesy bread was accidental; it was stuck to the first one. Also, bonus shrimp cocktail. 
 

For my main, I had the salmon en croute with the mashed potatoes and more cheese that I hadn’t seen on my first cheese run. 
 

The salmon was overcooked, but it’s buffet salmon and I expected that. It’s why I got the mashed potatoes. 
 

For dessert, I had the baklava and a couple of cookies. 
 

After dinner, I went to the headliner show FourEver in the theatre. I wasn’t planning on going after missing last night’s shows, but @little britain sold the show so well I had to check it out. 
 

It was a fantastic show. The singers were talented and the one doing most of the talking was very charismatic.

It took a couple of songs for me to get super into it, but as soon as they started Bohemian Rhapsody I was hooked. 

Perhaps one day I won’t cry during Bring Him Home, but today was not that day. And my final mention goes to Nessun Dorma, which was absolutely beautiful. 

After the show, I returned to my stateroom to finish packing. My suitcase is now outside, all the electronics that need to be charged are charging, and I am ready to go. 

Back on the ship, I went straight to deck 15. Yes, that’s not a typo. I went to 15. 
 

It was such a hot day and I needed some soft serve. 
 

I saw some seats I had not noticed before. One thing I loved about the Wonder was that they had all sorts of seating options, some of which I could transfer onto to get a break from my wheelchair. 
 

It’s next to the Lime & Coconut on deck 15. It’s too bad that it’s not in the sun, but I’m glad to know it exists. 
 

And then it was time to return to my stateroom for a much needed shower and some just as needed (but not as satisfying) packing. 
 

I didn’t quite finish, but I didn’t want to miss sailaway so I went up to 16 and got one last frozen mojito from my favourite bar.

Ade and Igli were wearing “Best Bartender” medals and I can only agree. Ade is going home tomorrow, but if you’re on Oasis soon Igli makes the better Papa Jac and please don’t tell anyone I said that. 

 

Go, Team Oasis! Let’s get them!!

The tour ended at the market. 
 

It’s a beautiful building, made even more beautiful by the presence of an accessible washroom. It’s in the basement and you need to ask for a key, which I knew how to do thanks to Duolingo. 
 

The other non-accessible washrooms require payment by credit card only. 
 

Being close to the market, I knew exactly where I wanted to go. 
 

I wanted to have the world’s best bocadillo. They can’t lie about that, so it has to be a true, verified fact. 

It was just as delicious as I remembered. The bread was like a crunchy baguette, and it had just enough meat and cheese inside. It’s the perfect sandwich. 
 

I ate my sandwich in the Plaça de la Reina, watching all the strange things that were happening around. 
 

That Pikachu had sound coming out of it. It was terrifying. 
 

I had one last look at the cathedral and I started making my way back to the shuttle. 
 

I had to wait three buses before the accessible one came, but it wasn’t that long of a wait since buses were coming one right after the other. There was a fair amount of chaos, though, with all three ships in port waiting for their shuttles in the same area. 

16 minutes ago, Rogueperson said:

 

Folks, Scarlet Lady has been lagging behind for most of this race but what is this?  what is this, she’s pulling ahead.  Scarlet Lady in the lead!!!!!!

 

 

I don’t like to see you taking the lead, but I have to admit it’s a pretty nice view. 
 

Come on, Captain Ante! She’s beating us out of the port! Fire up another engine!

The shuttle dropped us off close to Pont dels Serrans and the Torres dels Serrans. 
 

You just need to cross the bridge and go through that door and you’re in the old part of Valencia. 
 

My tour met in Plaça de la Virgen, which was an easy walk from the shuttle drop off point. 

Here are some of my pictures from Valencia. 
 

If was a good tour. I think we saw most, if not all, of the heavy hitters from the old city. Our guide was nice and fun. 
 

I will put this tour on the same level as Málaga accessibility-wise. It was an easy one with just a short bit on cobblestone. 

3 minutes ago, Rogueperson said:

 

Wait a second.  You had a cruise sponsored excursion AND you had to pay for transport?!?!?

It wasn’t really an excursion. It was just a shuttle to and from the city centre, but we had to purchase it from the Shore Excursions people and we got a ticket/number like the excursions do. 

This review is temporarily on hold while I pack. 
 

(Ugh)

Let’s talk crystal blocks. Should I put mine in my checked luggage or carry on? 

20 minutes ago, little britain said:

Yes it’s a specific barman, not the roaming waiters… but I can’t remember his name… 🙄, it was Spanish sounding. And he was a he not a she! 

Excellent! It’s like a game of Guess Who 😊 

I’ll try to swing by tonight. 

Welcome to Valencia!

Things have changed since the last time I was in Valencia back in 2022. Back then, the shuttle to the city centre cost €10 round-trip and had to be paid in cash to the people running the shuttles. 
 

Now, the same round-trip shuttle costs $25 USD and has to be purchased through RCI at the Shore Excursions desk. You could also get it on the day using your SeaPass card to pay. 
 

There was also a free shuttle you could take to the entrance of the port. From there, you could take a city bus or go on an adventure on your own. I have heard that all those shuttles are wheelchair accessible. 
 

I splurged for the $25 shuttle. Since my tour was at 11:00, I had purchased the 9:30 shuttle. They were checking tickets and distributing numbered stickers at the front of the theatre. 
 

Since there was no one with me, a lady from Shore Excursions took my ticket and went to get my number: 10. 
 

Since I need an accessible bus with a lift, I was told I would get on the first available one no matter what my number was.
 

An accessible bus was just arriving when I got there. A lady with a scooter was already there and got in first, but thankfully the bus driver was able to get her and me both in there. 
 

The lady with the scooter actually had number 1. She was supposed to leave on the first accessible shuttle, but apparently the ship was having issues with the elevators and deck 2 was locked so she couldn’t get to the gangway.
 

By the time they got it fixed, it was almost nine so she and I ended up on the same bus. She was from Canada, so I chatted with her and her husband the whole way and helped them get started on their Valencia journey. They had hoped to get a map from the port, but didn’t see any being distributed (I didn’t either).