desertmom

We just got off the Panarama yesterday and had almost 4,700 passengers. Double occupancy is right about 4,000 so it was very full.

We are going to be in Paris on June 14, 2016. I just found out there will be a planned nationwide strike that day. We had planned on going to Versailles that day but now I am not sure about the transportation from Paris. Any ideas on what we can expect that day? We are also flying the next day to meet our cruise, is it likely there will be delays due to the strike the previous day?

I think the creme brulee is on the 2nd night. I thought they had gotten rid of it so was happy to see it that night.

If you go at 5:45 you can get right in. YTD is on the 3rd floor Golden dining room. We had great service with Reagon and were out by 7:00 each night unless we were busy chatting with others.

I just got off Glory Sat. They had the comedy shows which were very good but we didn't care for the shows in the main showroom. They had Divas, Epic rock, Latin nights and one other big show. They also had a welcome aboard show, Love and Marriage and the Hasbro game show.

If you have anytime dining ask for Reagon he was wonderful. If he noticed you weren't eating something he was right there to get you something else. Our dinners were never longer then 1 and a half hours.

Sorry I haven't posted more. We have unexpected company this weekend. I will get back to this.

You definitely want to make reservations for La Sagrada Familia. The standby line is quite long and with tickets you just walk right up. Spend time looking at the outside before going in because it is so interesting.

I hope to finish Barcelona and post pictures today. I believe we took about 5000 photos this trip so I still haven't gone through all of them.

I think we spent about an hour and a half at La Sagrada Familia. We felt we stayed long enough and saw everything. The inside isnt as elaborate as the outside but it is different and definitely worth seeing. We had purchased our tickets before we left the US and we bought the audiotour. I would recommend the tour. We did not take either of the elevators but sort of regret not doing one.

So our big day finally arrived. We arrived at LAX about 4 hours before our flight was due to depart. We were taking Turkish air and they were not open yet so we waited a while then we went through security and got to our gate. We had never flown overseas so it was a lot different then we were used to. So much nicer.

The flight was much cheaper then any others I could find and we were quite happy with our choice. The food was quite good and much different then we are used to eating. They had a lot of movie choices and other entertainment. The only problem with the first flight was it was quite warm where we were sitting. The rest of the plane was much more comfortable. We left LAX at 6:30 PM and had a layover in Istanbul. Then took a second flight and arrived in Barcelona at 10:30 PM the next day.

I have read that people either love or hate Barcelona. We LOVED it. We went through customs and in no time we were in a cab on our way to our hotel. We had booked Eric Vokel Industria apartments for two nights. We made our way to our apartment and got settled in for the night. It had two bedrooms and two bathrooms, a living room and kitchen area. It is in the middle of a residential area so it was quiet and wonderful. After we spent a lot of time looking out our terrace onto the street everyone fell into a deep restful sleep.

We woke up the next morning and had tickets to Sagrada Familia at 9:00. I had decided none of us would have jetlag so naturally I made the earliest reservation I could. Much to our surprise we woke up just fine. We walked to the Sagrada Familia and went inside. Even though I had seen a lot of pictures it was quite amazing. The outside is so detailed you could spend days looking at it and still not see every detail. If you are ever in Barcelona it is a must see.

We then started walking back to our apartment and on the way stopped at a sandwich shop. Since we were not in a tourist area the employees spoke only Spanish. We enjoyed trying out our Spanish and were able to get our orders and had an amazing lunch. It was so interesting to just wander the streets. There were fruit and vegetable stores all down the street. We picked up some fruit for breakfast the next day and later went to a bakery for breads.

Back at the apartment we took naps and got ready for our hop on hop off bus tour.

This summer my family took the Spirit on a 12 night cruise to the Mediterranean. I learned so much prior to going on these boards and I hope this can help anyone who may be in the planning stages of this wonderful trip.

Our group was composed of 6 people. We had my mother and one of her friends who are in their 70s, my husband and myself in our late 40s and early 50s and our children, my daughter who graduated high school this year and my 13 year old son. Trying to find activities that interested everyone was my main goal. I love to plan so I became the official travel agent. It took about a year of planning but our cruise was just about perfect and we saw more then we could have imagined.

I will try to post pictures along the way.

We booked a guarantee last week for a cruise next month. We got our room assignment yesterday. A balcony on the lido deck. I had been thinking of changing from guarantee to picking our room but this is exactly where I would have chosen.

Thank you for all the tips. We are on the Spirit on June 11 so everything I can find out is quite helpful.

We used Hotwire

4 star Condado area

4 people

June 9 for two nights

$98 a night

Caribe Hilton

This was the hotel we wanted so it worked out well for us.