Barcelona

[Dutchie]

We're sailing on the Milleniuum out of Barcelona thhis summer. Thought is we'd go to Barcelona at least a day ahead of time. Any suggestions on hotels?

[Leela]

I love Barcelona. I don't know what your price range is, but we stayed at Le Meridian. The location was fantastic, right off Las Ramblas. You might want to consider staying for two or three nights. Barcelona is beautiful and there is so much to see. And the food in that city is fabulous!!

[wwinfl91]

Here's a good sight for checking hotels worldwide.

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g187497-Barcelona_Catalonia-Vacations.html

 

have a great cruise.

[Host Anne]

We stayed at the Hotel Colon...also a great location. We even walked to the ship when she came in the day before we boarded (it was a rather long walk, though). I'd also recommend arriving at least two, even three days early. You really need two days to adjust to the time change. We arrived four days before the cruise and it was the best thing we did. There was so much to see and do in Barcelona and by the time we boarded, we were totally adjusted to the time. Passengers who arrived in Barcelona the day before were pretty tired for the first couple of days of the cruise.

 

This is a fabulous cruise. Have a marvelous time!

[Petoonya]

Atrium Palace and Hotel Jazz are both rated highly on Trip Advisor, right by Placa Catalunya and Las Ramblas- and both moderately priced. Have stayed at the Grand Marina and it is spectacular but pricey. Do a search on the Europe board and you will find LOTS of opinions.

[traveller99]

In June 2001, (post Med Cruise on Millie) we stayed at the Avenida Palace. Central to everything. (http://www.avenidapalace.com/hotel/index.shtml) We loved the hotel and location. Check it out. Also rode the double-decker sightseeing buses to get our orientation of the city. When you walk along the Las Ramblas, be sure to stop and observe all of the "statues". Those that have seen them, know what I mean. ENJOY!

[ISABELLA]

I love Barcelona. I don't know what your price range is, but we stayed at Le Meridian. The location was fantastic, right off Las Ramblas. You might want to consider staying for two or three nights. Barcelona is beautiful and there is so much to see. And the food in that city is fabulous!!

I am so agree with you. We have sailed from Barcelona 3 times and every time we stayed 2-3 days pre-cruise in different hotels off La Ramblas. La Meridian is a great hotel and in heart of everything. I will recommend to BarcelonaHotels.com and check it out. Any 3*** hotels in La Ramblas or Gothic quarters will work. Barcelona is a great city to enjoy. So easy to get around, using Bus Touristic. Last year was 20 euros for one adult ticket for the whole day. Have fun!

[Austin traveler]

We'll be on the Millie Transatlantic cruise in May, ending in Barcelona--great to hear that it is a wonderful city and we plan on staying for a few days. Does anyone have great restaurant recommendations?

Many thanks

Pam

[ISABELLA]

We'll be on the Millie Transatlantic cruise in May, ending in Barcelona--great to hear that it is a wonderful city and we plan on staying for a few days. Does anyone have great restaurant recommendations?

Many thanks

Pam

About restaurants - just ask hotel clerk and you will get the best advise.

There is a Hard Rock cafe in the Catalunya plazza.

[wv4891]

We discovered Restaurant Drolma last time we were in Barcelona. It is inside the Hotel Majestic, on the Passeig (Paseo) de Gracia. It is truely a 5 star experience, but $$$$. Nothing on the ship comes even close to it. We were steered to this fine restaurant by the concierge in our hotel (Ritz Hotel). BTW the Ritz is also a great place to stay at ($$$$).

[Leela]

We followed the restaurant recommendations in Insight City Guide for Barcelona (you can get it at Amazon, Borders, Barnes & Noble, etc), and all the places we picked were great.

 

Seafood, especially squid, seem to be specialties. I had squid and pasta in squid ink sauce and it looked crazy (black on black) but tasted divine. Rabbit dishes also figure prominently in Catalonian cuisine, so try some of that too. And Crema Catalonia is supposedly the original version of Creme Brulee' -- and anyone in Barcelona will tell you that their version is better than the French version.

 

One afternoon we wanded along the beach and ate at a little shack with a small deck over the sand. We drank cava sangria (made with local white sparkling wine, not red wine) and ate tiny fried fishes with garlic aioli. It was wonderful, and the walk afterward along the beach very nice

 

The most suprising thing about Barcelona to me were the fountains in the Placa Espana. We ended up there around sunset and were sitting around resting and having a beer when all of a sudden a crowd started forming. We didn't know this, but at sunset in the summer they have this big fountain show, choreographed to music. It was spectacular.

 

When we were in Barcelona we rode the metro (subway system) and walked everywhere. I don't think we got in a taxi once -- although if we were going to the pier with our luggage that would have been the ideal time to do it.

 

This is making me want to go back!!

[kilted scout]

I concur with what has already been said, it is the most delightful city and worth 3/4 days of anybody's time. With regard to accomodation would you be interested in an apartment - if so let me know and i will get the name and address for you of some excellent ones my colleague in our travel agency stayed at over Christmas - far better she said than a hotel and she has made nay trips to Barcelona

 

Rodney

[Dutchie]

Thanks to all of you for your suggestions. We'll check em all out

 

Thanks again

[Host Anne]

Restaurant suggestion -- Four Cats -- a favorite hang out of Picasso.

[jezzdogg]

We stayed last summer at the Hotel Diplomat lovely modern clean hotel with large rooms and beds, great location.....also they give you a fully stocked mini-fig at not charge, filled with sodas, juice, water, beer and wine and they refill it everyday. Think we paid around 150 USD....(also american A/C, which not all hotels have)

In regard to a great restuarant at at good price with wonderful food...Le Quintz Nits, which is right off Las Ramblas...the only drawback is they do not open til 8p.m.(Barcelona is a very late city) and you must get there by 7:30 to get in line so that when they open you will be assured a table, otherwise you will wait 1-2 hrs to get in.. Think it cost us somehwere around 50-65 dollars for the two of us with app, salal, entree, a pitcher of sangaris and coffee and one desert...wonderful food

[Alan2504]

We discovered Restaurant Drolma last time we were in Barcelona. It is inside the Hotel Majestic, on the Passeig (Paseo) de Gracia. It is truely a 5 star experience, but $$$$. Nothing on the ship comes even close to it. We were steered to this fine restaurant by the concierge in our hotel (Ritz Hotel). BTW the Ritz is also a great place to stay at ($$$$).

 

wv4891

 

I noticed you've stayed at the Ritz Hotel...we've booked a pre-cruise stay there and was wonderig if you could give us your thoughts on the Hotel...we checked trip-advisor and the reports seemed mixed.... We love old taditional Spanish hotels and thought that the Ritz might "fit the bill".

 

Thanks for any information

 

Alan

[wv4891]

Hi Alan,

 

We were at the Ritz last year, on a land vacation. Absolutely loved the place. It has been there since 1919, very elegant and the building is in great shape. It looks a lot like the Westin Palace Hotel in Madrid, from the outside. It is very pricey, to be expected. It's been host to a great many people over the years, among them Savalor Dali who was in residence there. The lobby area is a great place to have a drink/sandwich and people watch, as it is a very beautiful public room with high ceilngs. We stayed in a junior suite, while not the nicest room I have ever stayed (they were remodeling all the rooms when we were there and this one although nice had not been updated yet) in it was quite large. It had two bathrooms, and a separate large sitting area. The service was what you would expect in a 5 star hotel, top notch. We wanted to try new restuarants in the area so we went to the concierge for suggestions. They provided not only excellent suggestions (not the usual ones that they seem to have a kickback from) but great sevice making all neccessary arrangements for anything that we asked for. The hotel is located in a great location, just a block or two from the Passeig (paseo) de Gracia, on the same street as the fountain. It is walking distance to the Las Ramblas and many other great spots. I would definitely stay there again. The only thing I regret was that their main restaurant (Diane) was closed for remodeling when we were there. If you have any specific questions feel free to ask.

 

 

wv4891

 

I noticed you've stayed at the Ritz Hotel...we've booked a pre-cruise stay there and was wonderig if you could give us your thoughts on the Hotel...we checked trip-advisor and the reports seemed mixed.... We love old taditional Spanish hotels and thought that the Ritz might "fit the bill".

 

Thanks for any information

 

Alan

[wv4891]

Alan,

 

Attached is a not so great picture of the lobby bar area. This is looking into the room with the entrance to the Garden restaurant at the rear on the right.

[Alan2504]

Alan,

 

Attached is a not so great picture of the lobby bar area. This is looking into the room with the entrance to the Garden restaurant at the rear on the right.

 

 

wv4891,

 

Thanks for the information and the photo......sounds like it is what we expected. ...the interior of the hotel reminds us of the Hotel Mencey in Santa de la Cruz (Tenerife) in which we spent Christmas..... really looking forward to our stay now!!...thanks for the reassurances!!!

 

Alan :D

[RaffinOrganGrinders]

We have stayed in the AC Diplomat in Barcelona. Only one block off the main street. You will love it, very modern, has its own restaurant, all marble bathrooms, frig full of free drinks and beer every day, air conditioning.

[chelseabelsea]

Hi there...my husband and I stayed in Barcelona for three nights last year prior to a cruise n Millenium from Barcelona to Venice. On May 1, we do a transatlantic from Ft L to Barcelona. We adored our hotel last year- the Hotel Majestic. We booked through Celebrity and got a good rate- which I beat this year by booking nine or ten months in advance. Obviously, we have reservations for there again this year; Majestic is every bit a 5 Star hotel. This hotel is the one the one the Restaurant Drolma is in. We had buffet breakfast at their buffet area served by the same kitchen as the restaurant, every day it was wonderful. I was on a quest to eat well and healthfully, and everywhere we went I could get grilled chicken, sauteed veggies with olive oil- one particular place on the Passeig de Gracia- the main street where the Majestic is - is called Que Que- wonderful place! Outdoor dining, great service, like a bistro ambience. Several good restaurants to be found on Las Ramblas- and great entertainment in the form of people watching while you dine. It is a continuous parade of humanity. Barcelona is fabulous, we can't wait to spend a few days there post crossing. One more idea- we also went to the Department store which has a grocery, and bought fuete (a marvelous salami), some Manchego cheese, and bread and had a lovely picnic. The produce market off of Las Ramblas is another great place for fresh fruits and veggies and cheeses. Have fun!

[watersprite]

Wildvin is just great, looks like only oysters when you pass by but it is much more. wonderful service, loved the food, eat in bar area or outside. bottomless chocolate mousse was tasty and fun

[Offtune Angel]

We, too, stayed at Le Meridien (October 23, 2004) and loved it. We lucked into a room overlooking La Rambla. It was so refreshing to open the french doors and stand there watching the world pass by. Le Meridien was a little pricey for us, but, we were on vacation and, once we had paid for the hotel, we put the cost in the " 'forget it' bag".

We ended up dining in the restaurant at the hotel and enjoyed the whole experience - cold and hot tapas, soup, bread, sweet butter, steak that melted in one's mouth, good coffee. We were to full to sample dessert. The next morning we had the breakfast buffet - definitely the best restaurant breakfast buffet we've ever had.

 

Remember that in Spain, dinner is barely starting at 8:00 in some places -- usually start is 8:30 but most patrons don't show up till (well) after 9:00.

 

Le Meridien was scheduled to close from December to March to complete their renovations. We weren't in the part that had already been renovated, but thought we were - the room was that nice.:)

 

One more thing, no matter which property you decide on, it does help to have a membership card if the property is part of a chain. If you do decide on the Meridien, register for their card before you get to Barcelona and make sure you show it at the front desk.

 

Enjoy your cruise and enjoy Barcelona. :)