Liberty of the Seas - 7 Night Barcelona overview

[mar915]

Thanks for the recommendation about restaurants in the Gothic Quarter. That's good to know since we'll be spending 3 nights at Hotel Colon which is in the Gothic Quarter, directly across from the Barcelona Cathedral.

 

 

 

Have a great weekend.

 

When will you be there. We are staying after our cruise July 13-16 at hotel colon

 

Also where did you pick up the shuttle in marseille and is there a cost. We are just planning going around town and then back afterwards on that port. Was it through RCCL or the gown

 

 

 

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[petermack]

When will you be there. We are staying after our cruise July 13-16 at hotel colon

 

Also where did you pick up the shuttle in marseille and is there a cost. We are just planning going around town and then back afterwards on that port. Was it through RCCL or the gown

 

 

 

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The shuttle bus can be picked up about 0.5km from the ship. There is no cost but the ship docks a distance from the town so there is a bit of a distance to travel. No tickets needed just walk down whenever you feel like it. The queue looked to have died down about 10.00am

[NavyCruiser]

Peter, Thanks for the info.

 

Looking forward to our cruise this Sunday.

 

A few questions:

 

For the 5 ports, did you use the ship's excursions, book private tours, or tour/site see on your own?

Any quick details on must see sites on any of the ports?

Use public transportations: taxis, trains, tours, etc....?

 

Exchanged US dollars to Euros at Barcelona airport?

at currency exchange booths, or ATM machines?

Cost of taxi from airport to cruise port? distance & time?

 

Thanks,

[nemini]

Since I was on Liberty June 1-8, just a couple of weeks ago, here are my answers, at least....

 

For the 5 ports, did you use the ship's excursions, book private tours, or tour/site see on your own?

Any quick details on must see sites on any of the ports?

Use public transportations: taxis, trains, tours, etc....?

 

Exchanged US dollars to Euros at Barcelona airport?

at currency exchange booths, or ATM machines?

Cost of taxi from airport to cruise port? distance & time?

 

I did everything on my own for all the ports except Naples. I wanted to go to the top of Vesuvius and see Pompeii, and I'd heard that it was easier to get an excursion for the former than dealing with public transit. In Marseille, I did take advantage of the ship's contracted ferry for getting to (the mouth of) Vieux Port, mostly because I was going around with some impatient friends of mine for that one day. However, I'd also been to most of the places before, so I could focus with a laser-like intensity on what I wanted to do that I hadn't done back when I was in college.

 

For the most part, getting around on trains, buses and such was no problem, thought Trenitalia did cause problems for me at La Spezia once. But the train from Civitavecchia to Rome was no problem, and the subway in Rome was incredibly basic--it's really just 2 lines, more or less N/S and E/W, and has stops relatively near most of the tourist areas. The Nice area is well-served with train and buses.

 

I exchanged dollars to Euros at the ATM in Barcelona airport, having warned my credit union that I'd be doing that. The credit union was nicer than the $5 ATM fee that Wells Fargo was wanting to charge me.

 

The taxi between the airport and the cruise port in Barcelona was right around 41 euros, having done it both ways. There's a charge at both ends, incidentally, so the meter may take a moment to reflect that. The shuttle bus with the ship is cheaper when you're leaving; I think it was around $30. I didn't see it offered at the start. There are a few, and they rotate reasonably quickly, so it's a viable alternative if you're not spending time in Barcelona with something else.

[Host Jacquelyn]

They have also stopped sending out invitations to the C&A events. We missed the first welcome back event because we didn't know it was on. I rang the front desk and was told that it was decided to try and eliminate as much paperwork as possible so therefore all welcome back events are noted in the daily cruise compass. While I commend their efforts to try and eliminate as much of the paper that gets delivered to the cabins, they should have made it known that they had eliminated the paper invitations.

 

.

 

Interesting. We were just on Splendour and not only did they still give out invitations to the C&A events, they collected them at the door.

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for your report.

[George C]

How did you like the JS1406?? how deep was balconey? We have the JS 1706 which is next to it booked for 2015 cruise, been wanting to book a aft room.

[tokyo1949]

OK, thank you so far! I think we will have a great time, most things you have mentioned sound very good.

In terms of food, I know that I cannot expect the same quality as on Celebrity ships.

Sounds good that the pool areas were quiet and there were no party.

Nothing is more annoying than pool parties and noisy children.

 

So, all in all, we look forward. :)

 

Was it hard to get seating in the normal shows? what was the cruise director and his/her staff like?

 

Are you diamond/plus if so what was the lounge like? We are hoing to take this cruise next month

[mar915]

Another Diamond question. I know they have the lounge but do they offer the vouchers as an alternative for drinks eCh night during th Diamond lounge time?

 

 

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[tokyo1949]

Dont know about the LOS but on Serenade in April you could go to the Diamond lounge or a couple of other bars like schooner and get your drinks/ No vouchers you just showed your card and they gave you drink that you needed. It was a TA so there was so many diamond/diamond plus etc that they couldn't cope with the in the Diamond/concierge. Will be interesting to see how it works here, apparently similar on the Indy as our friends were on that ship in May