The Great Adventure! VISION OF THE SEAS 12-Night Med Cruise: A Full PICTORIAL Review!

[Nicole721]

Skipping Across the Pond

 

We finally boarded around 9:20 pm and people literally cheered. We took off closer to 10:00 pm, making our delay five hours and 20 minutes. I’ve never been in an extended range aircraft before, so traveling in this 777 was simultaneously exciting and terrifying. The plane was pretty old, with old features and no wi-fi, but the seats were pretty comfortable, there was decent pitch and the in-seat entertainment units offered plenty of movie options on demand for free (Into the Woods, Annie and Still Alice were the ones that stood out to us). Pillows and blankets were waiting for us on our seats when we boarded, but even though the pillows were packaged for “freshness,” I found a hair inside of mine. At that point, I’d had enough. This delay was going to eat up nearly all of my first day in Europe, which meant eating up half of my time in Barcelona, the counter crew were awful at providing timely updates and I got onto a plane to find someone else’s hair on my pillow. I sent a string of Tweets to American Airlines letting them know exactly how I felt until I had to put my phone on airplane mode. And, needless to say, none of us used the pillows or blankets.

 

 

Dinner and drinks came out as soon as we leveled off at our cruising altitude. When you fly from the US to Europe on American, regardless of which cabin you are flying in, meal service (with wine) is included in your fare. We were seated in the front of the Economy cabin, so we had our choice of pasta or chicken (those seated in the back may not have had much of a choice). Stephanie and Mom opted for the pasta and I opted for the chicken. Each entrée came pre-plated on a tray with a water bottle, a roll, a salad, cheese and crackers and a brownie. It was much more generous of an offering than I had been expecting. Behind the meal cart was the beverage cart, and the flight attendant was more than generous pouring the wine.

 

 

 

 

The beverage cart made one more round after dinner, and Stephanie and I got another (generously poured) glass while Mom was already snoozing across the aisle. We passed the time watching movies and taking awful selfies until we were tired enough to try to sleep.

 

[Nicole721]

I’ve made some great strides in conquering a longstanding fear of flying but flying over the ocean on a flight that was nearly twice as long as the longest flight I’d ever been on was still making me twitchy, so I had some anxiety that made it difficult to sleep. We’d hit bouts of heavy turbulence intermittently and I’d wake up grabbing for Stephanie’s arm. She’d look at me, hold my hand and say “Shhhh. It’s okay. We have wine!”

 

I dozed on and off when the plane wasn’t shaking, and I think my decision to stay up late the night before coupled with the emotionally exhausting delays is what helped me get any rest at all and helped me adjust to the time change. I stopped trying to get any more sleep when the sun started rising over the Atlantic, filling the cabin with a rosy glow.

 

 

 

Breakfast was served right as we began our descent – so late that I didn’t think it was coming. No choices here – everyone was handed a box with yogurt, granola, a muffin top and some dried fruit.

 

 

 

It was gray and dreary as we descended into London, and I just kept leaning over Stephanie to look out the window. This was it. This was Europe. This was the start of anything and everything we’d spent months planning and years anticipating.

[Nicole721]

‘ello, Heathrow!

 

We landed at 11:10 am, just in time to miss our 11:20 am connecting flight. This is when a bit of panic set in – the next British Airways flight to Barcelona wasn’t until 2:30 in the afternoon and if that flight was already full, the next (and final) flight out was that evening. As soon as we landed and deplaned, we were met by agents at the gate who had already re-booked everyone on connecting flights.

 

 

American had indeed booked us on the 2:30 pm flight, but our tickets had no seat numbers, so we made our way out of our terminal and back through security to re-enter the international terminal (another joy of international flight that we hadn’t been aware of – you don’t exit right back into the departure area like you do on domestic flights. You deplane into customs or security, depending on whether or not London is your final destination). We stopped at the British Airways counter to confirm our premium seats would be accommodated only to be told that not only did they not have premium seats to seat us in, they couldn’t even seat us together. We were all spread out across the plane, all in middle seats, unless we wanted the last row of the plane. And once we left the counter, I just kind of lost it at that point (or as close to losing it as I get). We’d get into Barcelona six hours late, losing basically our entire day and not only did I have to sit alone on the flight, but I was in the middle. Nothing was going right. We’d barely gotten much sleep due to the intermittent turbulence throughout the night so it all felt like more than it actually was.

 

Looking back, this was, by far, the most unfortunate happenstance of our trip and in hindsight, we’re lucky. We arrived in London. We connected to Barcelona. We arrived safely and (spoiler alert) we had a wonderful trip. But starting off a trip like this made it feel like the walls were caving in a little bit. And more now than ever, I understand the necessity of buffer time when traveling to an embarkation port. We were missing nearly an entire day, yes, but we still had plenty of time to get to Barcelona to get on the ship.

 

We hooked into the free wi-fi when we got to the terminal and we already had 4,000 I’m Sorry miles each waiting in our inboxes from American Airlines. Mom got on the phone with American Airlines to discuss the lapses in customer service we’d experienced and I don’t think we enjoyed Heathrow as much as we would (or should) have because we were so distracted by what went wrong.

 

Because Heathrow is a lovely airport. One of the largest in the world. And I love me a good airport. At times, I felt like I was in a high-end shopping mall, with storefronts from Miu Miu, Chanel, Gucci and Tiffany & Co lining a corridor that also featured a caviar bar and a champagne bar.

 

 

 

 

In an effort to control congestion at the gates, gates aren’t released or listed until boarding time. Everyone waits in a large general area with a ton of shopping and dining options. Forget about O’Hare, Heathrow had it going on.

 

 

[Nicole721]

I perused a few shops, contemplating if and how much Cadbury chocolate I was willing to carry with me for the next 18 days and browsing through Harrods until it was time for us to head to our gate. I bought a magnet to commemorate my two and a half hours at Heathrow using my debit card and, having called my bank to alert them to my international travel plans before we left, had no problem.

 

As the saleslady at Harrods was ringing me up, she asked me if I wanted to be charged in pounds or dollars. I thought to myself “This makes it easy! Dollars! I can save on the foreign transaction fee!” A couple things I learned along the way of this trip: charging in dollars won’t save you from the foreign transaction fee and you should always charge in the native currency, as the exchange rates are generally more favorable. More on this in the Paris part of this review.

 

 

 

 

 

[Nicole721]

London to Barcelona

 

Once your flight is about to board at Heathrow, your gate will appear on the screens. Some of the gates are up to 20 minutes away. Luckily for us, ours was only five or so minutes from the general waiting area. The boarding experience was different on British Airways – the actual gate, itself, was closed off and only opened when actual boarding began. They checked every carry-on (and made all of us check our rolling ones at no cost), but we only waited a couple of minutes before we actually boarded.

 

All of the anxiety of flying a new airline alone and having to sit in the middle of two strangers was alleviated pretty quickly. Aside from the man to my right eating a sushi salad that smelled like a fish market at closing hours, it was a pleasant flight. The plane had no frills: no in-seat entertainment units or movies, but we had good leg room, comfortable seats and a quiet, smooth flight.

 

 

And even thought it was a short flight (~an hour and a half), we were still served a meal and offered complimentary boozy libations. Having done my research before we left, I knew that there was an unadvertised vegetarian option on all British Airways flights and that was a safer option for a quasi picky eater like I can be, so when they were handing out ham and cheese sandwiches with a lemon knot, I asked for the veg pot and was handed a delicious pasta salad with bocconcini and ratatouille. I settled in with a trashy tabloid I found in my seatback and a bottle of sauv blanc and…it wasn’t bad. It was actually pretty nice.

 

 

[Nicole721]

Buenos Tardes, Barcelona

 

Our flight to Barcelona ran a little long and we landed just before 6:00 pm local time. BCN was quiet and empty in some areas, which was a little surprising and unexpected from an international airport. We made our way to an empty Customs line, where the agent didn’t even ask us any questions or look at our passports before mindlessly stamping them and sending us on our way.

 

 

There were free carts at the luggage carousels (score!) and despite all of the changes to our itinerary, we all breathed a sigh of relief when all of our bags appeared on the carousel.

 

 

We found a currency exchange booth by the baggage claim area, but once you exit the secured zone, there are ATM’s, which may pose a better option depending on your bank. Stephanie has an account with a bank that offers reimbursement on all ATM fees, so we all put money in her account for her to withdraw in Euros when we were in Europe. The ATM’s had the best exchange rate and since she had no ATM fee, we could take out money as we went instead of trying to estimate how many Euros we needed.

 

Once you exit the baggage claim area, there’s a gate for people waiting for arrivals. It’s actually very Love Actually. There were also a few shops and restaurants outside of the secure zone, but after such a long day and a half, we just really wanted to get to our hotel.

 

 

We took an elevator downstairs and followed the signs to the taxi stands. It was incredibly easy to figure out how to catch a cab and even though we weren’t in a country where English is the first language, everyone spoke English. We didn’t even need my Spanish to navigate us from the airport to the hotel.

 

 

The ride to the hotel was around 20 minutes and €35. I kept staring out the window, completely disengaged with everything except for whatever was passing by. This was it. This was Spain.

 

[Nicole721]

Accommodations

 

We were booked for two nights at the Hotel Miramar, a five star hotel that sat at the top of Montjuic (a hill overlooking Barcelona on one side and the Mediterranean Sea on the other). The area was a little more low key than staying down in city proper, but we kind of enjoyed the quiet – the hotel was close enough to the major attractions for a quick cab ride and was only minutes from the port.

 

 

Check-in was quick and easy and the staff were friendly and helpful. They offered us cava (Spanish champagne), water and personalized recommendations for dining and sightseeing as they ran our card for incidentals and gave us an overview of the hotel.

 

 

The hotel had an old school glam kind of feel, with dark woods and spectacular chandeliers. The centrum area was open to high, vaulted ceilings and freshly cut floral displays lined the counters.

 

[Nicole721]

Our room was ready for us when we checked in, and already set up with the rollaway bed we’d requested. Though hotels in Europe have a reputation for being on the small side, we felt as if we were in a suite. The room was large, clean and modern, with a flat screen TV, an iPod dock, a huge private terrace (with a lovely view of the courtyard, the sea and the cruise pier!) and a large soaking tub in the bathroom. And this was just a standard room! As if that weren’t enough, there were Godiva chocolates on the bed, bottled water on every table, L’Occitane products in the bathroom and free wi-fi. I made a good choice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Nicole721]

 

 

 

[Nicole721]

Sleepless in …Spain

 

Even though we were exhausted, I knew we had to stay awake for at least a couple more hours to help us adjust fully to the time change, so we headed outside to walk through the courtyard. The Miramar has an absolutely stunning courtyard and gardens and even better, being up on a hill led to some of the most stunning views of Barcelona.

 

 

 

[Nicole721]

 

 

 

[Nicole721]

We could even caught our first glimpse of the Sagrada Familia!

 

 

And a statue of Christopher Columbus that points out to sea!

 

 

We were too tired to go looking for a restaurant for dinner, so we headed back to the room to order some room service, and this is where we hit our first cultural barrier. We ordered two orders of nachos and a burger. Nachos in Spain equated to chips and a side of sweet and sour sauce. And a burger medium-well came nearly raw in the middle. We were too tired to even care or do more than pick at the food.

 

 

I sat out on the terrace for awhile. A lot of the peace in being on vacation for me comes in the quiet moments I can spend outside, and this hotel offered the perfect space for that. Also, sidebar, no one told me that the sun sets much later in Europe than it does in the US. Sunset at home in May is around 7:30/8:00 pm. Sunset in Barcelona in May? 9:30 pm. The late sunsets single-handedly messed up my sleep schedule more than anything else while we were in Europe.

 

 

Mom and Stephanie let themselves crash around 9:00 pm. I took a nice long bubble bath and soaked off all of the stress from the past day and a half before settling in for the night. In all of the excitement of being in Europe, the fun part hadn’t even started yet.

[bluemeansgo]

What a fantastic write up so far. I was following for the port stories but I'm coming back for the writing.

 

Love experiencing this kind of trip from the perspective of someone who hasn't travelled internationally.

 

I'd never realized all the things I had taken for granted like currency exchange and fees and cultural differences and passport intricacies.

[sawyershane]

Accommodations

 

We were booked for two nights at the Hotel Miramar, a five star hotel that sat at the top of Montjuic (a hill overlooking Barcelona on one side and the Mediterranean Sea on the other). The area was a little more low key than staying down in city proper, but we kind of enjoyed the quiet – the hotel was close enough to the major attractions for a quick cab ride and was only minutes from the port.

 

 

Check-in was quick and easy and the staff were friendly and helpful. They offered us cava (Spanish champagne), water and personalized recommendations for dining and sightseeing as they ran our card for incidentals and gave us an overview of the hotel.

 

 

The hotel had an old school glam kind of feel, with dark woods and spectacular chandeliers. The centrum area was open to high, vaulted ceilings and freshly cut floral displays lined the counters.

 

 

Loving this review. We are coming to Barcelona to get the Harmony next October and spending 2-3 days before the cruise. I cannot wait. Do you mind me asking how much it was to stay at this hotel. We are starting to look at these things and any help would be appreciated. Thank You DeeDee

[JD26]

Thank you so much for writing this review. I feel that I am on this vacation with you. :):) We are going on the Vision in October. So excited to here more about the ship and the ports.

[SouthernBell]

We love traveling to Europe. We will be cruising from Barcelona next year. I'm anxious to hear about all of your port excursions.

[liveperson]

This is a great review so far. I am subscribing, so I don't miss anything. Thanks.

[SenatorsFan]

Hi Nicole, I'm really looking forward to the rest of your review and lots more photos. I can't believe what a horrible start you had, but it looks as though you lucked out with that beautiful hotel in Barcelona!:)

Heather

[loeytalldog]

LOVING your review! Keep going, thanks for sharing!

[LizSS]

What a nerve wracking (to say the very least) start to your trip! You had me nervous!!

 

Your hotel is spectacular. Oh my, just breath taking, I also loved your pictures of the sun rising over the Atlantic from the plane. So excited to keep reading

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Nicole721]

What a fantastic write up so far. I was following for the port stories but I'm coming back for the writing.

 

Love experiencing this kind of trip from the perspective of someone who hasn't travelled internationally.

 

I'd never realized all the things I had taken for granted like currency exchange and fees and cultural differences and passport intricacies.

 

Thank you so much! :)

 

Loving this review. We are coming to Barcelona to get the Harmony next October and spending 2-3 days before the cruise. I cannot wait. Do you mind me asking how much it was to stay at this hotel. We are starting to look at these things and any help would be appreciated. Thank You DeeDee

 

I don't mind at all :)

 

When we booked it (in February, I think), it was around $255/night plus taxes, fees and an extra guest fee (which ultimately brought it up to around $350 a night total).

 

We booked through Expedia and got 10% off and also avoided any foreign transaction fees since Expedia is a US based company :)

[Nicole721]

Thank you so much for writing this review. I feel that I am on this vacation with you. :):) We are going on the Vision in October. So excited to here more about the ship and the ports.

 

You will love the Vision! She's a beautiful ship and has a fantastic crew :)

 

We love traveling to Europe. We will be cruising from Barcelona next year. I'm anxious to hear about all of your port excursions.

 

I've got plenty of stories and pictures from our excursions to share! :)

[Nicole721]

This is a great review so far. I am subscribing, so I don't miss anything. Thanks.

 

Thank you! I hope you enjoy it!

 

Hi Nicole, I'm really looking forward to the rest of your review and lots more photos. I can't believe what a horrible start you had, but it looks as though you lucked out with that beautiful hotel in Barcelona!:)

Heather

 

Thanks, Heather! :)

[Nicole721]

LOVING your review! Keep going, thanks for sharing!

 

Thanks for following along and joining in! :)

 

What a nerve wracking (to say the very least) start to your trip! You had me nervous!!

 

Your hotel is spectacular. Oh my, just breath taking, I also loved your pictures of the sun rising over the Atlantic from the plane. So excited to keep reading

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

They had ME nervous! After months of planning, getting to the airport and not being able to get there because of a random mechanical malfunction was not what we were expecting. I always figured if anything derailed our trip, it'd be the weather, but we flew out on a clear day!

[Dinkachu]

We are booked on Vision in 2016 and we really appreciate your detailed review. Looking forward to learning more about your cruise. Thank you for sharing.