Emerald Princess Rome to Barcelona September 26 -October 3 2015 in photos and video

[Bimmer09]

As we are not rushing to get off the ship we can indulge in a relaxed breakfast.

 

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Having said our goodbyes to the wonderful staff we hadn't seen as much of as we usually would, thanks to the very early morning excursions, it was back to the cabin to make sure everything had been packed before vacating. On the way I spotted another ship coming into port....

[Bimmer09]

Formerly Sovereign of the Seas of the RCCL fleet built in 1988

 

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She's backing in

 

 

 

 

 

Time to leave. Now it gets exciting. We find Jose outside the door and thank him for being a great Room Steward. We give him a well-earned tip and make our way up to Club Fusion where we are to gather before disembarkation.

There we meet Michelle, Captain's Circle host who tells us our group was just called and to proceed ashore. We're 100% fine with that!

 

Off we go. A walk of 200 yards or so then down an escalator to the luggage hall.

There are our cases. Now to Customs. Don't see any. No Customs? Score!!

 

We drag the cases a few yards to the outside. I see my name being held up on a sign.....

[dott]

Thanks for the spectacular journey Norris, now we come to the part I have been waiting for the whole trip.

We will be in Barcelona Sept.2016, can't decide how many days to stay after the cruise and lodgings.

This will be the highlight of our trip so the best is yet to come.

[Bimmer09]

Thanks for the spectacular journey Norris, now we come to the part I have been waiting for the whole trip.

We will be in Barcelona Sept.2016, can't decide how many days to stay after the cruise and lodgings.

This will be the highlight of our trip so the best is yet to come.

 

Dott, I have about 400+ photos of Barcelona to come.

You've got a year to plan but I would urge you to spend more than the two days we had.

 

Norris

[homeinboca]

Dott, I have about 400+ photos of Barcelona to come.

You've got a year to plan but I would urge you to spend more than the two days we had.

 

Norris

 

Norris,

 

ooh, 400 pictures, can't wait. I'll bet your pictures of La Sagrada Familia are going to bring me to tears. I sat in the nave listening to the Lords Prayer with the choir in the background on the headset they gave you - it gave me chills and the sheer beauty of the place made me tear up. I can't imagine when they have a full live choir up in the balcony how amazing it will sound.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to share your travels. The Emerald is the first Princess ship we sailed on and we've sailed on her twice. She's one lovely lady, and it got us hooked on sailing Princess only.

 

Ron

[WISH84]

Formerly Sovereign of the Seas of the RCCL fleet built in 1988

 

 

Ahh...my very first cruise ship.. The Sovereign of the Seas!!

[Bimmer09]

She's not called "Guide Book Carol" for nothing. The West Wing of her office is devoted to guidebooks and Carol studies up when we plan a trip.

In a Rick Steves book re Barcelona she found a mention of Pepito Tours and that's when it's passed over to me, the Web Surfer.

 

*Speaking of surfing-I surf pretty much every CC board and before we left for the cruise I followed a brilliant photo review of a Carnival cruise written by deladane which has some great Barcelona pics of places we didn't get to visit. Do a search under her screen name.

 

We found a 4 hour Gaudi tour that appealed. Barcelona is not Rome. You're not looking back 2,000 years into history here. The most notable and must-see buildings are very recent. One of them is still under construction after over 130 years in the making. Gaudi (pronounced GOW-DEE with the emphasis on the DEE)has left his marks for the tourists who flock to his unique buildings.

You can only see this amazingly inventive architecture here.

 

I e mailed Jose back and forth, always answered promptly and in good English and the price was about 400 E. We paid in advance to save having to have an extra 400E carried around.

 

Meeting us 15 minutes early and eager to get going were our guide Anna (seen here later in the day with Carol)

 

 

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and our driver, Luis (seen here soon after picking us up, parked on Montjuic)

The Mercedes E Class is one of my favorite touring cars, which we often rent in Germany.



 

 

 

Ok, so you know Carol and you know me and now you know our guides on our 4 hour introduction to some of the delights that can only be seen in Barcelona.

 

Fasten your seatbelt...

[Bimmer09]

That worked. Thanks!

 

BTW, although I'm pretty sure that it isn't, it sounds like there are really loud crickets in the background.......:eek:

 

No, you heard right. They were hitching a ride in the covered part of Tradewinds where I was sitting. The sound was therefore amplified, which is just what you want with crickets. LOL

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

Norris,

 

ooh, 400 pictures, can't wait. I'll bet your pictures of La Sagrada Familia are going to bring me to tears. I sat in the nave listening to the Lords Prayer with the choir in the background on the headset they gave you - it gave me chills and the sheer beauty of the place made me tear up. I can't imagine when they have a full live choir up in the balcony how amazing it will sound.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to share your travels. The Emerald is the first Princess ship we sailed on and we've sailed on her twice. She's one lovely lady, and it got us hooked on sailing Princess only.

 

Ron

 

Ron, so glad you are contributing here. I can imagine the effect of hearing a choir in the wonderful other-worldly space of La Sagrada Familia. We were in Cologne cathedral one Sunday morning when the organ started playing (yikes!) and then the choir sang- I was trying to hold the camcorder steady with tears rolling down my face. Unforgettable.

 

Yes the Emerald is a beautiful ship. I haven't sailed on an ugly one yet. My only disappointments came from some members of the crew-but those are people and you know how fallible they can be.

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

Ahh...my very first cruise ship.. The Sovereign of the Seas!!

 

A new responder! Welcome.

 

I'm always happy to see a venerable ship still working and paying her way after 27 years. My old ship the Song of Norway was scrapped this year after 45 years of service.

 

Some day in the future the Grand Class will be gone too...

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

Let me just take stock...

 

We're sitting in the back of a Mercedes, about to tour Barcelona for 4 hours.

We have a good American breakfast in our stomachs. Bottles of iced water are waiting in the car. It has stopped raining over the city and it's already drying up on the streets. We've been in Europe for, what? nine days already. At this point it is a blur and I haven't any time to reflect. Right now the focus is Barcelona.

It will all be new-ish to us as we have been watching videos, reading books and checking Rick Steves shows. We have a huge Gaudi coffee-table book at home which Carol, the architectural maven, bought before we left.

 

Now a surprise from Anna, our guide. She wants to show off her city from a vantage point-somewhere I had been drooling over on Youtube- Montjuic a big hill near the harbor, so high there's a cable car/gondola ride from the harbor to it's lofty summit of 550 feet. We are all for that-we are itching to get to our planned first stop of La Sagrada Familia but I am a sucker for bird's eye views wherever we are.

 

Twenty minutes after we leave the dock and the Emerald behind we are parking the car near the top of Montjuic. We can get out here for 20 minutes to take pictures.

 

You might recognize this ship in the harbor....

 

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There's that mystery Celebrity ship

 

 

It's the beautiful Equinox

 

 

By now everyone in the world-except some yak herders in Nepal who are out on the mountain slopes right now-is aware that I am a big fan of the Celebrity S Class. Wonderful looking ships!

 

Meanwhile the storm has moved out to sea

 

 

More to follow....

[Bimmer09]

The Costa Fascinosa with a dramatic sky

 

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The light was changing minute by minute as the storm was moving away and the sun was occasionally revealed by the shifting clouds

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More to follow...

[Bimmer09]

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One last look before we move on, back down the hill on our way to visit la Sagrada Familia.

 

[kenrod]

Thank you for sharing your Mediterranean adventure with us Bimmer! I am only on page 14, but I am loving everything that you are writing as well as your pictures.

 

Looking forward to seeing what comes up next.

[Bimmer09]

We were heading to la Sagrada Familia, the Gaudi masterpiece still under construction.

 

Along the way Luis drove us up Passeig de Gracia, the wide street our hotel was on.

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Of course one's head is on a swivel in a brand new city, especially when Anna points out Gaudi's Casa Batilo out the left side...

 

 

Our hotel is two blocks from here.

We'll visit La Sagrada next but first here's a video clip which will bring us up to date. Carol and Anna are talking about Christopher Columbus when it starts. When Anna is talking about St George she is doing so in reference to the rooftop centerpiece of Casa Batilo which is made to look like dragon skin and the cross on top is St. George's sword sticking out of the dragon's back (ouch!).

It will be hard to follow the conversation in the car as I am editing in the camera and chopping up the narrative therefore.

 

[YOUTUBE]O_lKWYQxN44[/YOUTUBE]

[Bimmer09]

Thank you for sharing your Mediterranean adventure with us Bimmer! I am only on page 14, but I am loving everything that you are writing as well as your pictures.

 

Looking forward to seeing what comes up next.

 

Kenrod, thanks for joining us here!

 

Page 14-good man. Even page 1 would have been the right answer!

 

I'm glad you are following along and moreso in that you let me know.

 

If anyone else reading this wants to come forth from the shadows-let me know as I am putting together a charcuterie plate for my guests and need to know how much pate to make.

 

Right, back to the kitchen...

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

Luis dropped us off by a park and went to find somewhere to park the car while we visited the Gaudi masterpiece.

 

Mr Local Color Norris found a game of bowls in progress

 

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then turned his head and saw this in the distance...

 

 

So we walk. We have about 90 minutes or so to spend here....I took about 90 photos so if Gaudi ain't your thing now's the time to leave and come back in about 15 posts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I have to use my ultra wide-angle lens to get this structure into the frame...

[cormike1]

Wow, wow, wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Poipu1]

Hello again Norris,

 

I have been home for a few days following my 9-day Emerald B2B, and have only just now FINALLY caught up!

 

I greatly enjoyed the ship -- the Promenade is my favorite spot-- but I have to agree with you on a few of the staff not quite meeting expectations.

 

I am still enjoying your wonderful travelogue. Please continue!

 

Peggy

[Bimmer09]

Wow, wow, wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Yikes!! What happened??

 

Norris

 

[Bimmer09]

Hello again Norris,

 

I have been home for a few days following my 9-day Emerald B2B, and have only just now FINALLY caught up!

 

I greatly enjoyed the ship -- the Promenade is my favorite spot-- but I have to agree with you on a few of the staff not quite meeting expectations.

 

I am still enjoying your wonderful travelogue. Please continue!

 

Peggy

 

Wow, Peggy- you've already done 2 cruises while I've been writing about 1??!

 

When you have time would be interested to hear about staff issues.

 

Welcome back!

 

Norris

[dairymilk17]

Kenrod, thanks for joining us here!

 

Page 14-good man. Even page 1 would have been the right answer!

 

I'm glad you are following along and moreso in that you let me know.

 

If anyone else reading this wants to come forth from the shadows-let me know as I am putting together a charcuterie plate for my guests and need to know how much pate to make.

 

Right, back to the kitchen...

 

Norris

 

 

Long time reader, very infrequent poster. Loved loved Barcelona, stayed there for 3 days before our cruise on Island Princess this August, fantastic city

Loving the review, adore the photos, thank you Norris :)

 

Kate

[dott]

Which hotel did you stay at while in Barcelona? Would be interested in following your footsteps. Was there a favorite restaurant for tapas?

Inquiring mind would like to know.

Not ready to say goodbye to your travel diary yet :).

[Bimmer09]

Long time reader, very infrequent poster. Loved loved Barcelona, stayed there for 3 days before our cruise on Island Princess this August, fantastic city

Loving the review, adore the photos, thank you Norris :)

 

Kate

 

Kate,welcome and thanks for the kind comments. I appreciate you breaking radio silence to let me know you are following.

 

Hopefully I'll show some photos of Barcelona that will take you back there.

 

Your screen name reminds me that I must buy a bar of Cadbury's Dairymilk chocolate (for U.S readers not familiar with the Cadbury name)

 

Thanks, again!

 

Norris

[hockeyguru32]

 

 

 

Norris what is that building in the middle that looks like a ummm ummmm ummm a back massager