LIVE - VISION Med and Greek Isles - 6/11-23

[erby2283]

Still following along! Purchased my tickets today for Sagrada Familia as they just now opened up August tickets.  Making me so excited. 57 days until we board our plane. 🙂 

[aring75]

6 minutes ago, singinalot said:

we go to Barcelona next year on the Allure TA....I am loving your posts and pictures!

 

That’s fantastic! Honestly, I’m already wondering when we can come back. I’m completely enamored with this city.

[aring75]

2 minutes ago, erby2283 said:

Still following along! Purchased my tickets today for Sagrada Familia as they just now opened up August tickets.  Making me so excited. 57 days until we board our plane. 🙂 

 

Smart. I think that’s the best way to do it for Sagrada Família. And you are counting the days!!! It won’t be long now. 😀

[robincorn]

I am getting on the vision right when you are getting off.  We are doing the MED Venice cruise starting June 23.  Going to live vicariously through you until our cruise.  Maybe we can meetup in Barcelona?  doesn't that sound exotic.  We are getting there June 20 and are doing a food tour, HOHO bus and sagarda famila tour.  9 more days till my flight.

 

 

Robin

[aring75]

36 minutes ago, robincorn said:

I am getting on the vision right when you are getting off.  We are doing the MED Venice cruise starting June 23.  Going to live vicariously through you until our cruise.  Maybe we can meetup in Barcelona?  doesn't that sound exotic.  We are getting there June 20 and are doing a food tour, HOHO bus and sagarda famila tour.  9 more days till my flight.

 

 

Robin

 

I would love to! Unfortunately, we are flying out as soon as we get back. Be sure to let me know if you have any questions though. I’ll check it out for you while we’re on board. You’ll be totally prepared!! 😀

[aring75]

So this is tomorrow’s forecast...

 

 

 

Looks like it’s going to be a messy day at the port. 😩

[Calbeeman]

2 hours ago, aring75 said:

Our tour ended here. You were on your own to find your way back to your hotel / cruise terminal, etc. It DID say this on the booking confirmation, but I was very glad that our hotel was just around the block. Some people had 1-2 km to get back and they were dreading that walk. 

 

Would I recommend this tour? It was pretty good. Yesterday’s, however, was really good.

 

I feel like most of what we did today could be done on your own with just minimal planning. EVERYTHING in the city is easily walkable. And there’s also the HOHO bus if you’d rather do that.

 

We paid $82 each, and that included all of our admissions (priority admission for Sagrada Família - no waiting in line). But you can buy your tickets online ahead of time, so I would say unless you just feel more comfortable with a guide, a city tour probably isn’t necessary. Just my two cents. 

I highly recommend the HOHO bus in Barcelona. I recall there being 3 routes which take you all over the city. We took it after flying in in the morning and dropping off our luggage at hotel. Great place to veg after jet lag till you can check 😀

[grapau27]

4 hours ago, aring75 said:

 

That’s fantastic! Honestly, I’m already wondering when we can come back. I’m completely enamored with this city.

Love the photos, thanks for sharing.

There is so much more here to see and worth 3-4 days pre or post cruise to explore.

Over the last 50 years I have spent well over 100 nights in the Barcelona/Costa Brava/Dorada area.

You still have a fantastic cruise to look forward to too.

 

[bobmacliberty]

We spent 2 days in Barcelona prior to our cruise and loved it.  We definitely need to go back and check out Costa Brava.  Looks great if you can beat the crowds.  We did a walking food tour through the Gothic Quarter that was great.  I recognize several of your pictures.  We stopped at 4 or 5 "local" tapas places to break up the historical tour with some wine and food.  Highly recommended.  

 

22 hours ago, johnjen said:

Look again at Air BnB.....much better rates for more value and amenities....perhaps not a free breakfast but at least we have our own villa we couldn't turn down and it has a rooftop pool much alike Hotel Jazz.

I was leery of using Airbnb in Barcelona.  I had heard that the Barcelona authorities would occasionally crack down on unauthorized Air BnB hosts and when this would happen, your reservation could get cancelled at the last minute.  I don't know if this is true, but I read it on the internet.  😀  I agree that Air BnB can be a much better value, but we didn't want to take the risk of scrambling for a place to stay.

[mimi7ccr]

We (senior mother & daughter) are on the Vision for her TA back to Florida the end of September.  As you can see, we are also near Tampa, up in Spring Hill.  I will be following along, looking especially for tidbits about the ship.  I'm just slightly worried it might be a long 14 days since she's getting some age on her.  

 

[aring75]

6 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Love the photos, thanks for sharing.

There is so much more here to see and worth 3-4 days pre or post cruise to explore.

Over the last 50 years I have spent well over 100 nights in the Barcelona/Costa Brava/Dorada area.

You still have a fantastic cruise to look forward to too.

 

 

Thanks! Yes, we both loved our three days pre-cruise, but agree that we could easily return. I would sail out of Barcelona again in a heartbeat. Or even just start here for maybe a land tour of Spain / Portugal / France. So many options!

 

4 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

We spent 2 days in Barcelona prior to our cruise and loved it.  We definitely need to go back and check out Costa Brava.  Looks great if you can beat the crowds.  We did a walking food tour through the Gothic Quarter that was great.  I recognize several of your pictures.  We stopped at 4 or 5 "local" tapas places to break up the historical tour with some wine and food.  Highly recommended.  

 

I was leery of using Airbnb in Barcelona.  I had heard that the Barcelona authorities would occasionally crack down on unauthorized Air BnB hosts and when this would happen, your reservation could get cancelled at the last minute.  I don't know if this is true, but I read it on the internet.  😀  I agree that Air BnB can be a much better value, but we didn't want to take the risk of scrambling for a place to stay.

 

 

That food tour sounds like something I would love! If you don’t mind, do you remember what company you used?

 

Also, I think Mark must have read the same internet article you did. He told me the same thing and was very worried about not having a reservation when we arrived. Some of the AirBnBs look pretty great though!

 

1 hour ago, mimi7ccr said:

We (senior mother & daughter) are on the Vision for her TA back to Florida the end of September.  As you can see, we are also near Tampa, up in Spring Hill.  I will be following along, looking especially for tidbits about the ship.  I'm just slightly worried it might be a long 14 days since she's getting some age on her.  

 

 

Hi neighbor! I went to High School in Zephyrhills and competed in track meets against schools in Spring Hill and Brooksville. Good times. 

 

I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures of the ship and let you guys know what we think of things like the food (main dining room and specialty), staff, shows, overall condition, etc. Obviously opinions will vary, but at least you can have an idea.

 

So excited! We board in just a few hours. (I’m awake at Oh-dear-lord-what-time-is-it-o’clock).

[aring75]

Wondering if the rain is keeping people in bed a little longer today. The port wasn’t crowded at all at 10:45-11:00am. Got luggage dropped off, through security, checked in, bought some wine in the duty-free shop, and boarded the ship in less than 15 minutes. Nice. 

 

Not a soul in front of us. 

 

 

 

They were getting ready for our arrival. Not exactly a red carpet, but who am I to nit-pick?

 

 

 

And here we are in the R-Bar trying to decide if we are hungry enough for our Key lunch in Chops yet. 

 

 

 

Yay! Our cruise has officially started. 😀

 

 

[FionaMG]

8 minutes ago, aring75 said:

Yay! Our cruise has officially started. 😀

 

Bon voyage! Have an amazing time! 

[bobmacliberty]

7 hours ago, aring75 said:

That food tour sounds like something I would love! If you don’t mind, do you remember what company you used?

 

We used Devour Barcelona.  Specifically, their Tapas, Taverns, and History tour.  There were only 4 of us...DW and I plus another couple from Australia that were very nice...so it felt very much like a private tour.  The small group size allowed is to all sit at a table in some very small tapas places where the crowd spilled out into the street.

 

Bon Voyage!

Edited June 11, 2019 by bobmacliberty

[JBSteelerfan]

Can't wait to see some of those cabin/balcony pictures!   Have a great time!

[aring75]

1 hour ago, FionaMG said:

 

Bon voyage! Have an amazing time! 

 

Thank you!!

 

6 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

We used Devour Barcelona.  Specifically, their Tapas, Taverns, and History tour.  There were only 4 of us...DW and I plus another couple from Australia that were very nice...so it felt very much like a private tour.  The small group size allowed is to all sit at a table in some very small tapas places where the crowd spilled out into the street.

 

Bon Voyage!

 

I appreciate the information. I love doing these. Sometimes you can really find a “hidden gem” you might never have found on your own. We’ve done them in Barbados, Las Vegas, Savannah, Vancouver, Cartagena (Colombia), and Cozumel. It sounds like this one would be exactly the thing we would like!!

 

2 minutes ago, JBSteelerfan said:

Can't wait to see some of those cabin/balcony pictures!   Have a great time!

 

Stay tuned!! Rooms just opened up. 😊😊

[cruise wizard]

8 minutes ago, JBSteelerfan said:

Can't wait to see some of those cabin/balcony pictures!   Have a great time!

 

Get a balcony that has a handle on both sides............just sayin'!!!!!

[JBSteelerfan]

1 minute ago, cruise wizard said:

 

Get a balcony that has a handle on both sides............just sayin'!!!!!

 

That is why we are excited for pictures......finding the emergency exit!!

[aring75]

Ugh. Internet not cooperating. Typed an entire post. Said it went through, then...nothing. Cc didn’t save it like usual either. Okay. Trying one more time. 

 

The room. 

 

 

 

 

 

Balcony pics next...

[JBSteelerfan]

46 minutes ago, aring75 said:

Ugh. Internet not cooperating. Typed an entire post. Said it went through, then...nothing. Cc didn’t save it like usual either. Okay. Trying one more time. 

 

The room. 

 

 

 

 

 

Balcony pics next...

 

Very nice!!  Can't wait to sail Vision next year!

[tcmagnum]

3 hours ago, aring75 said:

 

 

 

 

Dang - Nice room...

[aring75]

Balcony. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quite a few problems uploading tonight. Going to try again tomorrow. Thanks everybody!!

 

[grapau27]

7 hours ago, aring75 said:

Ugh. Internet not cooperating. Typed an entire post. Said it went through, then...nothing. Cc didn’t save it like usual either. Okay. Trying one more time. 

 

The room. 

 

 

 

 

 

Balcony pics next...

Lovely JS,great location.

Wishing you both a fantastic cruise.

[Seville2Cabo]

5 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Ugh. Internet not cooperating

Our friends that we’re in that cabin had internet problems the whole cruise. Our’s, in the other corner, was great. Friends went were given credit on the fee after the staff agreed there was an issue

[aring75]

3 hours ago, Seville2Cabo said:

Our friends that we’re in that cabin had internet problems the whole cruise. Our’s, in the other corner, was great. Friends went were given credit on the fee after the staff agreed there was an issue

 

Going to see how things go today. Got my pics uploaded today. Around 15-20 minutes to upload 30 pics. Of course, I did them in batches. But now seems to be a little better. We’ll see. 😑