Getting There

Friday dawned bright and early with so many things yet to do before our 11:30 am departure to the airport. Thankfully, our bags were all packed and we had only work-related matters to handle, including a small web site glitch (which was quickly fixed!). After a final check that we had the important items (passports, tickets, itineraries... all tucked in a Deluxe PassPorter binder), we were off! PassPorter teammate Chad (my brother-in-law) kindly gave us a lift to the airport and we checked in with US Airways without a hitch. We grabbed a few sandwiches while waiting for our plane to board. Boarding went smoothly on our little puddle-jumper plane to Philadelphia. We arrived on time and seating assignments to Barcelona put us in three seats together with aisles on either side. Alexander's safety seat (a Sit 'n' Stroll, which we recommend) was secured into the middle seat and we hunkered down beside him. I was really disappointed to find that this airplane did not have personal video units in the backs of the seats like the Northwest flights we had over to Paris and back the previous year. Oh well! At least they served us a hot dinner as well as a pastry just before landing. We didn't get much sleep - Alexander had a quick nap on the first flight, but then had a hard time settling down on the longer flight. He eventually fell asleep about halfway into the flight (roughly his normal bedtime) and Dave and I got a few minutes of shut-eye. We arrived at the Barcelona airport exhausted, but a full hour early (6:30 am local time, 12:30 am on our body clocks)!

After easily clearing customs and immigration, our next task was to claim our luggage at the carousels. As we were on the only international flight that had arrived at that time, it was easy to find our carousel -- it was also clearly marked. We found a luggage cart (free of charge) and proceeded to pull off our luggage... 1, 2, 3, 4.... Wait, where was the fifth piece of luggage?!? We waited hopefully until the carousel stopped revolving. We were missing one suitcase, which happened to be Dave's. By this time most everyone had left the terminal with their luggage and no one was around to ask for assistance. We wandered around a bit in a daze. With only one flight per day in and out of Barcelona, US Air does not have a representative on the ground in the baggage area. After some searching, Dave found the Iberia luggage desk, which was providing services for US Air. The representative there got all our info and was helpful and professional.

The Barcelona Luggage Carousels (Terminal A) -- this is what a 2-year-old looks like after seven hour red-eye flight

An Important Note Regarding Lost Luggage: Lost luggage seems to be far more common on flights to Europe, so be prepared. Another couple on our flight lost everything, and all four parties at Dave's lunch table in Florence reported at least one lost item. Distribute each traveler's clothing between several bags -- it took almost three days to reunite Dave and his suitcase. If a bag doesn't show up on the carousel in Barcelona's Terminal A, search out the Iberia lost luggage desk. The staff there is quite professional, and handles lost luggage for most airlines. File a report with Disney once you board the ship, too. They'll want the incident number given to you by the airline.

Finally we left the terminal and quickly found someone holding up a sign for our ship's ground transfers. We were the last ones out, but we were greeted pleasantly, told where to deposit our luggage, and led directly to a waiting motor coach. We were able to store our carry-ons in the compartment underneath, as well as Alexander's safety seat and umbrella stroller. On the bus, we were notified by the tour guide (who spoke excellent English) that because we had all arrived so early we would be treated to a tour of the city before arriving at the ship. Bonus! The bus had comfortable seats and big windows, and it was nice to sit back and enjoy the sights after such a long flight. This beat waiting in an uncomfortable terminal lounge, which is what we'd expected.

Aboard the bus that took us around Barcelona and eventually to the port. Note the black-and-yellow Barcelona taxi.

The city tour took us through the sleepy streets of Barcelona, just waking for the day. Our first stop was Montjuic, the mountaintop site of the 1992 Summer Olympics and a prominent city park, where we could have a coffee, use the facilities, or just enjoy the delightful view of the city. The restroom here was extremely tiny, we should note.

Atop Montjuic in Barcelona

Our next stop was Sagrada Familia, the huge, unfinished Church of the Holy Family, famous for architect Antoni Gaudi's dramatic design. Dave got out to take photos (the tour didn't go inside) and the tour guide introduced the group to the priest, who happened to be nearby in civilian garb. I stayed on the bus with a sleeping Alexander in her lap. Back on the bus we drove past some of the Art Nouveau houses of Gaudi, including Casa Mila, drove through or past some of the city's more noteworthy sights and neighborhoods, and headed to the pier. We don't know if Disney passengers with ground transfers will receive a city tour when arriving early as we did, but chances are that Disney will hire the same company to do their shore-side transportation and excursions, so it's a possibility.

Sagrada Familia

Boarding the Ship

We arrived at the port terminal a little after 11:00 am. Before heading in, Dave informed the baggage handlers of his missing luggage. Then it was through security and onto check-in, both of which were fast and efficient. We received a boarding number and were called to board within 15 minutes. The terminal had some small shops, but didn't linger so had no time to explore.

The Barcelona Cruise Terminal (B)

Boarding Voyager of the Seas was simple. We presented our SetSail cruise card, looked down into the camera for our mug shot (they use the photos to identify passengers returning to the ship from the shore), and stepped aboard. Alas, there was no crew member announcing our arrival as on a Disney ship, but we were so exhausted the only thought in our minds was to finish our tasks and get some sleep! (By the way, at this point we would like to recommend to any Americans going on a Mediterranean cruise that you get a hotel for at least one night before you cruise. Doing the red-eye flights from the states is really hard! We would have stayed in Barcelona before our trip, but no hotel rooms were available due to the big week-long holiday, Merce, the festival of Barcelona's patron saint (you can read about it here: http://www.travelinginspain.com/barcelona/barcelona5.htm ).

Our first order of business was to stop at Guest Services to report Dave's lost luggage. They, too, handled things professionally. Guest Services handled all follow-up with the airline after that. They kept us informed by phone ("Your suitcase was located in Lisbon, and will be forwarded to Villefranche), gave Dave a free t-shirt, socks, and a basic toiletries kit. The t-shirt looked good when they gave it to us - navy blue, with a discrete Royal Caribbean logo. However, when Dave unfolded it later, it had a huge, rather garish "60s & 70s Night" graphic on the back. Just the thing you want to wear on shorex (shore excursions) in France, right?

While we were at Guest Services, we booked an in-room babysitting session ($6/hour) for Alexander for the next day. We'd decided in advance that we'd be able to get more work done on the shore excursions if Alexander stayed aboard, plus he might be happier, too. We booked just the next day's session, however, so we could evaluate it before committing to more. We also inquired about wireless Internet access and were told it wasn't available in the staterooms, but we were offered a phone rental for $90 that would supposedly hook into the ship's network. We took it with the assurance we could return it for a full credit within 24 hours if it did not work.

We then headed up to deck 11 for the usual welcome aboard buffet at Windjammer. The Voyager of the Seas' casual buffet eatery is bigger than Disney's (which isn't surprising as this is a much bigger ship, carrying 3,200 to 3,600 passengers), but we found the buffet food of inferior quality compared to Disney's. Beverages were limited to iced tea and lemonade, unless you wanted to purchase a pricey drink - we missed Disney's Beverage Station! The desserts were particularly lackluster. But the food filled our bellies and allowed us to continue on.

By this time it was 12:30 pm and our stateroom on deck two was ready. We'd booked a Category I outside stateroom with a porthole and received cabin 2588. We knew to expect a smaller stateroom than Disney's, but what we didn't realize was that the room would have two overhead berths instead of a one berth and one convertible sofa! It seemed poor Alexander had no appropriate bed of his own to sleep in. We quickly reported this to our stateroom attendant, but she seemed uninterested in our predicament. We should note that there was a crib in the room when we arrived, but Alexander has not slept in a crib for six months and refuses to now. And he was much too young for an overhead berth. In the end, we asked our stateroom attendant to put a blanket and pillow on the tiny little sofa for him. Alas, the sofa was curved enough that it was easy for Alexander to roll off, so he slept with us throughout the cruise. Otherwise, the room was adequate, though not nearly as elegant as Disney's staterooms. Disney really spoils us!

The view into our stateroom (the birthday decorations were for Jennifer)

Another view of our stateroom

Our stateroom's bathroom

Now that we had our stateroom, we all collapsed on the bed and slept until the mandatory safety drill. Ahhhhhhhh! The bed was quite comfortable with high-thread-count sheets and a duvet. We woke up just in time to don our lifejackets and get to our assembly station. Earlier, we had noted there was no child life jacket for Alexander in the room and requested one from our stateroom attendant. It never materialized, and we had to ask a crew member for one on our way to assembly. Upon returning to our stateroom, we found our luggage had arrived and we set about unpacking. Then it was time to get ready for dinner and meet our tablemates.

Alexander wears his toddler lifejacket

We arrive at dinner at 7:00 pm (the time printed on our cruise cards) at the La Boheme dining room only to find our tablemates already seated and starting on their appetizers. Hmm, guess they were particularly eager to eat! We'd been seated at a table for 10 even though there were only five of us altogether. Perhaps the others had chosen to skip the dining room tonight? Our servers introduced themselves and quickly gave us our menus, bread, and drinks. We were only given a couple of minutes to read the menu--we felt rushed. The food was palatable, but mediocre at best. Jennifer ordered low-fat options (which were helpfully marked), Dave sampled the regular options, and Alexander had the kid-friendly foods. We did not feel the food was as good as Disney Cruise Line's. The service was on a par, for the most part.

Dave at our table in the La Boheme Dining Room (note the Barcelona port in the background)

We noticed that we'd set sail from Barcelona as we were eating dinner--we were fortunate enough to have a window seat. We missed the fanfare of a sailaway deck party. Also, we noticed that this ship was amazingly quiet and vibration-free when it is maneuvering and underway.

After dinner we finished unpacking and toured the ship from deck to deck to be sure we didn't miss anything. We did skip deck 4, however, as that's the casino deck and Alexander couldn't walk through the casino. We also chose to explore the disco at a later date. The ship is very large, but not overwhelmingly so. It had 14 decks compared to Disney's 11 decks, and the ship is wider (being a post-Panamax vessel - wider and longer than the Panama Canal's locks). The ship also has four banks of four elevators (forward port, forward starboard, aft port, and aft starboard - 16 elevators total) rather than DCL's three banks of four elevators (12) and we found it easier to get elevators when we needed them. We liked most of the public spaces--they were tastefully decorated and visually interesting. The Royal Promenade, the 5-deck atrium lobby on deck 5, is particularly interesting--it's a bit mall-like, with lounges, eateries, shops, and services, and runs the full length of the ship between the theaters forward and the dining rooms aft. We think Disney should do a version of this on future ships and call it Downtown Disney. You can see a live view of the Promenade through the Voyager of the Seas web cam at http://www.royalcaribbean.com/multimedia/webcam/ship/voyager.do 

Alexander discovered the kids swimming area, complete with this miniature play pirate ship

Exhausted, we fell asleep around 11:00 pm to prepare for our day in Marseille. Alas, Alexander woke in the middle of the night and found it hard to fall back asleep, and so did we. Isn't jet lag grand?

Have comments on questions on our first day? Let us know what you think here: http://www.passporterboards.com/ubb/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=1403562 or e-mail us at jenniferanddave@passporter.com.

Go to Day Two: Marseille