I really wanted to start this out with ‘It was a dark and stormy night’, but Barcelona was actually warm and sunny as we boarded the ship. Being relative cruise novices, we decided that the first thing we needed to do was explore the ship.
We found Royal Caribbean’s ships more asymmetrically, at least when compared to our only other cruise experience with Holland America. The ‘Centrum’ is a large open space that rises from Deck 4 up to Deck 11. Balconies surround it and it serves as one of the entertainment hubs on the ship.
Cruise Concern #1 – Boredom
As we were planning this trip we got plenty of questions and feedback. While we heard many questions, questions about keeping busy and avoiding boredom were the top issues. “Sixteen days across the ocean, what are you going to do?” or “How are you going to keep busy?”
The excursions in each city really focus on giving you an overview or focusing on some particular interesting aspect of the city or region. Since you’re only in a port for a day, two at most, there is little opportunity of an immersed experience. Cartagena is a good example.
After spending a day in Cartagena, I knew we wanted to figure out if we might want to spend part of our winters there! The city is clean and attractive. Warm and sunny most of the year, Cartagena and the surrounding area is beautiful, and hosts a significant expat community. We plan more research once we get back home, but we’d love to hear from anyone that’s stayed there.
We didn’t actually get to Seville. We docked in Cadiz, and the excursions we chose took us to the white villages. This was a great stop because it introduced us to the region and gave us a good sense of what it’s like. I’d say the same for Lisbon, Portugal. We spent enough time exploring the city in a Tuk-Tuk to see and enjoy the old-world charm. Both Seville and Lisbon are on our list of places we want to return to and spend more time.
Our days were full with dance classes (Julie and Sharon, not me I don’t need no stinkin` dancing class), movies, more entertainment, seminars and more. There was no point where we were looking for things to do; it was more about de-conflicting schedules.
To sum things up, Portugal and Seville are on our list to explore in more detail. Cartagena is under investigation. We’re taking another trans-Atlantic cruise ‘back to Europe’ in the spring. Now, on to the second concern.
Cruise Concern #2 Sea Sickness
In conversations before the cruise, typical first questions were about sea sickness. ‘What about sea-sickness?’ ‘Do you get sea-sick?’
Now that we’re back, the first question is normally ‘did you get sea-sick?’ Well, the answer is one of us had one bad evening but there was a sinus infection contributing to the big picture.
Julie and Sharon both wore ‘sea-bands’ and really had no issues. You could feel the motion of the ship, but there was nothing uncomfortable about it. The one ‘bad’ evening was after leaving Lisbon, Portugal. Heading south, the seas were a bit rough when we were west of the Gibraltar Strait. Crossing the Atlantic was pretty comfortable, even when there were some heavier seas.