European
Stars
April 2002
Barcelona to Barcelona ~ Maiden Voyage
by Suzy
This was our first trip to Europe.
We've been on a number of cruises on
large American ships. We flew coach class on Delta. The flights attendants were
all very nice, the food leaving the US was really good (dinner, snack, and light
breakfast); however, the same dinner menu coming home was pretty bad -
overcooked, etc. By the way, Delta, unlike some other airlines, gives no
onboard amenities to coach passengers - no toothbrush, eyeshades or socks.
PRE-CRUISE
Part of the cruise package was two nights in Barcelona. From the airport, we
took a cab (25 Euros) to Hotel Conde Barcelona. It's a small, older hotel, but
nice and clean and in a convenient location and very close to the subway. Our
room was the smallest hotel room I had ever been in, though the bathroom was
renovated and nice, even had a bidet. Buffet breakfast, which was a bit boring
and basic, was included. We loved Barcelona and really enjoyed our time there.
Las Ramblas was only two quick metro stops away and we visited there on both
days. We loved the parade of people - locals and tourists - street mimes,
musicians, etc.
Across from our hotel was a museum
with a Gaudi exhibit on their roof. We
had a perfect view from the roof of our hotel and so avoided having to wait
in line and pay musuem fees! Also right near our hotel was a beautiful park with
thousands of birds, just waiting for us tourists to feed them. I'm a real bird
lover and after all the last minute arrangements, sinus worries, the long flight
and jet lag, a few hours in the park with my husband on a lovely day feeding the
birds was just perfect. One of the difficult things for me to deal with in
Barcelona was the lack of ice cubes and soft drinks are served at room
temperature.
The morning we were to board our ship we took a cab from our hotel to the
pier. Our cab driver decided to rip us off and took us the long way and made a 5
minute cab ride into a 20 Euro tour of Barcelona. We didn't want to argue so we
paid him exactly what was on the meter and no tip.
THE CRUISE
The cruise ship is brand new and only started her voyages today. Our travel
agent booked it and told us that there would be a lot of Americans on the cruise
and that there would be excursions conducted in English. We had a superior
outside cabin and the ship has two dining rooms - standard and
first class, the latter is reserved for those in the suites. The ship is pretty
though a lot less "glitzy" than the new American ships. There are some
nice open spaces, and the ship holds about 1800 passengers. There is a nice
showroom and a casino, which hardly ever had anyone in it gambling.
The ship has a few public places
where smoking is allowed and ashtrays are provided, but the passengers simply
used the floor as one big ashtray in the nonsmoking rooms. When I complained
about the smoke in one of the public areas, the desk person asked me if I would
like a cup of coffee!
Only about 200 of us boarded in
Barcelona and then the ship picked up new passengers in every port. This meant
that we had to step over luggage in the hallways everyday. We had big problems
with this cruise. First European, lied to our travel agent about being suitable
for Americans. This line is really for Europeans. There were only seven
Americans onboard - my husband and I, a travel agent and two of her friends and
two others that we didn't interact with very much. Most passengers were French
and then the rest were mostly Spanish or Italian (and a handful of Dutch
and Scandinavians).
Our cabin was pleasant looking and
comfortable with a nice big window. The BIG problem with the cabin was that it
was located right over the disco! (I know how to read a deck plan and this
wasn't indicated.) The music, a very loud 5-piece Spanish band, blasted away
until 2:30AM every night and I swear the speaker was right over our bed. I
begged for another cabin, but was told that there were none other available. We
were sarcastically offered ear plugs and then as a "pleasantry" we
were upgraded to the first class dining room, where we were seated with the
American travel agent and her two friends who were in a suite. We decided not to
let the music ruin our trip, so we just stayed out of our cabin until after
2:30AM every night.
We saw some of the shows in
the showroom, some dancers who danced to taped music. The other nights the shows
were all conducted in Spanish and French - not a word of English. We went
anyway, stayed for part of it, and tried to make the best of it.
The tours: We were told that there would be tours available in English.
For the most part, that was untrue. For the tour in Marseilles, they sent along
an interpreter for us. That was a nice gesture, however, it was the young man's
first time there and he was so enthralled with all the new information that he
forgot to translate it to us. So, we got a few bits and pieces of information
when we reminded him. It became annoying and we got almost no information on
what we were seeing. We saw lots of things, but still don't know what we were
looking at!
In Messina we took a bus to town
and walked around on our own. I had a difficult time using my calling card to
call home, but one of the locals, helped us with our call. The people in town
were warm and friendly.
The tour of Naples was the only
tour conducted in two languages - French and English. The French passengers were
very angry about this. When they got back to the ship, they complained to the
tour desk that having the tour also in English wasted their time and after that
day, they were extremely rude to all of us who spoke English. They would walk
past us shoving our shoulders, and then say things in French and laugh. By the
time we got to Tunisa, a group of Norwegians had boarded and they too were told
that tours would be conducted in English. Well there's power in numbers and we
finally got an English speaking guide for Tunisa. We loved Tunisa - so rich and
colorful. We got a tour of the village, had time to shop in the bazaar, and we
visited a typical Tunisian home.
The food: This was a big disappointment and the food in the first class
dining room wasn't any better than in the regular dining room. It was basic and
boring with the emphasis on meat, beefsteak, pork shops, and lamb chops. No
pasta or chicken dishes offered. The quality of the meat was very good, but
repetitive. They did serve nice salads. The vegetables were basic and the same
variety was served nightly. They had "spa" cuisine where fish was
offered. My husband had this, and he was served a bland piece of fish, the same
preparation every night. When he asked for some lemon he was told that there was
no lemon on the ship. Like in Barcelona, ice was very scarce and there was no
iced tea. When we were in the standard dining room, our waiter created an iced
tea for me, but our waitress in first class, said she couldn't do that.
We spoke to the travel agent yesterday and she was in shock. She told me to
contact my credit card company for some kind of refund.
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