Got up early and finished packing. Got it together early, checked out, and left one of my bags in storage at the hotel. The Barcelona Cruise Bus left from right in front of the hotel, so I slowly made my way to the bus stop and dawdled a bit as I was WAY early. My official check in time for the ship was noon and it wasn't even 11 yet. The bus ride was really short and I dragged my overstuffed suitcase on and off. Stood in the world's longest line (thankfully, it moved pretty quickly) and FINALLY got on the ship.
Then it was another couple of hours until the room was ready. So, I found a buffet and had some lunch. Wandered around a bit until the announcement was made that rooms were ready on my deck. Finding the studio rooms was a bit of a chore, but eventually found the area and my cute little room
There was more room than I thought and plenty of closet space. I unpacked quickly and decided to check out the studio lounge. Met a few people and had a cup of mint tea. We all said bye and I decided to check out the ship a bit..
We had actually started to leave port at this point, so I found a good spot on deck to see what was going on. It was actually pretty cold, but the views were lovely enough to keep me outside.
There is a little green lighthouse as you exit the port, which I thought was pretty cute.
I wandered around the ship for a bit, watching the departing shoreline of Spain. The Mediterranean is incredibly blue as seen by the trail behind the ship.
Next was a bar to take advantage of my unlimited drink package. The second beer was the result of my overhearing a conversation betwen the bartender and another passenger who collected beer caps.
Apparently, this Belgian beer tasted like bananas and vanilla. Intriguing, so I had to try. It totally does in a faintly non-overpowering way. This was my second beer, by the way. So, two beers in, I went to dinner at one of the two main dining rooms on the ship, Savor. I had one of the specials, shrimp scampi…or their version of it. In my experience, scampi is butter and garlic based. This was a creamy sauce…weird. Not bad, but not very scampi.
I also had a glass of wine with dinner, so I think I had crossed the line into drunk. I decided to head to the shops.
While perusing the gold and gem jewelry, I was given a necklace with a green crystal and a raffle ticket. I dropped the ticket in the box and perused the jewels. I actually own a ring purchased on a cruise by my mom when I was in my 20's during her cruising years.
Anyway, I won a pair of “diamond stud earrings” that were actually a cluster of diamond chips. Pretty cute and a free gift. With a smile on my face and a alcohol buzz in my head I checked out the other shops.
Only to catch a view of the setting sun through a gift shop window. I ended up buying a costume jewelry necklace in a style I'd actually been looking for.
By then, I was done. Headed back to my room and got ready for bed. The ship's TV station first had an old episode of Family Ties followed by a Star Trek classic…Amok Time. That was enough excitement for me and I went to sleep.
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