DAY 1 - Barcelona

Tuesday, July 7 DAY 1 - Barcelona
Leaving port at 4pm Onboard the Oosterdam

We arose about 8:30, and hurried to have breakfast in the Dining Room, which was open for breakfast until 9:30. We had planned to go back into Barcelona to the grocery store – Caprabo – to get sodas for DD, as we still had about 6 rides left on our T-10 ticket, but DD said she could live without the sodas, so we stayed aboard to explore the ship. We knew with the intensity of the itinerary that we wouldn’t have a chance like we had today to get acclimated to our floating hotel. I had made and brought 8 rag dolls with ironed-on photo faces representing all our children & their families, so we took a movie of them on the ship, plus other photos of the ship, since most passengers were in Barcelona again.
At 1 pm we went to the theatre again to see another movie. Still the wrong aspect ratio, but it’s computerized, so there’s no one there. We were going to ask about it. After the movie, it would soon be time for the muster drill. We still had our T-10 ticket with several rides left on the Barcelona Metro, so I went to the shops in the port area to give it to an employee. Found a young woman at a store who was very grateful for the extra tickets. Rushed back on board to do the muster drill.
A good number of passengers had no idea how to put on the life vest, although the stateroom TVs, which we were directed to watch, and illustrations in the cabin, explained it. Many just didn’t care. There were too many of them for the crew to instruct each one, so I figured if there were an emergency, they would be the first to go – under, that is.
After the drill, we went to the Crow’s Nest on Deck 10 to meet CC roll call members. I couldn’t remember where it was suggested we meet, and since we left one week early, we weren’t sure what was decided. Never met the CC group, although later in the cruise we were seated at dinner with a couple whose CC names I knew.
We watched our first sailaway. DH enjoyed a margarita and bought a drink card, $65 for 10 alcoholic beverages. It’s worth it for the more expensive drinks, but it’s more a matter of convenience than anything else. It did not include specialty drinks, like the hot coffee with Kahlua. DD worked on the large puzzle and explored the good selection of books in the library. The DVD checkout desk and the Internet area was there, as was the coffee bar, called “Explorations.”
Back to the room to dress for the show and dinner. Had a light snack. The show in the Vista Lounge on Deck 2 (& 3) started at 7pm, crew introduction and captain’s champagne party started at 6:45 pm, so we got there at 6:30. We were one of the first ones there. We figured that the older folks like to eat early, so would go to the later show, if at all.
The show was wonderful; we loved every minute of it. Talented people, lots of energy, numerous costume changes. We took photos & movies of parts of it. After the show, we went to dinner. We had a 20-minute wait, because of all the show attendees who also wanted to eat. Menu selections tonight that we chose: Lobster Thermidor, Land & Sea, Pate de Fois Gras, Shrimp Cocktail. We bought a wine card, only good for house wines, 20 glasses for $64.50. The house reds, Merlot & Cabernet, were fine for us.


Other Ship Notes:

The blanket had some stains on it – asked for another & got it. Stains could be food, but may have been a result of seasickness…so….

I forgot to pack the post it notes.

Didn’t need all the highlighters.

Forgot about safety pins, and none were available.

Forgot to bring slippers. Carpeted room, but how clean?

Don’t really need to dress differently for anytime dinners, since my day outfits are appropriate.

Laundry issue the worst. Always needing to watch something. Although many items are quick-dry, it’s still a bit of a nuisance. Use the $20 bag several times, but saved over the unlimited laundry since we used a bag 2 times during each of the back to backs. Regular price: $80 per cruise. Back to Back counts as two, I think.

Because of the G8 conference, HAL took our passports after Barcelona. (We needed them again for one port.)

Didn’t need the money belt while on ship; just took what we needed each day. On land tours we needed it, & kept it in the safe. We had no problems with it.

Did get the larger robe by the next day. Actually got three more robes that day when we only needed the extra large. Returned the others.

Milk is like cream. To get milk for tea, I asked for “2%”. They got it right every time after that.