groryjm

For a pre-dinner drink we opted for my favourite we opted for the World Class and I was treated to an off book special from Isaballa with Woodford, lime and her own Bacon infused syrup. The WCB is a dangerous place to sit being next to Effy. My gastrognome was temted by a beautiful set with rainbow saphires in 14kt yellow gold but passed up the sale siting the need for daughters approval. The flaw in the plan was the said daughter arrived and whole heartedly approved . Off to Tuscan for dinner and to my delight the Carpacio was excellent again so much so the photo got missed, followed by the red snapper sunset and the tiramisu and a Fernet Branca. For all four of our choices were very good and to we were glad to see the portion sizes more manageable than pre pandemic. One can always ask for more but leaving food has never been my forte. Our evening was completed with calvados at Michaels then an episode of Bluestone 42 and for me a hot unsweetened almond milk from Café al Bacio. The girls were also delighted to take Gelato back to their room.

For Sail away the Retreat had arranged a helipad event which is always great and the sort of special event we missed in Queens Grill on Cunard, thogh to be fair in October outside was a bit off limits

Lunch was taken at our favourite boarding lunch venue Sushi on five and the food was very much up to par for me with a Spicy Ahi Tuna accompanied by a Nagasaki Batida followed by the Scallop and Shrimp dynamite with a Kanpai. The girls had selections of Gyoza and Wontons and ramen and my Gastognome the Ramen too. The girls loved thiers but my Gastognome felt the broth was not quite as good as usual. The cocktails were very much up to par and what I would expect from the World Class bar. I also had the Omakasa Sushi which was also excelent but failed to photo before it was eaten😁

Having checked out of our apartment at 10.45 our taxi arrived promptly and we set off to the port. A 15 min ride and within a few minutes of arriving at the cruise port we were seated with a coffee and a pastry in the suites area while they checked us in. A slight glitch in there it system meant that they had to take our passports to the desk to scan them. No matter we thought, but…….. John one of the retreat concierges escorted us up the walkway and onto the ship but that is where it stopped going to plan, The ports it had seemingly not gelled with the ships and we were stuck waiting with John to have our boarding passes scan while we were lucky and John got us to the front of the line no one could go further, Senior staff rushed around but the it just wasn’t letting anyone board. After about twenty mins the line was released and John escorted my DD and her GF to their aft sky suite but I still needed to go to Michaels club to re check-in before make our own way to our Royal suite. Technically having an escort is for upper suites only but John very kindly to the girls as we knew our way round the ship. Having rechecked in we dropped our bags in the room grabbed our cards and retraced our steps to Michaels Club. We heartily greeted by a familiar face at the MC bar , Cranston, while we last saw Cranston on Reflection last year we had not cruised with my daughter since 2019 and not only greeted her by name but recounted a story of how he had made her virgin Piña colada’s on Constellation . Thinking back that would have been 2016 so hats off to his amazing memory. It is so nice to get on a ship and be remembered by the staff, almost like coming home. Yet another it glitch came to light as I could not get the wifi to work. Apparently my card that had been waiting in our room had the wrong account number so a new one was duly printed. IT is not Celebrities strong point though to be fair on our last cruise on Cunard in October the IT was worse. The wifi with Starlink has so far been very good despite a small window last night when I couldn’t get my lap top to connect for about twenty minuets. For those who it interests these are with and without VPN in the med. Not super fast but consistant and very usable the VPN only slightly slowing it down.

sorry not to have posted today but needless to say I'll catch up tommorrow. My window for posting is after my Gastrognome has retired and before my Hot milk kicks in (... long story i'll explain anon) but the new starlink whilst mostly wonderfull has not allowed me to log in for the last half an hour .... Im in now but bed calls....

We headed out last night for Cerveseria Catalana a vibrant and VERY popular tapas bar 5 mins walk from our apartment. We got there at about 8.30 which by Spanish standards is very early. We just managed to get a table with only a 5min wait. When we left at about 9.30 the que for a table was 30 plus people and they expected to wait upto an hour!! The food was really good being preceded by a good vermouth and accompanied by an excellent jug of white Sangria. The stars of the meal where the suckling pig and the chocolate on toast with salt and olive oil. Deciding pn the third toast was solved to my Gastrgnomes delight All in all a very satisfactory last meal in Barcelona Taxi to the ship tommorrow (today in fact)

The history and explanations give on the provided audio guide really add to the experience.

We would love to but saddly tommorrow our taxi returns to take us to the ship at 11..... barely time for another fab coffee I fear

Having watched the café below our window we decided on a coffee and pastry…. before heading to Casa Mila for our 5.15 slot. Unfortunately the roof was closed due to rain but the Casa was stunning

After watching all the food it was our time to eat lunch.... delicious then a quick Vermouth half way back before heading to our balcony recuperate Although pricey I could not recomend Apartment Sixtyfour more as the perfect pre cruise stop off with its central location

After the walk we decided to have a proper breakfast before venturing into La Boqueria Market The market is truly a feast for the eyes

It is sooo much easier sailing out of Southampt when all you need to do is drive to the ship with out the hardship of flying😉

After a leisurely coffee in the room we set off this morning to La Boqueria Market, the food market just off Las Ramblas. The walk was only twenty or so minuets but the incredible architecture of Barcelona leads one to walk constantly with an eye looking up,,,,,

It is so embarrassing when ones luggage gets tagged heavy by the airline. Especially when one previously had blamed ones daughter but when she is out in the world neither her nor her partners luggage get so shamed. 🙃🙃🙃

A quick dash back by taxi and we walked literally around the corner to a bar called “Les Gens Que J'aime”, quite a picturesque little bar which while the drinks were OK made up for that in atmosphere, www.lesgensquejaime.com

We went straight from the airport to our apartment (Apartments Sixtyfour) in about 30 mins and our whole transfer experience was excellent and swift. We were first off the plane and our luggage was on the carousel within 5 mins of us reaching it. Our friend / foster daughter, who now lives in Madrid, had travelled down to spend the afternoon and evening with us and having a fluent Spanish speaker with us helped greatly. We set off after a quick cup of tea for the short walk to Sagrada Familia and I have to say that seeing pictures online and in books do not do the reality of such an incredible structure justice, but as all I have to show you is pictures here are a few…… We had got the timing of our visit bang on as when we entered the low early evening sun did incredible things with the stained glass... At this point having a Spanish speaker paid dividends as without Maya we would not have known to visit the crypt and Gaudi’s last resting place. It is tucked around the side and surprisingly free to enter. After such a wonderfull vist food callede and a table for five was secured within a stones throw of the Cathederal and along with some amazing Tapas , including an unbelievably good plate of "Surf and Turf" meatballs in a black squid ink sauce, we sampled probably the best Paella I have ever tasted.

luggage awaiting our taxi...... We may have slightly over done it 😉. 6 big checked and 3 carry on's for four of us! Health updated on the app 😎 ..... and breakfast sorted care of BA 👍 Now I feel like I'm on holiday🥂

Last October we cruised on Cunard after many cruises exclusively on Celebrity so this cruise is our return... Cunard food was quite above and beyond and I am hopping that X will meet the mark. Tommorrow we fly to to Barcelona so Saturday will see our return. We have booked a late pass to sagarde de familiar and intennd to take a chance on food that evening.... Out of the top 50 cocktail bars in the world, Barcelona host THREE , Paradiso (No1), Sips (No3) and Two Schmuckss (No7) .... My plan is to try at least two of the top bars in the world tommorrow!!!!!

on a trip out of Southampton we usually have four bags around 30kgs but for this trip we need to allow for an extra on return as the girls are staying on in Rome and we are taking one of theirs back to make it easier for them.

flying is allways tricky for us.. 2 x 32kgs pp seems huge but how can one cope with 23kgs pp !!!!!

bags pack and ready to go........

As per our usual pre cruise ritual Pisa is on its way and bags are all packed. Dominos is not the same as Napoli and next week I look forward to being in a position to compare😎.

After many cruises on Celebrity in Suites our last cruise was on Queen Victoria to the Northern lights in Oct last year. So this is a back to Celebrity after a slight deviation in our usual routine. Usually we cruise as a two in a CS or RS but for this cruise we are in an RS and we have bought an aft SS for my daughter and her girlfriend. My daughter has cruised as a teenager with us before in suites / the retreat but for her partner this is a completely new experience. Tomorrow we fly from Heathrow to Barcelona and while for myself, Gastrognome and daughter Business is not new for her partner this is all new….Taxi set for 9.30 …. 😊

Origami day is one of my favorite days... It means a cruise is getting real after years in the planning 🥂🍸🍾🍷🍹

There is a very good video by @Jim_Iain on setting up the HDMI connections aboard Celebrity....