Live--escaping New England and jumping on Symphony of the seas trip 4/21-4/28

Decided that we had enough of the cold New England weather and decided to book Symphony of the seas during our kids school vacation and turn it into a family Europe vacation.

This will be our 8th cruise between RC, celebrity, carnival, azamara and Paul Gauguin. Since we are going during school vacation it will be my husband, 17 year old daughter, 11 year old daughter and 9 year old son. We also are having my mother in law join us for this trip. The plan is two nights in Barcelona then jump on symphony and when we arrive back to Barcelona we will be finishing our Europe trip by taking the trip to Paris for a couple nights then take another train to London for two days before we fly back to Boston.

We just flew out of Boston 4/18 and arrived in Barcelona this afternoon. We were originally scheduled to arrive early

Morning but ended up missing out connecting flight in Lisbon so it made everyone a little bit more cranky. Lol

We decided to push thru and stay up to get us on the right time schedule.

We explored our resort a little bit once we checked in at ritz Carlton hotel arts Barcelona. It's so beautiful here. Since we are a larger group we decided on the two bedroom penthouse while we are there. I'll post some pictures. It's a neat two floor layout.

Once we checked out the hotel we decided to take a walk on the board walk and walked down towards the W and then found a little restaurant where we all enjoyed a few different paellas. Yum!

Can't wait till Saturday and start exploring the ship! I will post more when we are on board. I'll take more photos when I unpack my camera.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I usually stay in the Barceloneta area. Really nice.

You can take the cable car from there, just near the W

Enjoy Barcelona, I'm following along

Following. If you have nothing planned in Barcelona I recommend checking out Sagrada Familia. Enjoy your trip.

You had a great idea to do that!!

Parc Guell is pretty cool. It's a great outdoor space the kids would enjoy -- as well as the adults.

Following! DW and I will be on the next Symphony cruise.

Following! We’re doing two nights in Barcelona then boarding Symphony in September!

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Hi,

Subscribing because we will be in Symphony in late August and anxious to know all the new things from the ship.

Folllowing along on your cruise.

Looking forward to hearing about your time in Barcelona as well as on the Symphony! We will also have two nights in Barcelona prior to our Cruise in October. Can't wait to explore a new city!

Have a great trip!

Wow! Sounds amazing! You have a beautiful family! Thanks for taking us along and have a great vacation!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Following... 64 days until I set sail!

We had a late start, we all woke up at 11:30am and we are already back and ready to call it a day!

Barcelona is such a incredible city! It's now in one of my top European cities. A great place to start a Mediterranean cruise!

I have felt comfortable walking around during the day and night in this city so far Atleast.

If you have a few days before cruising out of Barcelona I highly recommend la Sagrada. With so many churches in Europe it's easy to say it's just another church when someone mentions it but the detail and love that was put into creating the design shows and is a must visit!

If you want to truly enjoy Barcelona put your walking shoes on and explore. We first started by taking a taxi from the ritz Carlton to la sagrada and bought our tickets. We weren't originally sure what we wanted to do so I choose not to buy prior online.

We then walked towards the Gothic Quarter but found the arc de triomf and the park adjacent to it with the zoo, botanical garden and grassy area. It was great to see so many people from everywhere congregate and relaxing in the park. We then continues walking and made a pit stop for pizza, beer and wine! We have a tradition we find an English or Irish bar in every city we visit! Or Atleast we try! [emoji23]

We continued into the gothic quarter but stopped at the Picasso museum which the kids surprising kinda begged us to do. My husband wanted another bar but thankfully we went because it was really a great experience and not too long. It was incredible to see how traditional and detailed his work was as a 4 year old child and into the abstract art he's known for.

we ventured back to la sagrada since our tickets where for 19:00. We weren't there long but it was worth going inside. The stained glass was incredible and created a glow from all sides that was breathe taking.

Now we all are relaxing and still adjusting to the time difference. We are all packed and ready to board tomorrow at 12:30. Can't wait to explore Symphony! [emoji568]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I'll be following along as well. I don't leave until July 1st but our group is flying in a couple of days ahead of time. I happen to be a karaoke fan so if you have a chance to check it out when you are on board, can you ask if we are allowed to bring our own songs on karaoke disks. I fear the answer will be no because everyone is going digital, but it doesn't hurt to ask. Thanks in advance.

I'll be following along as well. I don't leave until July 1st but our group is flying in a couple of days ahead of time. I happen to be a karaoke fan so if you have a chance to check it out when you are on board, can you ask if we are allowed to bring our own songs on karaoke disks. I fear the answer will be no because everyone is going digital, but it doesn't hurt to ask. Thanks in advance.

Karaoke isn't my thing. I try to save everyone by never singing! Lol but I will check it out for you when we board.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Definitely following along. We go on her in June and are staying a few days in Barcelona first. Thanks for taking us with you!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I will post more information and photos including of our rooms and aboard but here are a few before we start the muster drill.

We have two crown loft suites on the 17th deck port side. The rooms are so new and I love the two story concept.

We skipped the main buffet because it was very busy so we did el loco fresh. We were too hungry and didn't take pictures but it was quick and yummy.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Looks fantastic! Can’t wait to read more about your trip. It will be our turn in June.Thanks so much for sharing and enjoy :)

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Following along. Sailing in September with 4 days pre-cruise in Barcelona. Can't wait!

We have stopped at Majorca and France already. Today we head over to Pisa shortly.

We visited the drach caves in Majorca and there were neat!

We also had dinner at uzumi hibachi that night which we enjoyed very much.

Our kids have been to the kids club a few times, I'm pretty sure they would stay the whole trip if we allowed it lol

For those with younger kids they have a play area that you can bring and let your kids play with them.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Yesterday we didn't have any planned tours and didn't get off the boat. I may or may not have had a few too many cosmos while playing blackjack. Lol

We hung around the suite sun deck which is a cool concept. I like the feeling of not a lot of people being up there. They have a hot tub and bar on one side and some cool lounge beds and chairs on the other. I'll post some more pics but forgot to take pictures on the other side.

We also got invited to the sail off party for suite guests on the helipad area. It was cool to check that area out though it was quite breezy. We stayed and had some champagne while our kids played titanic on the front of the ship lol. It's crazy how big this ship is. I haven't felt overwhelmed but have got plenty of steps in everyday.

We also saw hairspray last night and I was afraid I would get bored but actually it was amazing! My kids watched the whole thing with anticipation and excitement.

However beware of letting your kids have drinks from the waiter and ask them to put them in pint glasses. Our son ordered a strawberry daiquiri which had a fancy bottom that didn't fit in the cup holder and of course on theory alone my daughters white Burberry dress that somehow made it thru the chocolate fountain at dinner ended up covered in strawberry daiquiri. My fault for putting a kid in white and giving the other a glass of food dye. Lol [emoji23]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

View of the front of symphony from the helipad.

Here's some more pictures of other parts of the ship.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro