Epic - Western Med Review w/Pics from Barcelona 09-16-12 - AMAZING!

[LoraJ]

Well I won't say my review is amazing, but the whole trip was. In fact, this was my favorite cruise that I have had.

 

I booked this trip 18 months ahead and went all out with a Haven 2 Bedroom suite. It was worth every penny.

 

BARCELONA:

 

We flew into Barcelona leaving Thursday night and arrived Friday morning. We went directly to the hotel and checked in, of course we were way too early for our room to be ready. Not a problem, they held our bags for us and we walked around and had lunch and they placed our bags in our room for us when it was ready.

 

We stayed at Hotel Montecarlo and we really enjoyed our stay here. It was a small hotel with a friendly staff. We booked a superior room and this one gave us a small terrace overlooking Las Ramblas and they had two thick windows which blocked out most of the noise.

 

Hotel exterior:

 

 

Our room:

 

The window had a blackout shade that would come down with a flick (or ten, it was funky) of the switch)

 

 

Bathroom:

 

Included large Jacuzzi tub and a nice full shower.

 

Our view:

 

While the terrace was not big enough to but a chair out, it was nice to stand out there and people watch. The location was fantastic, close to the market, the Gothic quarter and transportation. We walked around more than anything. we did not do the popular HoHo but took cabs to the places we wanted to see that we could not walk to.

 

 

While waiting for our room to be ready, we walked over to the famous Boqueria which was just down the street.

 

 

 

We didn't buy anything on this stop but came back later for some fresh squeezed juice and some of that expensive candy.

 

to be cont...

[Snowrose]

Can't wait to see the rest! I've always wanted to do one of the cruises around Barcelona!

[Nalagh]

This is a trip that I really want to do! I can not wait to read more!

 

Cherie

[meltingmoments]

Oh please keep it coming......we did that itinerary last month! You're already bringing back lovely memories! We stayed 2 nights in Barcelona beforehand, and I remember walking past the Montecarlo! :)

[Cubechick]

Can't wait to read more! We'll be in Barcelona this time next week, ready to begin our Epic adventure!

[soloadventurer]

Hurry up i'm on the Epic tomorrow fingers crossed :D

 

 

Great review so far

[TSUmom]

Your review and pictures are perfect timing - I have finally talkded my DH into this cruise although it will be in a few years I can give him more to see and hear about!! thank you!!

[LoraJ]

Forgot to add some details. I traveled with my husband to celebrate our 5th anniversary. This was our first time to Europe. You can see my cruise experience in my signature, my husband has been on CCL, Princess and HAl, plus the two CTN on NCL.

 

After exploring the market we wandered around the Gothic area. I instantly fell in love with it. I loved the narrow roads and all of the shops. Before our trip I went through tripadvisor looking for restaurants to eat at throughout our trip. I printed out walking directions with google maps. Our adventures in the Gothic neighborhood made me appreciate the contestants on the Amazing Race a whole lot more. It is easy to get lost there, but not too lost. I soon figured out how to find the street signs and find our way around. Found it to be a fun adventure.

 

 

 

We stumbled upon the cathedral which was incredibly stunning.

 

 

 

 

 

We searched for the restaurant that a friend recommended but once we found it, my husband could not understand the menu, plus no one was inside so he suggested we go back to Placa Real where we saw a bunch of restaurants with lots of people and eat there. So we wandered back there and picked out a restaurant that I think was a part of a hotel.

I believe it is called La Cuina del Do, more specifically, the terrace or la Terrassa.

 

 

Gazpacho soup

 

Bread pressed with tomatoes, delicious.

 

The menu consists of tapas, something my husband is not a fan of for some explainable reason. I was worried he might starve in Barcelona, but he managed just fine. Just about everything we had here was delicious although his salad had a weird bug in it. The service was okay. One thing I realized too late was that they would have been able to put our charge as USD on the credit card if we had asked.

 

After that we walked back to the hotel where we napped since we had only gotten about an hour of sleep in who knows how many hours. Thank goodness for that light blocking shade at the hotel.

[Sauer-kraut]

Just as an aside--

 

Do not chose the USD option on your credit card purchases, because in SOME cases the exchange benefits the vendor!! There have been several unscrupulous merchants who don't even ask if you want to use the USD option and will automatically put it in with a hefty surcharge.

 

Always use the local currency (Euros) and if you have a Captial One card there is no foreign transaction fee.

[LoraJ]

Thanks! Glad I did not do that then. :)

 

 

After our nap, we hopped a cab up to Casa Mila (or La Padrera) took some pics and then walk down to Casa Batllo. I find Gaudi's architecture to be fascinating. We did not go inside these places but just enjoyed the exterior.

 

 

 

 

After that, we walked to where I had made a dinner reservation - Patagonia Beef & Wine. I made the reservation on a website like open table called bookatable. The restaurant did not open until 8pm, which I had the reservation for. We had really good service an the food was delicious. We had empanadas as appetizers and we both had the filet with mushroom sauce for dinner. For dessert we had some sort of raspberry tort. Delicious!

 

 

 

 

 

It was an easy walk back to the hotel where I took advantage of the jacuzzi and then attempted more sleep to get into the groove of the time difference.

[LoraJ]

The next morning for breakfast we went around the corner to Granja La Pallaresa which was recommended by a co-worker. She said we must get the chocolate con churros. That we did along with fresh squeezed orange juice. The chocolate was a bit more watery than I expected, but I guess maybe because it is meant more as a hot chocolate drink not thick chocolate but it was still very good. The orange juice was delicious.

 

 

 

Soon we ventured off in a cab to Parc Guell. Lots of uphill walking here but again the architecture is fascinating and you get an incredible view of the city. The park was so crowded, in fact the whole city was. I thought it would be less crowded due to schools being in session but I guess not. The only places not really crowded were the restaurants, but that may have been due to us eating on the early side, at least I hope so. Was saddened to hear about the protests this week.

 

 

 

 

 

Then we hopped into another cab and took off towards La Sagrada Familia. We had bought entry tickets online. I cannot tell you how much of a time saver this is. The line for tickets was so long. You will not stand in a line of you buy your tickets in advance. The only downfall to this is that you are locked into a time. I knew in advance we would have time to kill so I looked all over for a restaurant in the area and did not get any recommendations. So I actually just looked on google maps and found restaurants that way and looked up their reviews on tripadvisor. I had picked out a place called La Taquieria so that I could get my taco fix in.

 

It was a cute little place and they were preparing for some kind of party to celebrate Mexico's independence. They serve authentic tacos which were on par with the ones we get around where we live.

 

 

 

 

One thing to note, we noticed everyone was drinking bottled water at the restaurants we went to, so we did the same. At La taqueria they had flavored waters that were very good.

[LoraJ]

Sorry if my pictures are so huge, but that is how they are coming off of photobucket and I am too lazy to re-size.

 

 

After lunch we walked over to La Segrada and even though we were 5 minutes earlier than our time, we were able to walk right in. We admired the outside and then went inside, gawked and then headed downstairs to the museum. I was more impressed with the outside than the inside for some reason that I can't put my finger on. Perhaps because I was more impressed with the old cathedral we visited the day before and later on we were totally blown away by St. Peter's Basilica. But the history of how long it is taking to build the cathedral is very interesting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mcmomny]

Great review Lora!

[LoraJ]

We then took a cab back to the hotel and explored the area again. And took a nap. I love my vacation naps.

 

Another note, if you are from the states and travel to Europe, do not forget to bring a power converter. We had a mini-tragedy when we got an adapter from the front desk of the hotel and used it to charge our electronics and blew a fuse. They said we needed a converter. We got one at the Apple store up the street and used it for our ipad's and my husband's macbook and he charged his phone from his macbook. My phone battery lasted the whole two days without dying. Amazing how long it lasts when it is reduced to nothing but an alarm clock.

 

After napping we walked around the Gotic quarter again to get to our dinner spot, Sensi, which I found on a list of recommendations on the Spain board here. Also made a reservation through bookatable.

 

Another enjoyable meal. Their tapas are larger portions than the ones we had the day before. The waiter informed us that we were ordering too much food, so we narrowed down our choices. Everything was delicious. I even ate the duck specialty and I am not a fan of duck, but it was good. I also finally had my first Sangria of the trip.

 

 

 

 

My food pics did not come out very well. I hate using a flash sometimes.

 

After dinner we walked around some more, found a restaurant where we had some more drinks/sangria and chocolate and churros.

 

 

 

 

The next morning the day of our cruise had finally arrived! We took a cab to the port and it was time to say goodbye to Barcelona and hello to the Epic!

 

I think Barcelona is currently my favorite city in the world. I loved it. I never felt unsafe, we used pacsafe wallets and bags and just stayed alert.

 

Tomorrow I will update more. I think from here on out I will divide the review between ship, then ship restaurants and then the ports.

 

If you have any questions about the Epic, the itinerary, etc, please feel free to ask.

[LoraJ]

Great review Lora!

 

 

Hey! Hope you had a good extra day in BCN and a good trip back. Adjusted to real life yet? Not me. lol

[scopewest]

Great review, love the photos!

[mcmomny]

Hey! Hope you had a good extra day in BCN and a good trip back. Adjusted to real life yet? Not me. lol

 

Got a cold on the flight home ;(

 

Still not feeling well but went back to work anyways, my boss is really nice but I took a two week vacatïon and they were missing me!

 

Keep your review coming so I won't have to do one! I have no idea how to post pictures!

 

Our last day was great, saw thousands of locals on the streets for La Merce! I am so glad we stayed one extra day!

[mcmomny]

And we agree with you, Barcelona is our favorite so far!

[jimbri]

Enjoying your review, especially the photos!!

[boeckli]

Thanks for your review and the photos - brings back memories from our trip to Barcelona (and then cruise on Epic) last year :)

[November28]

We are doing this cruise next September. What was the weather like and did people on the ship dress up or was it more casual. I understand freestyle and all but I am wondering if people got more dressed up in Europe. We are just home from a Bahamas cruise on the Sky and it was very casual. Almost too much so.

 

Just wondering what your experience was.

 

glad you had a wonerful trip and it is really making me even more excited about our trip next year.

[ripjerry95]

Barcelona is one of my favorite cities! I hope to get back there again soon. Spain is so beautiful and the people were wonderful. Can't wait to read more of your review.

[Zhane's mum]

I agree, Barcelona is my favourite city. Can't wait to go back in October for our TA on the Epic. What time did you get to the port?

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review!

[js4rq]

Enjoying your review so far....looking forward to the rest. :)