Willdra’s Hyperactive Carnival Horizon April 15-22 Cruise

Quilcruisers · May 12, 2018

I can’t wait to read the rest. Very funny lady and beautiful family. Thanks for sharing.

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willdra · May 12, 2018

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willdra · May 12, 2018

willdra · May 12, 2018

We wanted to get off at Notre Dame and it took us an hour and a half to two hours to get back to that stop. The boat lets you off right under the bridge by it and it’s a quick walk up to it. It was beautiful and huge! We took pictures and admired it as long as we could.

willdra · May 12, 2018

willdra · May 12, 2018

We actually made good use of our time, and we were glad that we could spend the day sightseeing instead of at the airport or hotel. Once we saw what we went to see, we started looking for the Metro. We located it fast.We are now pros at finding the signs that are sometimes camouflaged. It makes you feel like you won something.

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It would be sweet to do the Color Run in Paris

Everyone rationed out their tickets so we had just the right amount. All of us went thru the turnstiles. Except V. We looked behind us and she was stuck. She tried all of her tickets with no luck. She got frustrated and went to find help. Meanwhile we stood there and waited. While waiting we saw some unusual activities jumping off. Randoms were breaking into the Metro with no tickets! We saw people jumping over, under, sliding around, and crawling through. We even saw a guy limbo his way under. Someone walked in the out door too. It was so crazy to watch and we were a little uneasy. After about ten minutes of waiting, AC stated that she had an extra ticket that she could've given V. Seriously? You think of this now??? She started calling her, but V didn't answer. She came back after being gone about 15 minutes. She’d gotten replacement tickets because apparently hers were demagnetized. We were all tired and bewildered so we just got on the train and savored the silence. Almost.

During our ride, a man who looked and smelled like he hadn't had a bath in a month of Sundays, got on the train proclaiming something in French, but since no one paid attention nor made eye contact with him, he got off. Good choice. A woman was walking around collecting money for her baby, and everyone acted like they didn't see her either. We couldn't get off that train fast enough. The weekend brought some peculiar people with it.

We ran back to the hotel, rearranged our bags and ordered the Uber. This time it was 54 Euros to the airport. The driver pulled up, saw that we had luggage, then just opened his trunk. Uh rude. We just stood there. He decided to help. He couldn't get my husband's small carry-on suitcase in the trunk, so he opened my door and just put it on my lap. W got mad and told him to put it in the empty front seat. The driver sighed then tried to get it. He sighed ya'll. I inhaled deeply. Very deeply. Ok that wasn't enough.I had to take one more breath. I calmed down enough to tell him it was too late to worry about my lap, his tip, and the rating that we would give him. Then he asked twice which terminal we were going to, and I told him. Twice. I really wanted to put the paws on him, but we needed to get the airport. He is so lucky I'm trying to get right with the Lord, and we were trying to catch our ship!

We were let out close-ish to Terminal 3 and we had to walk down to our door. There was no one in line for our airline which was a blessing. The agent took our credentials, then quickly handed us our passes. She even checked our carry-ons for free.Things were looking up already! Until security happened. I was chosen for a strange "random" security check. I had to submit my hands face up and then face down. The agent ran a little wheel across my fingers with a white pad on it. Then the very top of my pants. Why there? He took the white pad thingy off, popped it into a little microwave looking machine, it beeped, then when he was satisfied with the results, he let me go. I noticed that when French people don’t speak English very well they just grunt at you. He grunted twice so I went about putting my constitution back together. The whole thing was bizarre.

We sat in the lounge and relaxed for a minute. While we were sitting, we realized that we had to board a bus that would take us to the plane. No bueno. I saw a Pret when we came through security, so I went there. I sat down to eat and when I was finished I got a text from AC and V stating that they were past security. I met up with them at Pret. I didn't even ask what took them so long. We talked for a few minutes and I went back to join W. Right as I sat down, I heard some French followed by some garbled broken English that semi sounded like they were boarding. It was 6 pm and we weren't due to board until 6:20. W went up to the desk to check, and sure enough it was our flight that was boarding. I ran to tell AC and V because I knew they didn't hear it. AC was in line buying something but she threw it down and got in the line to board. Soon we found out that "boarding" was a loose term. We were boarding the bus, not the airplane. They loaded the bus completely full, which actually took a while. We stood on the bus maybe 20 minutes then we started rolling. When we got over to the plane, people were still getting off so we sat and watched them. Then another 15 minutes and it was our turn. Everyone just gets off the bus, then races to the plane. There’s no rhyme or reason. We were by the door, and we were in Row 5, so we got lucky to get to our seats quick. Everyone else, not so much. #disaster

Thankfully, the flight was quick, and soon we were landing. As we were deplaning, the passenger behind us handed W his ticket stub that dropped out of his pocket. I took that as a sign, and I made sure that I still had mine. When we got off of the plane,both of us had to go potty. We followed the signs when we got into the terminal. After we went, we walked out the door. The wrong door. We ended up in a vacant area, and we didn't know where we were, or where to go. We were lost,and we couldn't go back the way we came because that door was locked. We walked all around trying to find out where we missed our turn, but we couldn't find it. We asked 3 people who passed us, and they gave us 3 different crappy directions. I saw some agents over by where we needed to go, so I yelled over and asked them for help. They told us to go back through security like we were boarding, but we had no ticket, so that wasn't going to work. We walked down to our airline's check in desk. Waste of time. Then W happened to see someone coming out of the baggage claim door, which is where we need to be. There was an agent there checking tickets and bags, so we told her what happened to us,then asked if we could go back through. She asked for our passports and ticket stubs then let us pass. Hallelujah!

We find our luggage carousel, and AC and V asked where we were. I just told them I didn't want to talk about it. All they needed to know was that we went to the restroom. The luggage still hadn't come yet and it’s now been an hour since we deplaned. Yep, we were lost for an hour! Luggage finally arrived maybe 15 minutes later. We collected our stuff and went towards the taxi stand. W passed it up at first but I learned my lesson and I was looking at every sign this time!

We got into a taxi, and I showed the driver a picture on my phone of the hotel and address since I’d given A and Z my printout. I booked 2 hotel rooms under my name to save time while I was planning. Since they needed to check in early that morning, I gave them the paperwork just in case there was a problem. They didn't have trouble checking in, but the hotel had to make sure they saved W and I a room afterwards because Expedia didn't tell them that I booked 2 rooms.

Anywho, our driver looked at my phone then typed in what "he thought" was the address into his GPS. I should have known something wasn't right when he stared at my phone like I just handed him a garden weasel. He started driving, but pulled over a short time later. What is our deal with our ground transportation today?? Nothing should be this hard, especially when I haven't had a cocktail. Homey the Clown missed his turn, and he couldn't go back. At least he was wise enough to ask Google for help. After the wrong turn and running the meter while he was lost, it was 25 Euro for the ride.

Check in was quick, and the hotel was clean but basic. We only paid 65 Euro for this night, so I wasn't mad. We walked to the McDonald’s next door and it was crazy packed. We skipped Micky D's then walked to the store a block away for W’s Diet Coke to carry on the ship. We ate at the hotel. They had a nice little restaurant on site. I had pizza and it was delish.

willdra · May 12, 2018

A and Z got back around 12:30 from hanging with their MTG crew. They stopped by our room, and we filled them in on our wackiness, then we made our plan to leave early the next day. There was a protest planned in downtown Barcelona, and Carnival sent us an email stating that we needed to keep it moving in order to get to the port on time.

Before I went to sleep, I thanked God that at least we didn't get chased by a hunchback at Notre Dame. I don’t know what would've been the outcome of that!

This reminded me of a cruise ship bathroom

willdra · May 12, 2018

Webecruzen · May 13, 2018

Great review with lots of information, awesome pictures, and many laughs! Thank you for sharing your trip and for all the time a review takes. Hope you are having a happy Mothers Day!

pooksma · May 14, 2018

Great read so far! Looking forward to more :)

rs45thompson · May 14, 2018

Enjoying your review. Thank you so much for taking the time to do it.

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MissKIA · May 14, 2018

Your basic hotel in Barcelona looks just like a cruise ship cabin. Looking forward to the rest!!

Megan_Strick · May 14, 2018

You crack me up. Your prayers at night are my favorite part

willdra · May 14, 2018

Great review with lots of information, awesome pictures, and many laughs! Thank you for sharing your trip and for all the time a review takes. Hope you are having a happy Mothers Day!

Thanks for reading along! [emoji4]