Part I Nautica Coastlines to Canals Oct 28th-Nov 7th

[Traveling Fools]

Just a bit of background about ourselves.  We are very experienced world travelers who have worked and lived overseas.  Our cruising history has evolved from inside cabins, to balconies, to concierge level and up to suites.  We have experienced suites aboard Carnival, Celebrity, and NCL (suite & haven).  This cruise marks our first Oceania cruise.  We booked Nautica’s Vista Suite on a 10-night Coastlines to Canals itinerary.  The cruise begins in Barcelona and ends in Venice.   

 

When planning this trip, I explored the cost of both economy and business class airfares from Jacksonville, FL and from Oceania portal cities of Savanah, Orlando, and Miami.  We opted not to take the routing Oceania offered.  Instead we took the $800 PP air credit from Oceania and booked our own flights.  After comparing all fares, we booked r/t business from Miami with Turkish Airlines.  Reviews of Turkish Air’s service were all positive and some even exceptional.  By the way, Turkish Airlines only has two classes of service…Business and Economy.  Turkish Air offers a perk to r/t passengers who have a “stayover” in Istanbul.  They will pick-up the cost of 1-nights lodging for economy and 2-nights lodging for business passengers.  

 

Oceania still mails out cruise documentation to passengers.  This was commonplace with most, if not all, cruise lines years ago, but with the advent of e-documents a lot of cruise lines no longer mail out cruise documentation to their passengers.  Kind of ironic when you consider the tons of printed advertising ALL cruise lines mail out to perspective clients.  Regardless, Oceania’s practice of mailing out “Blue Books” to its passengers is not only classy, but just adds to the excitement associated with cruising.     

 

Turkish Air operates out of Miami’s South Terminal, so parking is found in the Flamingo parking lot.  If you decide to fly Turkish, try to find a space on level 3 near the southeast end of the parking facility.  You will be able to walk across the bridge from parking facility to terminal and be closer to Turkish Air’s passenger counter.

 

We arrived at the airport at out 4:30 P.M.  Parking was easy, as was getting to the check-in counter.  Check-in was a breeze and in no time we were seated in Avianca’s Business Class Lounge, used by Turkish Air in Miami.  It is a functional lounge that offers passengers a selection of food and drinks.  It is all self-service.

 

Getting on the plane and to our seats was no problem. But, because they used all doors to perform it, general boarding was kind of chaotic.  All the passengers flowing thru the business class section prevented the crew from providing any pre-departure beverage service.  In fact, citing proximity to take off time, the cabin crew discouraged the passenger across the isle from me from ordering a drink. That said, the in-flight cabin crews’ performance during the entire course of the flight was exceptional! 

 

The flight was 10 plus hours long.  The length of the flight and lay flat seat meant it was possible to get an adequate amount of sleep that corresponded with regular sleep patterns. When the seat was in the upright position, we had a difficult time adjusting it to a comfortable position. The main meal was good, but we weren’t as WOW’ed by the food experience as expected.  In-flight entertainment options were very good and the provided noise cancelling headsets blocked out all distracting background noise.

 

We had a 5-hour layover in Istanbul.  Turkish Air’s Business Class lounge is outstanding!  As is Istanbul’s new international airport.  Property and terminal wise, it is huge!!!  One of the longest taxi times we have ever experienced.  The terminal flows and flows and flows.  There are no trams, just moving sidewalks to get you from place to place.  One feature that we did not like was the deplaning process.  We had to use boarding stairs rather than jetways to deplane.  I don’t know if it was because we were an arriving international flight, or if the jetway and corresponding corridors to the transient and Customs and Immigration inspection areas were not functional/open, but for whatever reason it sucked!  A standard jet way was used for boarding the continuing flight to Barcelona.

 

The flight from Istanbul to Barcelona was about 3-hours long. We flew on a 737 and the business class was set up like standard first class section in the USA.  The meal service was very good.  We arrived at about 10:30 P.M. and had no trouble recovering our luggage and getting a taxi for the ride to our hotel.

 

We arrived in Barcelona on a Saturday night so, even though it was close to 11:00 P.M., the streets were full with people walking from place to place.  Many of them were demonstrators either going home, or walking to the next demonstration.  None of the demonstrators we saw appeared dangerous or radical and none were wearing stocking hats that could be used to coverer their face.  In fact, most of the demonstrators we saw were well dressed couples of all ages with Catalonian flags draped over their shoulders or wrapped around their waist.  One of the streets we needed to take was closed due to an ending demonstration, so it took an extra few minutes to reach our hotel.

 

We stayed at Sheraton’s Barcelona Four Points Barcelona on the Diagonal.  Check-in was a breeze and given that it was almost midnight we were able to get a full nights sleep.  Between the sleep obtained on the lay flat seat during the overnight flight from Miami to Istanbul and the subsequent full nights sleep in Barcelona we were able to avoid the scourge of jet lag.

 

We woke up Sunday morning fresh and ready to explore Barcelona.  Having been to Barcelona twice before for multiple days, we decided the most relaxing way to spend the day was aboard a HOHO and there was a HOHO stop a short walk from our hotel.  Mid-way through the route we were informed demonstrations had forced the closure of two roads with stops for the bus.  This meant getting off the bus several blocks away from the La Rambla.  Again, the demographics of the demonstrators we saw ranged from youngsters to elderly, all well dressed, some with pets, and most with flags.  The street closures disrupted all but emergency vehicle movement.  As a result, we saw several families and couples exiting the La Rambla district towing or pushing their wheeled suitcases to a street where they could get transportation. You could tell from the look of panic on several faces that some of those with suitcases were probably concerned about reaching the airport in time for their flight.

 

We were able to walk the length of La Rambla and the breadth of the seafront without encountering a demonstration.  We did see one demonstration on a street paralleling the La Rambla.  All-in-all, it was just another day on the road.  We ended our day in Barcelona people watching over a meal and refreshments at a La Rambla sidewalk café.

More to Follow.    

Edited October 29, 2019 by Traveling Fools

[Jay23]

Thank you for your review.  Very interesting indeed.   J

[DeeniEncinitas]

Great start!!!! We flew Turkish air back in 2013 and loved business class! Barcelona is one of our favorite places and every year when we travel to The Med cruising either before or after our cruise we will stay for a week in Barcelona before we head to Paris for a week to fly home. Will be doing that on O this March and April with 2 cruises on her! 
I am glad with the demonstrators all is peaceful!! Try Tapas 24 if you can they have to us the best Tapas but that is IMO😊

Denise😊

[sailco]

Thanks for writing your review. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on Oceania and particularly the Nautica.

[Paulchili]

Looking forward to this detailed review.

We also enjoyed our flight on TK business - I found it superior overall to LH AF, and BA business class. They claim to be the best European airline and based on my experiences I can not argue with that claim.

Enjoy your cruise and keep those reports coming 😃

Edited October 30, 2019 by Paulchili

[Paulchili]

5 hours ago, DeeniEncinitas said:

Try Tapas 24 if you can they have to us the best Tapas but that is IMO

Our favorite is Ciudad Condal but I’ll try your favorite next time we are there. 😊

[DeeniEncinitas]

8 minutes ago, Paulchili said:

Our favorite is Ciudad Condal but I’ll try your favorite next time we are there. 😊

Paul, were going to try it this time! Thank you. I love Tapas and being able to go on recommendation is a big plus!

Denise😊

[tvmovielover]

Traveling Fools, we live on the island too.  We took Turkish from Atlanta earlier this year.  We parked in an off airport lot.  It is a little faster than Miami despite Atlanta traffic in case you use Turkish again.  We took advantage of their excellent business class too but I do not remember who had the lounge we went to in Atlanta.  The lounge in Istanbul is the best ever (we also had a long wait there on our way to India).  Turkish has good connections to Africa as well.  I look forward to your further review as we have a cruise on Nautica next year.

[Traveling Fools]

On 10/30/2019 at 10:11 AM, tvmovielover said:

Traveling Fools, we live on the island too.  We took Turkish from Atlanta earlier this year.  We parked in an off airport lot.  It is a little faster than Miami despite Atlanta traffic in case you use Turkish again.  

 

Good to know.  Thanks!

[DeeniEncinitas]

On 10/29/2019 at 6:00 PM, Paulchili said:

Our favorite is Ciudad Condal but I’ll try your favorite next time we are there. 😊

Paul we have your favorite restaurant all set up on our phone! WOW it is impressive 

Really love the building it is in! We know exactly where it is at and will be going there

while we are there for the week after our 2nd cruise! 
Thanks again for your recommendation!

Denise😊

[clo]

1 hour ago, DeeniEncinitas said:

Paul we have your favorite restaurant all set up on our phone! WOW it is impressive 

Really love the building it is in! We know exactly where it is at and will be going there

while we are there for the week after our 2nd cruise! 
Thanks again for your recommendation!

Denise😊

Here's a little write up on Paco Meralgo which we adored:

https://www.chowhound.com/post/barcelona-paco-meralgo-great-lunch-top-customer-service-877611

 

And here's Tickets Bar from the Adrian brothers of El Bulli fame.  But when we went you had to book three months in advance.  But one of the top meals we've ever had.

https://www.chowhound.com/post/barcelona-tickets-bar-fun-good-food-878068

[DeeniEncinitas]

1 hour ago, clo said:

Here's a little write up on Paco Meralgo which we adored:

https://www.chowhound.com/post/barcelona-paco-meralgo-great-lunch-top-customer-service-877611

 

And here's Tickets Bar from the Adrian brothers of El Bulli fame.  But when we went you had to book three months in advance.  But one of the top meals we've ever had.

https://www.chowhound.com/post/barcelona-tickets-bar-fun-good-food-878068

Hi Cath! 
we had the pleasure of eating at El Bulli back in 2010 when we did a cruise to The Med and did our land vacation for a month. So loved the food and Costa Brava 

where it is at is fairly in a remote area and had a great driver to take us there! When he closed his doors back in 2011 we were sad, but now he reopened only a few months a year this year.Unfortunately June-October! Will be there March - May.

Now  Tickets Bar will do👍👍👍 ! Will get back to you I need to set up reservations hopefully can make it work! 
Paco Meralgo looks good too!!

Thanks for the info Cath! We love Tapas Bar hopping .

Denise😊

[Paulchili]

4 hours ago, DeeniEncinitas said:

Paul we have your favorite restaurant all set up on our phone! WOW it is impressive 

Really love the building it is in! We know exactly where it is at and will be going there

while we are there for the week after our 2nd cruise! 
Thanks again for your recommendation!

Denise😊

Denise - you are welcome.

Hope you will enjoy it.

[clo]

3 hours ago, DeeniEncinitas said:

Hi Cath! 
we had the pleasure of eating at El Bulli back in 2010 when we did a cruise to The Med and did our land vacation for a month. So loved the food and Costa Brava 

where it is at is fairly in a remote area and had a great driver to take us there! When he closed his doors back in 2011 we were sad, but now he reopened only a few months a year this year.Unfortunately June-October! Will be there March - May.

Now  Tickets Bar will do👍👍👍 ! Will get back to you I need to set up reservations hopefully can make it work! 
Paco Meralgo looks good too!!

Thanks for the info Cath! We love Tapas Bar hopping .

Denise😊

I didn't know about Ferran Adria's new El Bulli 1846.  That's exciting.  I think the ones in Barcelona have always been his brother Albert's projects.

 

Tapas-style, regardless of the cuisine, is our favorite.  And it's how I intend to dine on Marina next month.

[DeeniEncinitas]

21 minutes ago, clo said:

I didn't know about Ferran Adria's new El Bulli 1846.  That's exciting.  I think the ones in Barcelona have always been his brother Albert's projects.

 

Tapas-style, regardless of the cuisine, is our favorite.  And it's how I intend to dine on Marina next month.

Rio coming up soon for you! wow so excited for you. Tapas is our fav too! 
You have a very special cruise and enjoy 

To the max. I’ll be thinking of you and DH on The Marina. Take care Cath! On HAL

CC board we have a Bon Voyage post.

So to Cath enjoy your cruise! Smooth Sailings and Fare Winds! BON VOYAGE 😊

Denise😊

[clo]

8 minutes ago, DeeniEncinitas said:

Rio coming up soon for you! wow so excited for you. Tapas is our fav too! 
You have a very special cruise and enjoy 

To the max. I’ll be thinking of you and DH on The Marina. Take care Cath! On HAL

CC board we have a Bon Voyage post.

So to Cath enjoy your cruise! Smooth Sailings and Fare Winds! BON VOYAGE 😊

Denise😊

Denise, you're so sweet.  Thanks so much.

Cath