"Live" Enchanted Princess, 26 Days, Nov 12th to Dec 8th, Barcelona to Ft Lauderdale (+ Madrid Pre-Cruise)

[dodgerfan1055]

Take a pic of Segovia for me, that’s my grandfather’s surname.  Someday hopefully I’ll see it for myself.  Have fun!

[LACruiser88]

Check-in was a breeze, as was the TSA Pre-check security line.

 

We checked out the food selection in the Amex Centurion lounge and Air France's lounge.  We settled in at Air France.

 

 

 

 

 

[Ombud]

2 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

We have been picked up and we are on our way!!!

 

😳

Edited November 4, 2023 by Ombud

[LACruiser88]

7 minutes ago, Ombud said:

😳

Tell me about it!!!  🤣

[LACruiser88]

We have boarded our Paris bound flight and Debbie has made herself comfortable!

 

[LACruiser88]

Nice large screens and nice headsets!

 

 

And a little "real" Champagne to set the mood!

 

Edited November 4, 2023 by LACruiser88

[LACruiser88]

Menu's For the flight...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JoseyP]

Wow! you are going in some style!  Bon Voyage!

[jwattle]

Looks like it's going great so far! Bon Voyage my friends!! ❤️

[c-boy]

adieu my friends, safe travels with good memories. 

[LACruiser88]

We have arrived in Paris on time!  We now have 3 hrs to kill before we board our flight to Madrid.  I checked our air tags and our luggage made it here too!

 

Interesting boarding at LAX, no boarding passes required.  Boarding was via facial recognition.  I do not recall doing that before???

 

The flight crew and food were fantastic.  Even though we took "sleep aids" no sleeping occurred on this flight.  Feeling a bit punch-drunk! 🤪

 

Here are dinner photos, we went with the asparagus ravioli as our main.  I almost forgot to take a photo of the cheese course!  They also served breakfast as we were approaching Paris, I passed.  I've had enough food for one flight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NoWhiners]

We arrived in Rome a few hours ago. Our seats and food weren't nearly as nice LACruiser's! And we used the delta app to track our bags and that worked really well. it's nice to know the bags are onboard with you. Now to stay awake until at least 9 pm...

[LACruiser88]

2 minutes ago, NoWhiners said:

Now to stay awake until at least 9 pm...

That will be our challenge too!  😄

[LACruiser88]

We have made it to Madrid!  We are checked in to our hotel, Hyatt Centric Gran Via Madrid, and are unpacking. 

 

The streets were busy with tons of people.  Reminiscent of Las Ramblas in Barcelona at rush hour! Photos coming soon...

 

Going for a walk and a bite to eat before we turn in and pass out from lack of sleep!  🙄

 

 

 

 

 

[Jilliebean28]

On 11/1/2023 at 4:22 PM, LACruiser88 said:

Today there have been questions regarding Paxlovid on our two roll calls.  Whether you should bring it from home or depend on the onboard Med Center to provide it if you contract Covid.

 

We are bringing it from home, as you can never depend on the Med Center to have sufficient supplies of it and it will be very expensive onboard.  For us, our Medicare coverage paid for it.  So, nada out of pocket. 

 

Having come down with Covid on a Panama Canal cruise early last year, we feel it is better to be safe than sorry!

Good plan!  You mkight remember that I got COVID on our T/A with you last November on the RegL.  Well....I got it again on the Regal last month.  I had a Rx for Paxlovid (Medicare covered the cost fully)  with me and took that as soon as I tested positive (the day after my symptoms began) and I think it definitely helped me.  The downside of it is the most horrible taste in your mouth for the 5 days that you take it and 1 day after you stop.

[ebeluga]

1 hour ago, LACruiser88 said:

We have made it to Madrid!  We are checked in to our hotel, Hyatt Centric Gran Via Madrid, and are unpacking. 

 

The streets were busy with tons of people.  Reminiscent of Las Ramblas in Barcelona at rush hour! Photos coming soon...

 

Going for a walk and a bite to eat before we turn in and pass out from lack of sleep!  🙄

 

 

 

 

 

Nice! We were in the other Hyatt (Thompson Madrid) last Monday and Tuesday! Your location is very close to Royal Palace and the Cathedral as well as the Tapa Row. See you on board on Enchanted  Princess!

[LACruiser88]

We had some tapas and a very nice bottle of Rioja.  It is amazing that on a chilly Sunday night at 9 pm, the streets are full of people, the stores are all open and folks have lots of large shopping bags.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now back to our hotel, a shower and buenas noches to All!

 

[NoWhiners]

7 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

We had some tapas and a very nice bottle of Rioja.  It is amazing that on a chilly Sunday night at 9 pm, the streets are full of people, the stores are all open and folks have lots of large shopping bags.

 

Now back to our hotel, a shower and buenas noches to All!

 

Looks a lot like the streets in Rome. We were surprised to see so many people out, maybe because it's a Sunday? Not cold but windy, but everyone is bundles up like it's mid-winter! I wonder how they dress when it's really cold??

 

We tried to stay awake. Went to an early dinner, had a bottle of wine and a mushroom pizza then some tiramisu. Walked back to our hotel (Hotel Navona) and I feel asleep sitting at the desk reading email 😯

 

Woke up and decided it would be more comfortable in bed! So, here I am awake at 5:30 in the morning 🙂

 

Vatican later today, hope we stay awake. We couldn't get tix until 3:30, so we'll have time for a nap before we go!

 

Safe travels to all.

 

[LACruiser88]

@NoWhiners  We had a similar night.  We fell asleep at 9:30 and have been awake since 2 am!  Hopefully, tonight our body clocks will be more adjusted. 

 

Today, we are going to get on the hop-on/hop-off bus to get the lay of the land.  We plan on doing LOTS of walking.

 

Enjoy the Vatican, it is truly an amazing place!

[NoWhiners]

Just now, LACruiser88 said:

@NoWhiners  We had a similar night.  We fell asleep at 9:30 and have been awake since 2 am!  Hopefully, tonight our body clocks will be more adjusted. 

 

Today, we are going to get on the hop-on/hop-off bus to get the lay of the land.  We plan on doing LOTS of walking.

 

Enjoy the Vatican, it is truly an amazing place!

 

You both did well to make it to 9:30, I feel your early-morning wake up pain but I feel my eyes closing, so maybe I will fall back asleep soon. And we will walk to/from the Vatican, plus the tour, so we should sleep great tonight!

 

Looking forward to seeing the Sistine Chapel.

[LACruiser88]

Today was a chilly, but fun day.  We caught the hop-on/hop-off bus right across the street from our hotel.  After staying on through all 17 stops, we decided to get off to visit Madrid's Royal Palace. 

 

Directly in front of the Palace, is the Almudena Cathedral.  This is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madrid.

 

Front of the Palace.

 

South side of the Palace.

 

Rear of the Palace.

 

Views from the north side of the Palace.

 

The next two photos are of the Cathedral.

 

 

 

 

The following three photos are from the park surrounding the Royal Palace.

 

 

 

 

As we were walking back towards our hotel, Debbie just happened to find a six story Zara's!  Well, you can imagine what she did for the next 90 minutes.  I sat out front and people watched.  I had as much fun as she had!

 

Directly across the street from our hotel is a 4 story H&M store.  I bid my farewell to her at the store entrance and returned to our room.  That was almost two hours ago.  I hope we don't have to buy another suit case!  🥺

[Toottoot22]

Hello Enchanted cruisers! We join this adventure in Rome on November 23. I have a question regarding the Leaning tower of Pisa. Does anyone or can anyone recommend an excursion or DIY trip to view it please? We just submitted bids for cabin upgrade…. Fingers crossed 🤞 Thank you all

[Pepes Pal]

19 minutes ago, Toottoot22 said:

Hello Enchanted cruisers! We join this adventure in Rome on November 23. I have a question regarding the Leaning tower of Pisa. Does anyone or can anyone recommend an excursion or DIY trip to view it please? We just submitted bids for cabin upgrade…. Fingers crossed 🤞 Thank you all

We are currently planning a tour to the Tuscan towns.  A few months ago, we were planning the train to Pisa & Lucca. 
I found train schedules in the app Trenitalia. It looks easy enough to do on your own. Train station is the Livorno Centrale

[Toottoot22]

Thank you for train info Pepe’s Pal!

Edited November 6, 2023 by Toottoot22

[loge23]

Hola Rafael & Debbie!

 

Memories of our time in Madrid last year at the end of October on a Princess pre-cruise land tour prior to our TA on the Regal.

On the night of Oct. 31, the streets were jam-packed for miles with merry-makers, as Nov. 1 is a Holiday there. You may have went by Plaza de Espana on the HOHO - worth a stop if you a have time. Wander in after admiring the Cervantes monument with Don Quixote and his faithful companion and you'll get to a magnificent panoramic overlook with a nearby Egyptian temple (a real one). It's a beautiful space for quiet time and local people watching.

The Prada is a world-class museum if that floats your boat also. It's basically the collection of Phillip II and a visual history lesson of Old Spain. Really enjoyed Madrid - it's a very walkable town and we found it quite friendly with many excellent choices for dining. Hope you are having a great time!