Barcelona Information

[KeiEdy]

I just posted a review of our cruise on the Voyager of the Seas. The cruise left Barcelona on October 25, 2008. We arrived in Barcelona on October 24, 2008 and stayed an extra day after the cruise (November 1, 2008). I'm posting the information about Barcelona here since it will take a few days for the review to be published.

 

Barcelona-We flew from Philadelphia on Thursday night and arrived in Barcelona on Friday, October 24th. We purchased the T-10 tickets at the airport to take the train to our hotel (€7.20). The RENFE train runs every half hour from the airport. We were on the 10AM train which was very crowded. We transferred from the RENFE train to the L2 Purple Line (towards Pep Ventura) at Passeig de Garcia. It was an extremely long walk up and down steps to the L2 line from the RENFE train. It was not too bad with only one piece of luggage but others in my group had several pieces of luggage which made it a longer walk to the next train. We took the L2 Purple line to Sagrada Familia stop (approx 3 stops). I made reservations for the Royal Suite (for 8 adults) at the Hispanos Siete Suiza located on Sicilia (255) Street between Provenca and Rossello. The hotel was only 2 blocks from the Sagrada Familia. It was a very easy walk. When we arrived at the hotel, the royal suite was not ready yet. The desk clerk offered us 2 junior suites (each with 2 bedrooms) for the same price as the Royal Suite (€460). This worked out better so everyone had a bed instead of 2 of us on rollaways in the living room of the Royal Suite. One of the rooms was ready at that time. The room was very nice. One of the bedrooms contained 2 twin beds with a bathroom with a multi headed shower. The second bedroom was a king size bed with the bathroom with a tub in the hall. There was a safe in the closet. The electric did not work in the room until we placed one of the room keys in the slot by the door. The balcony overlooked a school yard. The windows had electronic shutters to completely cover the windows. We placed our luggage in the rooms and ventured off for lunch. We ended up eating a sandwich and pizza at a small place near Sagrada Familia. We should have asked for the prices of the items before we ordered but everyone was hungry. I paid €28 for a sandwich, a small pizza, coke zero and one beer. On the way back to the hotel we found a grocery store called Caprabo 45 which was located on Provenca. We were able to buy bottled water and soda for the hotel room. When we went back to the hotel, the second room was ready. Everyone took a nap for a few hours. After the nap, we ventured on the train to go to Park Guëll (free admission). We took the L5 Blue Line at Sagrada Familia to the Diagonal stop. From this stop we took the L3 Green Line to Lesseps. After we exited the train, we followed the signs to Park Guëll. It was about a 15 minute walk uphill. After walking around Park Guëll, we took the L3 Green Line to Catalunya. We went to Placa de Catalunya and ate at the Hard Rock Café. We took the L3 Green Line back to Diagonal stop then the L5 Blue Line back to Sagrada Familia stop.

 

 

The breakfast buffet was wonderful at the hotel. Since we were a group of 8, they had a table ready for all of us but 4 of the group slept in. After we ate, we went to the Sagrada Familia at 9AM (€10). We were on the second elevator to the top. It was worth the €2.50 to go to the top for some amazing views. We decided to walk down the 426 steps instead of taking the elevator. We checked out of our hotel and walked back to the Sagrada Familia for a cab to the pier. The cab was €20 for 4 people with 4 pieces of luggage. We were on the ship by 12:30PM. If you order a cab at the hotel, it will cost €35 Euros to go from the hotel to the pier.

 

 

 

Barcelona- We decided to stay an extra day in Barcelona since we made our own plane reservations. The airlines constantly change the flight times and we did not want to worry about getting to the airport in time. We had reservations at the Renaissance Barcelona Airport. The hotel offered a shuttle from the pier to the hotel for €10 per person. We reserved 2 rooms with 2 bedrooms with access to the elite zone. When we arrived at the hotel, one of the rooms was ready. Juan took all of our luggage to the one room and took us to enjoy ourselves in the elite lounge. After our luggage was delivered to the room, we took the free shuttle to the airport to Terminal B. At Terminal B we took the 46 bus (using our T-10 ticket from the first day) to the Placa Espanya (the end of the line). We walked from the bus stop to Telefèric de Montjuic. There were many steps but escalators were available in front of the Catalan Art Museum. We went passed the Olympic stadium on the way to the cable car. It was about a 30 minute walk from the bus stop to the cable car. The cable car ride was €7.90 (round trip). We took the cable car to the top and got off to view the area. There was a castle at the top along with a museum. We were able to view our ship from the top. After we were done, we took the Funicular down the mountain (using our T-10 ticket again). The Funicular was located right next to the cable car. At the end of the line which is the Paral Lel stop we took to Barceloneta stop. We went to Restaurant 7 Portes for dinner. The restaurant was located at Passeig Isabel 11. The food was very good but they do charge you €2.20 for each roll placed on the table. I do remember someone warning us of this on cruise critic but I forgot to ask if there was a charge for the rolls. After dinner, we walked to the Columbus statue and took the Green Line L3 from Drassnes to Placa Espanya to get the 46 bus back to the airport. Once we got back to the airport, we took the free shuttle back to the hotel. At the hotel, the elite zone had liquor available to make your own cocktails. We took the 6AM shuttle back to the airport in the morning for our 8:30AM flight.

 

The T-10 was a great investment. After using public transportation for 2 days, we still have 3 rides available on each card.

[cruiseluv]

In Spain pretty much every restaurant charges a "cubierto" charge per person, that includes bread and , frankly, the right to seat there. It is not particular to Set Portes. BTW, last year I went to Set Portes for dinner and found the service horrible. It seems you had better luck.