As is with most of our cruises it generally starts with an early morning departure to reach the airport for an early morning flight and today was no exception, by 3:00am we were on the road heading for Heathrow. The first draw back was that the M4 was shut between junctions 11 and 8 which meant a really scenic detour around the outskirts of Reading which then turned in yet another detour taking us eventually along the A30 towards the airport. This cost us around 20minutes which fortunately meant we used up some of the safety buffer we had built into the trip.
We made full use of our upgraded tickets which allowed us to fast track security and then relax a little in the British Airways Galleries lounge.
The flight was uneventful but when we arrived at Barcelona it was tipping it down! The sort of rain we see back in the UK!
We had pre-booked a transfer to the port and had offered to share it with another couple from the Cruise Critic Forum who were arriving on a later flight. Our driver was waiting but only with a vehicle for 2 so we hastily arranged for another car for the other couple whose flight had been delayed by another 30 minutes or so. I need to get onto the agent when I get back as I am not too happy with how things turned out on this occasion.
Then, just to add insult we get caught up in traffic jam on the way to the port which delayed us a further 30 minutes.
On a positive note by the time we reached the port it had stopped raining and the sun actually came soon after we boarded. The cabin was ready so we dropped the hand luggage off and went off to explore and grab a spot of lunch.
First impressions of the ship are very favourable and we instantly felt like we will enjoy our cruise on her. The crew are friendly and the decor has an Asian feel to it probably as it was previously owned by an Eastern cruise line. It has a really charming feel to it.
Muster at 4:30 on the prom deck with no life jackets and over within 15 minutes, mostly in English with a smattering of Spanish for good measure.
Due to our very early start we elected to have dinner in the Windows Dining Room at 5:30pm so we could retire early. Towards the end of the meal an announcement over the public address system revealed that due to adverse sea conditions, Casablanca and Funchal had been dropped. Tomorrow instead of a sea day we would be porting at Valencia? A new itinerary is to posted to our cabin when it has been agreed. All in all we have had quite an eventful day so to end this post I will just finish with a couple of photos taken today that sort of sum the day up and then pray the WiFi works!
Lets see what tomorrow brings shall we……………..
