Mariner of The Seas sailing from Barcelona (doing a U turn)



  The RCCL Ship, The Mariner of the Seas was to be our new home for the next fifteen day, this ship is a sister ship to the Voyager of the seas (the ship that we had sailed on in November 2012) The Mariner has the exact same layout which made it quick and easy for us to get around, the only major difference was the decor in the bars and art works around the ship, we even sighted a few staff that were on the voyager and had transferred to the Mariner. The first four days of this cruise from Barcelona to Dubai was at sea, heading to Egypt and The Suez cannel

Our dinner time dinning table had gone from 12 people on the Sinfonia to just three. Other guests at the table were not sighted during the whole cruise. Myself, Teresa and Phillip would dine together each night and with just three of us at the table service was very quick and personal. The staff really looked after us.

Phillip was from the West Coast of the USA and was travelling by himself, on three back to back cruises for forty one days. We became good friends over the fifteen days, he become very fond of Teresa like most of the old men do, we never asked his age but he looked to be in his late 70's.
Out of the 2880 odd passangers on the ship about 1200 were doing the same three cruises that started from Galveston, Texas and ended in Singapore. The ship had a good mix of people both young and old on board with 1600 odd from the USA, 300 from Canada, 330 from Australia and the remainder from all over the Place.
The Mariner of The seas, food had a note able different with a lot more variety and also was hotter when served. On the Sinfonia, food that should have been hot was cold (like chips etc.) this seemed to be the main complaint at the dinning tables.

Aboard the Mariner the first four days passed quickly and the ship had some very good shows at night, This is one area where the RCCL excel. They had 3D movies for the first time on the ship and we were all looking at seeing more until they announced that the 3D set up had broken and that they could show any more 3D as parts were not available. Teresa also would have liked a few more craft type activities over the entire cruise, but one could not really complain.
The best show was the Ice show, unlike the voyager cruise they issued tickets about 8 days prior and if there were any seats left, people could still get in on a first come basis. Teresa went to see two of the four shows they were fantastic.
People who were doing back to back cruises complained about the same shows being replayed, but, all the cruise lines do this not just RCCL. some of these shows are a big production and one would not expect them to change every week or so.

Our first port of call was Alexandra in Egypt.



Sailing out Pass several other cruise ships



Faces and Places - Barcelona (click on Image to enlarge)

Water Front area

Painting picture from a I Pad

This was yummy

In Barcelona we had booked a room in a private apartment that was situated close to the city and port. The check in time was 3pm so we had a few hours to fill in, we decided to get a map from the tourist office at the water front, then walk with our bags in tow to the address given (about a 10 min walk). leave our bags there, then come back andcheck in. On route we came across a Subway with free wi fi so we decided to grab a bite to eat and check our emails.

It was well after 2pm when we left Subway and headed off to find the apartment again. Little did we know we had walked by the street we were looking for. The street had some type of park in front with n no name insight so we had just thought it was a park. .



After walking about 6 or more blocks we could not understand how we had missed it, Teresa checked at a hotel (while I looked after our bags) and thehotel girl looked the address up on the computer, said we had gone well past it, so back we went. Still unable to find the street we check again with a local in a street cafe and he pulled out his phone with a GPS and told us still back. After going back we were still unable to see the street name so deciding to go down a side street, where a local with a small child told us it was just down the road but we must turn left then right into the street. On arrival at the address given we rang the apartments door button several times, but, no answer, we checked with a few locals as they walked past and they said we have the correct address.



We also rang a few other apartments, none could speak any English and one man even slammed his hand set down when we spoke. It looked like we had done our money as we had paid for the night in advance. It was now 3.40 PM so we thought we better start looking for another place to stay. As we had been walking around I had noted other accommodation hotels and hostels so we went off with our bags still in tow looking.  At one place I rang the bell and a male voice told us he was full, so I asked how much a double room would be if he had one he said euro 60 for a night. Now I knew what we should be paying when we could find one.

As luck would have it we found a internet cafe in the very next street, so we got on Skype to ring the apartment we had booked, We made three attempts, but, just got a message in Spanish which we could not understand. We had the cafe owner come over and listen, he just said that no one was home. I tried one more time and just as I was taking the head set off I heard a male voice Teresa took the head set and talked to the male, who was mistified to who we were but, said come on back. Back at the apartment the couple who own the apartment had got us mixed up with people who were arriving the next day and checking in at 5pm. Phew, it was all sorted and what a nice young couple they were, he was French and she Spanish, both spoke very limited English, but, they made sure we were right and made us most welcome.



We went out straight away to walk around the old city and check out the Massive Cathedral and other  points of interest. The place was jammed packed with locals and tourists were enjoying a Sunday out and the sunny weather. On the walk back through the city we decided to have a slab of Pizza each Teresa had her own as she likes it and I had my own, we both agreed they were yummy. The woman who prepared them for us made sure we gave an opinion of what we had eaten as we left. I just kissed my hand saying yummy and Teresa rattled some words in Italian, These actions delighted the woman who made sure her customers waiting knew we were both well fed and happy.



The young couple at our accommodation both left early in the morning for work leaving the apartment to us, they had given Teresa directions and a written address for a supermarket so we could top up with a few goodies for our next 15 days for the voyage on board the Mariner of the Seas. Back at the water front we caught a bus out to the ship. Boarding the ship took time, due to three security checks, but we were soon making ourselves at home in our new cabin, and then it was up top to check out the massive display of food available.



We were at home again at least for the next 15 days.