June 10, 2019
This morning, we prepared ourselves to check out of the hotel. We made sure we were all packed up and ready to go, then went down for a light breakfast. Mine was exactly the same as the day before...and I am NOT complaining. After breakfast, we checked out of the room, and placed our bags in the baggage room at the hotel, and set off for our last couple of hours in Barcelona. So, we headed to the top of the Rambla once again. On Saturday, we found a souvenir that we wanted to buy, so we found the shop, and made the purchase. It is a caballero and his girl riding a horse. Sherry Ann wanted to get another flower-sculpted gelato on the Rambla, so we stopped by and it was closed...at 11:30! We strolled down the road hoping it would open before we had to go back for our bags. We saw a lot of shops. We even stopped by a church that was on the Rambla. It was really big inside and very ornately decorated. Sherry Ann couldn’t believe how many different sections there were and things to worship. It was all so grand, but you could still feel the reverence that the people have for Jesus Christ. It was very peaceful in there.
At noon, the gelateria opened, and we just had to have another gelato before getting back on the metro to gather our bags from the hotel and head to the cruise ship. I already knew that I loved gelato, but Sherry Ann has discovered her love for the stuff. It’s amazing how the flavors just burst! Unfortunately, it was time to head back to the hotel and head to the cruise ship. We decided that we really enjoyed our time in Barcelona, España, and I would love to come back one day.
To get to the port, we had to go to the bottom of the Rambla one again, to the monument to Christopher Columbus, cross the street and behind the taxi building to board the port shuttle. It cost us €3 each, but at least we didn’t have to pull the luggage for a mile or more. One of Sherry Ann’s wheels sustained some damage on the way to Barcelona, making it a bit more difficult to pull. Boarding the Celebrity Infinity did not take as long to board as we had read about. That could be because we arrived early, though. We both had to go through the metal detector twice. Sherry Ann forgot her phone in her pocket, and I forgot that I had spare batteries for the camera in mine.
The ship is huge! There are 11 levels for passengers. Even more below for the crew. We walked around the pool and relaxed a bit on the deck, looking out at Barcelona, and explored other parts of the ship. We made our reservation for dinner, and went to the mandatory safety muster (gathering) at 16:30. After the meeting, we went up to deck 11 on the port side, and waited for the ship to leave the port, at exactly 17:00, the ship whistle (okay it sounded more like a fog horn) sounded, and we pushed off from the dock. It took a while, we were finally at sea! While watching, we decided to upgrade or drink package to the premium non-alcohol. That means we can enjoy not only the water, but other non-alcohol drinks throughout the cruise. We had dinner at the Trellis Restaurant (the main dining hall) at 17:30, so we went down to deck 4.
We were at a table with 6 other people; a newlywed couple from the Toronto Canada area, a couple from South Korea, and a pair of long-time friends from Pennsylvania. It was nice getting to know them a little bit. We were seated at the back of the dining room, right next to the huge windows looking off the the rear of the ship. We could see Barcelona fade in the distance. After a bit of time, however, we were noticing that the ship was making quite a big turn to the starboard (right). In fact, it almost looked like we were making a complete U-turn. That was odd. After our salads, Sherry Ann had some roasted chicken, and I enjoyed prime rib for dinner. Dessert we had creme brûlée and dulce de leche. We also enjoyed a pomegranate mojito...non alcohol, of course. An announcement came over the system indicating that one of the guests had a medical emergency, so we had turned around toward Barcelona and were awaiting a rescue vessel to take the individual back to port for medical treatment. Wow, didn’t see that one coming.
After dinner, we went up on deck and walked around. The wind had picked up and it got pretty chilly. This is why we brought jackets. But instead of getting them, we got on our bathing suits, and headed to the indoor spa. It was nice to relax after a long day. On the way back to our stateroom, we stopped by the bar and ordered a couple of drinks to take back to our room. Sherry Ann got a piña colada, and I had a strawberry daiquiri. We took them back to the room and cleaned up after a long day.
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