We spent the morning exploring more of the streets in our neighbourhood before packing up & catching a taxi to the Cruise Terminal at the Port.

We are doing a 10 day cruise from Barcelona to Venice. We are cruising on the Regal Princess on her maiden voyage. She left Venice last week. Everything is very shiny & new. The check in process is very smooth and we were on board in our rooms within an hour of leaving our apartment in Barcelona. These cruise ships are like mini cities with a number of restaurants, theatres, movie theatres, a running track, putting green, gelato, sushi, cafés, bars, swimming & spa pools, basketball court, big outdoor screen, shops, art galleries and the like.

It is quite amazing and I am not sure if I like it or not yet. It is very comfortable and is definitely an easy way to travel but it all seems a bit unreal – all this glitz and glamour – it reminds me of Las Vegas actually.

We had to have a safety drill before we set sail to learn the do’s and dont’s in case of an emergency. We got to put on the life jackets which are much sturdier than your normal life jackets. They then had a Barcelona sail away celebration – music and dancing on the pool deck as we pulled out of Barcelona in the evening sun. We had a bit of dinner, explored more of the boat and then stopped off at Crooners Bar to listen to this amazing piano player called Tom Franek – he was very cool and very entertaining.

It is just non stop activity & entertainment!