Highlights-Barcelona (cruise embarkation)
I walked 4.5 km to the cruise ship from the apartment in El Raval (just a stretch of the legs). I checked in by noon, and my room was cleaned up from the just-finished cruise by 1pm. I spent the afternoon touring the ship. The movies available in the room included The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I watched through the Time Warp scene (It’s just a jump to the left …).
Cruise Map
Barcelona to Venice
Cruise Ports
Twelve Day Duration
Notable Items
This was a relocation day, from the apartment in El Raval to the Viking Mars at the cruise ship terminal. I tried to learn the route, but I couldn’t easily find it with standard web searching like “Where is the cruise ship terminal in Barcelona?” I called the Viking help line, and they told me “Take a taxi from your hotel.” This wasn’t helpful, but it was easier for them to give me this standard answer that they probably give 95% of their passengers. I didn’t consider 4.5km with rolling luggage that far.
I found the address of the terminal building online (harder than I expected), entered it in my navigation app, and started walking. It took an hour and ten minutes, longer than normal because I was pulling my bag. There were places on the way that made me think, “They don’t expect anyone to walk this route,” like the tall, curved bridge where the wind was blowing so hard I had to remove my hat!
The cruise terminal was like an airport passenger terminal. There was a security scanning area (failed the first pass for not removing enough stuff from my pockets), a large waiting area with many seats (it was empty), ten check-in counters (I was the only person checking in), and a duty-free store (I stayed away from the hand cream). I don't understand why I didn’t see any other passengers.
After walking aboard, the first requirement was to receive a safety introduction. I was the only person being briefed. It covered abandon ship procedures, a demonstration of life vest donning (only available when you muster), and my lifeboat location. I had to watch a safety video on the TV in my stateroom that covered the same material.
After leaving my bag in the room, I toured the decks. My stateroom was on the 5th deck, aft, starboard. I walked all over, several times, to get a general idea of the arrangement of the ship. Deck layout maps were not as plentiful as on a CVN. It wasn’t easy on the stateroom decks to know if you are on the port or starboard side or forward or aft.
I took the Viking shuttle bus to the drop-off point and walked to meet a friend for coffee. After the bus left the cruise terminal, a woman walked up to the driver and asked him something. I heard him say that he didn’t speak. She tried to show him a text while he was driving. He had to repeat, in English, that he didn’t speak English (at least he knew that phrase). I thought, “Great. This is where we hit the jeep with the birds and the bus gets totaled!” At least we weren’t in the jungle.
Back on the ship after coffee, I had a visit from the housekeeping manager for the 5th deck. He briefed me on the room (don’t tamper with the smoke detector), the amenities (in case I wanted an espresso at 3am, not likely), and conveniences like 24-hour room service (great, more opportunities to eat). He didn’t mention the heated floor in the bathroom. I picked up on that fast.
I had supper in the sit-down, table service Italian restaurant. I noticed that the staff used smartphone-like communicators constantly. I think they could access guest information as well as make calls with them. There were various choices on the menu (everything looked good). The portions were mercifully small. I took many notes at my table with my paper notebook, so I didn’t have to pull out my phone and stare at the screen. I was nattily dressed in my new wool blazer.
After supper, I went to the atrium (forward of the restaurants, but not all the way forward). There is an opening with a staircase that spans the lower three decks. On the decks around the outside of the opening, there were tables, lounge chairs and sofas, a small library, a TV area, and gaming tables. If you sit down, there will be a waiter next to you in ten seconds. Yes, and a bar too, easily identified by the loud laughing.
There was a woman in an evening gown (I felt underdressed) playing the grand piano. I could have listened all night, but I returned to my room to retrieve my laptop. I met the man who does the real work in staterooms. I was surprised he was back in my room again. It was “just a touch up” he assured me.
I took the laptop back to the atrium. There was a new piano player (he wasn’t wearing an evening gown) accompanied by a violinist. I considered asking them if they could play Smoke on the Water, but that probably wasn’t appropriate for a cruise ship.
I noticed that the webbing between my fingers was getting chapped from handwashing even before the cruise began. I had been doing extended handwashing since my stay in Soho to get ready. Maybe that wasn’t such a good idea.
My Notable Items during the cruise will not include long descriptions of ship services and amenities. The Viking website does an excellent job of that, including videos, virtual reality, and 360 views of staterooms and common areas. I also won’t be comparing the cruise to other forms of travel or hotels. What I will point out is things like the bird sounds background music in the public restrooms. I prefer the Rolling Stones.