Our first Transatlantic… Boston to Barcelona to Miami updated 2/19/2016 About This Page:

[shadowryter]

Hello everyone. We have been back since October 1st but it’s taken this long to accept reality as life goes on here at home. We had a wonderful two weeks but I can’t say that things went as smoothly as I had hoped. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

First a small introduction:

Daniel…my dear hubs worked so hard during the year to make this vacation happen. He’s a huge fan of cruising Disney and I can tell you this by the fact that this was our 2nd year in a row without a visit to the “World”. This was Disney cruise number 7 and I’m pretty sure his goal is Platinum.

Linda (me)…Also a fan of Disney cruises, I have been on no other lines so I can’t compare. I have the fun of making all the plans while dear Dan looks on and nods his approval. Between you and me I really don’t mind at all.

A little visual...Last years formal photo


As the title says this was our first Transatlantic. First time ever leaving from a port outside of the country. First ever flight to Europe. First time in a foreign country. Many firsts here. I did a lot of research and with some help from my dear friend Kris I managed to book flights, hotels, tours and even a restaurant. Dan and I met Kris and her husband Larry on our 2013 Eastern Caribbean Fantasy cruise. We had such a great time that it was only a matter of time before we planned on cruising together again. So I wasn’t alone in the planning but I have learned a lot.

On the afternoon of our 6:30 pm town car pickup on September 16th, I had to bring my mom to the nursing home that she would call home for the next two weeks. I had her packed and ready to go and we arrived a little after 2 pm. When we entered she was immediately surrounded by the nurses and aides that knew her from her previous stays. Some even requested her on their schedules which I thought was really nice of them. After 45 minutes or so she was settled, papers were signed and we said goodbye.

On the way back we stopped at Papa Geno’s for lobster rolls as I knew when we returned they would be a thing of the past until next summer. We were packed and ready to go and spent our last few moments playing with our ferret babies and Muffy our cat. I knew that Muffy would give us the, you left me attitude when we returned but I wasn’t sure our little fuzz babies would even remember us after two weeks. So needless to say as much as I was excited for our trip to begin I was already missing our babies especially the three little bears.

Two little ones sleep while the third looks on

We put them all to bed with hugs and kisses and that’s when Dan went to get his shoes. They went missing. It would seem that our ferret babies had other things in mind. Ferrets love to hide things and Dan’s new sneakers were a perfect temptation. Around 20 minutes before our ride was to arrive the search ended, finally finding them under the bed in different areas. Crisis averted. Lol.
The beginning of a hidey hole under our bed …pardon my dust

Our driver was on time right to the minute and before I knew it we were on the road and headed for Logan Airport. Our British Airways flight wasn’t until 10:30 pm. This was different for us because we usually couldn’t really sleep before an early 4:30 or 5 am pickup. We tried to sleep in finally getting up around 9am but our flight was 6 ½ hours and this would also be our first experience with jet lag.

We easily checked our bags and went through security. Now we only had a little less than three hours before our flight. We decided to grab a bite at Earl or Sandwich. I got in line and made our order also grabbing a couple bottles of Coke Zero. Dan found a table for us and I laid out our late dinner. I opened my Coke and bam…spray everywhere. All over me and my nice clean top. To make matters worse when I leaned into my sandwich I didn’t realize the paper had some mayonnaise on it so I got that on myself also. What else was going to happen?
A little Disney Fix…Lol

Jerk Chicken sandwich…not bad

I wish I could say those three hours whizzed by but it was nothing even close. Finally our flight was called and we wearily boarded. Now we only checked one large suitcase and had two carry-ons and one backpack. Dan managed to get one bag in the overheard bin but the second was a no go. These bins were so tiny not at all like Southwest. The flight attendant was very nice and found a place for my bag in another section of the plane. I admit I was a little nervous as I had my DSLR and other things that I just didn’t want to check.

This was called a sleep flight and on our seats were a pillow, blanket and headphones along with a disposable toothbrush and a teeny tube of toothpaste. In the headrest in front of us was a lovely TV screen with all kinds of wonderful movies to watch. Dan picked something right away but alas my headphones were broken so I had to grab someone who finally remembered I needed new ones. By this time Dan was halfway through his first movie. My luck.

I finally settled back and tried to watch Pitch Perfect 2, the optimal word here was tried. The row in front of us seated 2 small children and a dad. The smallest one was literally in a car seat strapped to the wall in front of him. They had all the legroom possible. The kids were quiet but the dad? OMG…the dad. He was up and down and when he was seated he was rocking forward and back. Which meant I was trying to see a movie that was bouncing like crazy before my eyes. I was so glad when we received a drink and a snack but the dad kept on rockin! I lowered my tray to enjoy my soda and snack, imagine my surprise when the thing would not lay flat. No matter how I tried it remained in a semi upright position which meant I had to hold on to anything that sat on my tray. I was beginning to sense a pattern here.

With my snack a faded memory and PP2 coming to an end I realized that dinner was being served. Dan had some sort of pasta that he said was really good while I had the chicken with an Asian flair that was also quite tasty. This was served with a little salad, a roll with butter, a glass of wine, some crackers and cheese and a very yummy dessert. We were both quite full and I frustrated to return to my bouncing movie screen. I was on movie number two Disney’s live action Cinderella while Dan was on number 3. All during these past 3 hours or so I kept seeing the same lady going back and forth. I must have seen her at least a dozen times by now. When the movie ended I chose to get some sleep. Dad was still jumping all over the place but I was too tired to really care. Just as my eyelids got heavy and I snuggled against Dan’s shoulder I was awakened by a very loud thud!

Next…Open your eyes Martin…Stay with us Martin!!!! Are you kidding me?

[disny_luvr]

Hi, Linda. It's Louise from the 2013 Fantasy sailing. I'm so happy I stumbled onto your trip report. I read some about the problems you encountered on FB and I can't wait to hear all the details. I don't know that I'll post much but I'll be reading along. We are getting ready to sail the Fantasy the week after Thanksgiving again and we can't wait. We are sailing again with some of the same people from the 2013 sailing.

Your flight seemed eventful. You probably couldn't wait to arrive at your destination.

[chezp]

Great start!

Yep, the luggage bins are a heck of a lot smaller on European carriers than American ones. We always love spotting the Americans in Europe, as you can tell by the size of their carry-on luggage. Quite often we stand there and say to each other "that's going in the hold" and sure enough it does, as the sizes are different and that's one of the reasons - we just don't have the space in our luggage bins than American airlines do. I hope your carry-on was Ok...

I'm also concerned about the title of your next instalment - that doesn't sound good!

[lauriep]

What a cliffhanger! Quite an experience so far for your first venture outside the US.

[cubfancolleen]

Oh my - with 2 little kids in front of you, I would have thought they'd cause the problem, not the DAD!
I think I may have gotten motion sick with a bouncing tv screen like that.
Hoping you eventually get some sleep, as otherwise you are going to be TIRED when you arrive!

[pamcarey]

Oh my, sounds like you didn't have the most relaxing flight!

[MayraLR]

Great start!

[WishIwasinDisney]

Oh no, you can't stop there! I need more.....

[belle0517]

Great start!

[OhToodles!]

Oh my! I'm interested to hear what happens next.

[Pris]

Oh, my, what an annoying flight for you. I hope the rest of the trip improves, but your next installment sounds a bit unnerving.

[mpwife153]

What a rough start to your trip. Keeping my fingers crossed this isn't a pattern for you guys during the rest of the trip.

[shadowryter]

Originally Posted by disny_luvr

Hi, Linda. It's Louise from the 2013 Fantasy sailing. I'm so happy I stumbled onto your trip report. I read some about the problems you encountered on FB and I can't wait to hear all the details. I don't know that I'll post much but I'll be reading along. We are getting ready to sail the Fantasy the week after Thanksgiving again and we can't wait. We are sailing again with some of the same people from the 2013 sailing.

Your flight seemed eventful. You probably couldn't wait to arrive at your destination.

Hi Louise. Thanks for reading. Your cruise is coming up really fast. You must be so excited. There;s a wonderful bunch of people from our 2013 cruise. You'll have a blast!

Originally Posted by chezp

Great start!

Yep, the luggage bins are a heck of a lot smaller on European carriers than American ones. We always love spotting the Americans in Europe, as you can tell by the size of their carry-on luggage. Quite often we stand there and say to each other "that's going in the hold" and sure enough it does, as the sizes are different and that's one of the reasons - we just don't have the space in our luggage bins than American airlines do. I hope your carry-on was Ok...

I'm also concerned about the title of your next instalment - that doesn't sound good!

Honestly after we got bagged. Lol...we started to watch others. There were many. I'll have to re-think sizes if we should fly out of the country again.

Originally Posted by lauriep

What a cliffhanger! Quite an experience so far for your first venture outside the US.

I so wanted to say something but I behaved unlike the dad!

Originally Posted by cubfancolleen

Oh my - with 2 little kids in front of you, I would have thought they'd cause the problem, not the DAD!
I think I may have gotten motion sick with a bouncing tv screen like that.
Hoping you eventually get some sleep, as otherwise you are going to be TIRED when you arrive!

It's hard enough to sleep on a flight like this but when you have all the commotion in front of you it's darn right impossible.

Originally Posted by pamcarey

Oh my, sounds like you didn't have the most relaxing flight!

Unfortunately...no!

Originally Posted by MayraLR

Great start!

Originally Posted by WishIwasinDisney

Oh no, you can't stop there! I need more.....

I know...

Originally Posted by belle0517

Great start!

Originally Posted by OhToodles!

Oh my! I'm interested to hear what happens next.

Oh you will.

Originally Posted by Pris

Oh, my, what an annoying flight for you. I hope the rest of the trip improves, but your next installment sounds a bit unnerving.

It could have been worse!

Originally Posted by mpwife153

What a rough start to your trip. Keeping my fingers crossed this isn't a pattern for you guys during the rest of the trip.

Time will tell!

[shadowryter]

Hope everyone had a frightfully fun and safe Halloween. Ours was quieter than usual with only 67 trick o treaters at our door. There are usually 120 to 140 or so.

We've started off November in our drama zone. My DD Heather is home sick with a stomach bug so she's off from work tonight and mom is at Umass Medical Center. She was taken by ambulance around 9:30 this morning and is still in Emergency waiting for a bed. She's better off there with her breathing issues. Hopefully they will find an answer. So I'm all alone in a a very quiet house and thought what a perfect time for my next installment. Here we go.

Ok is Martin alright???

Somewhere during my broken sleep I heard a loud thud. The restroom was just in front of the section where dad and his kids sat. Off to our right the commotion began. A man, Martin came out of the restroom and dropped to the floor hard right in front of the people to the right of the first row of seats. Everyone was looking as two fights attendants were by his side on the floor calling his name which he wasn’t responding to at all. My first thought was, “Great. Now we’re going to have to land somewhere.” The flight attendants kept calling his name over and over. “Can you hear me Martin? Open your eyes Martin. Another flight attendant approached with a defibrillator and other with oxygen. Again they called his name and finally he woke up. “Are you alright Martin? Followed by a bit silence. “Oh…you’ve had too much to drink.” To which the inebriated gentleman was escorted back to his seat where we didn’t hear from him again. (Sorry about that. I hate cliffhangers too!)

I woke up to the smell of coffee and breakfast being served. We were about an hour out but I didn’t feel like I caught a two hour nap. Dad was still bouncing and at this point I made Dan laugh when I raised my fist and pretended to slam it into the back of the headrest in front of me several times. .We were served a croissant, coffee and juice which was plenty though I knew I would be looking for my larger cup of eye opener as soon as we landed. The screen in front of us showed where we were and our speed and altitude. This being our first international flight I was fascinated to see familiar names from back home, Leicester, Worcester and even Rutland. I guess New England was a chip off the old block. Lol!

We landed and slowly got off the plane as I reclaimed my carry-on with a sigh of relief. I had done my research so I knew once off the plane we had to follow the purple signs to find the bus that would take us to Terminal 3. We still had to ask though. The bus ride was swift and smooth and we arrived in only a matter of minutes. This was my biggest worry in the beginning. British Airways claiming that this part could take a minimum of 90 minutes which is why I was relieved when our flight was rescheduled from a two hour wait to a four hour one. The less time was due to not having to claim our checked luggage so two hours would have been just fine.
Connecting flight coming up

We spent a little time in a touristy gift shop and more time trying to find a good cup of coffee that was never found. The coffee we did get from a disgruntled woman at the counter of Eat was terrible. Super strong, no cream and what the heck is beet sugar anyway? I needed about 8 of these for our one cup but it could have used more. Dan hated it but by the time we got to the bottom it wasn’t half bad. Lol! The time slowly ticked by for our connecting flight to Barcelona to arrive. Oddly enough we had to find our flight info on the wall with others but we were told that it wouldn’t even show up until around 30 minutes before boarding. Okay. Odd but Okay.
A little shopping detour

The goods

Where are we anyway?

We soon found out why as our flight popped up on the board and we made our way to our gate. We entered a smallish room and checked in. At this point I was told that both our carry ons were too large and would have to be checked. If you were traveling 1st class you could have one the size of a small child and it was alright but for us lowly economy flyers it was a no-no. When we boarded the plane I could see why. Our sleep flight was larger and not a full flight but this one was jam packed. Thank god it was going to be less than two hours to our final destination...Barcelona!

It seemed like we were barely off the ground when drink orders were taken and we were given some packaged crackers. As I settled into my seat and tried to get comfortable I prepared myself for my little treat and lowered my tray…which wouldn’t go down all the way. Are you kidding me? Not again. I showed Dan my dilemma and he kind of chuckled but helped me out by holding onto my drink. What is it with aisle seats at British Airways anyway? Only a few minutes later we were offered another drink and handed a premade package containing a ham and cheese slider and a currant sticky bun. I dislike mustard so the slider was out. Dan offered me his sticky bun but I was kind of full. One thing I can say about BA, they sure do like to feed you.

We landed in Barcelona about 15 minutes ahead of schedule. We easily found our luggage and then headed for customs. We got in line and waited through a cattle call reminiscent of certain theme parks. With all these people there were only two custom agents for US citizens though four for other than US. I sent a text to Kris because I knew her and her husband would be waiting for us. We were in line forever. When it was our turn we breezed through and had to find our taxi driver amidst so many taxi and limo drivers. After 20 minutes or so we found him. He put our luggage in the back of the van and we crawled into our seats somewhat tired and travel weary. Our ride was prepaid months ago and it was agreed that with the hectic streets of Las Ramblas that he would drop us off a block away. Instead he took us the scenic route pointing out places of interest on our way, the Olympic Stadium, Magic Fountain and statue of Christopher Columbus to name a few. Then before I knew it he pulled right up to the doorsteps of our hotel and carried the luggage inside. Talk about service.
Caught this shot at a traffic light...

I had sent a couple of messages to Kris so she would knew we were at least in the vicinity. We entered the lobby and were greeted by the very friendly staff. Interesting thing was that we had kind of met “Miguel” a new employee at Hotel Montecarlo via Facebook. We started to check in when Kris and Larry appeared from around the corner. It was so wonderful to meet up with old friends again.

Miguel took us up to our room while our luggage was being sent up. We had agreed that once the luggage was in the room that we would meet up with our friends and look for a place to grab a bite. Miguel showed us to our room and everything it had to offer from the double glass sound proof balcony slider, we were after all staying on the Las Ramblas, to our mini bar and Jacuzzi for two. I thought I was in heaven and after 32 hours with very little sleep that bed was already looking quite inviting. They claim their rooms are modest but I was quite impressed by them.

Staying on the Las Ramblas

Comfy beds

Jacuzzi

Outside view of Jacuzzi

Small entrance

Monogram Towels

Closet with safe

Sitting area

The view!

The architecture

Mural at end of staircase

There was a Hard Rock Café literally a block away so we decided we could eat there and I could shop promising our daughter a t-shirt from Barcelona and the HRC. So while we waited for our table we checked out the goods and after purchasing 3 shirts and a shot glass, let’s just say that we broke into our euros in style. Lol!

Our table was ready within minutes and we were led down a flight of stairs to a smallish dining room that was packed with diners. Though I do like the atmosphere of the Hard Rock it was nice to be here. We could actually hear each other talk. We made our orders, everyone choosing burgers and fries and a drink. Dan and I ordered the same thing but with different beverages while Kris and Larry opted to share a burger and get Cokes.
Hard Rock signage

Good old bbq bacon cheeseburger

Don’t remember what they were?

We skipped dessert at the Hard Rock to partake in some awesome gelato that Kris and Larry had found earlier. These little shops were all over Barcelona and yes their gelato was fantastic. After having our little treat we headed back to our hotel where of course I had to grab a couple of night shots before I would allow myself to call it an evening.
Hotel Montecarlo

Watching traffic for me so I can cross

More room shots
Toiletries

Bathroom

View at night

We said goodnight and returned to our room. That Jacuzzi looked so inviting but our internal clocks were a bit messed up so we decided to get some sleep. I admit as soon as my head hit my pillow I was out and Dan was gone before me. Lol!

Next…A day out in Barcelona… (So many photos)

[cubfancolleen]

The hotel looks great - perfect location! But I did laugh at the sitting area!

It is weird to Amercans when you're in some of the airports in Europe and Asia and your gate doesn't list until it's almost time to board. But I guess that saves from having gate changes like in the U.S.