Barcelona and Transatlantic Cruise 2008 – Day 7 – Malaga, Spain
December 2, 2008
Today was our first port of call on our 2008 transatlantic cruise. The port was Malaga, Spain, the birthplace of famed painter Picasso. The ship docked about 7:00 am, but due to our late bedtime the night before, we didn’t rise from our slumber until about 11:00 am.
It was a bit cold and windy outside and the primary point of interest for us, a Moorish castle, was closed on Monday, our day of call. So, we decided to forego going ashore and spend the day on the boat instead.
We grabbed a quick lunch of hamburgers and fries and folks pretty much went their own way. Sean and Savannah spent most of the day in the Fun Factory playing video games and board games with the counselors. There are only six kids on the cruise and only one is near their age.
I spent some time walking around the ship and enjoying the scenic Spanish countryside. I also spent a bit of time online catching up on stuff I have been missing while gone thus far. Suzanne hooked up with some of her Cruise Critic friends and enjoyed an afternoon of gab. In the late afternoon, Sean and I enjoyed an hour or so of Table Tennis. So it was quite a nice, leisurely, enjoyable day for us.
Right before our dinner service, was family karaoke night. Normally on a cruise a lot of the kids and their parents get together for karaoke. Tonight, it was just Suzanne, Savannah and Sean singing.
I am going to sound like a broken record, but we enjoyed another fabulous dinner. It was Escargot night, so Suzanne and the kids enjoyed the foul 
appetizer. It’s one of the kid’s favorite dishes on the cruise. Sean also couldn’t resist another shrimp cocktail – he plans to have one each night.
For the main course, the kids and I had a young roasted chicken while Suzanne opted for the crab and crawfish stuffed flounder. The chicken was very delicious and quite good. Suzanne said the fish was very good but could have been a bit hotter. Our waiter seemed a bit overloaded last night and running behind.
Our sommelier was also hopping and at one point was seen caring about a dozen bottles of wine. However, we have learned the secret of ordering wine on a cruise to ensure you are not waiting for the wine into the dinner service. Towards the end of the dinner service we actually order our wine for the next night. Then, it’s already sitting at the table waiting for us when we arrive for dinner. The maitre de even brings us the next night’s menu to use in ordering wine for the next night. It’s a very effective system. We always get in good with the sommelier too and enjoy good wine chats with him.
After dinner, it was off to the first karaoke night. Of course, we had to attend. It was actually quite a fun night. Suzanne sat off with her Cruise Critic friends and the kids and I sat at a perfect table front and center. There were a couple of good singers and the few just having fun. Suzanne sang three songs: Girl in 14G, I Dreamed a Dream and Memory. She received many cheers and congratulations from the well attended event. I think they have one or two more karaoke sessions and then the Celebrity Idol competition Starring You. During the karaoke sessions folks in attendance can vote for singers to be included in the competition. Suzanne is hoping to get chosen. Last cruise, she finished second due to a poor song choice (Bohemian Rhapsody) for the crowd.
After the karaoke competition, which finished up about 12:30 am, we somehow hooked up again with our new found English friends Roy and Jenny and moved to the Champagne Bar for a night cap. A couple of the professional entertainers and the cruise director were there again and a night cap turned into several. We finally headed up to bed at about 2:30 AM. The kids were with us the whole time and loved staying up late with the adults. They have been very well behaved. Roy has really enjoyed talking history with Sean too.
With tomorrow another sea day, we will likely be sleeping in late again.
Barcelona and Transatlantic Cruise 2008 – Day 5 – Leaving Barcelona
November 30, 2008
Today we boarded the Celebrity Summit to begin our 15 day transatlantic cruise. The cruise will take us to Spain, Portugal, the Canary Islands, across the Atlantic, St Martaan before concluding in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
We boarded the ship around noon with a slight rainfall occurring. Getting to the ship was a minor adventure. We cleaned up the apartment a bit in the morning, packed our bags and called for a minivan taxi since we had half the clothes we owned with us. We had to wait for about 30 minutes for the taxi to find us to get us to the airport. Its always a bit interesting standing on a foreign street corner with 8 bags of luggage in the rain waiting for a taxi.
Once we got the ship terminal, boarding was quick and painless like always with Celebrity. We waited for one person ahead of us and quickly completed our paperwork and were soon walking the gangway onto the ship. It was truly wonderful to be back aboard a cruise ship since it had been 18 months since our last cruise last June to Alaska.
Since they asked us to not go to our rooms until 1:00, we grabbed a quick lunch. A couple of slices of pizza tasted really good. Afterwards, we proceeded to our cabin which was presented in perfect condition. We are staying in a family ocean veranda cabin on the back of the boat. It was a bit different as when we opened our cabin door we had about a 20 foot hallway to the real cabin door. The hall way is making a great spot to store our empty luggage.
The cabin is a bit bigger than a standard cabin since it’s on the back of the boat and a “family†cabin. We have plenty of room and plenty of closet space. Actually, we have two rooms with a sliding divider between them. The room is capable of sleeping 5.
Suzanne unpacked the suitcases, as they had arrived within about an hour after reaching our room, while I checked out the Wi-Fi situation. Its pretty good signal and decent speed, but unfortunately not free. Luckily, I can do most of my prep work and email reading offline on the laptop and just jump online to complete things.
Suzanne and the kids took their traditional walk around the ship with camera and video camera though they had to cut it short due to battery issues. They will have to complete it later.
Of course, we had the obligatory life boat drill. It was a bit cold in Spain yesterday so most folks were bundled up a bit, but most managed to smile throughout the “eventâ€. As usual, there were the occasional folks who just grumbled about having to participate. I don’t get that as it’s a mere 30 minutes before the cruise really starts. Yes, it’s kind of pointless, but we use it as an opportunity to meet and greet some folks and have a few laughs about the wonderful look of everyone in their life jackets.
The ship was planned to set sail at 7:00 pm, but during the life boat drill they announced we wouldn’t be leaving until about 8:30 since there were folks who were flying in that were having delayed flights. We are doing late seating dinner on this cruise which means dinner at 8:30 so we would have a nice dinner as we departed Barcelona.
Prior to dinner, the kids made a stop in at the Kids Club for some video gaming time while Suzanne and I attended the Welcome Aboard show in the theater. Being a transatlantic cruise during the school season, we knew that there would not be many kids on this cruise. In fact, it turns out that there are only 6 kids on the cruise and 3 of them are 4 or younger. There is one other 10 year old boy about our kids’ age. Our kids aren’t phased a bit as they know how to amuse themselves quite fine and actually enjoy some of the adult activities. They still plan to utilize the Kids Club facilities and the counselors there.
Dinner was as usual quite stunning and delicious. Some folks on internet sites have complained lately about the general decline in the quality of food aboard cruise ships. In my experience, cruising once a year, I just haven’t seen it. I don’t know if they are expecting more with rising costs and tougher times or just need something to complain about. The food, to me, is still outstanding, at least aboard Celebrity since that is our cruise line of choice.
Both kids chose the Spaghetti Carbonarra as their main entrée. Suzanne enjoyed the Chicken Saltimbocca while I devoured some Veal Piccatta Milanese. However, being a true aficionado of Carbonnara, and having spent many a days searching for the best in Rome, I had to have some of it too. I bypassed the appetizer and salad courses and asked for a small portion of the Carbonarra instead. They don’t really know how to do smaller portions and I received a full portion instead. Not surprisingly, I didn’t leave a scrap of it behind. Being the first night, Sean sampled all courses (appetizer, soup, salad and entrée). The kids and I closed the meal with a crème brule, while Suzanne had here traditional mixed berries desert.
The kids did just fine with late seating and had no issues with the lateness. Suzanne and I have always enjoyed the late seating but for the kids first three cruises we had moved to early seating for their benefit. We decided to try late seating this time and assuming it contains like the first night, will probably do so for future cruises.
After dinner, we went to the Revelations Lounge to sample the ship’s party band. They were quite good with a female lead singer with an astonishing voice. We will surely enjoy them many more times on the cruise. At one point, they played La Bamba and Suzanne was obligated to get out on the floor all by herself and do her Mexico folkloric dance to the music. Shy, she is not.
We returned to the cabin just past midnight to call it a night and get some sleep for our day at sea tomorrow.
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