This was our sixth cruise. It was our first on Royal Caribbean and our first to Europe. We had a great time and had some good weather and some bad weather.
This ship was the Vision of the Seas. It was refreshing being on the RCI ship instead of the Carnival ship we had just been on. I like the use of glass, brass, and light wood a lot more than neon and dark shades of wood. Our cabin was an outside cabin with a balcony. We have been addicted to balconies since our second cruise. The room was nice but that had to be the smallest shower I had ever seen. The food was good. They had a pasta every night just like Princess. I just wish they had free drinks other than water and coffee available at all times. The ship did not have the magic spigots that spit out water, lemonade, orange juice, or tea on demand. The only time they were available were during the buffet times.
We booked our air through RCI but paid $50.00 extra per person to request Delta as our airline. We wanted the frequent flier miles. The air arrangements were fine. We traveled from Atlanta to New York and then on to Barcelona. One the way back we had a direct flight from London to Atlanta.
We spent one pre-cruise night in Barcelona at Le Meridian. The hotel was nice. It was right in the middle of the tourist area and it was a short walk in either direction to see something. We though one day pre-cruise would be enough but you really need at least two days. We were so tired during the cruise because our bodies did not have time to get used to the time change. Because we were so tired in Barcelona we did not get to see much of the city.
Our first port of call was Gibraltar. The weather was good temperature wise but it was overcast and you could not see Africa from the top. The apes were interesting and actually bite someone on our tour. He had a small bloody spot on his arm and was given a Band-Aid. The tunnels through the rock were a lot like the tunnels through Hoover Dam. You would come to an opening and it would be right in the middle of the rock.
Our second port of call was Lisbon, Portugal. We decided to go to the worlds fair and were a little disappointed. We knew we would not have a lot of time but I would have thought the fair would have been more impressive. We made it to three of the main attractions but they were all just movies about pollution and how the world was just going to get worse. We wish we had done the city/country side tour because everyone mentioned that one as the best. The weather was perfect though.
Our third port of call was La Coruna, Spain. Here we did a city/countryside tour and had a good time. The weather started out rainy, turned sunny, and ended up overcast. Again we were only in port for a short period of time. You could only do one thing. All the shops, stores, churches, everything closed around 1:00pm and stayed closed until 5:00pm or so. The ship was in port from 11:00am until 5:30pm. It was definitely not the Caribbean where the shops stayed open to get every possible dollar from every possible tourist.
Our final port of call was Cherbourg, France. Here we did the Landing Beaches of Normandy along with the rest of the ship. They should have parked the ship off the cost and landed the tourist. All the French people we met were very nice, the opposite of what you here. The tour was very interesting but the weather was bad. It was cold, overcast, and sometimes rainy. It made it difficult to really appreciate some of the sites.
Our final experience in Europe was a Gatwick in the U.K. I have never been asked for my passport that many times. They also asked you directly have you packed a bomb or weapon or anything that could be used as a bomb or weapon. How many people say yes but I am not planning on bombing this flight I just want to transport the bomb to the U.S.? The airport definitely took security more seriously than Hartsfield in Atlanta.
All in all we had a great trip and would be willing to do Europe and RCI again.