theDIBB - DCL WBTA 2016 Trip Report - from Barca to NY with love

It's been 2 weeks since I was kicked of my ship so it's time to share the highlights of the trip.

This trip was just me and Mr D, celebrating our 20 year wedding anniversary and 25 years together, our first holiday together in 18 years 💗

It won't be a huge trippie, don't have the time, the writing skills or wit I'm afraid ;)

Our journey

We set off for Barcelona on the Friday, bought flights through RBS so got ourselves 2 complimentary VIP lounge tickets which were useful for a pre-flight bacon butty and glass of wine. Flights were with Monarch and everything went to plan. We booked a taxi through Suntransfers and they were brilliant, €36. We booked our usual hotel, Novotel Barcelona City, it was our 3rd stay there and we had a nice upgraded room with a view of the port giving us a little glimpse of the Magic the following morning :thumbs-up

Barcelona

We love Barcelona, been lucky to explore the city on three visits and we still managed to fill our day! This trip we booked tickets for the Sagrada Familia which is just breathtaking. We explored Las Ramblas and had tapas in a pretty little square listening to a guitarist, just blissful.

My tip for Barcelona is to go with the flow, explore the city and eat where the locals eat.

The Disney Magic

We had an early PAT but we wanted to Facetime our daughter before heading to the ship so we had a leisurely morning at the hotel making the most of their wifi. As it was just the 2 of us this trip there was no rush for anything, we just did what we wanted, when we wanted something that we're not used to and enjoyed a great deal. Taxi to the port was €20 and he managed to avoid the congestion caused by an earlier crash in the city!

We bumped into some familiar faces at the port, we had lots of fun with this lot over the cruise!

Check in process at the port was great, we soon realised we had passed through the scanners prior to the shop so filled up on extra booze before getting onboard, wahoo! :thumbs-up

Our room was lovely as always and the ship looked stunning.

Ports

There were only 3 ports on this itinerary, nicely spaced with 3 days at sea between Barca and Ponte Delgado and another 3 days at sea before we reached Canada. I found this to be a perfect amount of time at sea.

Ponte Delgado was nice and sunny despite the shower before heading back to the ship. We did the whale and dolphin watching tour and were thrilled to see a group pf common and bottlenose dolphins and a group of 5 female sperm whales. It was a DCL tour and would highly recomend it. Tip: buy the local beer Sagres, cheap as chips and lovely. Their pineapple liquor is delicious too!

Sydney was teeny tiny, great pubs hence a pub crawl in this port :drinkbeer:beer2:

Halifax was a great port for sightseeing and shopping. We took the DCL tour to Peggy's Cove and the Titanic graveyard. Peggy's Cove is simply stunning, I would like to go back there some day. Our kilt wearing guide was very entertaining :omg:

NYC, what can I say! Sailing into Manhattan in the early morning hours is a memory that will give me goosebumps for ever, simply breathtaking. We sailed past the Statue of Liberty, I still pinch myself. The city was lit up like a christmas tree, so pretty.

The weather

The weather in the med was lovely, it took a turn as we left Ponte Delgado, in fact I think we had grey sky for the remainder of the crossing! The weather in Halifax brightens but still had a nip in the air, jeans and layers were called for lets just put it that way.

This weather suits me, I'm not a sunbather, gave me more time to explore the ship. If you like your cruises hot and smooth sailing this itinerary would probably not be a great choice for you!

I did have some sea sickness early on but grabbed some tablets from the first aid room and took one every 12 hours for the ramainder of the trip, simple!

The last sea day gave us quite a wave show, splashing up and filling the windows in Keys! Didn't put us off our open bar so could'nt have been that bad lol :blush:

The Food

Well my clothes are all tight so it must have been good! We used room service 3 times this cruise and also used the breakfast room ordering system too a few times, great for coffee in your room while you get ready. Don't forget to tip!

We were lucky to have our dining request approved so we sat with fellow past cruisers and Dibbers, there were 12 of us, dining was always fun :thumbs-up

The drink

Anyone that knows me will know I don't touch the stuff but here are a few tips!

Buy and take onboard - we bought beer and wine from the Carrefour in Barcelona and then again in Ponte Delgado (soooo cheap). We found this perfect for having a drink in our room, sat on the balcony :cool2:

Open Bar - this was organisied by Joa for the last sea day and oh my this was so much fun and a great way to celebrate the end of a great holiday! $18.50 and 'I think' I managed 5 cocktails and a gin n tonic!

I took part in a wine tasting and obviously 'my' Mixology session, always like taking part in these, you meet new people and learn more fabulous drinks, it's a no brainer :omg:inks

Activities

I usually get home from a cruise and have regrets that I missed stuff and didn't do everything I wanted but this cruise I managed to do everything except the spa (next time)

Disembarkation

Smooth, no issues other than a long queue at the taxi rank which is across the road from the port!

NYC

We had a 3 nights in NYC, booked the Intercontinental, The Barclay which was the swankiest hotel we have ever stayed in, recently refurbished and a couple of minutes walk to the main areas, a subway on the same street too.

We planned a lot into the visit; Satue of Liberty, Ground Zero, Ellis Island, Baseball game at the Yankee Stadium, Central Park, Natural History Museum, The Brooklyn Bridge (we left a padlock), shopping and the visits to the usual Times Square etc etc

We ate in some amazing local bars, diners and restaurants, we really were spoilt even after 11 nights on a Disney cruise!

Tip; prepare for the cost of New York, it is not cheap, we knew what to expect but it can be a shock if your not prepared!

Flight Home

We jumped into a taxi at the hotel $70 plus tip :thumbs-up We were flying home with Thomas Cook, premium economy, which was lovely and a very smooth no hiccups flight. I think they need to sort the check in prcess out at JFK though (chaos).

Well that's my whistle stop tour of the cruise, it really was magical, we met some wonderful friends old and new and have many memories to cherish for ever.

Until the next one...