Barcelona 3rd day - Embarkation

Last day in Barcelona.. After packing, we went and grabbed a sandwich and salad in the hotel restaurant, then went upstairs on the roof to take a few shots of the city. We then headed back to Meremagnum to do a little more shopping. Once it was time to check-in at the ship, we went back to retrieve our luggage and took a taxi to the terminal. As we pulled into the terminal, I had a chance to get a good first look at our ship. The Celebrity Millennium is a large ocean liner, 965 feet long, and displacing 91,000 tons. This ship is huge, and I was pretty impressed. This is my first real cruise, and the Celebrity staff helped make me feel at ease, starting with the check-in process. We were offered cookies before we stepped into the check-in queue (here in Europe, we wait in a “queue”, not a “line”.) The staff was knowledgeable, helpful, and answered all our questions. Once we were checked in, we proceeded up the escalator to the gangway. At check in, we were each given a little magnetic ID card, our “SeaPass”. It serves as our onboard identification, room key, and credit account all-in-one. As soon as we stepped on board and verified our SeaPass cards, we were greeted by a line of Celebrity hospitality staff. Free champagne was offered to those who drink. We were then personally shown to our stateroom by a staff member. We have a cozy little 170 square foot room which should do nicely for this trip. After settling in, we rode the elevator up to the Ocean Café on the Deck 10. This is the buffet dining room, and we sat down for what I suspect will be the first of many scrumptious meals aboard this cruise. Our table had a nice view of Barcelona’s Montejuic mountain, and it actually was situated above two portholes that looked down onto the lower deck and the sea below. Pretty cool. We went back to the stateroom to unpack, and met our stateroom attendant, Rolando. Upon learning that we were Filipino, Rolando became very helpful and offered us his assistance if we needed anything. After the obligatory safety and lifeboat evacuation drill, we headed to our assigned table in the main dining room. Since it was only the first evening, we were the only couple on our table. We became familiar with our wait staff, especially Diego, our waiter from Colombia. I had a tasty tomato bisque followed by spaghetti carbonara, and Jean had a salad with chicken. After dinner, we went to check out the casino. It was a neat little casino, complete with all sorts of table games and slot machines. We then watched the Celebrity Dancers put on their first performance of the cruise in the theater. Went back to the casino (lost $50), went up to the lounge for some dancing, got a few compliments from a few drunken revelers, then finally turned in at around 3:00 am. Whew! Not a bad way to start the cruise…

Our table had a nice view of Barcelona’s Montejuic mountain