The day started off nicely as Tina remembered to have some "Barcelona" rolls for us at breakfast. The Zuiderdam was scheduled to be docked and cleared by the local officials by 10am or earlier if possible. However due to the wind and sea conditions, we were not docked until closer to 11am. Captain Frank and his entourage of officers , including his wife Alexandra and Christel had a plaque ceremony on the Volendam with their entourage of the Captain and his officers. The Volendam was already docked by the time we arrived. While this ceremony was about to occur, both horns of the ships were sounded off. The day of the Meeting of the Two Ships was about to begin.
Then the flood of excursion groups left about an hour later than the times listed. Good thing we were here over night. Speaking of tours, one nice one was Monserrat Monastery for 4 hours and $90. Barcelona sights and flamenco show was 4 hours for $100. Barcelona by bike was 3 hours and $110, and Markets and Cuisine was 5 hours and $110. Gaudi's Barcelona was 4 hours for $110.
Complimentary shuttles were offered to the World Trade Center from 10:30am to evening time. There would be no ADA shuttles and for tomorrow, due to the high volume of ships in port, no shuttles will be available to us or the Volendam. Hmmm, guess both HAL ships are "chopped liver" so to speak. Taxis and Ubers would be available.
Since we and our fellow President's Club members were invited along with the Neptuners to a special event this afternoon, we figured we would not have enough time to take the shuttle and be back before 2pm. It was a good time to work on photos and reports for Olbia, Sardinia yesterday. If we go too long to post after a port stop, it all starts to blend together.
All of the guests on both ships had a chance to visit each other on either ship with special passes from the front desk. Today the times were from morning until 10pm. Tomorrow it will be 10:30am to 3pm. Knowing we would see some familiar faces later, we chose not to pay them a visit. We have sailed on the Volendam as far back as 2002, and we know it was the sister ship to the Amsterdam, where we have spent a whole lot of time.
A private Reception and Dinner was held at the Castell de Sant Marcal, about an hour ride from the pier. Attire suggestion was "dressy" or business and we were all assigned table numbers well before leaving the ship. The gathering time outside the terminal was 2:15pm, and many of us were there even before that time. However, there was little or no directions for us once outside the doors. Finally, Kumar and Daphne showed up and took a roll call of just the President's Club members. At the last minute, more front desk folks showed up to get the people on the right buses. There were two coaches and two ADA buses for the Zuiderdam folks.
Once loaded, we were off and running by 2:45pm for a ride that took us slowly through Barcelona's tunnels and away from the crowds into the hillsides. The ride was scenic and we did have a bus monitor who spoke all about Barcelona for the 50-minute drive. However, the bus was rather warm, and most of the folks were asleep within minutes. Duh…..
We had a welcome reception with a Spanish band of guitar players and flamenco dancers while we sipped drinks that were similar to Pisco Sours. Trays of small bites of salmon, cheese, and shrimp were served to everyone in this garden and fountain area. There were a few tables for four scattered here and there, but nowhere near enough for the size (and ages) of our group.
Both Captains and their wives arrived last for the grand entrance with several officers in tow from both ships. Most of these officers hosted the tables of guests. Within a half hour, we were summoned to the Castle Greenhouse, which was really a huge reception hall. Outside the entrance to this beautiful venue were lists of each table number and the names of the guests at each one. At least we knew who we were dining with, although we have known people on previous such occasions that snuck into the dining area, and re-arranged the place setting cards. No kidding. Actually they switched the hosts tables, thinking no one would notice. Takes all kinds…..
We were seated at a table with three Volendam guests and three other Zuiderdam people we recognized. Chantall, our future cruise consultant, and the marketing manager for HAL joined us. His name sounded like Mitchell but with the band playing, it was hard to hear.
How the seating arrangements were done, is a mystery to us. From what we saw, all of our President's Club members were at different tables, and we had our backs to the center stage where the orchestra and dancers performed. One thing for sure….it was LOUD. What we sort of missed was the fact that this affair was a "Cava" wine tasting prior to the meal. We were given a lecture on what Cava was, but we still did not capture the story about it very well. Maybe it was the speaker's heavy accent, or the fact that everyone was hungry at this point, all we wanted was our meal to begin.
The wine samples were a taste of what we call sparkling wine (not champagne), followed by Ramon Bilbao (Rioja), Arrelium (Penedes), and Miquel Pons, Brut Reserva (Penedes). It was all Greek to us, as we do not usually drink wine. Especially the reds, which gives one of us a massive headache. Finally a small roll was served (no butter), that helped with the tastings.
All of our group introduced themselves, and we did have a good start at the conversation, which was interrupted by the band playing and the ladies dancing. It was next to impossible to hear ourselves think, let alone converse with the person next to us.
As for the food served, the starter of a mushroom cream soup with an almost poached egg and crispy ham was about cold. We doubt that it was meant to be served cool, but that's how it ended up. It was a long time in between courses, but eventually a sea bass plate or a beef tenderloin was served. The meat was slightly warm, but the meager portions of the sides were cold. Ever taste cold mashed potatoes? Our fellow guests said the fish was good, but cold. We could tell when they did not like it, if half of the meal was left on the plate. We had the better entrée with the beef we think. It was tasty, and we all hoped we did not die later on.
The best thing about the desserts of Massini or Sacher torte was knowing that the meal was coming to an end. Small cappuccinos were offered, but half the folks were already out the door, lining up for the restrooms. The complete time of the dinner was about 2 ¾ hours. Very long we think. We were all directed back to the buses we came on. By the time we were all loaded, it was 7:30pm, an hour later than expected. You can bet many folks slept on the way back to the ship. We arrived by 8:30pm
There were dueling parties happening on the aft pool decks of both ships beginning at 8pm. But the finale with the drone show beginning at 9:15pm really was the best highlight of the day. Knowing that the Seaview Pool would be terribly crowded, we stayed in our room and had the best seats in the house. Right on our veranda. The drones must have totaled 200 or more and put on the most incredible light show that lasted 12 minutes. Creating designs and titles of the two ships, it chronologged the best of both itineraries of the 2025 Grand Voyages. Believe, this… HAL will be using this over-the-top advertising for future promotions in every media they can. Well done, we say.
So much for day one in Barcelona.
Bill & Mary Ann
