Having been to busy Barcelona a couple of times before, we decided to stay on board and do some laundry while the lineup would be short. The offered excursions did not show anything new to interest us. However, I did take some pictures and videos of the harbour from the ship.
The tower on the left supports a cable car that connects the beaches with the Miramar observation point. The tiny spot to the left of the bridge support is one of the two cars in the system that runs every 15 minutes. There is a second cable car line that goes up to the Castle of Montjuic. It has 55 cars and runs non stop. It is only half as long as the other but rises much higher and runs slower, taking eight minutes to reach the top where the older one only takes seven minutes. There is a third cable car that is popular in the region. It is the one that runs up to the top of Montserrat. However, it is about forty five minutes away from Barcelona and worth a visit.
It was a rather cloudy day but there were some bright spots on the dock.
This was a great stop to get rid of some of the garbage from the ship and to load on more food and supplies like toilet paper and beer. Watch the next short video of the fork lift trucks on the dock doing a dance. (It is short because I doubled its speed.)
While it was busy on the dock, everything was quiet on the Oceania Marina. Most passengers had gone ashore and the pool was roped off because they are not allowed to open them while in port. It was November 5 but the temperatures were trying to get into the seventies.
A new cruise line called Explora is operating out of Barcelona. On the other side of the bridge, one of its new ships called Explora II was in port getting filled up with fuel from another ship designed just for refilling other ships. The Explorea II was built in August of 2024 so was only a few months old.
One of the distinctive features of the skyline of Barcelona’s port is the W Hotel. The question is why “W”? Maybe because it is part of the J.W. Marriott line of Hotels but it was named that before it was acquired by the Marriott line. Maybe because it is by the Water, but the other W hotels around the world are not all near the water. Some say it is because it is an upscale hotel that comes “with” extras as w/ caviar. More probably, Why not!
There are many ways to explore the Mediterranean Sea. Ferries leave from Barcelona to other ports in Italy and northern Africa. Or maybe you want a more private vessel. (cable cars don’t count)
By six PM in the evening it was dark, an Expora ship was keeping us company and we would soon be off to the next port on our cruise, Alicante, Spain.
– Where do you want to go today? –
To find my posts from my earlier visits to Barcelona there is a search box in the sidebar at the right. Type in Barcelona and you will find several posts from 2016 and 2019. Here is a start with a link to Montserrat: https://jarvie.ca/montserrat/
Beautiful pictures from the ship, which looks massive. When I went on my cruise in January 2024, it felt as if the cruise ship were a little city. It was fun to explore the floating city, and it was also fun to get off at stops and simply relax on beaches!
Yes Alice some of the newer bigger ships are more like big cities. I prefer the smaller ships that are more like small towns of around 600 people and 200 crew.
The W Hotel did not look familiar, and upon looking it up I learned it was completed in 2009, which explains it. My first and so far only time I visited Barcelona was before that. Thanks for the colorful tour!
You always seem to be “RIGHT THERE” in the mix of the action – even in places I cannot imagine you have the authority to go. Are you just high above these places and shooting with a super-quality high power zoom lens? Or are you Photoshopping credentials together to get you access to the ports?!?!
Thanks for the comment Paul. This trip was captured with an iPhone and a GoPro for some of the videos. As for credentials, sometimes it is about who you know, For example, I know you and look where that has got me! đŸ˜‰ The top deck of a cruise ship is a pretty good vantage point.
Beautiful photos and I enjoy seeing all the places you’ve visited. Have a great week and after seeing the boats it might change my mind about going on a Cruise one day.
You could start with a short one around the Caribbean. I usually choose one with an excursion of interest at a port I have not seen before.