We needed a way to get home. On the outbound trip we used Chase Ultimate Reward points to book one way Virgin Atlantic flights. We then traveled around the Middle East and Europe: to Gdansk on Ryan Air, Tirana on LOT Polish Airlines, Cairo on Aegean Airlines, around Egypt and to Athens on EgyptAir, and finally to Barcelona on Ryan Air.

We decided a repositioning cruise would be a perfect way to get home – a finale to our 4-month journey.

Repositioning cruises start in one port and end in a different port, repositioning the fleet for different itineraries. In the Spring, cruise lines move their ships to Europe from the Caribbean and in Autumn they sail from Europe for the Caribbean. There are repositioning cruises that move ships to Alaska, South America, around Africa, Australia, and Asia. It’s a great alternative to flying when you have the time.

We chose a cruise sailing from Barcelona, Spain to Port Canaveral, Florida with ports of call in Valencia, Malaga, and Canary Islands, Spain as well as Bermuda with several days at sea. The cruise offered time for rest and recovery while slowly adjusting our clocks backwards to a new time zone every few days.

24 Hours in Barcelona

To reposition ourselves for the cruise we arrived at Barcelonia International Airport (BCN). After claiming our checked luggage, we easily followed signs to “Buses” where we found an Aerobus already at the curb. We quickly purchased a ticket from the sidewalk ticket dispenser and claimed seats on the bus. The Aerobus makes only a few stops, with the final one at Plaza Catalunya. From there it was a short walk on Las Ramblas to the Catalonia Avinyo Hotel.

That evening we strolled the area around the hotel and found there were many choices for food. We had dinner, coffees and churros with hot chocolate.

We had to check out of our hotel room by 11:00 but the hotel stored our luggage until we could head to the cruise terminal for our scheduled late afternoon check-in.

Barcelona is a beautiful and elegant city. When we visited in 2012 we toured Gaudi’s Basilica of the Sagrada Familia so this time we decided to take the Metro just to walk around and admire the exterior.

We then ate lunch at Five Guys Burgers opposite the church and wandered back to our hotel before ordering an Uber to the cruise terminal.

Our expenses are for two full days: one day traveling from Bologna to Barcelona and the following day in Barcelona until an afternoon check in at the Cruise Terminal for our Transatlantic cruise.

Total cost came to $269.68 for 1 night and two days. Expenses are for 2 people.

• Accommodations: $166.57 Catalonia Avinyó Hotel booked directly on the hotel website.
• Food: $81.61 for 2 days including travel days.
• Transportation: $19.39 for the Aerobus from the airport and two one-way Metro tickets to the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia.
• Miscellaneous: $2.11

Carnival Freedom

Cruises offer something for everyone!

The Carnival Freedom was constructed in 2007, is 952’ in length and has guest capacity of 2980 and onboard crew of 1150. Due to the 14 night sailing October 23 – November 6, 2023 there were less than 10 children aboard and no teenagers.

We enjoyed the food from Guy’s Burger Joint (of Guy Fieri fame), the Blue Iguana, Pizza Pirate, and BBQ options, but overall found the dinners in the Main Dining Room disappointing. I also think the ship’s decor was the ugliest ever seen.

Cost of Travel

Cruise: $1496.40 for an inside cabin came to $106.89 per day for two people.

Cruise tips: $454 comes to additional $32.43 per day.

Uber to pier in Barcelona: $17

Shuttle for 2 passengers from Port Canaveral to Orlando International: $74

Travel insurance (optional): $112

Additional coffees: $40

Onboard Laundry: $3.50

Cruise total: $2197 comes to $156.93 per day for a couple.

The repositioning cruise provided transportation, 14 days of room and board, and entertainment. Airfare from Orlando is not included.

In this Thanksgiving season, I want to reflect on some of my many blessings. During this 4-month journey we safely traveled by plane, bus, train, van, taxi, boat, ferry and ship, we had already visited Israel, Jordan and Egypt before the terrible ordeal that began on October 7, 2023, suffered no illness or injury, had a few misplaced items, but nothing was robbed from us. We saw beautiful places, learned at historical sites, ate wonderful local cuisine and some of the sweetest, most delicious melons and tomatoes ever, and enjoyed getting out and walking every day (although not always pain-free.) Our family cheered us on, supporting and loving us while missing us. We missed them too and are just so, so, SO happy to be home again.

In Spokane, Washington we checked in to the nicest accommodations ever, in our humble opinion, of course! We checked in to our own Home Sweet Home. (While we were away it operated as a short term rental. I share the details about it some time soon.)

Happy Holidays to all of you, dear readers. Thank you for following our journey!

Link to Cruise Musings which includes several links to other cruise posts including our 2012 Transatlantic reposition cruise.