A Foodie's First Time for EVERYTHING w/pics - Magic in the Med May '14, updated 06/25

[chefgirl96]

Intro

Hi all! On this cruise will be myself and DH, celebrating our 15 wedding anniversary. It is "technically" not my first cruise because I sailed on the Big Red Boat as a youngster, but that was more than 2 decades ago *cough*. So for all intents and purposes, it is like my first time again! This is definitely my hubby's first time on a cruise because it took some arm twisting to convince him that 1. the boat is safe 2. he won't drown and 3. it will be fun.

I suggested something not so intensive and more local, such as a Caribbean cruise and although DH was happy about the idea, he wasn't EXCITED. When I mentioned the Mediterranean, he was all, "WHAAAAAT??!?!? THAT WOULD BE SO AMAAAAAAZZZING!"

 

[chefgirl96]

Planning

I LOVE planning! Who's with me??!? I neurotically researched and planned our all girls trip to WDW in 2010 and so was super excited to dig in to researching the cruise and all of our exciting ports of call! I am frugal by nature and always looking for a good deal, so in this trip report you will find ways to do some ports on your own, how to get around easily in Barcelona, some great souvenir ideas, and maybe some sightseeing tours you might not have heard of. The part that made me the most nervous was leaving my four children here in the States while my DH and I went on our European anniversary adventure, but I knew they were in excellent hands. Our trip itinerary is as follows:

Day 1- Leave Chicago
Day 2 - Arrive in Barcelona, reservations at Hisop
Day 3 - Embarkation on the Magic
Day 4 - At Sea
Day 5 - DIY Sightseeing in Nice (port of Villefranche)
Day 6 - DIY Sightseeing in the Cinque Terre (port of La Spezia)
Day 7 - Private Tour in Rome (port of Civitavecchia)
Day 8 - DCL Tour in Sorrento/Pompeii (port of Naples)
Day 9 - At Sea
Day 10 - Debarkation ;-(
Day 11 - DIY Sightseeing in Barcelona, reservations at Tickets
Day 12 - DIY Sightseeing in Barcelona, RunnerBean tour
Day 13 - Leave Barcelona towards home

 

[mattykin]

I look forward to your trip report. We sailed the EBTA to Barcelona but was really wishing we booked the next one....next time

 

[debsters41]

I look forward to hearing about what is sure to have been an amazing trip! We are doing the 7 night at the end of the season and so we look forward to reading every little detail you share

 

[lizzyb]

I'm in!

 

[chefgirl96]

Departing & our Flights

I couldn't believe THE day had arrived! I kept feeling like I was forgetting something and was especially unnerved knowing that there would not be a Wal-Mart right around the corner.

Packing Tips: I used compression bags to pack tighter and I cross-packed half of each of our clothes/shoes in the other person's suitcase. I *highly* recommend this as we met someone on the cruise whose luggage had been lost and sadly she only had ONE outfit to wear for the entire cruise. I picked up the bags (and travel locks) at TJ Maxx for fairly cheap.

Our friend was supposed to pick us up and drive us to the airport, but instead, he sent this:



We were so happily surprised! There was also a box full of yummy muffins. It was DHs first limo ride, which made it all the more special.

After a quick but turbulent flight, we landed in Toronto. (We flew AirCanada. I mostly stalked Kayak.com (and the ipad app) waiting for the "right" time to pull the trigger on airfare = $1300 pp from Chicago to BCN.) We had a 4 hour layover until our flight left for Barcelona. We had a quick & tasty, albeit expensive (!!) dinner at the airport. Our 8 hour flight was fairly uneventful, although I was pretty surprised that they only turned the lights down for 2 of the 8 hours. I guess since we were departing later and "flying through the night" that things would've been kept darker for longer so that we could try to sleep. I will also, never, never, never, travel on an international flight without one of those travel neck pillows.

 

[chefgirl96]

We landed at BCN, no worse for the wear, and retrieved our luggage. I exchanged some $$ for Euros at the currency exchange at the airport and also withdrew some $$/Euros from my debit card. Please don't use the currency exchange at the airport. The exchange rate is terrible. There must've been an ATM around there somewhere but I didn't look hard enough. For the entire trip, I never carried more than 120E around with me and I got along just fine. We took a taxi to our hotel (35-40E) and were able to check in early! I chose this hotel based on TripAdvisor reviews, price & amenities.



We rested for about 45min and then had to leave because we had reservations at our very first meal in Barcelona, which also happens to be our very first meal at a Michelin star restaurant, Hisop.



I won't deluge you with endless food photos, but here are my two favorite dishes of my tasting menu meal (59E).



This dish is octopus slices in a lime seawater broth. It was our very first course and really delicious. We came to Europe for a food adventure and this was a great start!



Fish with mushrooms in a mushroom sauce. I could've eaten an entire bowl of the mushroom sauce!

We wandered back to our hotel, stopping along the way for a croissant. I would come to eat about 2-3 croissants per day for the entire trip and never grew tired of them!



We rested a bit before venturing out towards Las Ramblas. I purchased a T-10 Metro card. It really is so easy to get around the city by metro. The station was only 1 block from our hotel. I highly recommend using the metro to travel around Barcelona. Unfortunately, when we arrived at Las Ramblas it was pouring down rain and we had forgotten our umbrella at the hotel. At least we were blessed to see this:



I kinda hate to say this, but even after further exploration on a nice day, I really don't see the big attraction to Las Ramblas. (I just want to honest in case others are getting a similar impression I did.) Everyone talks so much about it online that it really had been built up to be this really wonderful amazing area. Maybe it's just not my style? I much, much, much rather spend my day exploring the Gothic Quarter or El Born, which seem so much richer in atmosphere and possible things to explore.

We crashed at 8pm and were both feeling refreshed by 1:30am. We called home, read, watched TV, then fell back asleep so we would be ready for the next day's Magic!

 

[debsters41]

Great update! Lovely beginning to an amazing trip... ride in a limo, Upscale dining... Fabulous!

I agree about the Ramblas in the center. While it was absolutely fantastic to be in such a centrally located hotel, this year we will be staying farther from the center in Poblenou, and plan to do much more 'rambling' in the Gothic Quarter, along the beach and in Poblenou itself.

Looking forward to reading more!

 

[mattykin]

We landed at BCN, no worse for the wear, and retrieved our luggage. I exchanged some $$ for Euros at the currency exchange at the airport and also withdrew some $$/Euros from my debit card. Please don't use the currency exchange at the airport. The exchange rate is terrible. There must've been an ATM around there somewhere but I didn't look hard enough. For the entire trip, I never carried more than 120E around with me and I got along just fine. We took a taxi to our hotel (35-40E) and were able to check in early! I chose this hotel based on TripAdvisor reviews, price & amenities.



We rested for about 45min and then had to leave because we had reservations at our very first meal in Barcelona, which also happens to be our very first meal at a Michelin star restaurant, Hisop.



I won't deluge you with endless food photos, but here are my two favorite dishes of my tasting menu meal (59E).



This dish is octopus slices in a lime seawater broth. It was our very first course and really delicious. We came to Europe for a food adventure and this was a great start!



Fish with mushrooms in a mushroom sauce. I could've eaten an entire bowl of the mushroom sauce!

We wandered back to our hotel, stopping along the way for a croissant. I would come to eat about 2-3 croissants per day for the entire trip and never grew tired of them!



We rested a bit before venturing out towards Las Ramblas. I purchased a T-10 Metro card. It really is so easy to get around the city by metro. The station was only 1 block from our hotel. I highly recommend using the metro to travel around Barcelona. Unfortunately, when we arrived at Las Ramblas it was pouring down rain and we had forgotten our umbrella at the hotel. At least we were blessed to see this:



I kinda hate to say this, but even after further exploration on a nice day, I really don't see the big attraction to Las Ramblas. (I just want to honest in case others are getting a similar impression I did.) Everyone talks so much about it online that it really had been built up to be this really wonderful amazing area. Maybe it's just not my style? I much, much, much rather spend my day exploring the Gothic Quarter or El Born, which seem so much richer in atmosphere and possible things to explore.

We crashed at 8pm and were both feeling refreshed by 1:30am. We called home, read, watched TV, then fell back asleep so we would be ready for the next day's Magic!

Thank you for a great start to your TR I will agree that I did not see the attraction to Las Ramblas when we visited after our EBTA.....I will also take a pass next time. Look forward to more from you

 

[DISGRL13]

Thank you for sharing your trip!! We are doing the Med at the end of July and I can't wait to hear about your trip. Thanks again!

 

[chefgirl96]

It's embarkation day! We had a very nice "continental" breakfast at our hotel, which was included in the price. Nothing like the the American continental breakfasts I've had. See:





Plenty of sliced meat, fresh fruit, crusty bread, and of course my requisite chocolate croissants to keep a girl happy, happy, happy!

After breakfast, we went up to the hotel terrace and just enjoyed the sunshine and city. Terrace selfie:



We went for a short walk around the neighborhood near our hotel to soak in as much of the city before boarding the Magic. DH is an avid cyclist so stopping by the nearest pro bike shop was a must!



After that, we took a taxi to the port (30ishE) and joined the chaos of the embarkation process! I am so glad I did online check-in at the earliest point possible. Our PAT was 1130am. We arrived right about then and boarded the ship at only a little after noon! Hello, Magic!



We had a delicious lunch at Carioca's. It was not very crowded. My favorite foods were the beef from the carving station & all the shellfish. I was only slightly sad that I could not have root beer or Pepsi products onboard, LOL. We wandered around the ship & checked out the kids' clubs. We both got a little choked up seeing those COOL areas for the kiddies and missed our little munchkins back home. We did go to the sail away party were it misted slightly. (That was the last "rain" we saw for the entire trip!) We did not go to the show that night (All Aboard: Let the Magic Begin) because we were too tired. I sleep like a rock that night on the heavenly Magic bedding.

 

[DWGal210]

Great start! What a fun and special vacation for you and your husband.

I am taking one of the Med cruises in August 2015 so I am soaking up all the TRs I can about those cruises! Can't wait to read all about it!

 

[NCCathi]

Um, deluge us with food pics, please! I'm also a Pepsi so will just have to make do, I'm sure I'll suffer through it .

Excited to hear/see more!

 

[chefgirl96]

It's our first sea day! I awoke to the ship slightly sloshing from side to side, which is a little unnerving for this nervous Nellie traveler! Thankfully I was taking Bonine (Meclizine) for motion sickness which worked wonderfully.

TIP: If you are prone to motion sickness like me, I highly recommend the prescription pill. I ended up having to take it twice a day (morning & night) and still would end up feeling a little woozy each time a got off/on the ship for about an hour or so. I never had any nausea though! I started taking the pills one day before the cruise and two days after, until I returned home.

I got a morning "snack" from Cabana's, which included the requisite chocolate croissant, and made sure to eat light since we had Palo brunch ressies.

Croissant count for the day: 1

I was unable to get a reservation during online check-in, but I stalked the DCL website for a few weeks prior to sailing and finally one opened up at just the right moment. Judging from how empty the restaurant was maybe I didn't have to put forth such an effort and could've simply reserved when we got on board.

And now for Palo deliciousness! Our complimentary champagne (Mimosas!):



Seafood station! I love me some shellfish (FYI: I did have to ask for melted butter from the kitchen):



And I couldn't pass up a big almond croissant. It was the most delicious croissant I had the ENTIRE trip. I managed to talk our server Andreja (an absolute gem!) into a to-go plate with two more croissants for my habit!



Croissant count for the day: 2

Other notable delicious dishes that I recorded in my travel journal were the seared spicy tuna, the passion fruit cheesecake, and the chicken parmesan:



I loved that the portion sizes were on the smaller side so that you could enjoy more things! We did also have the sausage and veggie frittata, but it didn't stand out as being recommendable.

Dessert selection:



After all the eating, I needed a nap! I woke up refreshed and we scurried up to the D Lounge to observe the Anyone Can Cook demonstration featuring the rack of lamb and potato gratin. We also got a complimentary glass of wine with our sample:



It was absolutely scrumptious & I ended up ordering this dish for our Palo dinner. We ambled out of the D Lounge and watched several rounds of entertaining velcro golf (?) going on in the atrium below. DH went to see Captain America in 3D and I headed up to Deck 9 to read and savor the atmosphere. The book I selected to keep me company on this trip was the Sorcerer's Apprentice which is a look inside Ferran Adria's restaurant El Bulli (just south of Barcelona), considered for many years as the best restaurant in the world. After my relaxing, I had one of the aforementioned almond croissants as my afternoon snack & saved the other for the next day's breakfast.

Croissant count for the day: 3

Travel journal excerpt:
6:15pm - Animator's Palate! I am extremely proud of my drawing whom I made to look like Pippi Longstocking, with red hair & a purple dress. I saw her several times on screen! Chocolate mousse cake (in the sampler dessert) was my favorite. YUM!

8:04pm - Max Winfrey comedy & juggling act. He is so funny & talented and I keep wondering what educational path sets on the road towards juggling plungers and machetes and riding a 6 ft. unicycle?

8:45pm - Twice Charmed Stage show. My favorite character is the "bad guy" and I love the great stage effects like pyrotechnics and making stage elements change colors. P.S. I am so exhausted that my body twitches and I microsleep about 13 times during the show.

 

[Acar]

Hi joining in.....
I am a Pepsi girl too, and had to stop on the way to the boat to pick up pepsi, most people hauling alcohol on board and there I am with my Pepsi.....

 

[Poodleparty]

Great info here

 

[lizzyb]

Great update!

 

[llqool]

ooh! Was your server in Palo Andrea from Italy? (male Andrea)

Hoping to see him on our Med cruise next week!

You are making me regret not making a brunch reservation this time around. We decided we like dinner better, but that picture of the croissant is reminding me of what we will be missing....

 

[offtoseemickey]

Hi there! Great report so far! I can't wait for more

 

[chefgirl96]

I have started this post three different times, but my desktop PC has decided to stop working. BOO! Hopefully, third time's a charm.

On Monday morning, the first thing I did after opening my eyes was run to my porthole window and VOILA! France!



I ate my almond croissant (leftover from yesterday's Palo brunch) and we went up to Cabana's for an early quick breakfast. We got to the WD theatre and were the second tender to leave. The tendering process was very quick (at this time of day) & easy and I loved being able to take photos of the approaching shore, while the Magic floated behind us.



This is one of my favorite photos of the whole trip!



We wandered up towards the train station (without a map - EEK!) and just tried to follow the direction that other people were going.


Hidden Mickey, anyone?

The station attendant spoke very little English so it was my first real opportunity to use my rusty French! It was a quick train ride to Nice.

WARNING: I planned on taking the tram down to the Plaza Massena, but couldn't figure out how to operate the ticket machine. It seemed like a touch screen, but really there was a knob there to make your selections. An "extremely helpful" teenager nearby jumped in and was trying to show us how to make our selections. Thankfully I didn't have the enough coins (it didn't take paper Euros) because it seemed like either this fellow was going to want money for his helpfulness or would try to pickpocket us while we were unsuspecting. (The fella was still there at the end of our day "working his scheme".) We ended up walking down Ave. Jean Medecin towards the Promenade d'Anglais.


Plaza Massena

On our way to the Promenade, I noticed a Segway tour office & was so excited at the idea! The husband was a little more nervous at this thought and so we continued on to the beach.



We rested for a few minutes and just enjoyed the view.



The husband agreed to do the Segway tour! I wasn't sure how much we'd get out of the experience, so I chose the one hour tour (30E pp). Our guide was wonderful, giving us each individual riding lessons before we headed off towards the Vieux Ville. The tour was sooooo much fun! We could've gone for another hour at least.



We got small history lessons on various buildings, could stop whenever we wanted for photo opps, and were able to scope out the Old City for shopping or snacking spots. I highly recommend this experience and am surprised that I didn't come across it during my research.



After the Segway tour was over, we made our way to a restaurant I had saved on TripAdvisor. (I love that app for travel!) Sadly, it was a bit of a letdown. I couldn't even bring myself to take a picture of my meal. But at least, hey, I'm in FRANCE! Some retail therapy was sure to cure my lunch disappointment.

We walked back towards the Old City for some wonderful shopping on pedestrian only streets. This part of Nice has such a quaint vibe with lots of colorful buildings with their balconies, shutters, and flower boxes. It's a great place to buy soaps, spices, olive oil, chocolate, mustard, and jams. I especially loved this little epicurean shop:



While shopping we made sure to stop at the famous Fenochio's gelateria, which offers over 100 flavors including some oddities such as beer and avocado.



We chose cinnamon and coconut. C'est delicieux!

We walked all the way back to the train station, popping into NicEtoile a large shopping mall on Ave. Jean Medecin, along the way. I just wanted to see what a French mall looked like. If you are a big mall fan, you might enjoy a visit as well.

Our train was late, but I had allowed plenty of time to get back to the Magic, especially since we had early dining and I wanted to make it to the MDRs each night. At this point, we were both tired and grumpy and could use a nice sit down meal. We eventually made it back to Villefranche and stopped for a few photos on our way back to the dock.



The tender was slow and the security line was long, so I was so thankful to be staying on deck 1! Our room was just right around the corner after passing through security. Our home away from home:



We hurry, hurry, hurried to dinner at Carioca's, where I had a delicious prime rib and potato meal. Somehow I have no photo of this. I believe it was garlic crusted though and was a stand-out meal in my memory from the MDRs. Feeling full from dinner, I just didn't see anything that appealed to me for dessert, so I order nothing. That's exactly what our wonderful serving team (Jorel & Rosario) brought me:



We were exhausted after our long day! At 7:45pm I ran up to deck 10 to make one last phone call home as the Magic sailed away from France. I was asleep by 8pm. Needless to say, I saw no shows that night.