We flew to Barcelona a few days before the cruise was to depart- we would hate to miss the ship because of flight delays... It actually happened to a couple this cruise. The ship was a bit late to depart and we watched a couple come flying up in a taxi at 5:20- only to not be able to get in the terminal as final boarding had happened and all the terminal employees had locked up and left. They actually had to stand there and watched the ship sail away without them!
Kenzie got her first passport stamp when we connected flights in Lisbon! She missed out last year in London, since they no longer stamp U.S. passports at Heathrow!
The day we flew in, we kept pretty low key since a certain 8 year old princess fought sleeping on the plane. We stayed in the neighborhood around the hotel and had an early dinner of paella before heading to bed early.
The next day, we spent most of the day touring La Sagrada Familia (a basilica that has been under construction for 200 years!) and the surrounding area. Of course we had to have churros and Sangria!
The next morning we wanted to do something more geared to Kenzie, so we brought her to the Barcelona Zoo. She LOVED it!
This is Kenz watching the orangutan. They had the most amazing interaction. They made eye contact for several minutes- just watching each other!
Someone didn't get the memo that she isn't allowed to add any more stuffies to her collection. We could not deny her though. She was very quiet until she came upon the stuffie below, then started making frantic noises, pointing, and ultimately snagged this guy off the shelf. Not what I would have thought she would pick, but after her interaction with the orangutan earlier in the day, I probably shouldn't have been surprised! She had a death grip on him. It was so cute too... as we left the zoo and started walking down the street, she turned him outward so he could "see" where we were going too!
In the afternoon, we explored the Gothic Quarter!
The next morning was Memorial Day and cruise embarkation day! We had an early check in time, so we got to the terminal around 9:30. Because this is the first time the ship is sailing for Carnival (the Venezia was a Costa ship built to cater to the Chinese market, but Costa couldn't afford to keep it after Covid so Carnival added it to their fleet); the President of Carnival, Christine Duffy, was there and we got to watch the ceremony where the ship and various local entities exchanged gifts. We were one of the very first families to board and Kenzie loved going into the ship atrium where many of the employees were cheering, dancing, and setting off confetti canons!
The next day was our first "Fun Day at Sea". We went to a Q&A with Christine Duffy, the President of Carnival, and Emeril Lagasse, the Carnival's Chief Culinary Officer. Kenzie ended up right in the front row and listened very intently! We learned that the Executive Chef onboard is Carnival's first Italian Executive Chef. We also heard that when they were testing recipes for the specialty Italian restaurant onboard, Il Viaggio, the Executive Chef thought the crostoli tasted like fried Chinese wontons and was not happy. So he called his mother in Rome to get his grandmother's recipe and that's what they are using onboard! And we can vouch that they are really good!! Kevin was just thrilled he got to hear Emeril yell his signature "Bam!" at the end!
That night was the first of three formal nights and we were supposed to wear our Venetian masks!
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