Trip Log Day 0: 7-Night Western Europe Cruise on Disney Fantasy – Pre-Cruise in Barcelona, Spain

Trip log, day negative one, zero. Orlando to Chicago to Barcelona, Spain.
7-Night Western Europe Cruise on Disney Fantasy
July 24, 2025

Welcome to yet another trip report. We are heading to Europe for our summer adventure to board the Disney Fantasy in Barcelona for a 7-night Western Europe cruise ending in Southampton.

While i was going to start out with a couple pre-cruise trip log entries, I am not going to bore you with the minutia of our travels from Florida to Barcelona. However, there were some highlights to share.

As we departed Orlando International Airport (MCO), we saw a SpaceX launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

During our layover at Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), we were treated to a free concert in the terminal by Rob Landes who has a popular YouTube channel. From a few gates away, I was drawn to the melodic sounds from his violin.

The AirTags we purchased after our last sailing have already eased some minor stress allowing us to keep an eye on our luggage as we made our connection in Chicago and again at the Barcelona baggage claim. Along with the AirTags, we also purchased a pack of keyring AirTag holders to allow us to clip them inside the suitcases so they would not easily fall out when unpacking.

It was nice to see the luggage move around the airport from baggage claim to our plane.

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With luggage in hand, we made our way to the airport exit. Barcelona airport is relatively easy to navigate with multilingual signage and while this is not our first time here, it was easy to find the area to get a taxi. The ride from the airport to our hotel in Barcelona was about 15-minutes and only took that long because of traffic.

During our previous cruise from Barcelona, we stayed at Eurostars Grand Marina where you can see the ships in port, but that required a 10-15 minute walk back and forth from the “city area”. This time around we wanted to be “in town” so we could maximize our time walking around. We booked a night at the Yurbban Trafalgar Hotel which put using in a much better location for sightseeing.

Our room was ready shortly after our arrival allowing us to drop off our luggage and freshen up before sightseeing.

Part of the appeal of this hotel was complimentary bike rental, but we soon discovered all the bikes and even the e-bikes for an additional fee were all taken for the day by other guest. Oh, well it wouldn’t be a European trip without us pounding the pavement.

Trying something different – rather than paying for a 24-hr international day pass on my phone, I am testing out Apple’s offline map feature on my iPhone. Before leaving home, I selected an area in Barcelona and downloaded the data for use offline. I was not sure what to expect, and was instantly blown away when I discovered I could still search and get turn-by-turn directions just as if I was on Wi-Fi or cellular. The icing on the cake was having the turn-by-turn directions on my Apple Watch – we managed to walk around Barcelona without looking completely like tourists holding a map or starting at a map on a smartphone.

We set out on foot, passing Barcelona’s Arc de Triomf on our way to see our primary point of interest before setting sail tomorrow.

In 2017, we did not make it to Sagrada Família, therefore, it was the first place we were heading on this trip. Thankfully, we can say was saw it whilst under construction. I was concerned earlier this year when i heard reports it was nearing completion after 10,000 years. Ok, so more like 143 years, but it would have been a shame knowing we were a few miles away from the construction site and never made it over. I am already regretting not seeing it in 2017 as it would have been really interesting to see the progress made in the last eight years.

It was too late in the afternoon to wait to tour inside after our transatlantic flight. We walked around the block and enjoyed the exterior.

Now I’ve seen photos and video of the church over the years, but nothing compares to seeing the level of detail with your own eyes. Sagrada Família is simply incredible.

After stopping in a few shops across the street from the church we set out to find dinner. Normally, we tend to seek out new places to try when returning to a destination, but we really enjoyed our lunch in 2017, we returned to the same restaurant, Ciutat Comtal.

This time however, we choose to sit outside. and enjoying tapas and sangria.

The menu at Ciutat Comtal features mostly tapas with an expansive beverage menu. We were drawn back for the selection of tapas which we could share.

The tapas were all well portioned for the price and the food was fantastic. The eggplant chips were a bit of a sleeper hit.

After dinner, we made it back to our hotel just in time for wine o’clock. I did not make that up, the hotel offers complimentary wine on tap in the evenings, along with a small spread for guests to enjoy.

While enjoying our time at wine o’clock, we spotted some books on the shelf, one in particular caught my eye – La Aventura del Poseidon a novela by Paul Galico. The cover art is amazing.

Before retiring to the room for the evening, we headed up to the hotel’s rooftop pool and bar area. The view from here was incredible allowing us to see Sagrada Família as well as another church that we saw in 2017, but have on the agenda to re-visit for the morning. You can also get a glimpse of the port area, but I did not go back up to see if we could spot the Disney Fantasy. It’s possible, as we could see the cargo cranes in the distance.

Oh! Our hotel has free laundry machines! Although, it was a struggle to stay awake, we did take advantage of this opportunity and washed our travel blankets and everything else we wore since departing Orlando which will allow us to board the Disney Fantasy tomorrow with all clean clothes!

As soon as the clothes were dry, I immediately fell asleep. Tomorrow, check out is not until noon and we plan to take advantage of this by spending more time walking around Barcelona before checking out and heading over to the port.

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