Day 12 & Summary
We’re awake at
8.30am and head down for breakfast. We have yoghurt, fruit and
toast before heading back to the room to pack.
We catch the metro to Catalunya and then catch the aerobus to the
airport – we figure this will suit us much better than
having to lump our luggage up and down stairs in metro stations.
At the airport we drop the luggage quickly and then have a tuna
roll and a chocolate bar from the airport café then we just
listen to our audio books before the flight is called.
Uneventful flight and home. The end of another wonderful holiday
Kev - Summary
We
hadn't really planned on doing a Virgin cruise and it only
happened because the deal using Virgin miles was too good to
miss. In the end it worked out very well and I'm really glad we
did. It's a slightly different experience to other cruise lines
and is currently winning all sorts of awards in cruise line
circles. Lord knows what the equivalent to the Oscars is for
cruising - maybe the Popeyes?
Certainly the adult only thing is a big hit with us as it helps
with the more relaxed feel. The crew (that's what they're called
on Virgin ships) are younger and have more leeway to interact
with the sailors (Virgins decription for the passengers). The
crew can have tattoos, piercings, hair colouring - in fact most
things are allowed. The entertainment is more adult. This might
not suit some, the sex therapist and drag shows are not to
everybody's taste I'm sure, but there are plenty of other things
to do if these don't float your boat (pun intended).
We've found the food on cruise lines in general to vary in quality and much of the time it's related to whether you pay the extra to eat in speciality restaurants. With Virgin all the restaurants are of 'speciality' standard and it was nice to not be forced into a cavernous main dining room. I would say it's the best food we've had on a cruise ship without having to pay more. There was certainly plenty of variety.
There was a wide range in ages of the passengers, but if Virgin were going for a primarily younger crowd, they failed. I would say the largest group was in the over 40's if not 50's. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, everyone seemed to be having a fine time, it's just not the demographic the advertising for Virgin cruises seems to be targeting.
As
usual the shore excursions are ridiculously expensive if you book
them through the ship, but this never bothers us as we just
arrange our own trips and transportation.
Overall we were both very impressed with Virgin Cruises and would
not hesitate to do another. They are very good value for money
and I rather suspect that they will go up in price once they get
established. Oh, and sticking a hammock on the balcony? Genius.
Everybody we heard mentioning it was full of praise.
The couple of days we spent after the cuise in Barcelona were very nice. The trip to Monserrat was a highlight and something I would encourage anyone staying in that part of the world to do. Being in Barcelona for the festival was fortuitous and we enjoyed all the events we attended, the fireworks on our last night ending our holiday nicely.