Day 0 – Flying to Barcelona, Spain

After months of planning, our long-awaited Europe cruise finally began! We were flying from Dallas–Fort Worth to Barcelona via Amsterdam — the start of our first-ever trip to Europe. This itinerary would take us through Spain and Italy before returning home through Zurich.

Leaving the States

We cashed in some miles to upgrade to Premium Economy on American Airlines from DFW to Amsterdam. Then flew Business Class on KLM for the short hop to Barcelona. Worth every point. It made a long travel day just a bit more comfortable — especially since we knew sleep would be hard to come by once the excitement kicked in.

A Quick Stop in Amsterdam

Our layover in Amsterdam was… well, underwhelming. The airport felt surprisingly chaotic and not nearly as polished as we expected. To escape the noise, we ducked into the United Lounge to grab a few snacks and sneak in a short nap before the next leg of our flight.

Before the trip, we’d read countless warnings about traveling through Europe with too much luggage, so we made a pact to pack light and go carry-on only. I was ridiculously proud that we managed to fit everything we needed for a full 7-day Mediterranean cruise into two small carry-ons and our personal items. It ended up being one of our smartest decisions as we bypassed the long line at baggage claim, skipped the customs recheck line in Amsterdam, and walked straight into the departure lounge for our Barcelona connection.

We’d had also been reading facebook post from fellow cruisers about travel delays and cancellations. So we were counting our blessings when our flight to Spain boarded on time. Other than a serious lack of sleep, our trip across the Atlantic went smoothly – no lost luggage, no missed connections, and no major hiccups.

Our daughter managed to tour Europe before she even graduated high school, and for years we’d said, “someday we’ll go too.” This trip felt like finally keeping that promise to ourselves — a mix of excitement, disbelief, and a little bit of “what took us so long?”

Arriving in Barcelona

Touching down in Barcelona was surreal — the moment it really hit that this was our first time in Europe. But the reality of international travel set in quickly when our taxi driver spoke zero English and our internet decided to quit working. On top of that, there was a huge soccer match happening just 2 miles from our hotel. FC Barcelona was playing Real Valladolid at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys — a La Liga match that weekend. Even for this non-soccer fan, the energy in the downtown area couldn’t be ignored, and nearly every street our driver tried was closed. Between the language barrier and the city streets closed off, it took a bit of effort (and patience) to reach our hotel.

Eventually, we pulled up to the Hyatt Regency Barcelona Tower, our pre-cruise hotel. It’s located near the convention center — not in the heart of the city, but after upgrading our flights, we were definitely working with a points-and-perks budget for this trip. My impression was the area in real life didn’t quite match the marketing photos. But once inside it was nice, modern and pretty lively with lots of soccer fans But we were so tired, it wouldn’t have mattered.

We grabbed a quick dinner, took in a few views of the skyline from our room, and then crashed hard. Between time zones, excitement, and zero sleep, we were wiped out — but tomorrow, we’d board Oasis of the Seas and begin our Mediterranean adventure. Our friends arrived a few hours later and were staying in the city, so we agreed we’d meet up on the ship.

We knew we weren’t going to be able to see much of the city before the cruise, so we decided to do our sightseeing of Barcelona after the cruise.