I love the time period between the time I know I’m going somewhere and I get it all figured out. You guys helped this time with your bullfight comments. That’s out. So is Madrid. Here’s how we ended up:JAX-DFW-JFK-MAN on American upgraded with VIPs to Business Class. Arrive at 7:25 AM. Depart 11:10 AM MAN-LHR-BCN (Barcelona) on British Airways using a 10K mile partner award. The taxes were still $110 each but we got to head south the same day instead of waiting until the next day for the Ryanair flight at about $60 each with one checked bag (really a carry on) and priority boarding.We arrive in Barcelona at 7:30PM and will head to the Le Meridien on La Rambla for three nights. No bullfight (thanks you guys, it sounded brutal) and we’ll find a Flamenco show in BCN. It was 4,000 points per night less staying at the LeMeriden at the start of our trip instead of the end. They have a split season and we lucked out there saving 12000 SPG points total.

After 3 nights in Barcelona, we board the MSC cruise ship Fantasia for a one week trip in the Med. Our stops are Marseille, France; Genoa, Italy; Naples, Italy; Palermo, Italy; Sicily, Italy; and LaGoulette, Tunisia on the African continent (that’s a first for us), and then one sea day back to Barcelona the night before our departure home.

We have not been to any of those cities or sights. I’ve been to Nice in the south of France but not Marseille. Katy was in Palermo when she was in her twenties but doesn’t remember much and Tunisia is a new country for us.

Here are the good points of this decision:

1. We unpack once.
2. The times in port are full days 8 AM to 5 PM  not those shorties you get when the distance between stops is too long. Katy will get to see Pompei as it is a shore excursion from Naples I think. She has always wanted to see that.
3. Boarding and disembarking is not a big hassle as the ship loads and unloads people at every stop. It is not a full week with all the same people fighting to get on and off the ship. We can take our time at breakfast and leave the ship when the crowd, if any, is gone.
4. The price. It was $649 per person for the week (swing season my friends) for an inside cabin and $969 for a balcony. We are usually on the inside as crew or in my younger years I always took the inside.  We saved $600 each when I found tickets returning from Barcelona instead of London Heathrow so this seemed a no-brainer. The 12,000 point savings at LeMeridien was a bonus as well.

Now the downside of the cruise:

Smoking is allowed in many parts of the ship. They divide up the restaurants into smoking or non smoking which helps, but some of the reviews say it is still an issue. Hence, we took a balcony cabin where we can get some fresh air if need be and just watch the Med go by. The ship is rated a four star experience and I’m a three star kinda guy so we’ll be just fine. We’ll meet some people we can’t even understand which is always fun, and we’ll see new sights together.

I’ve found that if I don’t rush my planning and just let it unfold things will always work out. The cruise idea hit me at midnight and by 1:30 AM I’d ruled out river cruises for this trip (they were all too long) and too expensive and found the Barcelona itinerary.

Now all that’s left is finding that Flamenco show in Barcelona. Oh BTW, temperatures will be in the mid 60′s and 70′s which is our perfect comfort range.