Saturday October 9^th finally arrived. Mitch and I scheduled a special cruise for this date in February and it seemed like it would never arrive. Our flights from Miami to Heathrow in England and then to Barcelona Spain were smooth and uneventful. British Airways even provided pillows and other travel accessories at no charge.

We arrived at the Universal Hotel for a 3 night stay. It was a lovely room with a European flair including a bidet in the bathroom. We struggled to turn on the lights without success. The room attendant showed us how to put our room key in a slot by the door and the lights were on. It is an interesting way to save on electricity when you are absent from the room.

Monday and Tuesday we used a hop on - hop off bus to negotiate the city and learn where the interesting sights were to be found. Barcelona has fountains and statues galore. We went to the famous Sagrada Familia …the unique architecture of Gaudi and to Guel Park the location of many of Gaudi’s mosaics. The park is many acres of a lovely gardens and I was surprised to see yucca and agave among other exotic plants. El Poble is a representation of architecture and artisans over the centuries in a created village. The audio tour is well worth the price because the buildings are extensive in number and the histories are fascinating.

We had to try tapas which translates as snacks. With the Euro being so strong it translated into small, very expensive and not always tasty snacks. We ended up having a few tapas and then using a popular little restaurant called Dino Pan. The croissants were a dream come true and the sandwiches were fresh and hardy. The “coffee American” was strong but not in the least bitter.

Wednesday we took a taxi to the port and boarded the Celebrity ship Century for a wonderful 12 day itinerary to include France, Italy and Croatia. We unpacked anticipating a marvelous cruise. We were also scheduled to continue on the Century for a 14 day transatlantic cruise in the same cabin.

Thursday morning we arrived in Villefranche. It is a small port and we tendered to shore on small boats. We took a bus tour to Nice and wandered through the markets and shops selling everything from sachets of lavender to glace candies. Then we walked along the beach and took an elevator to the top of a building that led to a magnificent view. The Cote d’Azure was revealed on a lovely day to show the crystal turquoise water that curved around the coast. On this sunny day it took my breath away. We now understood why this is considered the quintessential coastline of France.

The next stop by bus was Cannes where the film festival is held. The closest we got to the stars were the handprints and signatures in concrete in the plaza. The marina had an astonishing variety of beautiful well tended vessels ranging from modest to luxury private boats of the wealthy.

Back on board ship we changed for dinner and watched the evening entertainment. During our pleasant dinner Captain Isidoros Karamaounas came on the intercom and in his strong Greek accent announced that the cruise was cancelled and the rudder was broken. The Century had 1,880 bewildered and stunned passengers. We went to our cabin and found a letter indicating that we had to find alternative plans by Saturday and that the ship was being taken to Marseilles for repairs. Mitch and I had scheduled our trip directly through Celebrity and we were fairly confident that they would make arrangements Nonetheless, we had an uneasy night.

Friday dawned and we were not in Florence as planned. The Century crew had no idea how to deal with the situation. They were also stunned. We were eventually given a number to call In Miami to the headquarters and told that they would assist us. Miami was a 6 hour time change which meant that we had to wait until 2:00 in the afternoon to start whatever plans they would give us. Celebrity decided to give free access for phone calls and the internet. The lines were immediately jammed.

After lunch we went to the cabin and waited until 2:00 and hoped that we would be lucky and get through to Miami quickly. We called and managed to get on hold. The happy voice told us that we were valued cruisers and please wait for the next representative. We put happy voice on speakerphone and started to pack our suitcases. About 3:15 we were startled to hear a real person. While I continued to pack Mitch started gathering information on our options. Option number 1 was to cancel both cruises, receive a refund and pay for airline tickets out of our own pockets at great expense. Option number 2 was for us to stay in Europe and find places to stay at our own expense and rejoin the Century in Barcelona for the transatlantic cruise if the ship was repaired.

We took option number 3. This involved getting off of the ship by tender with our luggage and being on the dock at 5:00 to take a 10 hour drive through the night back to Barcelona to board the Celebrity ship Constellation on a 7 night cruise. Then, if the Century was repaired we would do the transatlantic cruise. If it was not repaired we would fly home at our expense. Our dream cruise was not exactly turning into a nightmare but it was not what we wanted.

When 5:00 arrived we were on the dock. It had taken quite a bit of time for other couples to get through to Miami and make their decisions on what course to take. Some couples had used travel agents and been given similar options. We ended up leaving at 7:30 and using 2 large tour buses neither of which had a bathroom. France had strikes going on and our drivers were Italian. We stopped 3 times on the drive at truck stops. We purchased water and food because Celebrity did not supply us with any. The bathroom situation was okay at the first stop and tolerable at the second stop. The last stop the toilets were overflowing and the desperate headed for the bushes. At 5:00 am it was apparent that our drivers were lost in Barcelona. They were outside of the buses gesturing and hollering at each other. To the rescue… they found a taxi driver willing to drive us to an arranged hotel where were told rooms would be available until we boarded the Constellation.

When we arrived at the hotel we all unloaded our luggage and manhandled it to the lobby. The staff was expecting us but they thought we were paying and we thought Celebrity was paying. There was no representative from Celebrity there to help us. We invaded the lobby and claimed all the couches and chairs waiting until Celebrity sent help. The hotel staff realized our problem and turned a blind eye to our filling the lobby with tired bodies and masses of luggage.

Mid morning and a few calls later a representative arrived to tag our luggage for the arriving Constellation and to shuttle us to the port. Mitch knew what cabin we were assigned to and the itinerary and the cost of the 7 day cruise. Some people only had confirmation numbers because they spoken with Miami and packed with even greater haste than we had.

Having successfully boarded ship we unpacked again. Saturday the 16^th we sailed out of Barcelona to Villefranche again. Captain Gerry Larsson-Fedde and his senior officers met with the 40 couples that had transferred to his ship. They listened to our telling of the hours of chaos and uncertainty and the long uncomfortable ride and assured us that they would try to make up for as many problems that they feasibly could. They were true to their word.

It was lovely to have the champagne and fruit in our cabins. It was even lovelier when they prepared a special brunch for us and went out of their way to see that we had a wonderful cruise. We were invited to the bridge to watch as we left port with the added joy of a clear sky and a full moon.

This is a long story. Part II will tell of the 7 day cruise on the Constellation and the wonderful sights, sounds and experiences we had.