Mediterranean Cruise on Celebrity Century

We now have our first cruise under our belts and it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Twelve nights of sailing that began and ended in Barcelona, Spain. The flight from Sacramento took us first to Salt Lake City, then to Atlanta and ended in Barcelona. We were traveling East, so gained hours as we went.

Upon our arrival it was time for a bus tour of the city. The day was beautiful and so was the city.

We went up to the hills where the Olympics were held and got a fantastic panoramic view, then visited the Gaudi church, which is still under construction. They figure it has another 25 or so years to go until completion. Seeing it, we could understand why. It truly is a work of art! And, a project that can't be rushed. We also visited the older part of town and were entertained by several groups of acrobats. They formed human pyramids like we'd never seen before. The two groups we saw didn't "quite" make it to the very top, but it was still very impressive. They clasped hands and demonstrated "strength in numbers". Each successive layer climbed up the backs and shoulders of the layers before it, until one small climber reached the very top. It made us very nervous to see the strain on the faces of the lower layers of the pyramid.

Finally we boarded the ship and made our way to the cabin. There were eleven in our group of mostly IPA (International Police Association) members, plus Jim Harris's brother, Walter.

We found ourselves in the Concierge Class with membership in the Captain's Club and Elite Status. Jim and Claudia (traveling companions and our travel agents) received a special deal where they could choose a first-time cruise couple to receive a one-time offer to upgrade. Yes, we were interested - and spent the entire cruise trying to do all it offered. We knew that we'd turn into pumpkins again as soon as the cruise ended, so were going to enjoy it while we could.

And, we certainly did!