June 4 - Our motor coach arrived pier side in Tarragona, Spain, where we embarked Crystal Symphony for a nine-day Mediterranean cruise. We boarded the motor coach for our transfer from Barcelona after spending one very restful night at Hotel NH Collection Barcelona Pódium, the Crystal Cruises pre-cruise hotel in Barcelona. The “Pódium” is a four-star centrally located hotel that we found to be quite comfortable and within easy walking distance of Las Ramblas, less than one mile from the hotel.

You may be wondering why we are embarking in Tarragona instead of Barcelona, which has its own very capable port facilities. Since our last visit here, Barcelona has really scaled back on the number of large cruise ships they are allowing to dock there. The ever-increasing size and number of ships has put quite a strain on Barcelona’s infrastructure, so many cruises now embark/disembark in Tarragona which has its own commercial port. Unfortunately, this requires guests to travel approximately one hour from Barcelona to Tarragona.

As I have mentioned in the past, we always plan at least one, and often two nights pre-cruise in a city when cruising, especially when on an international sailing. We have experiened too many airline delays and cancellations to risk missing a ship by scheduling our arrival on the day of embarkation. Even though our American Airlines flight from DFW to Barcelona was about an hour late arriving, we did arrive in plenty of time to enjoy a day in Barcelona.

After shedding some jet lag with a short nap at the hotel, we head in search of one of our favorite local specialties when in Spain: Pimiento de Padrón peppers. With Google Maps as our guide, we walked in the direction of Las Ramblas, the famous pedestrian shopping boulevard in Barcelona. We took a detour down a narrow street and stumbled onto a local tavern that just happened to serve our favorite snack.

In case you are wondering, these little Padrón peppers are generally very mild, except for the occasional hot one you might encounter. The peppers are blistered in hot olive oil, sprinkled with coarse sea salt and served. They are the perfect snack to enjoy with a cold glass of San Miguel, the local beer.

Enough about our short visit to Barcelona. Let’s get back to embarkation in Tarragona. Boarding Crystal Symphony was very fast and efficient.

All of our luggage, other than hand luggage, had been collected outside of our hotel room that morning to be delivered to our stateroom. There were no long lines at security at the cruise terminal in Tarragona and we actually felt like we were the only ones boarding the ship. We were onboard in plenty of time for lunch at The Marketplace, Crystal’s buffet restaurant. The selection at The Marketplace was just as we remembered from our 2023 sailing aboard Crystal Serenity. This is still one of the best cruise ship buffets at sea.

During our meal, we were informed that our suite was ready to be occupied, so we made our way forward on Deck 8 to find that our luggage had arrived. On this journey, we are occupying a Sapphire Veranda Suite, a two-room suite that is the same category as what we enjoyed on Crystal Serenity. However, this Sapphire Veranda feels a bit smaller than the one on Serenity. Is this just our imagination? Nevertheless, the suite is beautifully decorated and very comfortable.

Just a few minutes after we arrived in our suite, we were greeted by Jonnazel, our stateroom attendant. She was happy to show us around the suite and point out which light switch controlled which lights. She also said she would return with additional hangers per Rickee’s request.

Soon after Jonnazel arrived, our doorbell rang once again and we were greeted by Milind, our butler for this cruise. Milind has been with Crystal Cruises for more than 20 years, an accomplishment that you often hear from Crystal crew members.

The mandatory muster drill was conducted at 5:15 and, unlike any cruise in the past several years, we were required to meet on the outer deck next to our designated lifeboat.

Fortunately, the drill was very brief and consisted primarily of a life jacket demo and warnings about fires onboard and other general safety rules. Pretty standard information.

After the drill, guests were invited to the outer decks on the pier side of the ship to enjoy a unique Human Tower performance. This is something Tarragona is known for, a large group of local performers who basically climb on top of each other to form a human tower with tiny children at the very top! The tallest human tower they built for us was seven levels. And this feat was accomplished in very windy conditions. Amazing!

Tonight, we were invited to join a group of other travel journalists for dinner at Osteria d’Ovidio, Crystal’s Italian restaurant.

After a very enjoyable meal and some stimulating conversation with colleagues, we all headed to the Galaxy Lounge where the Crystal Singers and Dancers performed Crystal in Motion, a welcome aboard variety show featuring performances from the various acts on board.

Tomorrow, Crystal Symphony will be docked in Palma de Mallorca, Spain.

Day One - Embarkation in Tarragona, Spain

Day Two - Palma de Mallorca, Spain