Landing In Europe: Oh, The Planning

In 2018, I booked a Summer 2020 European cruise. It was an ambitious plan, since it was two years away, and we had never gone landing in Europe. After eighteen months of planning and excitement, Covid killed that dream. We were fortunate to get every cent back, from the airfare to the cruise to the museums, but we were so disappointed that we booked another European cruise for 2021. Yeah…Covid, too. 

Fast forward to an interesting, one-of-a-kind itinerary that Carnival posted for an incredibly reasonable rate. It may not have been my dream countries, but it went to places close to the top of my list. It fit the bill not only in price, but it was a one-way cruise—starting and ending in different countries, it left in the summer, and it went to seven countries. We were hooked.

I started with one spreadsheet, that quickly grew from a page to a folder to an entire binder of information. Compared to a domestic trip, I had so many different receipts and confirmation numbers and printed tickets that I was glad I had everything logically organized. Don’t underestimate how much actual paper you are going to need for a trip like this, even in this paperless, technology-focused world. 

Booking Some Things In Advance 

There was an incredible, unprecedented amount of planning that went into this 19-day adventure. Having never traveled to Europe, everything was new to us, so I spent extra time prepping for everything I could imagine might become an issue. 

Making plans very far in advance can be a little dicey, for several reasons. There was a chance our trip would be canceled yet again, because our ship went into drydock right before our cruise and might not be finished. Further, most of my expenditures were non-refundable and would not “price match”, so I ran the risk of things going down in price or having to be cancelled without a refund. 

In the end, I wanted as many things as possible to be planned—and paid for—as far in advance as possible. Part of my budgeting plan was firmly planted in pre-paying as much as I could. By doing this, I was able to pay things off in pieces, and not come home to an unreasonable bill on my credit card. 

Then The Packing

‘Put it all on your bed, then pack half as many clothes and twice as much money”. I don’t know who originally said that, but it’s really true! After landing in Europe, we ended up not needing anywhere near as many things that I expected, but definitely used more money than I had anticipated. As you will learn through my blogs on this subject, this particular trip has changed my position and perspective on packing for the rest of my life. I document it all here for you, but my overarching advice is this: Don’t pack like me.

First Attempt

Six days on land and 13 days on a ship calls for an incredible amount of clothes. If we hadn’t been doing a cruise, we could have minimized our dress clothes substantially, but either way, I wanted to be prepared for any eventuality or possibility that might come my way. My bed was covered with all of the best things I own—plus a whole lot of stuff I bought!!!

Second Attempt

I put a lot of stuff back in the closet and drawers! I realized I needed to have a fair amount of room in my bag for souvenirs, so I took out a bunch of dress clothes and some of the pants. I kept the topis—I like to have options. My luggage could at least close this time…once I used the extenders on both bags.

Final List

Just like anywhere else I’ve ever been, I should have known that all that matters is the “mix and match” factor—can I wear this pair of pants with at least two or three tops? Once I focused on mixing and matching things together, I was able to minimize my luggage a bit more. The formal clothes for the cruise still monopolized the space, but at least I felt better about carrying my own suitcase.

Flying Internationally

Did it in coach

We flew British Airways in coach to Barcelona, and it was tough. Ten hours with me in the window and Sweet Husband in the aisle with a stranger between us. I slept pretty good, but the seats were so close together, and Sweet Husband didn’t get any sleep. Moving forward, I anticipate upgrading us to Business Class, because the jet lag was bad enough without adding an entire night of no sleep. Flying home from London on American Airlines, we did the same seating configuration, but flew all day long. We suffered less jet lag on this one,

Long-haul flight specifics

Both airlines kept us pretty well fed, I’ll give them that. We had dinner and breakfast heading to Europe, and lunch and snacks coming back from London. The food wasn’t bad, and I really appreciated not having to worry about missing meals and bringing snacks for us on both flights. The hot food was, indeed, hot, and the cold food was cold, so that helped a lot. It really helped after landing in Europe.

Landing In Europe/Foreign Country

Signs in the airport

I’ve flown into Mexico before, so I knew that the signs would all be in Spanish when we landed in Barcelona, but I didn’t factor in the different dialect in London, as well. Finding our way around in Barcelona, which was a small airport, wasn’t really a problem even though signs were in Spanish. Following the crowd was a really good plan. London Heathrow, however, was a train wreck! Not only did they not have any signs telling us which terminal to go to for our connection, but the signage throughout the buildings was not at all clear with arrows or words. No doubt about it, no matter how big a “hub” it is, I will avoid Heathrow in the future. 

Finding transportation

Nothing could be easier than finding taxis outside of an airport! Both Barcelona and London has great signage for finding taxis. I was really glad we weren’t going to rely on Uber from airports, because those pickup spots were not marked at all, and would have been more stressful. So, while we may have paid a bit more by using taxis, it was significantly less stressful for me. We used taxis throughout our time in Barcelona—they were plentiful and cheap—but did switch to Uber in London, because finding available taxis in all parts of that city could definitely be a problem.

How To Pick Hotels

Research

We chose the Ibis Style Barcelona Bogatelle (https://www.travelocity.com/Barcelona-Hotels-Ibis-Styles-Barcelona-City-Bogatell.h15926453.Hotel-Information) was fantastic, and the manager, Rubin, was super easy to work with, and was very helpful while we were there. In London, we stayed at the Lancaster Hall Hotel in Kensington (https://www.lancaster-hall-hotel.co.uk/) which was also a good choice. Both hotels had a great breakfast included—which is a must for me when I travel. Both had a nice bar in the lobby that we used in the evening, but the Ibis wins for my favorite, due to the rooftop pool with another bar that offered a relaxing end to the day with a beautiful view. 

Choose An Area

We were excited—and ready—for a ton of walking for this vacation,m so that went into our choices for hotels. In Barcelona, we were located exactly between the Familia Sagrada Basilica and the Barceloneta beach, which were our top two things to visit. Kensington Palace was super high on my London list, and we were just a block or two away from Hyde Park in London. My advice to you is to work backwards—-deciding what your top tourist destination is and then finding a hotel that will support your visit. 

Notes On Murphy’s Law

All of my blogs come from my real life and experiences, I think you know this.

You also know by now that I am always half-full and quite positive. Always.

So, when I tell you this trip didn’t exactly go off without a hitch, you might be surprised. But, boy, was it a train wreck at the beginning.

Check It Out:

1. After landing in Europe: When our flight from London to Barcelona on our first day was canceled, we knew British Airways would take care of us. Not really. After six hours in line at Heathrow, we weren’t rescheduled until two days later.
2. We were LUCKY to find a hotel when British Airways just plain SHUT DOWN for the day, stranding thousands of people along with us. The Moxy London did a great job for us for those two nights near the airport. Not the start we were hoping for…
3. British Airways had no idea what happened to our luggage. Really—they didn’t even know if it made it to London, much less Barcelona.
4. We missed two prepaid tours in Barcelona because we were stuck in London for two nights. Money, time and excitement completely lost.
5. When we finally got to Barcelona on Saturday, no luggage arrived. They had no idea where it was or when it would arrive. We were getting on the ship the next day, and they promised (yeah, right) they would deliver the luggage to whatever port we were in.
6. We spent our only day in Barcelona shopping. We needed everything from toothbrushes and saline solution to formal clothes and shoes. We went to a store called El Corte Ingles (https://www.elcorteingles.com/) and you should check it out. It was a total of 12 stories, and had everything from wine and hair mousse to luggage, Clinique cosmetics and a restaurant. It was a city, and we shopped it like we were on Supermarket Sweep.
7. We got on the ship the next day, never having reached the beach. In a shocking turn of events, Sweet Husband got his luggage on day seven of the cruise. On day eight of the cruise, we FOUND my suitcase on the dock. 

So, now that you know what we were dealing with, you can look forward to hearing all about the 13-day cruise in my next travel blog. To make it short and sweet while you wait—we made the absolute best of it!

Next stop…Carnival!

THANK YOU FOR READING THIS FAR

Thank you for reading all about landing in Europe!

Hey, since you’re here! You may as well check out some other tips, like how to make an airplane comfortable, here, or what spending New Year’s in Vegas is like, here! Or, check out our other topics here! Either way, I appreciate you!

Please leave a COMMENT about any tips you may have!! Or comment with YOUR story! Where’re your next trip going to be? Let me know!

Please, feel free to contact me or leave a COMMENT with anything you would like to hear more about! Or reach out with any unrelated questions, comments, concerns, or random outbursts of excitement by clicking here.

Oh! And don’t forget to check out my video series by CLICKING HERE!!!