Barcelona has been the scene of many a battle over the years. Spanish warships were routed by the French during the Catalan Revolt in 1642, and the city was the scene of a major conflict in 1938 during the Spanish Civil War. Oh, and there’s been the occasional ding-dong at the Nou Camp stadium as well.
Next year the battle will be played out at sea again, as the world’s biggest cruise companies compete head to head with some of their largest ships.
Royal Caribbean have announced they will be basing the 154,407-ton Liberty of the Seas in Barcelona, sailing seven-night cruises in direct competition with NCL’s 153,000-ton Norwegian Epic and the 130,000-ton Carnival Magic.
That’s more than 12,000 passengers a week for those three ships alone, passing through a city which is already Europe’s busiest cruise port (above) with a throughput of more than two million people a year.
Other cruise lines with ships sailing from Barcelona include Celebrity, Costa, Crystal, Disney, Holland America, MSC, Oceania, Princess, Seabourn and Silversea.
The choice for British passengers will be between taking a two-hour flight to Spain for a seven night cruise, or sailing from Southampton, perhaps with P&O or on Liberty’s identical sister, Independence of the Seas, and taking two or three days to get to the Mediterranean.
Either way, the increased competition is likely to bring some bargain fares.
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