Costa Serena Cruiser and Golondrina Boat in Barcelona Port

This a partial view of the entrance to Barcelona harbor where the Mediterranean cruiser terminals are located. The big vessel in the image is Costa Serena that belongs to one of the main operating companies, Costa Cruceros which generates about 126 visits to our port, according to 2007 figures. Costa Cruceros, brings about 330.000 visitors a year who spend around 50 euros per person in the city. This represents a total amount of around 15 million euros to Barcelona. All cruiser traffic in the port is managed by Creuers del Port de Barcelona, S.A. and the top responsible of all operations is the Port Authority of Barcelona (APB). If the previous figures look good you should know that the port expects to repeat the two million cruise passengers in 2009 and that last year Barcelona was the fifth port in the cruise world, behind the four major touristic ports in the Caribbean - Miami, Port Canaveral, Port Everglades, and the Mexican port of Cozumel. The city expects to receive a total of 880 cruise ship visits in 2009. APB calculates that cruise ships left 200 million euros in 2008! By the way, the small boat in the foreground is one of the Golondrinas sightseeing boats featured here in the past. These are the specs of Costa Serena cruiser:

Built in 2007
Passenger Capacity 2.930 (Double Occupancy)
Number of Crew 1.100
Total Cabins 1.500 (28 for Handicapped Guests)
Tonnage 114.500 t
Length 950 feet
Beam 118 feet
Decks 17 (14 for Guests Use)
Max Speed 23 Knots
Cruising Speed 21.5 Knots

Cruise Ferries at Barcelona Port: Grandi Navi Veloci

This is a view of Barcelona Port as taken from the gardens of Montjuic. Besides the harbor paraphernalia in the foreground, perhaps you can manage to see a big boat and you happen to see her name, Grandi Navi Veloci. This is one of the cruise ferries sailing the Mediterranean Sea between Italy, Spain, Tunisia, Morocco and the islands of Sicily and Sardinia. You can always search for Grandi Navi Veloci ferry prices online if you wish but that's not the purpose of this post. Maybe it only means that the port of Barcelona is one of the most important stopovers for Mediterranean cruisers.

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The Mirador on Miramar Road at Montjuic, Barcelona

You could be one of these lucky people. This is no luxury resort, this is just the Mirador on Miramar road in the mountain of Montjuic, Barcelona. You too can enjoy such wonderful view while having a snack before taking a little walk in the nearby gardens or visiting Montjuic castle. You too could be watching the red cable car going towards Jaume I tower in the background or admiring the impressive architecture of Barcelona World Trade Center. Come and share with us this privileged view of the Mediterranean Sea.

Sunset Farewell at Barcelona Port

 

To kiss goodbye 2007 I should have published this image in due time. As it is written somewhere in the stars that my daily posting mission is too heavy a cross to carry sometimes, I come to you from the future to talk about the end of the year.

I had chosen this elder couple looking far away in the distance, perhaps taking their last pictures of Barcelona before turning back home, to make some kind of allegory about time, age, hope and whatever good thoughts this image may inspire. I let you with them watching the sun slowly set over Montjuic mountain. Tomorrow it will be just another day on earth, let's take the most out of it.

Guardia Civil Patrol Boat at Barcelona Port

A sunset image taken at Barcelona Port with a close look on a Guardia Civil patrol boat. Besides the Spanish police boat, the World Trade Center building in the background and the Jaume I cable car tower are also worth mentioning.

Bridge Over Barcelona Port as Seen From Sightseeing Boat

La Porta de Europa Bridge in Barcelona Harbor - from sightseeing boat

This is the bridge over Barcelona Port as seen from a sightseeing boat of Las Golondrinas company, I already published a post with all the details about this magnificent bridge which I recommend you: La Porta de Europa

Remember this bridge is a project from Arenas y Asociados, built by FCC and considered according to the source, the largest bascule bridge in the world.

Barcelona Harbor: Las Golondrinas Sightseeing Boat

This is a closer look on a very similar scene that I featured in my post Barcelona Harbor Cruise: A City Teaser. This time I added some extra effects to enhance the picture. Notice the Columbus Monument and the Harbor Authority building mentioned in the past and seen here from a shorter distance.

The boat is one of the older Golondrinas (sightseeing boats company) cruising the harbor and I am taking the picture from a modern vessel run by the same company sailing not just the harbor but going along the coast till the Forum Area on the other part of the city.

One of these in the image costs you around 7,70 € adults and 2.80 for kids and that entitles you to go inside the harbor for around 40 mins.

Check rest of the offers here: Barcelona Sightseeing Boats

Sailboat Coming In Barcelona Port

A sailboat coming in Barcelona Port towards the marina at Port Olympic. While on board of a Golondrina (swallow) which is the name of the sightseeing boats in Barcelona harbour, I took this picture of the vessel sailing past our wake. There in the background, you can see some tiny fishermen at the far end of the port's mouth. For a better idea about this area please follow this link to my Barcelona port label.

Recommended: Today I would like to suggest a new search engine implemented on top of Barcelona photoblog. This is a Google searchbox customized to look up for photography terms. It feeds from top photography sites and it is going to grow as I increase the number of sources. If you know about top-notch photography sites please drop me a line and I will add them right away.

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Port of Barcelona

This is a view of Port of Barcelona as seen from Montjuic Castle on top of a nearby promontory.

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