katiebeth

Good Morning! I am seeking input/information on disembarkation in Barcelona. We are on Oceania Sirena (London to Barcelona) cruise departing on May 3rd. We arrive in Barcelona on May 15th at 7:00 am and disembarkation begins at 8:00 a.m. My husband and myself will be traveling with our adult daughter. She has a flight scheduled on the day of disembarkation from Barcelona to Atlanta departing at 11:30 am. My husband and I will be flying from Barcelona to Mallorca early afternoon to spend 3 days. We have visited Barcelona in the past (beautiful city) and have a wedding to attend in Mallora. Obviously, the 11:30 am flight is not ideal but it is a non-stop flight and she used airline points for her fare so times were somewhat limited. We have never flown out on the day of disembarkation but circumstances dictated it on this particular cruise. I have read that it takes about 30 minutes to get from the port to the airport in Barcelona. I am wondering about the airport itself and how long it normally takes to get thru immigration and security? I would appreciate any information for those who have knowledge/experience with the process. Also, if anyone has recommendations for a reliable private transfer service from the port to the airport, that would be greatly appreciated!! P.S. My Travel Agent spoke with Oceania and they told her that the earliest time recommended for flying out of Barcelona is 11:00 am. Thank you in advance for your input. Nancy

Cayman09. Thank you for taking the time to respond. I really appreciate it. Wishing you a wonderful time on your cruise. Enjoy!

Thank you all very much for taking the time to respond. I appreciate it so much. I was having a difficult time imagining that Oceania had declined so much since our last sailing in June of 2017. Again, we had a wonderful time on both of our Oceania cruises and are looking forward to returning in May. I understand the excursions can be a mixed bag, but we wanted to use our shore excursion credits and we go with a positive attitude and expect to have a lot of fun. 🤩 The itinerary looks great and we will be visiting many places we have not been to before ….so that is exciting. Again, thank you for your responses.

Greetings, We are booked on the May 3rd sailing on Sirena London to Barcelona. We are frequent cruisers but I have not been on these boards recently. We have sailed on Oceania twice in the past, one European sailing and one Caribbean. (Pre-Covid). My husband and I very much enjoyed Oceania and especially the food. However, I have recently read several reviews posted on Cruise Critic over the past year and the reviews are consistently bad. Many have indicated that the overall product is in decline; food, excursions, customer service, and the list goes on … My husband and I are really looking forward to this cruise, but I must say the recent reviews have me concerned as they are overwhelmingly negative. Do others who have cruised recently on Sirena seen an overall decline post covid? We have booked several excursions thru Oceania and am now having second thoughts. Any input/feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much, Nancy

Greetings, We are scheduled to sail on Tauck on the May 18th sailing from Basal to Amsterdam. This was a very last minute booking after our Scenic cruise was cancelled this week 14 days prior to our sailing. Praying we actually receive the refund from Scenic that our travel agent had to push to get in writing. Initially, we were offered another sailing on Scenic on June 22, not mentioning a refund. Due to work and family obligations, in addition to the astronomical costs of changing our airfare, this date was not an option for us. Supposedly, Scenic will process a refund check in an "expedited" manner within 60 days. We were told in writing that a refund generally takes 180 days. (ridiculous). Anyway, we will not be booking with Scenic again, terrible customer service. We are excited to be sailing on Tauck. We have heard great things about their ships and onboard service. Fortunately, the dates and embarkation/debarkation ports work with what we already have in place for airfare and hotel reservations. We are wondering if Tauck offers tables for 2 in the dining room? My husband and I enjoy mingling with fellow travelers during tours and for drinks, but usually prefer to dine by ourselves (especially with the Covid situation). Any feedback provided would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance. Nancy

Thank you so much for your reply. Yesterday afternoon, after our travel agent persisted with Scenic they offered a full refund that they will "expedite" and mail the check within 60 days. The letter states the normal time to process a refund is 180 days, which is ridiculous. Again, I am not sure how they can take payments immediately, but processing a refund takes 180 days. I understand Scenic offers a very fine product once on board, but after our experience with cancelling our cruise due to staff shortages 14 days prior to sailing, it is highly doubtful we would feel comfortable booking with them again. We were able to secure a stateroom last minute on Tauck for basically the same itinerary and sailing dates. I need to double check but I don't believe Tauck is testing daily or requires a test prior to boarding. My husband and I are fully vaccinated and had the booster shot. I do not blame you at all for cancelling the Viking cruise. Daily testing and quarantining in a hotel of Viking's choice for 5 days would be very stressful. I hope it works out for you in October!

We were scheduled on the May 18th, 2022 river cruise with Scenic on the Rhine Highlights itinerary and just received notice yesterday that Scenic has cancelled the sailing due to an "unexpected" and short-term shortage of crew members. We were supposed to fly to Basel, Switzerland on May 14th. Our travel agent has been working on a refund, since receiving the notice, but so far Scenic has only offered to reschedule us on the June 22nd sailing. To say we are disappointed is an understatement. Due to work and family commitments, May is the only time that works for us. In addition, we have a lot of money invested in airfare and hotels. Even if we could go on the June 22nd sailing, the cost of airfare and changing hotel reservations, makes it extremely cost prohibitive. Our airfare would double, for example. It is hard to imagine that Scenic just assumes we can easily change all of our plans and absorb the added costs, which are huge, and switch to the June 22nd cruise. When our travel agent pushed for a refund that said it may be "possible" but would take up to 180 days?? How can they cancel and entire cruise and not automatically offer a refund? Interestingly enough, they let us upgrade our stateroom to a higher category just last week. Surely, they knew about the staffing issues at that time, as they claim the staff members are having difficulty obtaining Visas. Our travel agent spent a good amount of time on the phone with Scenic yesterday and again all morning today. I have requested that Scenic put in writing that they will refund our entire fare and confirm the length of time it will take to do so. How can they take your payment in one day, but take 180 days to process a refund? Our travel agent has found to other sailings that will work for us with the dates/airfare/hotels we have now. (one on Tauk and one on AmaWaterways). However, we don't want to book until we know for certain Scenic will refund. We certainly will not be dealing with Scenic again. Does anyone have anything they can share regarding Scenic cancelling cruises and not offering a refund? Thank you!