Barcelona cruise terminal to Sants Railway station

Hi,

We a group of 8 and will be disembarking from the Symphony of the Seas .on Sunday the 13th of May We will be using the self disembarkation process and the official dock time is 5 am .We want to catch the 9 am train to Madrid.Do you think it would be comfortable or should we take a later train . The next train takes 45 minutes extra to reach Madrid. Also should we prearrange a transfer or should we just catch a cab. Any insight would be greatly appreciated

You should have no problem catching that train. You will probably be at the train station before 8am. You can use shuttles, busses, metro, etc., and it will be inexpensive, but I would not want to be dealing with luggage on the metro and busses. I'd opt for a taxi (probably 2 or 3 for your group), quicker and much more convenient.

Taxi is definitely the best way to go with luggage and the only one I would consider.

There should be numerous taxis waiting for you when disembarking.

By doing self assist and assuming you dock on time there is absolutely no reason not to make your 9am train time.

Thanks for your replies

What are the chances of the ship not docking on time . Are there delays rarely or is it a common occurrence and when there is a delay is it for a hour or so or even more .

I would also recommend a taxi because of the luggage, but if you insist on public transport, take the bus that goes from the pier to la rambla, and there is a underground metro at la rambla that goes directly to Barcelona Saints. The taxi ride from the ship to barcelona saints i would say is about 10 minutes max. as soon as you leave the ship is a line for taxis, took us 20-30 minutes in line to get a taxi, but if you get off that early I bet it would be much faster. In my experience, Barcelona cruise port is the most painless and fastest cruise terminal.

Hi,

We a group of 8 and will be disembarking from the Symphony of the Seas .on Sunday the 13th of May We will be using the self disembarkation process and the official dock time is 5 am .We want to catch the 9 am train to Madrid.Do you think it would be comfortable or should we take a later train . The next train takes 45 minutes extra to reach Madrid. Also should we prearrange a transfer or should we just catch a cab. Any insight would be greatly appreciated

Taxi everytime.

They have fixed prices to Train station or Airport.and there are usually around 30 taxis just outside the terminal at any time.

If you all want to be in the same taxi you would be advised to pre-book a taxi van.

Thanks for your replies

 

What are the chances of the ship not docking on time . Are there delays rarely or is it a common occurrence and when there is a delay is it for a hour or so or even more .

While there are delays from time to time, it's not that common.

From the Harmony Med cruises in 2016:

Although arrival was 5 pm Express Departure was 6:15 to 7:30 am.

steamboats

Alternatively could use the port shuttle bus, a short walk and then the metro from Drassanes to Sants Estacio. You will not need to change trains and the ticket machines have an English/American language option. That was my intention until I saw the line of taxis as I exited the cruise terminal. I did not have to wait for a taxi but I cannot guarantee that will be the same for you. If you can self disembark reasonably early I cannot see any difficulty making the early train.

If you have waiting time at the train station and your ticket is for first class you could use the Sala Club Lounge. It is an oasis of quiet and calm in an otherwise noisy and busy station. There are seating areas, toilets and complimentary soft drinks.

Just a word of caution and I am sure you are careful. The Sants station has a bit of a reputation for pick pocketing. I had no problem but I spent most of my time in the Sala Club Lounge.

Best wishes, Stephen.

PS I once booked a transfer from our hotel in Barcelona to the cruise terminal. Not realising that our ship would dock at the World Trade Centre. At the appointed time a very nice black Mercedes drove us about a hundred yards between the two. Oh well it was only $100.

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I've taken the port bus and the metro to Sants, and wouldn't recommend it since you are schlepping luggage. There are long walks between the bus & Metro and Metro to Station.

Since you are a large group, I would book a transfer with Zip Transfers. I've used them twice in Barcelona last year from the cruise port to the airport, and from our Barcelona hotel to cruiseport, and they have been excellent and on time. You can get an 8 pax van for 58 Euro from the cruise port to the train station you are going to, I assume Sants Estacio, and if you have a lot of luggage, you can get a 13 pax van for 60 Euro. The 13 pax van for 2 more Euro will give you extra space to stretch out.

From their drop down menu, Choose from Barcelona Cruiseport to Barcelona city (all areas). They will prompt you for an address or train station info. With your group of 8, forget the taxi. http://www.ziptransfers.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIodb2-fbu2AIVDuDICh2Osw1GEAAYASAAEgJEoPD_BwE

Hi,

 

We a group of 8 and will be disembarking from the Symphony of the Seas .on Sunday the 13th of May We will be using the self disembarkation process and the official dock time is 5 am .We want to catch the 9 am train to Madrid.Do you think it would be comfortable or should we take a later train . The next train takes 45 minutes extra to reach Madrid. Also should we prearrange a transfer or should we just catch a cab. Any insight would be greatly appreciated

Will be doing the same thing on the same boat, but in June. I had the same question, but am going to opt for the 10am train, just in case. Good luck

We had a 10:30 flight out of Barcelona for a 6:00am ship arrival last fall. We did self-disembark and I had pre-booked a taxi just to be safe. It took less than 10 minutes for us to go from ship to taxi stand. Since we were so far ahead of when I had booked the taxi, I called and cancelled and we just grabbed a taxi from the queue. Lots of taxis just waiting for passengers at that time of the morning.

The Barcelona discussion board has a user named EnricM who is extremely helpful. He's a local in Barcelona and is very knowledgeable. I suggest you jump over to that board if you have any detailed questions. I'm sure he can help.

:)Thanks everyone for your valuable inputs. Have booked tickets to Madrid for the 9am from Barcelona Sants. Will arrange for a Private transfer beforehand just to be in the safe side.

Last year, that shuttle bus charged E2.50 just to get to Columbus monument per person and it didn't commence until 8am. I have no idea of the cost of the train ticket but supposing it is around E2.50 as well, that's E40 for the 8 passengers. For a very small amount extra, you can all travel in style and from the cruise terminal. It's a no brainer really to use a taxi