Earliest flight out of Barcelona

[HeinBloed]

Thanks Heinblod. I guess the problem then is trying to guess what time you will want to be picked up, since apparently it can be extremely slow getting through passport control at the port.

 

Barcelona is not London-Heathrow... and not UK...

 

So what is your last port???

 

Passport control (IF there is any...) takes seconds...

 

So far we never had passport control there when our last port was a French or other Spanish port.

 

Regards

HeinBloed

[thera]

When we are on the way to the airport and we like the driver and car we have a sheet of paper prepared showing our

 

Name

Name of the Ship

Date and Time of pick-up

 

and it works.

 

Meanwhile we have his phone number and call him on his cell phone.

 

So we must not pay the radio-call fee either...

 

Regards

HeinBloed

 

That's a great tip. I may try that in October when we're sailing the Jade. Thanks! You are always giving fantastic advice.

[HeinBloed]

That's a great tip. I may try that in October when we're sailing the Jade. Thanks! You are always giving fantastic advice.

 

I think the NORWEGIAN JADE is going on a Sunday...

 

There is a small problem:

 

on Sunday it works only if you catch the right taxi...

 

Only 50% of the taxis are allowed to run on Sunday.

 

Alternating odd and even registration numbers.

 

So we learned that we were lucky that our taxi-driver was able to get us from the port because we had a pre-cruise and he was not allowed to get us to the port but the next Sunday when we returned.

 

He liked it because so we could garantee him a longer tour and he did not need to queue and wait for guests and we were happy that he was just in front of the terminal and we did not need to queue up and did not pay the extra for pre-booking...

 

Regards

HeinBloed

 

P.S.

 

Do not forget to write other date format

 

like

 

Senor / Senora XXX

+1 xxx xxx-xxxx

NORWEGIAN JADE

Mol Adossat Terminal B

Domingo, 22 septiembre

a las 7

para l'aeropuerto

 

Ask the driver for his name and phone number...

 

Good Luck

[tomko2]

When you say your fallback was a later flight how would that have worked? Did you have a reservation on the fallback flight? If not, how did you know there were available seats?

 

 

The later flight was not showing full in Exective Class; had we missed the earlier flight they would have put us on the second flight.

We checked the flights thru our seat selection section of our e-tickets. This section of the website lets you move your seat if you wish so we were able to see how full the flight was on that day.

Normally we are overly prudent and would not have risked an early flight but getting to Frankfurt (then to Mainz) on that particular day was not a major concern.

Getting to Frankfurt airport a couple days later for our return flight to Canada was more of a concern.;)

Our two day stay in Mainz was a wonderful addition to our trip.

[marylizcat]

Barcelona is not London-Heathrow... and not UK...

 

So what is your last port???

 

Passport control (IF there is any...) takes seconds...

 

So far we never had passport control there when our last port was a French or other Spanish port.

 

Regards

HeinBloed

 

Disney Magic guests are currently reporting that the queue to leave the terminal through passport control/customs, when disembarking at Barcelona, is taking up to an hour! I agree, not usual at other ports, but have never disembarked at Barcelona before! Reports say an hour for this and then an hour for a taxi, so not on way until about 11am.

[Keith1010]

The later flight was not showing full in Exective Class; had we missed the earlier flight they would have put us on the second flight.

We checked the flights thru our seat selection section of our e-tickets. This section of the website lets you move your seat if you wish so we were able to see how full the flight was on that day.

Normally we are overly prudent and would not have risked an early flight but getting to Frankfurt (then to Mainz) on that particular day was not a major concern.

Getting to Frankfurt airport a couple days later for our return flight to Canada was more of a concern.;)

Our two day stay in Mainz was a wonderful addition to our trip.

 

I can't tell you how many flights that I have been on when it appears even the day before there are plent of seats and by that morning the flight is already full.

 

I have never understood these backup plans because a backup plan is not one that has been devised on the fly. The reality is that when someone books their flight for the early flight whether or not there will be seats on another flight that same day. The odds say there won't be.

 

In the end, people can do whatever they want.

 

I won't book such an early flight for two major reasons.

 

First, I do not want to spend any part of the cruise worrying about whether I will make the flight or not and I don't want to rush off the ship like a maniac to run for the flight.

 

Secondly, I have see first hand ships getting into port late and people very upset because they will miss their flights. And to me it doesn't matter if others didn't have a problem getting to the ship who post here because the odds say someone will have a problem. When you push for a very early flight you are leaving no room for error. The odds say this will catch up and if it happens to you then it doesn't matter if others say it wasn't a problem.

 

Keith

[HeinBloed]

Disney Magic guests are currently reporting that the queue to leave the terminal through passport control/customs, when disembarking at Barcelona, is taking up to an hour! I agree, not usual at other ports, but have never disembarked at Barcelona before! Reports say an hour for this and then an hour for a taxi, so not on way until about 11am.

 

Was this the reposition to Barcleona???

 

If yes: that should be as they are enter the European Union as debarkation port.

 

If you do round-trips out of Barcelona the situation SHOULD be different. But as I know they call La Goulette which is outside the EU.

 

But even that should go smooth...

 

Regards

HeinBloed

[marylizcat]

It was Dover to Barcelona re-position, so they were not entering the EU for the first time.

[HeinBloed]

It was Dover to Barcelona re-position, so they were not entering the EU for the first time.

 

But the origin of the cruise is outside Schengen-Area...

 

You treat us (including yourself...) the same when we arrive in London-Heathrow.

 

But your HM Customs is doing it much more smarter: the officers stayed onboard and enjoyed the board life... and then we (only Non-UK-citizens) have to show up our passports somewhere in a lobby... and we can move without further control in Southampton. Never seen before more happier customs agents...

 

So it was no typical roundtrip out of Barcelona...

 

Regards

HeinBloed

[marylizcat]

Oh, that sounds OK then, as we will be roundtrip from Barcelona next June. So if we reckon on disembarking at 9am, we could book the taxi for 9.15 maybe, to allow time to locate luggage and get through to the outside of the terminal.

[HeinBloed]

Oh, that sounds OK then, as we will be roundtrip from Barcelona next June. So if we reckon on disembarking at 9am, we could book the taxi for 9.15 maybe, to allow time to locate luggage and get through to the outside of the terminal.

 

It's really easy in Barcelona:

 

 

They have great signpost and use caroussels. So it's very quick and you need only to stand at one point instead of running through the hall...

 

Regards

HeinBloed

[max227]

Why so long to get a taxi??. I thought they were lined up outside the terminal.

[HeinBloed]

Why so long to get a taxi??. I thought they were lined up outside the terminal.

 

You are reading of both experiences:

 

it can take seconds but it also can take hours...

 

depends to

 

number of ships in town

time of leaving the terminal

day of travel

 

The pessimists who want you to catch a late flight let you wait hours.

 

The optimists who wants you to catch an early flight let you book a taxi in advance.

 

So you can experience both situation.

 

The only time I was queueing it took seconds. All other time we pre-book the cars.

 

 

Regards

HeinBloed

[GlendaleCruiser]

You are reading of both experiences:

 

it can take seconds but it also can take hours...

 

depends to

 

number of ships in town

time of leaving the terminal

day of travel

 

The pessimists who want you to catch a late flight let you wait hours.

 

The optimists who wants you to catch an early flight let you book a taxi in advance.

 

So you can experience both situation.

 

The only time I was queueing it took seconds. All other time we pre-book the cars.

 

 

Regards

HeinBloed

I understand the Norwegian Epic will unload and load that day, too. So, that means 7,000 people leaving and another 7,000 coming in. Might get crowded.

[Ashland]

Suggestions please..Will be on RCI Liberty Aug 27-Sept 3 2011 they arrive into port 6:00am..will be flying then to LHR for a few days before heading back to LAX..What is the earliest flight time I should book out of BCN..Any difference in getting through customs if I'm not going straight back to the US..Thinking I'll probably use British air..Thanks so much...

[HeinBloed]

Suggestions please..Will be on RCI Liberty Aug 27-Sept 3 2011 they arrive into port 6:00am..will be flying then to LHR for a few days before heading back to LAX..What is the earliest flight time I should book out of BCN..Any difference in getting through customs if I'm not going straight back to the US..Thinking I'll probably use British air..Thanks so much...

 

If you want to be the first from the ship on self-debarkation and your ship is scheduled:

 

Any time after 10.00 hrs...

 

Personally I would not book earlier than 12.00 hrs... to have a relaxed breakfast on board when most are gone...

 

Regards

HeinBloed

[Ashland]

If you want to be the first from the ship on self-debarkation and your ship is scheduled:

 

Any time after 10.00 hrs...

 

Personally I would not book earlier than 12.00 hrs... to have a relaxed breakfast on board when most are gone...

 

Regards

HeinBloed

This will be our first disembarkation from Barcelona.. Just looking at what's available for departure times the month before to get an idea, the flights seem so early..Will this hold true once the schedule is out for my departure dates ?