Any ship late arrival on return to Barcelona?

[BermudaMom]

I've booked a 12 day cruise next September round trip from Barcelona. Plan to fly in two days ahead of time but am wondering about planning our return flights.

 

We've never had a delay more than an hour in getting into a port to disembark at the end of a cruise but looking for advice as the direct flights leave around 10:45am and the ship is scheduled into port at 6am.

 

In reading this board, it sounds like Barcelona airport can be very conjested for departutes so my feeling is that we either need to spend one night upon the return to ensure we make it to Barcelona airport for a 10:45am direct flight or we take a one stop flight to Paris, Frankfurt or somewhere that leaves Barcelona later in the day and fly on from there to the US east coast then home the next day.

 

Would appreciate advice from those with more experience in these matters than I.

 

Thanks in advance!

[jotabecu]

I've booked a 12 day cruise next September round trip from Barcelona. Plan to fly in two days ahead of time but am wondering about planning our return flights.

 

We've never had a delay more than an hour in getting into a port to disembark at the end of a cruise but looking for advice as the direct flights leave around 10:45am and the ship is scheduled into port at 6am.

 

In reading this board, it sounds like Barcelona airport can be very conjested for departutes so my feeling is that we either need to spend one night upon the return to ensure we make it to Barcelona airport for a 10:45am direct flight or we take a one stop flight to Paris, Frankfurt or somewhere that leaves Barcelona later in the day and fly on from there to the US east coast then home the next day.

 

Would appreciate advice from those with more experience in these matters than I.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

Even though the distance to the airport is at most 20 to 30 minutes I honestly believe that you would run the risk of missing your flight and would certainly consider staying overnight or a later connection.

Enjoy!!!

[chipmaster]

I'd not feel totally comfortable with a flight before 12pm, but that is me.

 

The one wild card IMHO is the transportation from port to airport. Taxi can have long lines and easily take 30-45', having a pre reserved shuttle and be part of the first group off and you can probably be on your way by 8am so airport by 8:45 sounds like the required two hours before flight. ;)

 

I've booked a 12 day cruise next September round trip from Barcelona. Plan to fly in two days ahead of time but am wondering about planning our return flights.

 

We've never had a delay more than an hour in getting into a port to disembark at the end of a cruise but looking for advice as the direct flights leave around 10:45am and the ship is scheduled into port at 6am.

 

In reading this board, it sounds like Barcelona airport can be very conjested for departutes so my feeling is that we either need to spend one night upon the return to ensure we make it to Barcelona airport for a 10:45am direct flight or we take a one stop flight to Paris, Frankfurt or somewhere that leaves Barcelona later in the day and fly on from there to the US east coast then home the next day.

 

Would appreciate advice from those with more experience in these matters than I.

 

Thanks in advance!

[Keith1010]

There have been several threads on this subject. Some will tell you to not book a flight that early and some will tell you it is OK.

 

I would book a flight at 12:00 Noon or later because there is always the chance the ship will arrive to port late. While this doesn't happen very often I don't want to spend half the cruise worrying about it so I would rather play it safe then sorry. There are many reasons why the ship could arrive late from weather, to a medical evacuation that delays the ship to a variety of other issues. So I would not take the chance.

 

I know of friends who were on a ship that arrive to Barcelona late on the day of disembarkation and I also have arrived there late one time, not on disembarkation day but on a day durng the course of a cruise.

 

Keith

[Keith1010]

Double Post.

[BermudaMom]

Thanks for the advice. The only direct flight to the US east coast looks likely to be before 11am so we will plan to overnight after the cruise and fly out the next morning.

[smoothdancer]

Last month we had a flight home at this time also.

The ship was cleared by 6:00 and we were off and at the airport around 7:30... The gate was not even open when we got to the airport... I understand your fear, I was a bit worried too but we ended up with plenty of time.

[financialgrl]

Whenever I go on a cruise anywhere I always plan to arrive the day before and stay the day after. For me, it's the calm of not having to worry about missing the flights or cruise. Also, probably feel that way because Murphy's Law tends to be the rule rather than the exception in my life!

[GlendaleCruiser]

I've booked a 12 day cruise next September round trip from Barcelona. Plan to fly in two days ahead of time but am wondering about planning our return flights.

 

We've never had a delay more than an hour in getting into a port to disembark at the end of a cruise but looking for advice as the direct flights leave around 10:45am and the ship is scheduled into port at 6am.

 

In reading this board, it sounds like Barcelona airport can be very conjested for departutes so my feeling is that we either need to spend one night upon the return to ensure we make it to Barcelona airport for a 10:45am direct flight or we take a one stop flight to Paris, Frankfurt or somewhere that leaves Barcelona later in the day and fly on from there to the US east coast then home the next day.

 

Would appreciate advice from those with more experience in these matters than I.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

We are in that situation next May. We've decided to stay one night in a hotel near the airport the day we disembark. We are staying their 3 days pre-cruise so will use the time to repack and get ready for a flight the next day. The Magic (our ship) arrives at 5:00 am that morning but the Norwegian Epic comes into the port the same morning so we will be among 7,000 + people trying to get out of Barcelona that day and the next. We already have our hotel and flights booked.

[BermudaMom]

Yes, I think that's what we're going to do as well. Two nights before the cruise and one night at the airport hotel the night before we leave again.

 

Still trying to decide on what airline and which route. We like Continental so likely will choose them.

[sippican]

Hi Bermudamom, which cruise are you on? We are on RC Brilliance out of Barcelona on 9/16. Many of the flights will not be out for a couple of weeks yet. However, we did just book from Boston on British Airways. The RC info on our cruise advises flights after 10:00 AM on disembarkation day. We had our choice of 1:35 or 4 something, and went with the 1:35. Although we had many earlier choices on other airlines, we just didn't dare.

[BermudaMom]

Hi,

We are on the Solstice on September 29th, like you waiting for the flights that time of the year to show online. Are you flying on BA from Boston to England first? Then on to Barcelona?

We can fly BA to England from here but it goes into Gatwick so we then have the hassle of getting over to Heathrow for the connection. Did that once and don't really want to do again. Also hate the BA business class setup out of here. It's a 777 with the back facing seats by the windows. That partition between seats makes me feel claustrophobic.

 

I think we're going to see if we can get on Continental from Newark to Barcelona as it's a quick flight from here to Newark although we'd likely have to go a day early there too as the connection from the arrival to the take off to Barcelona is a bit tight and I don't want to risk missing it. We've flown Continental from EWR to Paris and also to Edinburgh before and found their business class excellent.

 

I know we're spoiled, but on long haul, we'd rather pay the extra so we can sleep on the overnight flights. Otherwise we're both pretty miserable for a few days which takes away from our enjoyment of our vacation.

 

I think for the return we'll plan on staying one night in Barcelona so we can get the Continental flight out the following morning. Barcelona's definitely not the easiest to get to/from from here with the flight schedules I've seen.

[sippican]

Hi,

We are on the Solstice on September 29th, like you waiting for the flights that time of the year to show online. Are you flying on BA from Boston to England first?

I know we're spoiled, but on long haul, we'd rather pay the extra so we can sleep on the overnight flights. Otherwise we're both pretty miserable for a few days which takes away from our enjoyment of our vacation.

.

 

We are going from BOS to BCN via Heathrow. We really wanted a direct from the US to BCN, but the flight options from Philly & JFK involved long layovers from BOS, or the connections were too close. We really wanted an overnight and he the BA sleepers should fit our needs (no claustrophobia here). The price wasn't bad for Business compared to others. I wish Continental had worked for us. We looked at Aer Lingus, Lufthansa, Spanair, Europa, Alitalia, Delta ... Hopefully we made the best choice!

Looked at the Solstice also; should be a great trip. Where are you staying in BCN? We're looking at H10 Raca and Barcelona Catedral. I really want to stay in the Gothic Quarter.

[BermudaMom]

Not sure just yet where we're going to stay. I think I may just book through the cruise line as I've checked out the four hotels they have on their list and they all look fine to me.

 

Have been waiting to book the hotel as wanted to work out first if we are definitely going to be able to have our adult daughter join us. We have a family pact that all three of us wouldn't travel at the same time while my parents are still alive and living next door to us. They're in their mid 80s and since my sister lives in the U.S., my responsibility. However, I've asked my sister to plan on coming home for at least a week and I'll fly my nephew home for the balance of the time so if that does work out and they're still with us by the time of the cruise, we'd be OK to bring our daughter. Just waiting to hear from her.

[katmich12]

IMy husband and I are also on your cruise. We are staying for 2 nights prior to the cruise at the Hotel Montecarlo. The location is good and rates right now are 168 euros per night including tax. They are ranked #1 on Trip Advisors.You can book on their website. Lindy

[BermudaMom]

Thanks for the info Lindy, I will definitely take at look at this.

[HeinBloed]

I've booked a 12 day cruise next September round trip from Barcelona. Plan to fly in two days ahead of time but am wondering about planning our return flights.

 

We've never had a delay more than an hour in getting into a port to disembark at the end of a cruise but looking for advice as the direct flights leave around 10:45am and the ship is scheduled into port at 6am.

 

In reading this board, it sounds like Barcelona airport can be very conjested for departutes so my feeling is that we either need to spend one night upon the return to ensure we make it to Barcelona airport for a 10:45am direct flight or we take a one stop flight to Paris, Frankfurt or somewhere that leaves Barcelona later in the day and fly on from there to the US east coast then home the next day.

 

Would appreciate advice from those with more experience in these matters than I.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

We used 09.55 hrs from Barcelona for Frankfurt and it was no problem. As it is an intra-Schengen flight it was enough being at the airport around 08.45 hrs which means leaving the ship at 08.00 hrs with a booked taxi is fine enough.

 

Regards

HeinBloed