Choice Air Question for Barcelona

[KikiKruiser]

Looking at Choice Air for a Med cruise next fall...... they list tons of flight options right now but they all seem to depart Barcelona between 10:30 AM - 11:40 AM.... is this realistic?? What is everyone's experience with these early Choice Air flight times - did you disembark in time to make them? Any problems or issues? Appreciate your feedback :)

[RickT]

The airport is not that far from the pier and I think anything after 11:00 is easily doable (assuming of course there are no delays exiting the ship).

 

There are usually hundreds of cabs lined up waiting to wisk you away to the airport. Worst case scenario is you may want to self disembark and take your luggage with you.

 

We too found that only earlier flights were available if you were connecting somewhere back to North America. I think we were at the airport by 9:00 AM on our last cruise ending in Barcelona 2 yrs ago and had plenty of time to grab a coffee and pastry before boarding our flight.

[celebrity]

We flew home from Barcelona at 10:40 am on Delta with no problems. We didn't need to self disembark. You should be fine. Have a great cruise.

[4774Papa]

We flew home from Barcelona at 10:40 am on Delta with no problems. We didn't need to self disembark. You should be fine. Have a great cruise.

We also had no problem making the Delta flight. However, I suggest that you plan on leaving the ship early and arranging for a car to the airport. The queue for taxis can be long.

We used Barcelona Day Tours for our group of six persons.

If you go with a taxi, plan on leaving the ship no later than 7am.

[Tiggertastic]

we made a 10.30 flight but were not international so didn't need to be there until 8.30

 

We got a cab easily as it is before they started bringing in people for the ship and it was really easy to get the bags as they come onto a carousel that you collect them from - make sure you get the really early tags as they use carousels based on tag colours / numbers

 

it is about 20 minutes in a cab to the airport

[Karynanne]

We had a 10:00 am flight to JFK and onto to SFO, and we decided to stay an extra day in Barcelona, instead of experiencing a very stressful morning.

 

Everyone's decision should be based upon their own particular comfort level.

[Tucker in Texas]

I agree you can make the flight but, like OP, we just stay overnight.

 

You have no customs/immigration to go through which really speeds things up. The taxi queue is very organized unlike other ports. They have a "Disneyland" style line with a person at the head of it to get you to the cab. They load them as fast as they can and get you on your way. No butting, pushing or shoving, or hijacking cabs.

 

Don't believe the ship when they tell you the cab line can be hours long. Since we were staying in Barcelona, we waited until they threw us off and it was probably at its longest then because not only were people like us getting off, crew members were too. We waited maybe 25 minutes from start to finish. Plenty of cabs lined up ready to go.

 

Self disembarking is the way to go if you can handle the luggage. You do that, you'll be at the airport by 8:30 a.m.

 

Tucker in Texas

[ariawoman]

We stayed overnight. I've found the taxi line in barcelona can take from 30-60-90 minutes at times, so you're best arranging for private transfer if you do in fact decide to fly home the day you disembark.

 

We stay at a hotel up near Placa De Catalunya - and then walk to the aerobus that stops there and gets you to the airport in about 30-40 minutes for a very reasonable fare.

 

I find it's better to end the trip with as little stress as possible. Flying is already stressful, as is knowing you're going back to reality!

[celebrity]

We also had no problem making the Delta flight. However, I suggest that you plan on leaving the ship early and arranging for a car to the airport. The queue for taxis can be long.

We used Barcelona Day Tours for our group of six persons.

If you go with a taxi, plan on leaving the ship no later than 7am.

 

We used Barcelona Day tours and our driver was late. :(

If I had to do it over again, I would just hop in a cab..they were plentiful I was all a

set to jump in a cab.. DH wanted to wait a few more minutes. It was stressful but worked out fine.

[KikiKruiser]

Thanks all - unfortunately, work schedules do not permit staying over in Barcelona after the cruise :(. Hopefully we'll be lucky enough to arrive a couple days early to enjoy the city.

But it sounds like with plentiful cabs and the airport not a great distance away, and with luck arriving back in port on time, we should be fine. THANKS much for your feedback! :)