BARCELONA PORT - Information

[Bobal]

Unless you use the subway station Drassanes to get to Placa Catalunya ;-)

 

And yes, it´s app. 30 $ (I think 29). So it´s o.k. when you´re traveling solo but a cab is cheaper for a couple or a family.

 

steamboats

 

Oh of course, I forgot about the Metro. It's quite a nice stroll up Ramblas when it's quiet on a morning though ;)

 

I do agree with you about getting a taxi though if there are 2 or more and you don't want to do the Port Bus/Aerobus. You may have to stand in line for a taxi but they move pretty quickly and you can spend as much time hanging around waiting for people to join the bus.

[ssb]

See

[FLACRUISER99]

Also remember that this is a split cruise where people embark and debark in both Barcelona and Rome. That decreases the numbers dramatically as far as how many are trying to disembark or embark on a given day. It's a beautiful thing. It really is.

I've embarked in Barcelona without any problems until the Mariner repo to China. A very large number of folks were doing B2B's from Galveston and it was a real zoo, absolute chaos. I may be the only one that thinks the Oasis is going to have problems doing this, only time will tell

[Missus Makkem]

We like to get the port bus to Columbus statue then walk along the front to the station and get a train to the airport, you change at Sants but that involves getting off train and on one behind, no platform change and the train goes right into the airport

[MADflyer]

We like to get the port bus to Columbus statue then walk along the front to the station and get a train to the airport, you change at Sants but that involves getting off train and on one behind, no platform change and the train goes right into the airport

 

Can get to Sants Train Station now on the new D20 Busses as well, just 3 stops past Plaza Espana.

 

I prefer the A1 and A2 Busses as they have them to both terminals and they let you off right at baggage check-in.

 

For Terminal 1 you need to take the free bus if you take the train as it is not walking distance. Most long-haul flights are from T1, so you would use the A1 bus or the free shuttle from train.

 

http://www.aena-aeropuertos.es/csee/Satellite/Aeropuerto-Barcelona/es/Page/1045569607375//Listado-de-companias-aereas.html

 

12 minutes with bus with not having to enter metro and wait on platform if want that option.

 

Les Drassanes

Av Paral·lel-Drassanes

Metro Paral·lel

Av Paral·lel-Ronda Sant Pau

Metro Poble Sec

Av Paral·lel-Rocafort

Av Paral·lel-Av Mistral

Creu Coberta-Pl Espanya

Metro Hostafrancs

Sants-Premià

Metro Pl Sants

Pl de Sants

[MADflyer]

Barcelona is very responsible about how they schedule ships and how they alert all parties involved. I was there last on what they call a 'code red' with the maximum allowed number of passenger movements. They go on 'code red' at 15000 passenger movements.

 

On the 18th of May we had 31600 and I was amazed to watch the scene. Yes, there were lines at all taxi stands and I had to take the second blue port bus, but chaos it was not. Amazing was my thought.

 

In checking, this was there busiest day of the entire cruise season at Barcelona. It was painless for the most part.

 

The two terminal solution being planned should provide the best result possible for Oasis.

 

When Oasis is in on the 13th of September there will only be 2 small vessels in at the World Trade Terminal, The Azamara Journey and the Sea Cloud II with only a total of 12,610 passenger movements.

 

When Oasis arrives on the 18th of September there will again be 2 small ships at World Trade Terminal and a Costa with a total of 14,800 passenger movements.

 

When she is in on the 23rd of September, the Costa Favolosa is in. The Favolosa does not sail until 2 AM on the 24th and Oasis will have left hours earlier. She is also 'inter-porting' with most passengers in-transit in Barcelona as she embarks in Civitavecchia, Savona and Palma de Mallorca as well. There are 15300 passenger movement included all those in=transits, so should be fine.

 

Most cruise lines handle B2B or in-transit passengers very well.

 

Barcelona, Catalonia and Spain want to get you off the ship and spending money as quickly as humanly possible.

 

The next real code red is on the 3rd of August and then both Liberty and Serenade will be in along with 28, 430 passenger movements.

 

Then the 14th of September, which only effects Liberty will have 29,570 passenger movements.

 

Allow a little extra time on the 3rd of August and 14th of September, but otherwise pretty normal events in Barcelona.

Edited June 15, 2014 by MADflyer

[Ti2m]

Barcelona is very responsible about how they schedule ships and how they alert all parties involved.

 

Very interesting read. Thank you for the information.

[traveling1969]

There is a duty free shop in the terminal AFTER security. We picked up a couple bottles of our favorite adult beverage and brought it on board with NO problem. Of course there is nothing to stop the ship from scanning carry-ons again but it hasn't happened to us. Bon Voyage!

[Pat&Liz]

I've sailed out of Barcelona a couple of times (both with weekend stays in the city before the cruise!)

 

I can thoroughly recommend the hotel Atlantis (http://www.hotelatlantis-bcn.com/) as comfortable, good value for money and spectacularly located at an easy 2-3minutes walk from Placa Catalunya (which is the main square, where the aerobus drops/picks up from, and where the tourbuses leave from and the biggest nexus terminal for the metro system)

 

For embarkation, we took the metro to drassanes and walked to the columbus monument and took the port bus - it was all very very easy and dropped us directly in front of the ship.

 

For disembarkation, the queue for the bus was very long, so we opted for a taxi up to placa catalunya and then took the aerobus to the airport.

[CU64]

Agree with other posters about Barcelona Port. It is not the port that can be a problem.

I flew home on Sunday after 12 day Med cruise on Celebrity. Wonderful; but then the airport(and I was flying First Class)......big lines to go through Security and whatever else........same issue at JFK flying to West Coast where the walking to the connecting plane was miles (ok if not tired)

 

Never again will I do this on a Sunday anywhere in Europe....better to stay

post cruise/ we stayed precruise but definitely will add the post cruise

[Karemark]

We just returned from our Med cruise in and out of Barcelona on June 4th. As previously mentioned by others, the port in Barcelona is great! We took a taxi from our hotel and arrived at around 10:30 a.m. and we were able to board before 11 a.m. Check in was very quick and easy and the people at the port are very friendly; however, there isn't a separate waiting area for higher tiers or suites.

 

Upon return, disembarkation was pretty easy, although we did find a couple of glitches. Luggage comes out on belts according to your departure group, as opposed to many of the other ports which simply places all luggage in specific areas. The issue we had with this was the belt was full and they couldn't add all of the luggage until other pieces were removed, so we had to wait for almost 30 minutes before there was room for ours to be placed on the belt.

 

In addition, if you fly Delta, unless you either get off the ship really early or have several hours before your plane leaves, don't count on using Delta's check in at the port as they are VERY slow.

 

We prepaid for transfer to the airport with a private company and this worked very well and we were quickly dropped off at the airport.

 

I am currently doing a review on our trip and, if you are interested, you can find it at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2053112

[Bobal]

There is a duty free shop in the terminal AFTER security. We picked up a couple bottles of our favorite adult beverage and brought it on board with NO problem. Of course there is nothing to stop the ship from scanning carry-ons again but it hasn't happened to us. Bon Voyage!

 

Don't rely on this being the case. We've sailed out of Barcelona several times - sometimes they have the scanner checking bags and sometimes they don't. If you are taking on more than two bottles of wine you or bottles which are not wine, there is a chance they will be taken off you and given back at the end of the cruise. We've seen this happen.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

The postings on Barcelona in this thread have exceeded expectations.

 

Terrific info. :)

[celly]

MADflyer's summary is excellent. We've also sailed out of Barcelona on many occasions and it's the most efficient port we've ever sailed from. Obviously the Fort Lauderdale terminal is specifically built for Oasis class but if anywhere can handle it well I would think Barcelona is the one. Interested to see that they will be using two terminal buildings and fore and aft embarkation.

 

You are absolutely right, MADflyer's summary is excellent and gives a very accurate description.

And Barcelona port is our favourite port, actually we find it the best port.

It was such a relief to disembark in Barcelona on may 14 after the nightmare in Port Everglades on april 26 and then may 1, that was awful. We were doing a B2B2B on the Liberty. On april 21 we got on board in 10 minutes, incredible. But then on april 26 the B2B procedure took us 2 hours!!!!! We were relieved on may 1 when we saw that we were docked at terminal 18, the Oasis and Allure terminal which is usually well run. Did we know that may 1 would be the worst? Well thanks to Port Everglades customs and immigration, getting off the ship took forever and many people missed their flights home. At 1 pm people were still disembarking. For us B2B'ers we only got back on board at 2.15 pm, it took us hours waiting and then going through immigration twice after they decided that checking passports one by one was not enough, no they made us come back for fingerprints and irisscan.

So we were very much looking forward to a well run and well staffed port like Barcelona. Actually we were off the ship, retrieved our luggage from the belt and porter ( lots of porters lined up) had us in our reserved transportation within a few minutes. I think the whole process took less than 15 minutes. We always book (shared) transportation with Barcelona Travel, we pay 28 € for 2 persons, but this time we were the only two in the van. They were already waiting for us when we got outside 15 minutes before reserved pick up time. We have booked them often, also from the airport to the cruise port for the same rate.

So I think if a port can handle a big ship then it is Barcelona port!

[MADflyer]

Celly,

 

Our paths crossed a couple times on that B2B2B. I sailed on Vision up from Panama on the 26th on a B2B, arriving/departing Port Everglades on the 29th. And like you said, what a disaster. We were the only ship in on the 29th and they sent us to Oasis/Allure Terminal 18 as well.

 

I will not go into all detail here as I tend to move on from these bad experiences, but as an in-transit, I was able to get ashore and through customs after over 3 1/2 hours with the ship only half full. They had 3 processing lines open and there seemed to be no organization. When we arrived after the 4 night they took us to terminal 25, but made us walk to terminal 22/24 for baggage collection and customs. We had been delayed waiting for a wheelchair for over an hour onboard, so did not face the same delay at customs.

 

On both occasions then faced long wait for Alamo shuttle. The first time gave up and took a taxi and the second time waited just about an hour for a shuttle, which only arrived after security finally called another terminal.

 

Well, now the fun part. I had done the Liberty TA last year and was excited to see her pass right off our aft balcony early on the 30th of April when you were heading toward Port Everglades. I got some real nice photos as she sailed past.

 

That motivated me to book the Liberty sailing on the 14th as they had a nice last minute price drop and it was really great being back onboard Liberty. That is what allowed me to also see Barcelona's busiest day of the season and how well it was handled.

[woodyren]

If we are staying at a hotel close by is it possible to walk to the cruise terminal ?

 

If we are further away is there a metro station within walking distance?

Edited June 23, 2014 by woodyren

[MADflyer]

If we are staying at a hotel close by is it possible to walk to the cruise terminal ?

 

If we are further away is there a metro station within walking distance?

 

It is not recommended to walk to Cruise Terminals A, B, C and D, although it is possible. Due to the way the roadway is built it is required to walk much further as you are on a bridge and connector most of the way and must walk to Terminal C and then go back under the roadway toward A and B if your ship is there. The port bus is just 2 euros one way per person or a taxi from nearby is just 10 to 12 euros.

 

There are bus stops and a metro station near the start of the port bus route.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Someone attached this map on page 2 of this thread. However, I think it would help you to be a little larger. It seemed like it is at least a mile from the entrance to the port and the terminals for the large cruise ships when we were there is October. It is way too long to drag your bags.

 

The closet metro stop is Drassanes [on top of map] There is not any public transportation into the port. The blue buses run continuously from the entrance of the port and the terminals and charge about 3 euro.

 

[CRUISEFAN0001]

Yeah...there's times when taking a cab from point to point makes sense...and the hotel to ship terminal is one of them.

 

I wonder if there will be some kind of "system" as to whether a cabin is "assigned" to Terminal B or C...

Edited June 24, 2014 by CRUISEFAN0001

[MADflyer]

They have not went out with details about the use of the 2 terminals, I think they are more concerned about disembarkation going smoothly with the 2 terminals and that they very well could embark from B. It will be very interesting to follow how it works with Oasis.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

They have not went out with details about the use of the 2 terminals, I think they are more concerned about disembarkation going smoothly with the 2 terminals and that they very well could embark from B. It will be very interesting to follow how it works with Oasis.

Yes...something to follow...

[Scrapchick]

Great information here about the port. We arrived in Barcelona ahead of our July 1 cruise a couple of days ago.

 

Unfortunately, there is a citywide taxi strike planned for embarkation day and threats of violence against any minivan or illegal cab that attempts to transport anyone, so we are sitting here trying to figure out how to get ourselves and our baggage from our hotel to the ship. The hotel tried to get us a ride but it was cancelled due to fears of violence and they can suggest nothing else to us except public transport. At the moment we are prepared to travel to the ship via metro and bus with only our hand carry and board the ship then. As we overnight and don't sail till July 2, we would collect our bags from the hotel the next day once the cabs are running again.

 

If anyone has any other suggestions we would love to hear them... We think it will be a very difficult day on July 1 for all the disembarking passengers trying to get to their destinations, as well as all of us new arrivals.

 

Holland America has basically said we are all on our own unless we have transfers or hotel bookings with them. At least we don't sail that same day.

[MADflyer]

Great information here about the port. We arrived in Barcelona ahead of our July 1 cruise a couple of days ago.

 

Unfortunately, there is a citywide taxi strike planned for embarkation day and threats of violence against any minivan or illegal cab that attempts to transport anyone, transfers or hotel bookings with them. At least we don't sail that same day.

 

These strikes have been happening all over Europe in protest of the online APP Uber's entry into the markets. Taxis are heavily regulated and they feel these new actors are dangerous and a threat to their existence.

 

The problem is that on the June 11th strikes they actually blocked some roads. I had not read anything about this affecting the cruise port yet.

 

The strike on the 11th of June started after 11 AM and allowed the drivers to all get lucrative business and airport transfers before they went on strike. I will try to find out if there are any time restraints on this strike.

 

The only thing I can find so far is that they have a demonstration march on the 1st of July at 11 am and that it is a '24 hour' strike, which would indicate the entire time frame on July 1. It may effect busses as well.

 

They are calling for the strike to be 'World-wide' and not only in Barcelona.

 

The route of the demonstration will be heading away from the cruise port at least as the route is indicated.

 

plaza Cataluña, paseo de Gracia, calle Valencia, calle Roger de Llúria to Delegación de Gobierno

 

For arriving passengers you can avoid the region by getting by A1 or A2 bus to Plaza Espana (First stop from Airport) if they are running or the train to Sants Station. Then take the metro or bus D20 if it is running from there.

 

The green line L3, travels from both Sants Station and Plaza Espana to the Drassanes metro stop. Alternatively the D20 bus runs the same route with great frequency. You avoid the are of the strike by staying away from Plaza Cataluna and Paseo de Gracia.

Edited June 29, 2014 by MADflyer

[Scrapchick]

Thank you for the info... We are thinking of taking the metro to the Drassanes stop with just our hand carry and taking the bus to the ship, then returning the next day to collect our suitcases from the hotel once the cabs are running again. My husband is quite old and can't manage to drag luggage as well on the metro. The ship overnights in Barcelona, so doesn't sail,until the following night after the cab strike.

 

Anything else you find out would be much appreciated. We are already in the city so even getting back to the airport to take a shuttle transfer is going to be challenging. We think we are better off going to the port via public transport with the minimum of luggage we end to get by for the first day.

[MADflyer]

Is your hotel not able to offer any assistance? It would seem in extreme circumstances they could step in and give some advice on a solution.

 

Barcelona has not been as speedy as Madrid to modify most of its stations and often elevators are only operational in some entrances to each metro. So, if a station has 8 to 10 entrances only one is fully equipped.

 

There are so many variables not knowing your exact location, but there are several bus routes including the D20 and H14 and 20 that get you almost right to where the blue port bus leaves from. You then do not have the added issue of maneuvering the metro stations and platforms and stairs.

 

I always use the 20 from the port up into the city if I am overnighting and the D20 if I am transferring to the airport. This might help some others.

 

http://www.tmb.cat/en/linia-de-bus/-/bus/20

http://www.tmb.cat/en/linia-de-bus/-/bus/D20/detall-n/dia-FEINER

 

I am happy you have the option to go back and collect your bags and take a taxi the next day. I see there is a Costa and Princess ship in on the 1st and they will have delays.

 

Another factor to consider is that the port may experience disruptions with disembarkation if there are no taxis on the arrival of 3 ships that morning.