Oasis Barcelona turn-around

[MADflyer]

With the Oasis of the Seas appearing at Terminals A and B on the aft webcam on the Costa Mediterranea today, I was hoping that some of those that have experienced the disembarkation or embarkation at the Port of Barcelona could comment specifically on their satisfaction for the way Oasis has been handled by the port of Barcelona.

 

This was an area of concern for many and will be interesting for those booked on Allure during the next season.

 

Did they disembark through both terminals and designate whom would disembark from where or only disembark from one terminal and embark from the other?

 

Where the taxi lines ever longer than the normal 15 to 30 minutes?

 

Did baggage move in a timely manner to the carousels?

 

Was embarkation handled in Terminal A or B or did they use both terminals?

[SadmanCruiser]

We recently arrived in Barcelona off the Transatlantic on Oasis.

 

In our experience, they used both terminals - even numbered muster stations disembarjed forward and odd numbers mid-ship.

 

We left the ship at 08:30 which was our scheduled time, and were in a taxi 15 minutes later. No wait for luggage, no wait for passport control and no queue for a taxi.

 

I believe both terminals were used.

 

Pete

[MADflyer]

Thank you for that information. I think it is great that they seem to have handled the first arrival of such a large ship so well.

 

I had thought if something had went wrong, threads would have already appeared, but your response seems to indicate that things went even better than expected.

 

Since you were on the transatlantic, were you equally satisfied with the call on Malaga? The terminal was much smaller, but impressive when I embarked there last January.

[sddsddean]

Although not directly related to your question, we did a b2b2b on the Navigator about 5 years ago, all 'turning round' in Barcelona. To be honest, I have never seen a ship disembarked, re vittled and embarked so effciently. Everyone was off by 0930 (OK, people were queuing for taxis after this, but the ship was done), you could drop luggage any time after 1030 and the whole place ran like clockwork. I was really impressed. Whether things have changed since I don't know, but it was efficient then!

 

Simon

[MADflyer]

Yes, Barcelona has been functioning well. I disembarked on May 18th of this year on their busiest day of the season and was still impressed.

 

The big challenge for Oasis/Allure was going to be how they would use the 2 terminal A and B system and their planning appears to have paid off.

 

Some were waiting to book Allure until after they saw how the ports handled Oasis.

[Twolittleboys]

We were also on the Oasis transatlantic. As a prior poster stated both terminals were used for disembarkation. Baggage moved smoothly. However, we left the ship shortly after 9 am (one of the last groups) and at that time the line for taxis was pretty long. It was pretty organised and moved well but I guess by that time the line had built up. Not sure exactly how long we waited but want to say it was more than 30 minutes (maybe a good 45?).

[SadmanCruiser]

Since you were on the transatlantic, were you equally satisfied with the call on Malaga? The terminal was much smaller, but impressive when I embarked there last January.

 

We had no problems getting on or off in Malaga. I believe the lines did get longer later in the day in the terminal getting through security.

[padrek]

I also was on the first Barcelona "off load" by Oasis. Most of the particulars are noted above, as is the fact that 4900 people were off loaded most efficiently and expeditiously. I was amazed at how well it was handled.

Malaga port call was great, but do take the shuttle bus to town as the distance is greater than it looks. As we departed there were several thousands of locals gathered in the area to cheer us off.

[MADflyer]

If I was not onboard the first half of the Legend TA at the time, I would have driven over from Marbella to Malaga to check things out.

 

I am very happy to hear that movements at both ports went well.

 

There was a lot of media attention throughout the year in Spain about the Oasis and Allure upcoming calls at Malaga, Barcelona and Vigo, including this one the day prior to arrival in Malaga.

 

http://www.surinenglish.com/20140910/news/costasol-malaga/miss-giant-oasis-201409101042.html

[Bosjoe]

The only issue you might have is, if you have planned a schedule pickup not knowing what terminal you will be disembarking off. So you will have to schedule something with the company you contracted through.

[hancock]

While we weren't on the Oasis, when we landed in Barcelona last May on the Liberty, it took a good hour in line to get a cab into Barcelona.

[little britain]

With the Oasis of the Seas appearing at Terminals A and B on the aft webcam on the Costa Mediterranea today, I was hoping that some of those that have experienced the disembarkation or embarkation at the Port of Barcelona could comment specifically on their satisfaction for the way Oasis has been handled by the port of Barcelona.

 

This was an area of concern for many and will be interesting for those booked on Allure during the next season.

 

Did they disembark through both terminals and designate whom would disembark from where or only disembark from one terminal and embark from the other?

 

Where the taxi lines ever longer than the normal 15 to 30 minutes?

 

Did baggage move in a timely manner to the carousels?

 

Was embarkation handled in Terminal A or B or did they use both terminals?

 

We were on the first European 5n sailing. As we approached the cruise terminals there were banners hanging from the lampposts reminding you to know which one you were heading for. The cab drivers were given a card showing A or B, so the ground staff knew whether they should be allowed into the terminal parking area or not. It really was very well organised indeed. Check-in and boarding was possibly the swiftest we have ever known and we were on board by 11.15.

 

Disembarkation - well we left the ship on deck 5 but when we got to the walkway the 'even numbered' bag tags went right and the 'odd numbered' bag tags went left. I think this was also filtered by your muster station as there was a man standing on RP with a board that said F ... and we were F.

Again very smooth, our cases were on the carousel already.

 

As an aside, if you have time to spend in Barcelona then I highly recommend DW Consigna as the luggage storage facility.

I have written a little review on the RCI boards too.

[xxHadleyxx]

We were also on the Oasis transatlantic. As a prior poster stated both terminals were used for disembarkation. Baggage moved smoothly. However, we left the ship shortly after 9 am (one of the last groups) and at that time the line for taxis was pretty long. It was pretty organised and moved well but I guess by that time the line had built up. Not sure exactly how long we waited but want to say it was more than 30 minutes (maybe a good 45?).

 

Funny, it must have been different at the two different terminals, or else we just missed a big line. We disembarked about 9:30 and waited less than 10 minutes for a taxi.

 

Oh, and someone asked about Malaga. We thought it was a very easy on and off---the only notable thing that was different were the hordes of locals coming out to see the ship, and the extra large numbers of travel agents touring the ship while in port.

Edited September 19, 2014 by NHDisneylover

[steamboats]

We left at 8:45 am and didn´t wait longer than 10 min for a taxi. It was all very well organized in Barcelona.

 

Malaga was also easy as there was no passport control. So just walking off the ship.

 

steamboats

[ilovetoholiday]

Just back from Oasis everything ran smoothly getting on and off ship, only problem was amount of passengers arriving at 11am to checkin, cost an extra 25 euro in taxi sitting in traffic getting over bridge into port