Barcelona departure time

[cjcruises]

Hi

 

We are looking at possible flights home from our cruise on Epic, in Barcelona in March 2016.

 

One flight we are considering (it's the flight we'd prefer) leaving Barcelona (BCN) at 11:45 that morning.

 

We will be in a suite and are willing to do the self-disembark option.

Is this flight doable, or it is too tight? We'd be flying to Heathrow, then Toronto, and finally Halifax, so we'd like to get a fairly early start to our day.

[BirdTravels]

No problem. Ship arrives at 5:00 am. even if you did not do self walk off, there is lots of time. The concierge will get you to the front of the disembarkation line using express elevators if you are in the courtyard. And there is not much of a customs process in Barcelona.

[Keith1010]

11:45 AM is easily doable.

 

Keith

[Blocks]

No problem we did 11:05 in August and had hours to spare.

[mertziek]

We just did a flight home from Barcelona at 11:45 and definitely doable with time to spare. We did a taxi to the airport and decent price rather than doing the NCL shuttle bus.

[ighten]

The airports a quick hop by taxi and there are hundreds available (unlike Southampton who seem to have 10!!).

[insidecabin]

Taxi to the airport is now a fixed fare rate T4. €39

[kirsty_r]

Its only about 30 mins to the airport by taxi and for london flights I don't think you need to be at check in too early, so there is plenty of time. Normally disembarkment starts around 7 ish.

[hlsess]

we want to go to Parc Guell on the morning that we get off ship- If we plan to get off around 8 how long do you think it'll take- We will take bags to hotel (15 minutes away) and should be at parc by 10 or earlier- hate having to book times...

[BirdTravels]

we want to go to Parc Guell on the morning that we get off ship- If we plan to get off around 8 how long do you think it'll take- We will take bags to hotel (15 minutes away) and should be at parc by 10 or earlier- hate having to book times...

 

To get off around 8, you need to carry all of your own luggage off. And be in line early for walk off.

 

The Parc has tickets with entry times. You must enter in your assigned 30 minute window. Outside that window, your tickets are void. Given that there are a lot of variables, hate for you to have an entry time too early. There is several hours of walking at the Parc outside the monument area (where you need the times tickets).

[BirdTravels]

We did something simililar last month getting off the Epic. We got to the Parc around 12:30 and there was a 4 hour wait (i.e. Entry time of 4:30).

[hlsess]

We did something simililar last month getting off the Epic. We got to the Parc around 12:30 and there was a 4 hour wait (i.e. Entry time of 4:30).

 

Thanks. Think I've now decided to go to parc the day we land( day before we board ship). Is it worth going to the Parc.

[hawkeyetlse]

If you are worried about the lines, but also worried about planning too far in advance and picking a time slot that you can't make, you can wait until you are ready to head to the park and use your hotel's wifi or some other internet access and see if you can buy tickets for right then. I just went on the site now (1:30pm) and I could have bought tickets for 2:30pm.

 

The monumental area of the park is relatively small. You can spend a lot of time there, but the rest of the park is also worth a walk around (easily an hour or more). So you can also pick a later time to give yourself a cushion, and if you get to the park earlier than that, there is other stuff to do while you wait.

[hlsess]

If you are worried about the lines, but also worried about planning too far in advance and picking a time slot that you can't make, you can wait until you are ready to head to the park and use your hotel's wifi or some other internet access and see if you can buy tickets for right then. I just went on the site now (1:30pm) and I could have bought tickets for 2:30pm.

 

The monumental area of the park is relatively small. You can spend a lot of time there, but the rest of the park is also worth a walk around (easily an hour or more). So you can also pick a later time to give yourself a cushion, and if you get to the park earlier than that, there is other stuff to do while you wait.

 

That's good to know. I was able to look at next few days and there seem to be plenty available.

[hlsess]

We just did a flight home from Barcelona at 11:45 and definitely doable with time to spare. We did a taxi to the airport and decent price rather than doing the NCL shuttle bus.

 

Is BCN airport pretty organized or does it take forever to get thru security- what about coming how was customs/immigration? do we need 2 hours or more?

[hun]

We found the airport to be pretty organized, but FYI they do "random" TSA checks of folks at the gates before the plane boards. They call out passenger names - as it seems to be time to board - and take them to a different area for another search of themselves and their carry on items. My husband was one of those and we had wondered why he got a different color on the back of his passport from the AA rep when we checked in .... In talking to one of the other travelers, he mentioned that he knew he was going to be one of the random travelers because he had a letter code on his boarding pass (as did hubby).

We were there in October so there may be additional procedures now -

ps believe it or not, the McD capuccino was great at the airport lol

[hlsess]

We found the airport to be pretty organized, but FYI they do "random" TSA checks of folks at the gates before the plane boards. They call out passenger names - as it seems to be time to board - and take them to a different area for another search of themselves and their carry on items. My husband was one of those and we had wondered why he got a different color on the back of his passport from the AA rep when we checked in .... In talking to one of the other travelers, he mentioned that he knew he was going to be one of the random travelers because he had a letter code on his boarding pass (as did hubby).

We were there in October so there may be additional procedures now -

ps believe it or not, the McD capuccino was great at the airport lol

 

Thanks. Did it take 3 hours??

[hun]

Thanks. Did it take 3 hours??

 

 

Oh no, we found that 2 hours was plenty of time. We had a 9:45 am flight and had stayed overnight after the cruise due to early flight time. Enjoy!