Disembarking in Barcelona - Taxi Availability and Time to Airport?

[mickeyfan101]

Hello fellow cruise lovers,

We are ending our cruise in December at the port of Barcelona and I have a few questions.  We have a fairly early flight back (10:50am) to the states.  From reading the boards, I see we can walk off when we clear customs with all of our luggage.  But my question is about transportation to the airport.  Will taxi's be waiting at this port or is something I will need to arrange in advance?  And if I need to arrange, how can I tell them what time when it depends on when we clear customs?  

Also, if we clear customs early enough, and say we get our transportation as soon as possible, would it be feasible to take a mini drive by the House of the Dragon or Sagrada Familia Basilica?  It looks close on the map but knowing zero about Barcelona, the distances, traffic or the ease of accessing the airport I am looking for previous visitors to give me their best recommendation.

We would have loved to stay and visit after our cruise but we are flying in early to stay a few days in Venice so by the time we disembark from the cruise, I know we are going to want to head home to see our kids after 10 days away.  

Thank you in advanced for all of your advice and knowledge.

[voyager70]

Plenty of taxis will be lined up outside of the port when you disembark, no need to arrange one ahead of time.  We had a return flight around the same time as yours and had plenty of time to spare at the airport.  Sagrada Familia is not too far from the cruise port, it wouldn't take too much time to do a drive by on your way to the airport.  Don't know about the House of the Dragon as I've never been there.  

[ollienbertsmum]

You have not said what time or day of the week you arrive in BCN.  If it is 5 am then you probably do have time to spare but it will be dark.  I am not sure if the Sagrada Familia is well lit to be able to see it in its glory.  Looking at it as a building is not really enough - you need to get out and look.  I would be having that "we have got to be going" feeling.   If it is 6 am, you do have time but you are going in the opposite direction.  Port to airport is a fixed price and a convenient journey.  If your flight was noon or later, I might think it is worth it, but I would leave as soon as you can anyway and catch one of the plentiful taxis before the queues build up and get to the airport.  

[nelblu]

Plenty of taxis and airport is about 20 minutes away.  The problem is when you get to the airport has lots of security and it's time consuming going thru security.  Also, quite a large airport and a few years ago we had to show our passport some half a dozen times and the American Airlines gate was quite a bit away.  However, our flight was at 12PM and got caught in tremendous lines snaking thru security.

[blackshirt]

Just remember international flights normally require you be there 2 hours prior to departure. If you do need to be there by 8:50, personally I would not deviate and head directly to the airport.

[margeecruiser]

I'm always afraid of taxi strikes in Barcelona, so we always book a transfer to the airport.  There are frequent taxi strikes in Barcelona, as well as elsewhere, in Europe.  The taxis in Barcelona are all independent operators and not operated by a large company.  Beware!!

 

Margee

[nelblu]

29 minutes ago, margeecruiser said:

I'm always afraid of taxi strikes in Barcelona, so we always book a transfer to the airport.  There are frequent taxi strikes in Barcelona, as well as elsewhere, in Europe.  The taxis in Barcelona are all independent operators and not operated by a large company.  Beware!!

 

Margee

I've used them a couple of times and they may be independent, but very professional.  Last August, I was afraid to use RCL's transfer as our cruise was right after the terrorists attack at La Ramblas.   Afraid that we would be picked up as US tourists.

[bobmacliberty]

We had a similar situation last fall...I think a 10:30 flight.  We booked a car but got off the ship so quickly that we cancelled and just grabbed a taxi from the taxi line.  We were at the Delta check in counter before it even open:d.  I posted more detail on our entire port to gate process (since many people have a similar question) in the Spain board last year but it might not be easy to find until the search indexing finishes on the new site.

 

Edit: Found my post on the Spain Board:

 

Edited October 18, 2018 by bobmacliberty

[pstone1]

There are no Customs to go through when disembarking from the ship in Barcelona.  You will go through Customs with your luggage wherever you are entering the United States.

 

We used a RCL transfer for our airport transfer to be sure we were able to disembark early and get to the airport in time to make a 10:30 flight.  We had no trouble doing this.

 

If you are able to walk off with your luggage, you should have plenty of time for a drive-by.  If you have to wait till 8 o'clock or later to disembark, you should head right to the airport.  Depending on the day of the week, traffic may also have an impact on your travel time.

[ollienbertsmum]

I suppose the best plan would be to try to get off at about 6 am (we usually avoid breakfast on the last day, and have some fruit or yoghurt from the previous day's buffet as a snack before we leave).  If you find yourself in a taxi at 6 am you have time to do a long detour (and the driver won't mind because the meter will be running).  If you find that you are not off as early as you hoped and it is past 7:30 am, then you are cutting it too fine and you cannot do your detour.  You will then just ask for the fixed price to the airport.  

 

The only flaw is that I think it may be too dark for a good view.  How would I know though, I have never been outside the Sagrada Familia at 6:30 am.