Viking Sky departing from Tarragona instead of Barcelona (Sept 2021)

[stu52]

On Feb 10th we received an email from VIking Ocean about our cruise:

 

"Due to schedule changes, Viking Sky will no longer be able to dock in Barcelona from September 19 – September 20, 2021 as previously planned. Instead, we will embark and dock in the city of Tarragona during this time, which is approximately 60 miles south of Barcelona.

We apologize for any inconvenience this change may cause; however, we trust you will enjoy all that Tarragona has to offer. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Tarragona has a rich history as a Roman colony with archaeological treasures and ancient ruins. In addition, Barcelona shore excursions will operate from Tarragona."

 

Fortunately, we will be arriving in Barcelona on the 15th, so we will be able to enjoy a bit of sight-seeing prior to the cruise.  

 

Does anyone else find it odd for them to change the starting city like this?  I wonder what they mean by "schedule changes"?  Also, I can't believe that we are the only ones impacted by this change.  I contacted Viking and the only way to get a transfer from Barcelona airport to the ship is if you are arriving on a flight on the day of departure.  So, it is up to us to get a train from Barcelona to Tarragona.

 

Not a huge deal and certainly not a problem, just a minor inconvenience.

[TayanaLorna]

11 minutes ago, stu52 said:

On Feb 10th we received an email from VIking Ocean about our cruise:

 

"Due to schedule changes, Viking Sky will no longer be able to dock in Barcelona from September 19 – September 20, 2021 as previously planned. Instead, we will embark and dock in the city of Tarragona during this time, which is approximately 60 miles south of Barcelona.

We apologize for any inconvenience this change may cause; however, we trust you will enjoy all that Tarragona has to offer. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Tarragona has a rich history as a Roman colony with archaeological treasures and ancient ruins. In addition, Barcelona shore excursions will operate from Tarragona."

 

Fortunately, we will be arriving in Barcelona on the 15th, so we will be able to enjoy a bit of sight-seeing prior to the cruise.  

 

Does anyone else find it odd for them to change the starting city like this?  I wonder what they mean by "schedule changes"?  Also, I can't believe that we are the only ones impacted by this change.  I contacted Viking and the only way to get a transfer from Barcelona airport to the ship is if you are arriving on a flight on the day of departure.  So, it is up to us to get a train from Barcelona to Tarragona.

 

Not a huge deal and certainly not a problem, just a minor inconvenience.

I recall in prior years Viking changed ports from Barcelona to another location although I don't recall which port.  People doing their own pre cruise were scrambling to figure out how to get to new port.  I have a transatlantic departing Barcelona at end of November and no change there yet.

[Mich3554]

1 hour ago, TayanaLorna said:

I recall in prior years Viking changed ports from Barcelona to another location although I don't recall which port.  People doing their own pre cruise were scrambling to figure out how to get to new port.  I have a transatlantic departing Barcelona at end of November and no change there yet.

I’m on this same cruise, only we are getting on in Athens as a B2B.  I’ve not seen any changes yet either.
In 2019, we did Trade Routes which was supposed to dock in Barcelona for a day before the cruise ended.  We wound up making another stop (I think the same from the OP) and getting into Barcelona to disembark only, no tour day.

[JeriGail]

27 minutes ago, Mich3554 said:

I’m on this same cruise, only we are getting on in Athens as a B2B.  I’ve not seen any changes yet either.
In 2019, we did Trade Routes which was supposed to dock in Barcelona for a day before the cruise ended.  We wound up making another stop (I think the same from the OP) and getting into Barcelona to disembark only, no tour day.

Mich3554 - if you are on the Barcelona to San Juan cruise, check out our very active thread:

Viking Sea - November 29, 2021 - Barcelona to San Juan - Page 25 - Viking Sea Roll Calls - Cruise Critic Community

We have several who are on the Rome to Barcelona segment also.

[CCWineLover]

39 minutes ago, Mich3554 said:

I’m on this same cruise, only we are getting on in Athens as a B2B.  I’ve not seen any changes yet either.
In 2019, we did Trade Routes which was supposed to dock in Barcelona for a day before the cruise ended.  We wound up making another stop (I think the same from the OP) and getting into Barcelona to disembark only, no tour day.

Mich3554 - we were on your S.America cruise as well.

In 2019 we also did the first Jupiter trip from Barcelona in April to Europe (similar to Trade Routes).

We were moved from Barcelona to Tarragona as well.  Barcelona is a busy port and Viking explained to us that they could not overnight in Barcelona since the Viking Star was also in Barcelona for the night and they wouldn't have both ships overnight.  We had to leave port at midnight and woke up in Tarragona.  It was fine with us, since it was a nice place to visit and very walkable.  We had been several days in Barcelona ahead of our cruise and so were not so concerned about missing a day in Barcelona.  For those who wanted, Viking provided free transportation to and back from Barcelona for that day in Terragona and all tours were run as planned.

In fact we received the EXACT same email notification from Viking as stu52.  This tells me this is a situation that occurs quite regularly.

It all worked out great!

 

I would, however, be more concerned with whether your cruise is even going to sail.  Looking doubtful right now with the Europe situation, but of course things could improve this summer.  Our cruise is November from Rome to Barcelona to San Juan, and I personally am just not going to think about it anymore so I don't get disappointed.

[Mich3554]

2 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

Mich3554 - we were on your S.America cruise as well.

In 2019 we also did the first Jupiter trip from Barcelona in April to Europe (similar to Trade Routes).

We were moved from Barcelona to Tarragona as well.  Barcelona is a busy port and Viking explained to us that they could not overnight in Barcelona since the Viking Star was also in Barcelona for the night and they wouldn't have both ships overnight.  We had to leave port at midnight and woke up in Tarragona.  It was fine with us, since it was a nice place to visit and very walkable.  We had been several days in Barcelona ahead of our cruise and so were not so concerned about missing a day in Barcelona.  For those who wanted, Viking provided free transportation to and back from Barcelona for that day in Terragona and all tours were run as planned.

In fact we received the EXACT same email notification from Viking as stu52.  This tells me this is a situation that occurs quite regularly.

It all worked out great!

 

I would, however, be more concerned with whether your cruise is even going to sail.  Looking doubtful right now with the Europe situation, but of course things could improve this summer.  Our cruise is November from Rome to Barcelona to San Juan, and I personally am just not going to think about it anymore so I don't get disappointed.

Since we were spending several days in Barcelona after our cruise, losing the cruise tour day wasn’t a big deal.  In our case, the reason why we lost the Barcelona day was due to the riots which were going on in Barcelona.  Ironically, the next cruise we went on was th3 S. American cruise, where we got to savor the residual tear gas in Santiago!

 

I don’t know what the odds of us taking this trip are.  It is a back to back, Athens to Barcelona to Buenos Aires for 37 days.  I’m hoping by Oct. 31, things have started to open up.  I have got the odds of this cruise happening about 60% right now.

[Mich3554]

2 hours ago, JeriGail said:

Mich3554 - if you are on the Barcelona to San Juan cruise, check out our very active thread:

Viking Sea - November 29, 2021 - Barcelona to San Juan - Page 25 - Viking Sea Roll Calls - Cruise Critic Community

We have several who are on the Rome to Barcelona segment also.

I’m on the Jupiter, going from Athens to Barcelona to Buenos Aires.  

[CCWineLover]

22 minutes ago, Mich3554 said:

Since we were spending several days in Barcelona after our cruise, losing the cruise tour day wasn’t a big deal.  In our case, the reason why we lost the Barcelona day was due to the riots which were going on in Barcelona.  Ironically, the next cruise we went on was th3 S. American cruise, where we got to savor the residual tear gas in Santiago!

 

I don’t know what the odds of us taking this trip are.  It is a back to back, Athens to Barcelona to Buenos Aires for 37 days.  I’m hoping by Oct. 31, things have started to open up.  I have got the odds of this cruise happening about 60% right now.

 

Funny - I was also thinking the odds were about 60 / 40.    We sure hope you make it to South America since we are doing the Jupiter reverse route in March BA to Barcelona.  Like you, we want to try to do a performance at the Tetra Colon in BA!      And yes we remember the mess of riots and tear gas in Santiago in Dec 2019, as well as the 3 riot nights we spent at an Airbnb in Valparaiso before the cruise. 

Our November cruise I figure is also about 60/40.

[Mich3554]

3 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

 

Funny - I was also thinking the odds were about 60 / 40.    We sure hope you make it to South America since we are doing the Jupiter reverse route in March BA to Barcelona.  Like you, we want to try to do a performance at the Tetra Colon in BA!      And yes we remember the mess of riots and tear gas in Santiago in Dec 2019, as well as the 3 riot nights we spent at an Airbnb in Valparaiso before the cruise. 

Our November cruise I figure is also about 60/40.

The reason why I chose this cruise, rather than do Barcelona to Buenos Aires to Santiago was because I was hoping to score tickets at the opera house.  From my understanding, their hiatus for the season starts after their Christmas concerts, and this cruise puts us in on Dec. 5.  If we were pressing on to Santiago, I don’t think we’d have time to get tickets.

 

When we had a cruise cancellation, DH suggested just adding the 18 day BA to Santiago onto our cruise, giving us 3 back to backs, and 55 days on the Jupiter.  It was a difficult decision!

[Clay Clayton]

15 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

 

Funny - I was also thinking the odds were about 60 / 40.    We sure hope you make it to South America since we are doing the Jupiter reverse route in March BA to Barcelona.  Like you, we want to try to do a performance at the Tetra Colon in BA!     

I’m also hoping that the south/west bound goes as we hope to book the north/east cruise in March. 🤞

 

While it’s unlikely to be opera, highly recommend trying to get tickets to a performance at the Palau de la Musíca Catalana in Barcelona. It’s an absolutely beautiful space. We happened upon it accidentally during a walk through the Gothic Quarter during a visit to Barcelona several years ago and during our last visit there at the end of our 2019 TA, we were able to book tickets online for a performance.  Most enjoyable. 
 

Katrine includes it in one of her Viking videos:

 

[Cienfuegos]

On our trip, Viking Ocean used the very convenient small ship pier. It was very accessible to the city, but could only accommodate one ship.

 

Viking may not have been able to gain access to the large ship docking area on the other side of the harbor.

[Cienfuegos]

Rail Europe says there are direct trains from Barcelona to Tarragona on a frequent basis.  Fares run from as low as ten dollars US to about $30 for a 32 minute trip.

[Clay Clayton]

8 minutes ago, Cienfuegos said:

Rail Europe says there are direct trains from Barcelona to Tarragona on a frequent basis.  Fares run from as low as ten dollars US to about $30 for a 32 minute trip.

We found the phone app “Trainline” very useful throughout Europe. It allowed us to buy tickets when they first became available (usually cheaper) to last minute (when we had a change in plans). You purchase the tickets in the app and it then has a barcode that you show to the conductor aboard the train or at the security gate for stations that require that to enter.   For us, it was much simpler than waiting in a line and using our poor Spanish (or Italian, german or Bulgarian) to buy a ticket.  It also meant we didn’t have to be pulling out our wallets to access cash or a credit card. 
 

I know on one of the other roll calls there is a group planning some tours to Montserrat. The guide we used for that trip offered multiple tours and picked us up at the ship and dropped us off at our hotels. I suspect that one could be arranged to picked up in Barcelona with a dropoff at the ship in Tarragona. 

Edited February 17, 2021 by Clay Clayton

[stu52]

At first when I got the news about this change in the originating port, I was a bit upset.  But, upon reflection, I decided that this is a good thing since we will get to see someplace new that we would not have gotten to see otherwise.  If I were not going to visit Barcelona for a few days prior to the cruise, then it might make a difference.  As it is, we will be in Barcelona at an Airbnb for 3 nights.

[OnTheJourney]

On 2/16/2021 at 3:32 PM, CCWineLover said:

I would, however, be more concerned with whether your cruise is even going to sail. 

Absolutely!  I had the same thought when I saw the title of the thread. 

Edited February 26, 2021 by OnTheJourney

[OnTheJourney]

On 2/16/2021 at 3:32 PM, CCWineLover said:

Our cruise is November from Rome to Barcelona to San Juan, and I personally am just not going to think about it anymore so I don't get disappointed.

Agree completely. Tor has promised that the "chairman's cruise" - which was scheduled last month on the Venus leaving out of Barcelona - will in some manner be rescheduled for this year yet. I don't see it happening unless vaccinations on a global scale start to drastically pick up, and then a random element is the impact of variants plus the as of yet unknown (longterm) effectiveness of the vaccines. I see international cruising resuming in '22...not this year. 

[Peregrina651]

@stu52, when the Sea blew a transformer and we were 'stuck' in Barcelona for the duration of the non-cruise, we did a day trip to Tarragona that Viking had organized. What a great day. The city was a Roman outpost and the old city is chock a block with Roman ruins. There is an amphitheater, the old forum which is partially uncovered in one of the old town squares and other bits and pieces.  The city is a provincial capital and part of Catalunya.

 

We were so fascinated by the old city that we never went with the guide to see the rest of the city. Once we found out where we had to be and at what time, we broke off from the group and wander around the old city, stopping for lunch at one of the many small cafes that line the plaza in from of the City Hall (not the cafe pictures below). I don't remember what we ordered to go with our beer, but it was delicious.

 

There is also a Roman viaduct outside of town. We stopped there briefly to take pictures but didn't really have enough time to get up close and personal with the structure. If you are interested in Roman ruins and want to see this structure, maybe you can figure out how to do as part of your transfer from Barcelona.

 

Roman ruins:

 

 

New Year's Eve. Afternoon respite, on the square by the cathedral.

[OnTheJourney]

Ahhh...Barcelona, Rome, etc. To wistfully think what MIGHT have been last month during the planned Chairman's cruise and Iberian Explorer were it not for covid. Surely all of us can say the same relative to our own scheduled journeys that went down the tubes. Oh well...maybe one of these months, or years. We have never been to Rome or the Med. I was so much looking forward to it ever since the opportunity came along following the Viking Sky trip. Mr. Hagen indicated a rescheduled event of some sort, but frankly I don't see anything possible internationally for quite some time yet. Feel free to pass along more picks of Barcelona...at least I can look at those and only imagine 🤔

Edited February 27, 2021 by OnTheJourney

[Clay Clayton]

4 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

Ahhh...Barcelona, Rome, etc. To wistfully think what MIGHT have been last month during the planned Chairman's cruise and Iberian Explorer were it not for covid. Surely all of us can say the same relative to our own scheduled journeys that went down the tubes. Oh well...maybe one of these months, or years. We have never been to Rome or the Med. I was so much looking forward to it ever since the opportunity came along following the Viking Sky trip. Mr. Hagen indicated a rescheduled event of some sort, but frankly I don't see anything possible internationally for quite some time yet. Feel free to pass along more picks of Barcelona...at least I can look at those and only imagine 🤔

Here is a link to the first of four or five blog posts about our time in Barcelona when we took Mike’s Mom there after disembarking from our TA in the spring of 2019. From there we went to Rome for four nights so you should be able to scroll forward if you want to imagine being there also. 
https://cruisinwithclay.wordpress.com/2019/04/11/barcelona-3/

 

 

Edited February 27, 2021 by Clay Clayton

[OnTheJourney]

6 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

if you want to imagine being there also. 

Thanks so much...but I've decided to just wait till I actually (hopefully) get there at some point. Till then, I'll continue to peruse Shutterfly for pics of places I've already been.