Disembarking Wonder of the Seas in Barcelona - Late Flight Home

[fatbellybinky]

Hi All,

We are about to sail on Wonder on the 7 night Med cruise that leaves from and returns to Barcelona. Originally our flights home to the UK were late morning but they are now late evening (20:55) meaning that we have to find something to do. I'm assuming we'll still get kicked off the ship in the morning and have airport transfers already paid for but as we are 5 adults and 3 kids, we don't relish the thought of spending many hours stuck at the airport with all our luggage and 3 bored kids. Aerobus into town is one option but only if we can drop our bags early. Has anyone else had this issue or know how early you can drop off bags at the BA bag drop?

I see that RC do a couple of trips on day 8 that include airport transfers but not cheap for 8 of us and we've already paid for round trip transfers once so don't know if they would refund part of those back.

Any suggestions ?  

[sillen]

There is a company called Bags & Go located in the cruise terminal in Barcelona. They store and transport your bags to the airport while you enjoy the city.

 

Enjoy your cruise! We'll be onboard on Thursday, see you onboard!

[little britain]

There is BagsNGo at Barcelona cruise terminal. 
https://bagsandgo.com/en/

 

They will take your bags to the airport;  meanwhile you catch the Blue port bus (€3pp one way ) over the bridge which drops you at bottom of Ramblas near Columbus statue and  where the hoho busses leave. Enjoy day and lunch at leisure in Barcelona; catch airport bus from placa Catalunya; (€5.90pp one way ) -  retrieve luggage.  Simples! 
 

Dread to think what RCI charge for transfers but I’d cancel those - it’s a set fare of €39 from airport to port: even if you took two cabs I bet it’s still tons cheaper! 
 

 

Edited October 22, 2022 by little britain

[fatbellybinky]

Hmm, interesting possibility - I just looked at their web site. Not sure if we can cancel the return half of our RCI transfers and don't know what time we'll be disembarking so tricky to estimate and book BagsNGo in advance but they do say to put an approximate time. Do you know if you can just turn up at their meeting point and drop bags without an advance booking? 

[little britain]

1 hour ago, fatbellybinky said:

Hmm, interesting possibility - I just looked at their web site. Not sure if we can cancel the return half of our RCI transfers and don't know what time we'll be disembarking so tricky to estimate and book BagsNGo in advance but they do say to put an approximate time. Do you know if you can just turn up at their meeting point and drop bags without an advance booking? 

Yes you can just turn up - no booking needed.  Everyone is off by 8:45/9am latest 
 

RCI charge $29.99 pp each way  😱  and it’s sold as 2 separate journeys so you should be able to cancel the return leg when onboard. 

Edited October 22, 2022 by little britain

[cruisequeen4ever]

I would think you will be able to cancel your transfer. The baggage storage is really helpful, however you can see that the price could add up really fast. My advice would be to book an independent Disembarkation tour where the van would hold your luggage all day for you and then ultimately drop you off at the airport. That would cover baggage storage, transportation to the airport, and your entertainment for the day.

[fatbellybinky]

Just to feed back for those interested, I followed the suggestion posted by little britain and the whole day went like clockwork. We cancelled the 8 return RCI transfers while on-board and got a full refund so booked with Bags&Go to take all our luggage (11 bags). Collected our bags in the terminal at 8:30, wheeled them a few feet across to the Bags&Go desk and dropped them off, then hopped onto the Cruise Bus into town and walked up La Rambla to Placa De Cataluna.  Three of us got a taxi to the Camp Nou football stadium and took their basic tour, then went back to Placa De Cataluna to meet the rest of the family. The grandchildren loved feeding the pigeons so that made their day. Finally we took the Aerobus back to the airport (pre-booked that too) at 5pm where Bags&Go were already waiting with our bags all loaded onto trolleys ready for us to wheel away.   

Superb service all round and turned a potentially boring day stuck in the airport into a bonus day in Barcelona.  Great suggestion from little britain !!

[Phils01]

Have you thought of a hotel for the day, that’s what we do if it’s a late flight home, usually have a pool for the kids 

 

we use Dayuse.com

[ARandomTraveler]

Man I sure wish the Miami had a Bags n Go. It seems like this is a really obvious business opportunity just waiting for someone to pick it up. There must be some reason nobody wants to do it, like insurance liability, or some regulation regarding getting a license to accept someone else's bags before a flight (the whole "have your bags been out of your sight since you packed them" issue). 
 

Why is this not a thing? I would pay $50/person for this service in order to not have to waste a day in the airport waiting for my flight, and instead be able to roam freely about the city all day. Maybe even more $ than that, if I really felt desperate. 

[sgmn]

9 hours ago, Phils01 said:

Have you thought of a hotel for the day, that’s what we do if it’s a late flight home, usually have a pool for the kids 

 

we use Dayuse.com

We have done this in Miami . Most westbound transatlantics are late evening and it was great to have a nice hotel to chill at and a room to nap and shower in before going to the airport 

Good to know about bags and go, thanks to sillen and LB for suggestion as we often cruise from BCN.

[grapau27]

15 hours ago, Phils01 said:

Have you thought of a hotel for the day, that’s what we do if it’s a late flight home, usually have a pool for the kids 

 

we use Dayuse.com

We used Day rooms in San Francisco to book a hotel from 10am- 4pm after our Princess Hawaiian cruise.

We left our cases in the room and had a day in San Francisco before getting a shower in the room then a taxi to the airport 

[little britain]

@fatbellybinky good to hear it all worked out; and thanks for coming back to say “ thanks” !