Safe flight time from Barcelona airport

[GGmountain]

Hi everyone, first time cruisers here.  We will be on the October 14 cruise, ending in Barcelona.  I need to book a flight from Barcelona to LHR.  We’re going to spend the night at LHR airport hotel and fly out the next day.  What’s a “safe time” to book the flight from Barcelona?

I don’t know anything about how long it takes to disembark, etc.

Thanks for your help.

[Jim_Iain]

Generally they will begin disembarkation at 7:00AM with Walk Off's followed by general disembarkation.   Disembarkation is done by calling luggage tag numbers and last call is around 9:00 AM.    Travel time to BCN is about 30 minutes and you should plan minimum of 1 1/2 hour to arrive.     I would plan on booking a flight after 12:30 for a comfortable disembarkation and not feel rushed.

[Arizona Wildcat]

Be sure to check for local holidays.  There are lots of flights from BCN to LHR.  BCN is a bit of a maze so download a map.  Several good restaurants at BCN.

[york survey]

5 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Generally they will begin disembarkation at 7:00AM with Walk Off's followed by general disembarkation.   Disembarkation is done by calling luggage tag numbers and last call is around 9:00 AM.    Travel time to BCN is about 30 minutes and you should plan minimum of 1 1/2 hour to arrive.     I would plan on booking a flight after 12:30 for a comfortable disembarkation and not feel rushed.

I agree with Jim. Have disembarked in Barcelona a few times and never had a problem with a flight after 12:30 when going to LHR.  I'm doing just that when we get off the Constellation next month. That said there is not a lot to do at LHR so you might consider a later flight and take the celebrity tour of barcelona with airport drop off. Should be on your cruise planner under shore excursions.

 

[GGmountain]

5 hours ago, york survey said:

I agree with Jim. Have disembarked in Barcelona a few times and never had a problem with a flight after 12:30 when going to LHR.  I'm doing just that when we get off the Constellation next month. That said there is not a lot to do at LHR so you might consider a later flight and take the celebrity tour of barcelona with airport drop off. Should be on your cruise planner under shore excursions.

 

Thanks for the tip on tour of Barcelona with airport drop off.  We’ve stayed many times at LHR several times and you’re right - not much to do.

[jimzgoldfinch]

We had Celebrity transfer for flights after 10 am. We had 10.40 flight to LHR. Got to airport at 8am but check in was a nightmare- 1.5 hours! We made our flight but we were not able to get breakfast! In hindsight, a later flight would have been better - after noon.

 

[GVM]

I arrived end of April in BCN after a cruise with MSC World Europa. We docked at 0600hrs, allowed to disembark 0700hrs, but I was allowed to stay in the room until 0900hrs.

 

I did self-disembarking (at 0900hrs) and took a cab in front of the terminal (about 30 EUR for 1 person), I was at check-in at about 09:45hrs. I had a flight at 1300hrs. 

 

Ergo; you shouldn't worry.

 

For other future cruisers: Keep in mind that BCN is a pretty big cruise terminal, with 4 cruise ships to dock at the same time. If you are unlucky and 4 ships disembark at the same time, you should really really book a transfer to the airport in advance. 

 

So if you are able to disembark at 0700hrs and book a transfer in advance, a 1000hrs flight departure wouldn't be a problem. 

[Softball20]

If we do walk-off on Celebrity at 7:00 a.m., is a 10:40 flight out of BCN doable?  It looks like the airport is fairly close - less than 30 minutes.  (we flew in there once, but it was years ago and I just don't recall the distance between the port and airport.)  I'm thinking that it's cutting it too close - just evaluating options.

Edited March 5 by Softball20
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[alserrod]

October 12th is holiday in Spain but Monday 14th is a weekday as any other one

[GVM]

15 hours ago, Softball20 said:

If we do walk-off on Celebrity at 7:00 a.m., is a 10:40 flight out of BCN doable?  It looks like the airport is fairly close - less than 30 minutes.  (we flew in there once, but it was years ago and I just don't recall the distance between the port and airport.)  I'm thinking that it's cutting it too close - just evaluating options.

If you indeed do self service walk-off at 0700hrs sharp AND pre-book a taxi, you can be on the airport at 0800hrs. Even if there are traffic jams due to rush hour, it will be traffic going into the city, you are leaving the city. 

[alserrod]

Hi

 

- You can call a taxi, it has a small supplement but you assure it in case you are hurry. Do not call the day before. It is enough to call just when you are disembarking. A system will book a taxi for you (and will send taxis to the port if they aren't there at that moment).

 

- It is rush hour but you are leaving the city. Slow traffic but no jams

 

- From city centre the fastest way is a suburban (faster than taxi). It doesn't have traffic jams.

OK, but you are leaving from the port, not from city centre (despite it is not far at all). Just you may know that there's suburban and underground to the airport. In case of high jam, ask for leaving in the nearest station and continue.

 

 

I posted here more information

 

 

[SDWCruise]

Posters to this thread suggest booking a taxi in advance but can anyone suggest a reputable taxi company/driver? We have an 11.30am flight from BCN, the ship docking at 5.00am, so we’re not concerned about getting to the airport, it’s finding a reliable bookable taxi! Any suggestions? 

[alserrod]

1 hour ago, SDWCruise said:

Posters to this thread suggest booking a taxi in advance but can anyone suggest a reputable taxi company/driver? We have an 11.30am flight from BCN, the ship docking at 5.00am, so we’re not concerned about getting to the airport, it’s finding a reliable bookable taxi! Any suggestions? 

 

 

Hello

 

As I posted here, there are 10521 taxis in Barcelona (I searched in an official web)

 

 

All of them give the same service, same fares, etc...

 

Just assure you call an official taxi. It is a service where it is hard to swindle (specially to the airport where there's a fix fare) and hard to find fake taxis

 

 

[GVM]

On 3/7/2024 at 6:05 PM, alserrod said:

 

 

Hello

 

As I posted here, there are 10521 taxis in Barcelona (I searched in an official web)

 

 

All of them give the same service, same fares, etc...

 

Just assure you call an official taxi. It is a service where it is hard to swindle (specially to the airport where there's a fix fare) and hard to find fake taxis

 

 

I  agree with booking with a local taxi company. For some strange reason, Uber is not that reliable in BCN. I've been in BCN about 10 times over COVID-10 (let's say the past 2 years), and prebooking or simply holding a taxi at the street is faster and cheaper. 

 

Having said that, this is not really an option for you as you are disembarking a cruise in BCN, with 4 docks. Read: 4 ships disemabarking at the same time. 

 

My advice: pay a premium to have a confirmed pre-booked taxi, and don't rely on Uber or Bolt.

On 3/7/2024 at 6:05 PM, alserrod said:

 

 

[alserrod]

1 hour ago, GVM said:

I  agree with booking with a local taxi company. For some strange reason, Uber is not that reliable in BCN. I've been in BCN about 10 times over COVID-10 (let's say the past 2 years), and prebooking or simply holding a taxi at the street is faster and cheaper. 

 

Having said that, this is not really an option for you as you are disembarking a cruise in BCN, with 4 docks. Read: 4 ships disemabarking at the same time. 

 

My advice: pay a premium to have a confirmed pre-booked taxi, and don't rely on Uber or Bolt.

 

 

 

 

 

Uber and Bolt operates in Barcelona but with few cars

 

If you want a company like these ones, use Cabify. It has more, more cars in the city . It works like Uber and you will find it in Spain and some other countries in America.

After you have downloaded their app it will be quite similar but you will have to create your new account just for Barcelona.

 

That's why I suggest taxi.

 

That way and because taxi can stop at taxi stand whilst impossible for Cabify

[sgmn]

On 3/5/2024 at 5:35 PM, Softball20 said:

If we do walk-off on Celebrity at 7:00 a.m., is a 10:40 flight out of BCN doable?  It looks like the airport is fairly close - less than 30 minutes.  (we flew in there once, but it was years ago and I just don't recall the distance between the port and airport.)  I'm thinking that it's cutting it too close - just evaluating options.

Last May we had a flight after 9am to LHR from Barcelona.   We self carried our bags and got off ASAP.  Big queue of taxis waiting, no wait for us.

We were at the airport so early the airline asked us if we wanted an earlier flight at 0745.  We arrived at our home by 1030 UK time (11.30 Spanish time).