What is minimum time I should book flight home disembarking Barcelona? Will 11am flight to US work?

[cdoobiest]

We will be group of 11 with luggage disembarking Norwegian Breakaway.  Notes state 5am disembark but I know that is not when we can disembark.  Looking to book 11am flight back to US from Barcelona airport and was wondering if this is a reasonable time to book flight.  The airport is only 20 min from the cruise port.  Does anyone has any recommendations for private van service pickup to airport from port.  

 

I figured may be cheaper or same price vs lining up for taxis which I presume we will need 3-4 taxis  Thanks in advance for suggestions.  

[tscoffey]

Are you a European Union resident? If not, you’ll have to go through passport control immediately upon disembarkation. That could take awhile (for us in Stockholm, it took over 90 minutes). Are you taking a bus to the airport? What is traffic like in Barcelona? How about the security lines at the airport? Checked bag line? 
11AM sounds a tad too soon to me. I would be more comfortable with 1PM at the earliest - but I am a very cautious traveler by nature anyway.

[Anoynmous Phoenix]

@cdoobiest

 

I would agree with @tscoffey

 

With it being 11 people all it needs is for one person "to get out of line" and you are in trouble.

[www3traveler]

Doubt if I would book a flight before 2 P.M.  Too many things could go wrong.  I doubt if you can disembark before 7:00 or 7:30 A.M.  For an international flight, how many hours do you need be at the airport for check-in prior to your flight ( 2hr or 3 hrs)??

[Asawi]

If it was just you or maybe two of you - possibly (but I probably wouldn't do it unless other options were really bad)

With 11 of you - too many variables! Elderly people in the group? Anyone with even slight mobility issues? Children? 

 

 

 

[steamboats]

13 hours ago, tscoffey said:

Are you a European Union resident? If not, you’ll have to go through passport control immediately upon disembarkation.

 

There´s no passport control unless the ship has arrived from the US. If it´s a cruise from Civitavecchia to Barcelona or a roundtrip out of Barcelona you entered the Schengen area already by plane and there´s no passport control at the port when disembarking.

 

steamboats

 

[KeithJenner]

1 hour ago, steamboats said:

 

There´s no passport control unless the ship has arrived from the US. If it´s a cruise from Civitavecchia to Barcelona or a roundtrip out of Barcelona you entered the Schengen area already by plane and there´s no passport control at the port when disembarking.

 

steamboats

 

Correct. I have done many cruises in the Med and every single time have just walked off the ship to the baggage hall (or past that if carrying off ourselves).

 

If the group are all willing and able to carry off their luggage then they are likely to be able to leave the ship around 6am (certainly by 7am). I wouldn’t risk queueing for taxis as those queues can be quite long if there are multiple ships in port, but if transport has been arranged then they should be at the airport fairly quickly.

 

However, the traffic can be quite slow on weekdays, so that needs to be considered.

 

Personally, we have flown out of Barcelona before midday after a cruise quite a few times. However there are only ever 2 or 3 of us, so there is less chance of someone holding us up. We are also just flying to the UK and don’t have to be there 3 hours before (although we almost always have been). In the OP’s situation 11am is certainly doable, but I’d want a bit longer in case of issues.

 

If they are arriving from outside the EU then they will need longer.