how to get around the port of Barcelona

in just a few weeks we leave on our cruise out of Barcelona

I was wondering if anyone could tell me what how the port is set up and are things easy to find

we have a car service from our hotel to the port ( we did this when we were in London a few years ago and the driver dropped us off by sort of a dock setting where they did take our luggage though) and we just followed a group of people figuring they were heading to the terminal

usually we take disney transfers but the hotels they use were full--we could get the transfers just have to get ourselves to the hotel disney has set up with but by the time you do all that we might as well just take the car service to the port

so if anyone has any tips on the port /terminal /check in or any tips Id greatly appreciate it

thanks all

We've done multiple cruises out of Barcelona. It is a lot like PC, if you've ever cruised from there. In fact, DCL tries to make all their ports quite similar. The car can take you to whichever terminal the ship is using. There is a luggage drop location and then a line for screening to enter the port. One thing--we were required to have the book that DCL sent and our passports in order to enter the terminal. I'm sure they have a system for people who don't have/can't find the booklet, but that's what they wanted. So, drop your luggage with the porters and get in the line. The inside of the terminal is basically a warehouse where DCL has set up check in stations. They had separate lines for concierge, platinum, gold and silver were together, and first timers...but again, there was a CM directing people to other stations if there was no line at those. The biggest difference is that they didn't want us at the terminal till about 11:30. Then, after check in, the ship was not ready for boarding. There were ROWS and ROWS of chairs and we sat till about 12:30. Since we are platinum, we did board basically as soon as boarding started; I have no idea how long other people were kept waiting.

On your return, if you are going to the airport I'd strongly recommend DCL transfers. On one cruise, we were spending several days in Barcelona, so planned to take a taxi. The authorities were limiting the number of taxis they were allowing into the terminal area, so we stood in line about 90 minutes! On all of our BCN cruises since then, we've taken the bus to the airport--MUCH easier and no waiting. Also, if you are departing on Delta, they have a check in right at the terminal--they'll take your luggage and you are on your way. No line to speak of, the people were very nice, and the whole disembarkation and Delta check in was easy. You do not have to do anything in advance and you don't get documents in your room. You just go to the Delta desk in the terminal and they take care of you.

I'm guessing you have your hotel, etc. all planned. Otherwise, I'd give you some suggestions.

thanks so much for the very helpfull tips and yes we have sailed out of PC so I was glad to hear Barcelona is sort of like that and that we will be dropped off where we can leave our luggage

we do have disney transfers from the port to the airport and I know disney is real efficient at getting people off the ship

so thanks again--if you think of any other tips could you please let me know

take care

sorry but I do have yet another question

you mentioned hotels and yes we do have one booked its the Barcleona Renaissance Fira

I read on another board that theres another once called just Barcelona REnaissance but it was already booked for disney and its super expensive

do you anything about the Fira hotel--it looks nice I always like to have some idea what Im getting into

I dont know what it was about this trip --it seemed harder to get it all together then when we did a Northern Europe cruise out of Southampton on RC

thanks for answering so many of my questions

The hotels that Disney uses in Barcelona are very expensive, and there is an extra fee added if you book them thru DCL! It isn't like in the US where DCL gets a discount and passes a good price on to you.

I know nothing about the hotels that you named. When we fly in the day before we cruise, we stay at the Tryp Aeropuerto. They have a free shuttle to/from the airport and a paid shuttle to the cruise terminal, making life very easy. The downside is that they are near the airport, so this is not a good location if you are coming in days early to enjoy Barcelona. Also, the rooms are for 2 people. There is a charge to put a "not so good" rollaway for a third person, and that charge was almost as much as the room charge the one time we did it. They do have wifi and are on the public transportation lines if you want to go out for whatever. I think we had pizza delivered last time--normally we just want to sleep and wake up the next morning ready to enjoy the cruise It is also the place where DCL houses incoming CMs! In fact, that's the most confusing thing--DCL operates a but to get the CMs to the port so you need to be sure that you talk to the desk about the "cruise bus," not the "Disney bus." Of course another option is to take the airport shuttle (free) back to the airport and catch the DCL bus from there. I did that the time I was cruising solo and it ended up being a very nice deal--DCL didn't want us at the cruise terminal till 11:30 and they had all these people who had gotten off planes. We were placed on a bus with a tour guide and did about a 2 hour tour of the city with a couple stops before they took us to the terminal. This was at no charge above the transfers. It was interesting to see what they did since I'd already spent time in the city on another trip and had played tourist before. When we come in early to enjoy Barcelona, we stay in the La Ramblas area or near the cruise terminal (which is right near the end of La Ramblas). There is supposedly a public bus from the Columbus statue to the cruise terminal, but we've never chanced that--we take a taxi or car service from those hotels. We actually saw a family trying to walk it...it's probably a mile and a half just in the port area, which with luggage in the heat is way too much for me!

The only thing I know about the Renaissance is that it is one of the hotels that Disney uses. I think the one right at the end of the port area is the World Trade Center or something similar to that. Also very expensive.

Have a super trip!