Barcelona Spain Embarkation

First time cruise debarking outside the USA. Can someone give advice about embarking from Barcelona, Spain port? Airport to hotel taxi? Hotel recommendation? Figuring per-cruise 2 days in Barcelona, departing Spain the last day of the cruise. What about taxi to airport? plentiful from port? If you have done this rodeo before give me some good tips..Thanks

Taxi between airport and cruise port is a flat rate of 39 Euros.

Other info is covered extensively in the Spain Ports forum: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=596

We stayed at Hotel Las Ramblas, it was very nice.

Taxis are plentiful. A wonderful city... :cool:

I took the bus from the airport to Placa Catalunya--it was just a block away from my hotel. it was cheap and very easy and runs frequently.

I spent six days in Barcelona pre-cruise. i stayed at Avenida Palace and it was very nice with a great breakfast. Across the street is a little restaurant that I also had breakfast at a couple of times and enjoyed it. there's a metro stop in front of the hotel and it's a couple blocks from Las Ramblas so it was quieter than many of the hotels right on Las Ramblas. I saw all the tourist places like La Sagrada Familia (give yourself time to enjoy the inside--gorgeous!) and Parc Guell and La Pedrera. My favorite couple of days were when I just wandered around the Gothic Quarter.

I found embarkation in Barcelona very easy. I arrived about 2 p.m. (sailaway was scheduled for 7 p.m.) and walked right up to the checkin desk and then right onto the ship with no waiting.

The only difficulty on disembarkation day (other than my wanting to stay on the ship!) was finding an elevator when everyone else wanted to get off, too! There were taxis lined up--very easy.

Have a great cruise!

We stayed in Passeig de Gracia. Quiet and a nice area.

First time cruise debarking outside the USA. Can someone give advice about embarking from Barcelona, Spain port? Airport to hotel taxi? Hotel recommendation? Figuring per-cruise 2 days in Barcelona, departing Spain the last day of the cruise. What about taxi to airport? plentiful from port? If you have done this rodeo before give me some good tips..Thanks

We have cruised in and out of Barcelona about 6 times, going again this October on the Royal TA. I think Barcelona is one of the best ports for a first timer to Europe... easy to get to the airport or vs to the ship there... taxi are plentiful... we always use taxi vs a bus transfer. Do recommend you give a driver the name and address of a hotel in writing, as many do not speak English that well, less confusion on where you are going.

Depends on how much you want to spend relative to hotels... you will get a lot of ideas about where to stay along the Le Rambles on this board. We prefer to stay off the beaten tract, so over the years we have stayed out at the airport and taken the airport bus to the city center (doing so is the cheapest way to go, if you google you can get a list of airport hotels). We have also stayed at the Hilton Hotels... one in the financial district and one near the convention center, on the opposite side of Barcelona from the airport. We just book the later for our next trip in October, it is called the Hilton Diagonal Mar, not cheap but delux, nice view looking at the Mediterranean, a large shopping center right across the Street. Great place to buy wine if going on the ship, we also find we can shop for picnic items we can enjoy in our hotel... supermarket on the ground floor. Spanish people eat very late, too late for us, since we are seniors... so we shop and picnic. Another option on the high end, is the The Arts Hotel, a Ritz Carlton... stayed there on one trip, super delux... right on the Mediterranean...in an area with lots of tourists, places to eat, area locals enjoy as well. .

Barcelona is an easy city to get around... I am sure you will enjoy it. Taxis are plentiful, you can google to get estimate quote on taxis.

Have read on the port boards that one does need to allow time to go through passport and custom control at the Barcelona airport..(this was in response to arrivals) regardless, we always allow as a minimum of 2-3 hours when we go to a airport for a flight.. this may be excessive for some but works for us.

We lover Las Ramblas Hotel, seventh floor backside w/ balcony. Just around corner to the left is an excellent Turkish grill.

We used points for a fantastic stay at the Marriott Cotton House - lovely hotel and great location. Perfect city to walk and enjoy. Suggest getting tickets for an early admission time at Sagrada. We also really enjoyed a walking Tapas tour in the Gothic quarter - excellent host and great food. Easy embarkation which is a quick ride from downtown.

We used points for a fantastic stay at the Marriott Cotton House - lovely hotel and great location. Perfect city to walk and enjoy. Suggest getting tickets for an early admission time at Sagrada. We also really enjoyed a walking Tapas tour in the Gothic quarter - excellent host and great food. Easy embarkation which is a quick ride from downtown.

Who'd you go with for the tapas tour? I did a food tour in Barcelona that was great and am thinking of doing another.

Thanks!

We're interested in doing a tapas tour too, so I'd also love to know who the tour was with.

We're interested in doing a tapas tour too, so I'd also love to know who the tour was with.

We did this one a few years ago and it was excellent: http://thebarcelonataste.com/

Who'd you go with for the tapas tour? I did a food tour in Barcelona that was great and am thinking of doing another.

 

Thanks!

We did the Gothic Quarter tour with Barcelona Taste - 4 stops on the easy walking tour. Each introduced us to food and drink (we drink beer rather than wine) - plenty of food, excellent company. We chose to do it our first night in Barcelona to keep us moving so we didn't go to sleep early. After that we sought out a new Tapas restaurant each night - as we eat early it was not a problem to get a seat though later in the evening they get quite crowded. Enjoy Barcelona- would love a return visit.

We did the Gothic Quarter tour with Barcelona Taste - 4 stops on the easy walking tour. Each introduced us to food and drink (we drink beer rather than wine) - plenty of food, excellent company. We chose to do it our first night in Barcelona to keep us moving so we didn't go to sleep early. After that we sought out a new Tapas restaurant each night - as we eat early it was not a problem to get a seat though later in the evening they get quite crowded. Enjoy Barcelona- would love a return visit.

Thank you! I spent six days in Barcelona last year. It will be only one this year as it's a port of call. I'm planning to revisit the Gothic Quarter as that was my favorite area of the city and a tapas tour would be a great way to do it!

Thanks!

Q_C

We've been to Barcelona three times now. First time we stayed down in the port area, at the Grand Marina hotel. It was a very nice hotel, but pricey. It had just opened when we were there so they were offering more competitive pricing.

Second time, we stayed up at the Hotel Intercontinental which was more cost effective, but a little quirky. It has a 24 hour buffet which was convenient but the room we had was very small and had plastic chairs under the cloth covers. Very weird.

Most recently, we stayed at the Crystal Palace (a Eurostars property, like the Grand Marina) and it was great. In the same area as the Intercontinental (above the Placa de Catalunya) so there was lots of restaurants and attractions near by. Their rooms were huge and the breakfast buffet was fantastic.

Regardless of where you stay, I'd recommend that you tour around using the hop on hop off bus. It's a great way to see a lot of the city and very convenient.

Taxis are plentiful, but it's not guaranteed that you'll get a driver who speaks English, so knowing a little Spanish is helpful.

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We did this one a few years ago and it was excellent: http://thebarcelonataste.com/

Thanks, that's one of the ones I've been considering.