Flight home from Barcelona

[EvelynAlexa]

Is an 11:45 am flight to Miami from Barcelona too early for the day we leave the ship?

 

Eve

[English_in_Spain]

Hi and welcome to Cruise Critic

 

Which cruise line are you on? What time does your ship dock?

 

 

[Baseball fan]

Assuming your ship docks early, you should be fine, but make sure you get off early. I have found Barcelona to have the slowest check in process. I've used both BA and Delta. Luckily we gave ourselves plenty of time, as we checked in and then I had to wait in the line for VAT paperwork. That was really slow as they kept allowing people to cut to the front of the line. I think we gave ourselves 2 1/2 hours total.

[Keith1010]

Noon or close to noon should be fine.

 

Always good to check with your cruise line to see what the earliest time they would have recommended for a flight.

 

Keith

[English_in_Spain]

bold is mine

 

Assuming your ship docks early, you should be fine, but make sure you get off early. I have found Barcelona to have the slowest check in process. I've used both BA and Delta. Luckily we gave ourselves plenty of time, as we checked in and then I had to wait in the line for VAT paperwork. That was really slow as they kept allowing people to cut to the front of the line. I think we gave ourselves 2 1/2 hours total.

 

I would not have said 2 1/2 hours is 'plenty of time'.

 

Assuming it is an international flight you need to check-in 2 hours before your flight. The drive time from the port to the airport terminal 1 is about 30 minutes.

 

That alone is 2 1/2 hours. That does not allow for getting from the ship to the taxi, waiting for a taxi, allowing for the possibility of heavy traffic etc.

 

I never advise less than 3 hours - more if you are not taking your own luggage off the ship. Perhaps more if you are leaving a vary large ship with lots of passengers getting off.

 

It really depends what your situation would be if you missed your flight. Would you be able to get later one later.

 

My advice is always to ask your cruise line what the earliest flight they recommend. They will know the earliest you are likely to get off, how long it takes for their ship to clear customs etc.

 

[katrina915]

Carol,

I am also looking at 11:25 flight to Miami. We are on Roy Car and dock 6 am. Have someone in wheelchair but it will be ours so don't have to wait in line for cruise line's chair. Roy Car has 10 am as earliest flight. Should we order transport to airport ahead of time? Dad can transfer into taxi. Thanks.

[Loonbeam]

I would also factor in what airline you are flying. For example, the line at Lufthansa was so long for a small check in area it took us 90 minutes to get to drop off our bags (if you can pre-print boarding passes there may be a smaller line available)

[EvelynAlexa]

THe Ruby Princess docks at 5am in Barcelona. We purchased transfers.

Should we plan to walk off the ship for an 11:45am flight and take a taxi?

 

The non-stop to Miami is good, then customs and another flight.

I'll check the airlines for afternoon options.

 

Eve

[Grillfish]

I'll let you know how it goes for us. We return from the EPIC at Barcelona on May 19 (Sun). We plan to do a walk off, meet our pre-arranged driver @ 7:15am and our flight is US Air @ 10:45am in T1 direct to Philly, then to ORL.

 

I thought Sunday with lighter traffic, pre-arranged driver and walk off, we should be ok, but if we run into delays with debarking, then all bets are off and we might be spending another day in Barcelona....

[Baseball fan]

bold is mine

 

 

 

I would not have said 2 1/2 hours is 'plenty of time'.

 

Assuming it is an international flight you need to check-in 2 hours before your flight. The drive time from the port to the airport terminal 1 is about 30 minutes.

 

That alone is 2 1/2 hours. That does not allow for getting from the ship to the taxi, waiting for a taxi, allowing for the possibility of heavy traffic etc.

 

I never advise less than 3 hours - more if you are not taking your own luggage off the ship. Perhaps more if you are leaving a vary large ship with lots of passengers getting off.

 

It really depends what your situation would be if you missed your flight. Would you be able to get later one later.

 

My advice is always to ask your cruise line what the earliest flight they recommend. They will know the earliest you are likely to get off, how long it takes for their ship to clear customs etc.

 

 

 

I stand corrected. What I meant was 2 1/2 hours total at the airport worked for us. The first time it took me 90 min to check my luggage and made it to the gate while they were boarding.

[mauimary]

What we have done twice from Barcelona and other ports in Europe is to walk off with our own luggage. We are one of the first off and do not have to sort through things. We have also gotten one of the first taxis off to the airport before you have any sort of crowd buildup.