Norwegian Epic & Oasis of the Seas in Barcelona

[eeliechick]

We are after some advice for Barcelona, we are looking at cruising on Norwegian Epic round trip Civitavecchia. The day it pulls into Barcelona the Oasis of the Seas is also in so the port load is approx 9000. We are concerned that going to the major sights is going to be almost impossible with that many people in town. Our other option is Jewel of the Seas which is the only ship in town on the day shes in Barcelona however were excited to experience Epic and the facilities onboard. Would love any opinions on those that have been in Barcelona while port load was high. 

[MeHeartCruising]

3 hours ago, eeliechick said:

We are after some advice for Barcelona, we are looking at cruising on Norwegian Epic round trip Civitavecchia. The day it pulls into Barcelona the Oasis of the Seas is also in so the port load is approx 9000. We are concerned that going to the major sights is going to be almost impossible with that many people in town. Our other option is Jewel of the Seas which is the only ship in town on the day shes in Barcelona however were excited to experience Epic and the facilities onboard. Would love any opinions on those that have been in Barcelona while port load was high. 

 

In my opinion, Barcelona is such a large city, I don't think the fact that a large group of additional people from the Oasis will be that noticeable at the venues.  They will all be very crowded whether the Oasis is in town or not.  

[ollienbertsmum]

I would not make a decision about which ship to sail on according to the number of ships in port in BCN.  The tourists in the city are not solely cruisers.    The other option would be to board in BCN rather than Civi.  You could explore this beautiful city pre cruise.   But TBH that might be why you are going from Rome.  

 

[mapleleaves]

We are doing as Ollie has suggested;  arrive in Barcelona a few days early to sightsee. 

Another reason that suggestion works well .....  many sites in Barcelona are closed on Sundays so if there's something in particular that you want to see , make sure it's open on Sunday. ( One member in our party really wanted to visit the Boqueria Market and St Catarina Market, both of which are closed on Sunday ) 

[evandbob]

We stayed in Barcelona post TA and even on days when there was only 1 ship in port most popular sites were crowded.  Best advice is to do "skip the lines tours" for Sagrada Familia and Park Guell, and perhaps small tour groups like "tour with locals" or "free local tours" for other sites.

 

There are so many attractions and Barcelona is fairly big, so 9,000 ship pax won't affect crowd density at already crowded sites as much.  In 2017, I think Barcelona was visited by almost 9 Million tourists of all kinds.

Edited May 26, 2019 by evandbob

[eeliechick]

Thanks for your feedback, yes going from Rome as we want to explore more of Italy beforehand and that’s where our flight from Australia will land. Was more concerned about combined portload of the two very large vessels plus regular tourists over a weekend and reports of overtourism in Barcelona. However it doesn’t seem to be of too much an issue with the above feedback. I think the main thing I would want to see is Sagrada Familia which is open Sunday haven’t looked up other sights yet as I’ve been preoccupied organising Italy. 

[eeliechick]

16 minutes ago, evandbob said:

We stayed in Barcelona post TA and even on days when there was only 1 ship in port most popular sites were crowded.  Best advice is to do "skip the lines tours" for Sagrada Familia and Park Guell, and perhaps small tour groups like "tour with locals" or "free local tours" for other sites.

 

There are so many attractions and Barcelona is fairly big, so 9,000 ship pax won't affect crowd density at already crowded sites as much.  In 2017, I think Barcelona was visited by almost 9 Million tourists of all kinds.

 

Great thank you - usually I wouldn’t be too concerned however with all the Overtourism articles I read I was starting to get concerned so thanks for putting my mind at ease!

[evandbob]

We enjoyed the skip the line Sagrada Familia tour with Towers. Believe it was through Julia Tours. Elevator goes up, but you must be able to walk down a 400 step narrow circular stairway afterwards.  Great views of the city from up top.

Edited May 26, 2019 by evandbob

[Sunkissed Mommy]

I am sailing on the Epic this coming week, Oasis will also be in port with us.  I am not concerned, its a large enough city thats already full of tourists.  I personally like the idea of boarding in Rome (which is what I am doing) because there is more for me to see and do in Rome pre-cruise!