Disembarking For Flight Before Noon

[tjc73]

Hi!

Im curious about disembarking procedures. I know each cruise line handles this differently and wondering if there is an express walk off option for those with early flights. 

We end our cruise in Barcelona and have a flight at 11:30am. We know we need time to line up for a cab, get to the airport in weekday morning traffic and be there 2hrs ahead. So hoping to be off the ship at about 8am. 

This is my first Celebrity cruise so not sure how they handle this. They also never asked for our flight details at online check in which I found odd. 

Any advise appreciated 🙂 

[jelayne]

Yes Celebrity offers express walk-off which is called self assist.  You will receive details of the time and location to meet for self assist debarkation about 2 days before the end of your cruise.  I would suggest you get there early as self assist can be very popular and the line can get quite long.

[kerryincork]

Where are you flying to? As it 2 hours before hand to Europe, but 3 hours if going to the US.

 

It is my experience that the check-in desks /bag drop opens exactly on the 2hr/3hr check in limit and not before.

 

Also just check the average travel time in the cab for the airport for the time and day.

 

Also Barcelona has a bit of a strange arrangement in that you go through security to where the shops & restaurants are and then you queue again to go through passport control. Be warned they don't let you skip ahead of the passport line even if it looks like you might miss your flight.

 

Also there are two official Barcelona airports one is close to the city and one is 1 to 2 hours away, make sure you know which one you are flying to.

[Cruise a holic]

1 hour ago, tjc73 said:

Hi!

Im curious about disembarking procedures. I know each cruise line handles this differently and wondering if there is an express walk off option for those with early flights. 

We end our cruise in Barcelona and have a flight at 11:30am. We know we need time to line up for a cab, get to the airport in weekday morning traffic and be there 2hrs ahead. So hoping to be off the ship at about 8am. 

This is my first Celebrity cruise so not sure how they handle this. They also never asked for our flight details at online check in which I found odd. 

Any advise appreciated 🙂 

You are really cutting it close- First of course you must do a walk off.  Sometimes the elevators are mobbed so you might have to use the stairs.  Good if you are on a low level.  Also, no guarantee that you will be off the ship at 8AM.  Sometimes, customs takes long to clear the ship.  Especially if other ships are also in the port.  While getting a cab shouldn't be a problem, last year we had to wait over 1/2 hour as somebody had a accident on the highway and most cabs couldn't come in the terminal.  If you have an 11 AM flight and must arrive 2 hours in advance- could be a problem.  I assume you have tsa or another rapid entry access so you do not have to deal with an airport security line.

 

Of course everything might be perfect- but you must be prepared if things aren't as you plan.  I would be much too nervous and either take a later flight or if I could, fly the next day.

[tjc73]

9 hours ago, kerryincork said:

Where are you flying to? As it 2 hours before hand to Europe, but 3 hours if going to the US.

 

It is my experience that the check-in desks /bag drop opens exactly on the 2hr/3hr check in limit and not before.

 

Also just check the average travel time in the cab for the airport for the time and day.

 

Also Barcelona has a bit of a strange arrangement in that you go through security to where the shops & restaurants are and then you queue again to go through passport control. Be warned they don't let you skip ahead of the passport line even if it looks like you might miss your flight.

 

Also there are two official Barcelona airports one is close to the city and one is 1 to 2 hours away, make sure you know which one you are flying to.

 

8 hours ago, Cruise a holic said:

You are really cutting it close- First of course you must do a walk off.  Sometimes the elevators are mobbed so you might have to use the stairs.  Good if you are on a low level.  Also, no guarantee that you will be off the ship at 8AM.  Sometimes, customs takes long to clear the ship.  Especially if other ships are also in the port.  While getting a cab shouldn't be a problem, last year we had to wait over 1/2 hour as somebody had a accident on the highway and most cabs couldn't come in the terminal.  If you have an 11 AM flight and must arrive 2 hours in advance- could be a problem.  I assume you have tsa or another rapid entry access so you do not have to deal with an airport security line.

 

Of course everything might be perfect- but you must be prepared if things aren't as you plan.  I would be much too nervous and either take a later flight or if I could, fly the next day.

Thanks everyone for the info!

we are flying to Canada and have confirmed 2hrs ahead for check in at the airport 1hr ahead for bag drop. Fingers crossed to check on online the day before. 

 

I also confirmed flight is at 11:45am and we are flying out of BCN which is approx 30 mins drive from the cruise terminal. We have done this flight before out of Barcelona when sailing with another cruise line and no issues as express walk Of was intended for those with early flights and those guests received priority. We didn’t have any issues but of course you have to be prepared for everything. I’ve also never had any issues at any disembarkation port in terms of customs on my previous cruises (except Russia of course which takes forever!) this has always been quick regardless of what country I have been too. The taxi lines are a different story! 

I will definitely check with Celebrity once on board. Thank you all for your help on this, much appreciated. 

[Shadow9612]

11 hours ago, Cruise a holic said:

13 hours ago, tjc73 said:

Any advise appreciated 🙂 

You are really cutting it close- First of course you must do a walk off.  Sometimes the elevators are mobbed so you might have to use the stairs.  

I have found that people doing the self walk off start lining up much earlier than the posted time for a walk off. So I always go much earlier than the time I'm told to....something you could consider...

[tjc73]

16 minutes ago, Shadow9612 said:

I have found that people doing the self walk off start lining up much earlier than the posted time for a walk off. So I always go much earlier than the time I'm told to....something you could consider...

Thank you!! We will line up as early as possible 🙂 

[Shadow9612]

1 hour ago, tjc73 said:

Thank you!! We will line up as early as possible 🙂 

I also recommend a stop at Al Baccio on the way to lining up to grab some muffins or croissants 🙂

[chemmo]

4 hours ago, tjc73 said:

Thank you!! We will line up as early as possible 🙂 

 

Strongly suggest you do.

 

We cruised from Barcelona last September. We were shocked at the number of guests self disembarking, we just saw the queue as we grabbed an early coffee.  The queue was massive and movement was not helped by the number of guests with significant amounts of luggage. Some of these guests were quite elderly and were struggling. We were very pleased we had chosen to enjoy a leisurely breakfast in Luminae and an early pm flight.

 

We could not believe so many guests had an early flight...perhaps some just prefer to carry off their luggage and leave early....

 

Barcelona (as you probably remember) is a very ‘rambling’ airport. Security was very disorganised, machines breaking...Hope you have a better experience than we did.

 

Sincere best wishes for a great cruise and hassle free return home.

 

 

[G.M.T.]

My advice is to do a b2b cruise to miss this:

 

https://www.thelocal.es/20190808/delays-loom-as-security-staff-start-indefinite-strike-at-barcelona-airport

 

Don't forget the Valium.

 

Have a great cruise.

[Chrisstew007]

Having you considered pre booking a cab to avoid the lines? We have an earlier flight out of Barcelona mid September and have a premium car booked for 50 euros,. Lesser cars will obviously cost you less.

[vickykay]

We often take an elevator up and then down as often they are just packed going down.

[travel_nut73]

On 8/10/2019 at 1:36 AM, chemmo said:

 

Strongly suggest you do.

 

We cruised from Barcelona last September. We were shocked at the number of guests self disembarking, we just saw the queue as we grabbed an early coffee.  The queue was massive and movement was not helped by the number of guests with significant amounts of luggage. Some of these guests were quite elderly and were struggling. We were very pleased we had chosen to enjoy a leisurely breakfast in Luminae and an early pm flight.

 

We could not believe so many guests had an early flight...perhaps some just prefer to carry off their luggage and leave early....

 

Barcelona (as you probably remember) is a very ‘rambling’ airport. Security was very disorganised, machines breaking...Hope you have a better experience than we did.

 

Sincere best wishes for a great cruise and hassle free return home.

 

 

This is very good to know and now I can be prepared. I'm used to cruising with Disney where it seems nobody wants to leave the ship! 

As for Barcelona airport, yes, very disorganized and a bit of a gong show. The first time I flew out of that airport it was a  nightmare!! The baggage belt was broken and so bags were stacked on the conveyor belt 5 high and nobody cared! Almost missed our flight and of course our bags never made the flight. The second time we were prepared for the worst case scenario but everything was fine and no problems at all, so who knows what it will be like this time! 

Fingers crossed! 

[travel_nut73]

One other thought I had - does Celebrity offer airport transfers? I'm assuming not, since it's never shown in my cruise planner and was never offered at time of booking. We generally don't take transfers offered by the cruise line as it's usually pricier than a cab, but if it's to our advantage, I would consider.