Spain Beginning Deescalation Measures

[Megtheblackbelt]

Hola

 

Some good news! Albeit I am certainly not insinuating that Spain's deescalation of lockdown measures correlates in any way to the re-opening of the BCN port (and various other Spanish ports)/the cruising industry in Europe, as someone who lives just outside of Barcelona... I am happy about this. We have had some of the most strict lockdown measures in the world, only having been allowed to leave our homes for food, medicine, or to seek medical attention since March 13th. Leaving the home otherwise resulted in fines or jail time (yep, that means no going outside just to walk, bike, etc.). As of this coming weekend, we should be allowed to leave our homes for the first time - for one hour a day, during set time tables - to exercise outside! Yay. One step forward.

 

You can read about it here, should it be of interest to you:

https://english.elpais.com/politics/2020-04-28/spains-prime-minister-announces-coronavirus-deescalation-measures.html

[ltlslick1]

My flights to Barcelona in September have already been canceled. While seeing improvement is certainly positive, I’m not sure how I am going to be able to cruise unless I row a boat across the pond. 

[RMILLER4292]

We have a cruise booked out of BCN on November 7th. I very much hope that we are able to go.

 

[Megtheblackbelt]

21 minutes ago, RMILLER4292 said:

We have a cruise booked out of BCN on November 7th. I very much hope that we are able to go.

 

 

I hope you are able too, as well! I will wave to you as you sail past. 🙂 

[shopnagain]

What do you think of Barcelona for August?  My final payment is due next week and I'm stressing about it.  If it sails, I will go, but I don't want to give RC any more money and wait months on end for a refund.  They already owe me over $5k so I don't want to fork over another $4k if they are going to cancel.

[Megtheblackbelt]

25 minutes ago, shopnagain said:

What do you think of Barcelona for August?  My final payment is due next week and I'm stressing about it.  If it sails, I will go, but I don't want to give RC any more money and wait months on end for a refund.  They already owe me over $5k so I don't want to fork over another $4k if they are going to cancel.

 

Oof. Definitely take my opinion with a grain of salt, but I don’t see it happening. Not sure if you read the article I linked, but they (the government) aren’t even allowing RESIDENTS of Spain to travel between SPANISH provinces until the end of June (which they assume will be the earliest), so my personal thought is that we won’t see any cruising from BCN until at least October/November, if that.  Also note that the deescalation measures mention nothing about re-opening (widely) international travel in to Spain, from what I have read/heard. Right now to even get in to the country, you must be a resident and provide documentation as such. From where we are at now - people not even being allowed to leave their homes for exercise - to cruising, just seems too far of a stretch to reach by August.

 

🥺

[taglovestocruise]

2 hours ago, Megtheblackbelt said:

 

I hope you are able too, as well! I will wave to you as you sail past. 🙂 

We have a B2B booked on Allure for the trip back to the US,  hope you can wave to us as well. PS: what's up with the hotel prices, there have been almost no discounts.  1898 is still priced the same as a year ago. 

[Megtheblackbelt]

6 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

We have a B2B booked on Allure for the trip back to the US,  hope you can wave to us as well. PS: what's up with the hotel prices, there have been almost no discounts.  1898 is still priced the same as a year ago. 

 

Ooooh, so much fun! We are looking at booking on a new MSC ship for their Yacht Club in April, 2021. We live about a 20 minute drive from the BCN port, which I think will prove to be quite convenient once cruising-things resume. 😉

 

Honestly, I have never stayed at a hotel in this area (and paid for the bill, myself). I stayed at the Marriott in L’Hospitalet Llobregat, but at the time I was living in the US and only in town for a work-trip, so work paid for it. I would not recommend that hotel/area (despite being close to the port), so that does not much matter. I would surmise, though, that because the government has mandated hotels only book at a certain % capacity once they re-open, that this might be why the prices are higher? “Make as much €€ off of the few people who stay with us” type deal, perhaps? Not sure....

[bearette]

21 minutes ago, Megtheblackbelt said:

 

Ooooh, so much fun! We are looking at booking on a new MSC ship for their Yacht Club in April, 2021. We live about a 20 minute drive from the BCN port, which I think will prove to be quite convenient once cruising-things resume. 😉

 

Honestly, I have never stayed at a hotel in this area (and paid for the bill, myself). I stayed at the Marriott in L’Hospitalet Llobregat, but at the time I was living in the US and only in town for a work-trip, so work paid for it. I would not recommend that hotel/area (despite being close to the port), so that does not much matter. I would surmise, though, that because the government has mandated hotels only book at a certain % capacity once they re-open, that this might be why the prices are higher? “Make as much €€ off of the few people who stay with us” type deal, perhaps? Not sure....

We have the new ship of MSC ship booked for November as well. I think by then it will be open, but I don't think August is looking good with those restrictions.  I originally thought it would be open in June, but I am with the others now who think September or October will be when they are allowed to cruise again, unless we get a vaccine sooner.

[LXA350]

Thank you for your update also from a local's view. It really looks like the crusing season in Europe is not going to happen in 2020 at least in the Mediteranean. Things might look different for Baltic Cruises, although when looking at current developments in Russia with the virus it's also not clear if they will allow cruises to dock in St. Petersburg this year.