A Day in Barcelona

[Messybill]

We are doing the transatlantic from San Juan to Barcelona in March.

 

Viking Sea arrives in Barcelona at 5:30am and we expect to be forcibly disembarked before 9am.  Our flight leaves for London at 15:20.  So, we have several hours in Barcelona.

 

As it happens, we’re going to be returning to Barcelona for several days in May so we are hoping that this will be an opportunity to familiarize ourselves with the city (and have a nice lunch).

 

We will be ejected from the ship with our luggage. We would ideally like to find a lock-up for that - explore - eat - grab the train (or a taxi) to the airport.

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[SantaFe1]

We had much the same dilemma.  We needed to find a way to spend half a day after disembarking around 9 and checking into our hotel around 2.  And we will also have luggage with us.  We decided on Barcelona Day Tours.  They will pick you up at the ship, give you a tour of the city of your own design, and then drop you off at the airport or your hotel later in the day.  This can be a private or group tour.  https://barcelonadaytours.com/our-day-tours/

[shadowlover]

You will have to be at the airport by 12 or 1 so that doesn't really give you much time.  

[broker1217]

For 3:20 PM international (non-Schengen) departure, you need to get to BCN by 12:20. The airport is about ~25 minutes from downtown. So you need to be headed to the airport by noon. 
That pretty much eliminates doing a nice lunch since Spanish lunch tends to be later.

I would do a private tour since you only have a couple hours.  Not worth storing and then retrieving luggage in my opinion. It really depends on what you want to see and do for around 3 hours.

 

We did the same cruise and did a Barcelona day tours trip to Montesserat and a winery- but that was all day since we could not check in to our hotel until 4PM. Maybe a shorter custom tour?

if you are able to handle your own bags, consider walking yourself and your bags off the ship to save time at disembarkation. Plus you don’t have to put your bags out the night prior. Gives you a little more control regarding meeting a tour.

 

[SantaFe1]

2 hours ago, shadowlover said:

You will have to be at the airport by 12 or 1 so that doesn't really give you much time.  

If it were me, I would get off the ship at 8, have Barcelona Day Tours take us and our luggage on a four hour, half day tour, and then take us and our luggage to the airport.  You can always have lunch at the airport.  But what fun to have someone chauffeur you around Barcelona for four hours!  And not have to worry about luggage or a taxi.  And they are quite reasonable, in my opinion.  In any case, good luck and have fun!  We’ve missed Barcelona three times in three years.  Fingers crossed for March!

Edited November 6, 2022 by SantaFe1

[Peregrina651]

18 minutes ago, SantaFe1 said:

If it were me, I would get off the ship at 8, have Barcelona Day Tours take us and our luggage on a four hour, half day tour, and then take us and our luggage to the airport.  You can always have lunch at the airport.  But what fun to have someone chauffeur you around Barcelona for four hours!  And not have to worry about luggage or a taxi.

 

I say ditto. Great idea. No worrying about the luggage. And because of timing, figure on lunch at the airport.

[Messybill]

Thanks everyone for your very helpful suggestions!

[lisaatric]

I am that person who gets to the airport as late as possible. However, we flew out of Barcelona a few weeks ago, and even I’d get there early!  Security wasn’t a problem-normal wait,  but there was one extra line to go to the gate that took about 1/2 hour. Our passports were checked a total of 4 times!  

[lisaatric]

ALso, eat before you go to your gate. Nothing in our gate area but Burger King and a snack store. 

[Clay Clayton]

1 hour ago, Messybill said:

Thanks everyone for your very helpful suggestions!

If you decide to go with Barcelona Day Tours, I suggest posting your plans on your rollcall and finding some others to join you.  Depending on the size of the group you gather, as the organizer they will comp a tour or two which you can use to lower everyone’s tour cost. 

[millybess]

5 hours ago, lisaatric said:

ALso, eat before you go to your gate. Nothing in our gate area but Burger King and a snack store. 

Thanks for this.  We will definitely want lunch before we board for London.  Any other ideas out there?  

[Peregrina651]

21 minutes ago, millybess said:

Thanks for this.  We will definitely want lunch before we board for London.  Any other ideas out there?  

 

The better food venues are closer to security and before you start heading out to the gates There are maps available of the airport and the website is available in English.  

 

[CCWineLover]

I hope you really truly are not "forcibly disembarked" and "ejected from the ship" !  🙂

 

Interesting choice of words.

[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, CCWineLover said:

I hope you really truly are not "forcibly disembarked" and "ejected from the ship" !  🙂

 

Interesting choice of words.

 

Or then again, may they mean it in the good way, as it is with me when I claim that I had to be dragged off the ship kicking and screaming at the end of the cruise; isn't that kind of the same as forcibly disembarked. It is not the hour of the day that is the problem, it is the leaving at all.

[millybess]

56 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Or then again, may they mean it in the good way, as it is with me when I claim that I had to be dragged off the ship kicking and screaming at the end of the cruise; isn't that kind of the same as forcibly disembarked. It is not the hour of the day that is the problem, it is the leaving at all.

Hahaha Peregrina, you are so right!!   Your optimism on this Viking forum has always been so uplifting.  We, like so many others, always look forward to your contributions 🙂

[Clay Clayton]

19 hours ago, millybess said:

Thanks for this.  We will definitely want lunch before we board for London.  Any other ideas out there?  

We have lounge access through our credit card-if you don’t, it’s often possible to purchase a day pass. If you have a long wait and need to eat, it might be a good value. 

[millybess]

1 hour ago, Clay Clayton said:

We have lounge access through our credit card-if you don’t, it’s often possible to purchase a day pass. If you have a long wait and need to eat, it might be a good value. 

Very good idea.  Thanks!