What do you do when your plane gets to Barcelona at 9:00 am??

[peaches80]

We have a hotel booked for a pre-cruise stay but our plane gets in at 9:00 am. Has anybody had this experience and what do you do until you can check in? I can see us dragging our suitcases up and down the streets of Barcelona for 5 hours...lol!!!;)

[agabbymama]

See if your hotel has a luggage storage area, and if you can drop your luggage off, then come back to check in.

 

That's what we did in Venice, with no problems.

[painfree]

The majority of hotels in Barcelona offer luggage storage until check in..On my last visit to Barcelona the hotel had a room available and I was able to check in at noon..Good Luck but I don't feel you will any problems..

I'll be back in Barcelona in early May for a post cruise stay and will use my hotel's luggage storage area..Unless you sleep well on over night flights, you'll have more trouble staying awake to enjoy this beautiful city then storing your luggage..

 

Carol

[chipmaster]

We have a hotel booked for a pre-cruise stay but our plane gets in at 9:00 am. Has anybody had this experience and what do you do until you can check in? I can see us dragging our suitcases up and down the streets of Barcelona for 5 hours...lol!!!;)

 

As the OP have said let your hotel store it. In all my travels never found a hotel that wouldn't store your luggage prior to check-in or for the day after checkout. Never had any problems or worries with theft or tampering, but still wise not to leave your valuables or fragile things like computers/cameras etc. with them.

 

In Barcelona our ship docked at 4am, but we managed to delay our departure till almost 11. Arrived at the hotel at 12 with checkin at 4pm, we checked our luggage in and went of had lunch, wandered Las Rambla and returned at 4pm and checked in with our luggage, no worries :D

[ziggypup]

Let your Hotel know ahead of time that you plan to arrive early and you would appreciate a early check in if the room is available.

[Screwbit]

We have a similar situation on our Sept. cruise out of BCN. We are doing two days pre-cruise, and staying at Hotel 1898. I've already talked to their Hotel Manager, figuring we'll probably take the Aerobus to P.de Catalunya, and walk the couple of blocks to the hotel. I'm guessing we hit the hotel 11'ish. He says if a room is ready(and probably will be), we can check-in, even though 'official' check-in time isn't until 3pm. If not, we are welcome to store our luggage, and head out exploring. Or, he told us, we were welcome to avail ourselves of the pools, or just relax at their bar. Hmmm, 4 hours at the bar, after that flight- not thinkin' so. ;-)

[peaches80]

Thanks much to all of you for your help. Guess I will be checking with the hotel so they can store our luggage and then enjoying Barcelona...if I can stay awake!:D

[Bruin Steve]

We have a hotel booked for a pre-cruise stay but our plane gets in at 9:00 am...

 

I think I'd rather have that situation than ours...

Our plane arrives in Barcelona at 7:45 pm!!!

We leave Los Angeles at 7:50 pm the night before and fly all night to Heathrow...arriving ther 2:15 pm local time--about 10 and a half hours later...or really about 6:15 am OUR time...Then we hang out at Heathrow for almost 2 and a half hours until we catch a 4:40 pm flight that arrives in Barcelona at 7:45 pm--which is 11:40 am OUR time...Then, retrieving our luggage and finding some sort of transportation to the hotel and checking in...it will likely be about 10:00 pm Barcelona time...in their culture: Almost time to go find a restaurant for dinner!

 

But, by then, our bodies will have no idea what time it is...Is it early afternoon? Or is it late at night? Will we have not slept since the morning before? Or, for the first time ever will we actually have gotten some decent sleep on the plane?

 

AND...that is exactly why I like to schedule multiple nights of a pre-cruise stay when flying to Europe...

 

It will take us quite a while to make up for the lack of sleep, get adjusted to the multiple time zone difference...anf to the general fatigue/jet lag...

 

We also never quite know if any of the legs of our journey will be delayed, if connections will be missed, if luggage will be lost...or any of the other wonderful travel surprises...

 

So, we've got three nights in Barcelona before we board the ship...We are not counting on that first day to do much other than relax, sleep in, enjoy Barcelona at a leisurely pace...Of course, it is at least my fifth time there, always for multiple days...I have not planned on a whirlwind tour of tourist sites in one day...

 

To the OP: Maybe you will get lucky and someone will have checked out to catch an early flight and they'll have the room cleaned and allow you to check in early...

 

If not, as others have said, just leave your luggage with the bellman and go out and wander Las Ramblas, grab an espresso...relax...Hopefully, you've booked that hotel for more than just one night in Barcelona...

[eandj]

We have a similar situation on our Sept. cruise out of BCN. We are doing two days pre-cruise, and staying at Hotel 1898. I've already talked to their Hotel Manager, figuring we'll probably take the Aerobus to P.de Catalunya, and walk the couple of blocks to the hotel. I'm guessing we hit the hotel 11'ish. He says if a room is ready(and probably will be), we can check-in, even though 'official' check-in time isn't until 3pm. If not, we are welcome to store our luggage, and head out exploring. Or, he told us, we were welcome to avail ourselves of the pools, or just relax at their bar. Hmmm, 4 hours at the bar, after that flight- not thinkin' so. ;-)

 

 

It'll be beautiful weather in Sept. Head to a pool chaise and snooze away. By the time your room is ready, you'll be rejuventaed and not waste time seeing Bcn. That's what I'd do. :)

[sandinmyshoes]

I'd follow the other posters advice and see if your hotel has luggage storage. If you are lucky, you can catch a quick nap, but they say it's best for your body's adjustment if you can stay awake until the local bedtime and crash then. If you can manage this, I recommend the Hop On, Hop Off bus in Barcelona. There's a lot to see there and this is an inexpensive and effective way to do it. You should be able to do a google search and find out their closest pickup point to your hotel and then you can connect to anywhere in the city from there. It's fun and informational in a non-boring way. They have headsets they give you so you can hear the rolling commentary for what you are seeing as you drive around the city and have plenty of stops to get on and off to spend extra time in the places that interest you. Enjoy!

[Hlitner]

European hotels are very used to customers arriving early after an overnight flight. We have been in numerous hotels over the years (guess we are talking hundreds) and everyone of them will hold your luggage in a secure area until they can put you in a room. If you are lucky, your room might be ready in the morning and they will let you check-in as soon as your arrive (happens to us about 50% of the time. Otherwise, we drop our luggage and usually go out and relax with a nice breakfast, some good coffee, and good people watching.

 

Hank

[thereididitagain]

We were very lucky because we had our flight included with the price of our last cruise. When we arrived in BCN at 9AM, RCCL made arrangements with the shuttle bus service to take us all on a tour of Barcelona for a couple of hours until we could check in at the ship. A very nice touch and very much appreciated.

[lambs2]

We arrived very early in the morning in Barcelona this January and our hotel held our luggage in a special locked room while we explored the Gotic area. When we disembarked in Barcelona after our cruise we stayed at a different hotel and this time our room was ready when we got there in the morning.

[lambs2]

We arrived very early in the morning in Barcelona this January and our hotel held our luggage in a special locked room while we explored the Gotic area. When we disembarked in Barcelona after our cruise we stayed at a different hotel and this time our room was ready when we got there in the morning.

[CathyCruises]

We also arrived early and went straight to Hotel 1898; we were able to check in but they would have happily stored our luggage if our room had not been available.

 

I strongly advise just taking a shower if you are able to check in that early; don't hit the bed or your jet lag will last much longer. A short nap in the afternoon if you have to, but force yourself to get up and get going again. Barcelona comes alive at night. Bruin Steve, I would rather be in your position. Check in, grab a light meal, and off to sleep. You will adapt to the change much more readily that way.

 

I always have much more trouble coming home--maybe that's because I have to go back to work!:rolleyes: Cathy