flying in at 10 am to Barcelona on debarkation day

Livesincelebration

Living the Dream
Joined
Feb 2, 2008
Has anyone done this in the past. We do not have a choice as my DH does not have vacation until the 6th of July and the Magic leave Barcelona on the 7th. I just need some reassurance that this is doable.
 
Has anyone done this in the past. We do not have a choice as my DH does not have vacation until the 6th of July and the Magic leave Barcelona on the 7th. I just need some reassurance that this is doable.

Where is your flight originating? Make sure you have trip insurance. That is cutting it way too close in my opinion . I would just not book the cruise if I couldn't make the flight earlier. I've had way too many flight delays to be comfortable with that.
 
I fly very often transatlantic (both US and Asia, living in Europe) and I would say 1 time out of 5 I have a delay.. varying from just 45 min to a couple of times MULTIPLE hours (twice not until the next day) I would def not reccomend it and if you still go for it, make sure you buy insurance that covers missing a cruise cause of a flightdelay (for regardless which reason: weather, medical stop, airline strike, plane issues)
 


Has anyone done this in the past. We do not have a choice as my DH does not have vacation until the 6th of July and the Magic leave Barcelona on the 7th. I just need some reassurance that this is doable.
Does he work on July 6? You could see if you could get a flight the night of the fifth if itis his last working day. Many transatlantic flights leave later at night.
 


I am a risk taker, and not in a million years would I risk that.

There are sooo many things that can throw you off just a bit here and there, and then you are stressed and miserable.

My last trip to Barcelona was a case study in what can go wrong will, and by the time I got on the ship, with no suitcases (packed two, each complete in shoes, clothes toiletries, etc) which Air France was very French about, and a bunch of other drama that I wish to not remember, I was one sweaty mess.
 
@Livesincelebration - If you have not bought the tickets yet, this is the time I would 100% buy through DCL and purchase their transfers at least to the ship. That way they know that you are en route and will do everything they can should you be delayed.

AND buy trip insurance.

This is exactly what we did for WBTA a few years back. All worked out thankfully!
 
Learned to always arrive the day before a cruise.
We were delayed 5 hours at JFK on the way to Barcelona......actually flew for an hour and turned around and went back to get a part replaced. Not a relaxing time. Lots of cruisers on the flight.
We did make it in time, but barely. And no time to go look at Barcelona. We had Hop on Hop off tickets that we didn't get to use.
 
We are on the same cruise.

When the wife came home and told me we were going to Europe; my original thought process was to fly out on the 6th and arrive the morning of the 7th. My thinking at the time was a) I don't have the extra vacation to try and take another day off (this trip is eating all my paid vacation and then some) and b) we should have enough time (close to 6 hours) to still make it to the ship; since we would be arriving in the morning from a direct flight.

After more research I made the decision for us to leave out on the 5th and arrive on the 6th. While I felt that arriving on the 7th was doable; I also felt that it was a risk was not worth taking. Any type delay at either airport (leaving or arriving) could end up jeopardize our cruise. While a 6 hour window seems a lot; all it takes is a few hour delay to make getting to the ship a lot harder.

As some others have posted. If you do decide to fly in on the 7th; then if possible get your flights through Disney and also pay for the transfers. Since that way they will bend over backwards to try and get you on the ship. I would also get travel insurance.

Psy
 
We were on a Baltics cruise with a couple whose transatlantic flight was delayed four hours and they barely made the cruise. He was still stressed(!) that night at dinner. Not a fun way to begin a vacation.

I don't sleep well on planes and feel like a zombie til I can rest up and deal with the jet lag. So I need to arrive the day before a cruise.
 
As others have posted I would never arrive the day of for any cruise let alone a transatlantic destination. In addition, you really need that extra day to adjust to the new time zone or else your first day on the cruise will be totally shot. JMO
 
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Are you flying direct? We were delayed in and out of Barcelona last summer due to rain storms and people there implied it is pretty frequent for the area.
 
I’d be reluctant to try this.

It’s probably 30 minutes from the airport to the cruise docks.

You’ll need to clear customs and immigration as well- it can be efficient, but sometimes not.

I’d be sure to sit near the front of the plane- otherwise you could have an extra 20 minutes to disembark.
 
We did it! First cruise in 2010 we flew from Portland, OR and landed in Barcelona around 9:00 am. We too k a taxi directly to the airport and then after our cruise we took a taxi right back to the airport to fly home at noon. :) Now, having said that and eventhough everything went smooth for us we became very aware that it could have been a different story. We also realized how amazing Barcelona looked. We now always fly in at least a day early, just in case, as well as to help us adjust to any time change. If push came to shove and we had no other option, we would fly in day of, but would make sure we had trip insurance. The good thing with Europe is that it is very port intensive and not too far in case you had to join the cruise at a different port. Have a great cruise!
 
We did it! First cruise in 2010 we flew from Portland, OR and landed in Barcelona around 9:00 am. We too k a taxi directly to the airport and then after our cruise we took a taxi right back to the airport to fly home at noon. :) Now, having said that and eventhough everything went smooth for us we became very aware that it could have been a different story. We also realized how amazing Barcelona looked. We now always fly in at least a day early, just in case, as well as to help us adjust to any time change. If push came to shove and we had no other option, we would fly in day of, but would make sure we had trip insurance. The good thing with Europe is that it is very port intensive and not too far in case you had to join the cruise at a different port. Have a great cruise!
Will they allow you to join the cruise and another port? I thought I had read that this was not allowed.
 

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