overnight to Barceolna / land on day of embarkation

I probably know the answer to this but I'm dreaming about a Canary Island cruise that departs from Barcelona.

It's a 10 day voyage that sails at 7 p.m. local time from Barcelona.

How insane would I be to take a late flight out of the US on Friday night arriving in Barcelona Saturday morning, the day of departure? I know I'll be tired. Transcontinental travel always leaves me exhausted but I doubt DH can take off Friday so we could fly out Thursday & arrive Friday with a day to spare.

I am probably answering my own question because we usually fly to warm weather ports MIA or SJU the day before just to be safe but can anybody give me words of encouragement? :o

You really have answered your own question. It just takes a little coercion to help you see the light.

There are so many reasons not to fly in the day of departure. You know all about delays, cancellations, late flights I'm sure.

If you haven't been to Barcelona before this should be the clincher. It's one of the best cities in Europe to ward off jet lag!

Have a great cruise.

I've sailed out of Barcelona twice. Once I flew in 2 days early and had an opportunity to explore and enjoy the city. The other time I flew in the morning of departure (Red Eye from Canada) and made it to the ship with time to spare.

If your husband can't take extra time off work, just make sure your flight plans have ample time to deal with delays and that you have decent back up plans in case a connection is missed.

There are no guarantees in life but with a 7 PM departure you should be OK as long as your original plan gets you in by noon and back up plans get you in by 4:00.

We had no problem flying on a redeye from the west coast connecting in ATL and arriving into BCN at 9:00am...we were on the ship by approx 11:00am for our western med cruise.

It can be done, but many on these boards cringe at the thought and have no problem letting those of us that have to make this decision know about it.

Do whatever has to work out for you...and enjoy.

I did it too, air Berlin..made no problem. The problem I had was the first three nights on ship and jet lag... Brutal...the first night I checked the clock wrong, got up, had a shower, went on deck..nooe around...omg.. Realized it was 3 am lolol

I'm always worried about luggage not making it.

If possible take the bare minimum in your carryons and check the like to haves.

It's a direct flight. It lands at 7 a.m. so we have a big margin for error. The 1st day is a sea day & it won't be that warm so I wouldn't even feel like I missed anything.

We are checking a different date that sails on a Sunday so if we flew out Friday night, we'd arrive on Saturday morning & have the day.

Sigh . . . the cost of air is now making me rethink this altogether.

IF the first day is a sea day, you are royally screwed if anything happens to your flight. You will miss at least 1 day, if not two of your cruise. And where is the next port? If not a MAJOR airport, you may have problems even getting to the ship.

Have you looked at ALTERNATE ways to cut your air price? Sure, they MAY have a connection. But at least the price is right and generally, the service will be better. Iceland Air, Aer Lingus, LOT, MAYBE Air Berlin, Air Transat, etc. etc.

Those nonstops can get very, very expensive.

Good luck, whatever you decide to do.

 

Have you looked at ALTERNATE ways to cut your air price? Sure, they MAY have a connection. But at least the price is right and generally, the service will be better. Iceland Air, Aer Lingus, LOT, MAYBE Air Berlin, Air Transat, etc. etc.

 

Those nonstops can get very, very expensive.

The non stops are a much better deal.

Non-stop: 8 hour flight, $940

Connecting flight: 12 - 19 hours depending on the carrier & the price only drops by $100 The substantial increase in travel time based on the long layovers makes it worth the $100 price difference.

We were simply hoping the airfare was going to be closer to $650 - $700

The 1st port is also a port of embarkation & there is a train that runs from Barcelona to that town.

This whole idea is still in the planning / dreaming stage so we have time to figure this out.

I've done it before. We had no problems along the way and if there had been any, it would have been very stressful. Ideally, I prefer to have a couple of days before where I can adapt to the time change but if you have no other choice, it's something to think about. I'd certainly try to get a non-stop flight if possible. Lots of people do it.