Port To Airport

[Moose12345]

Can anyone who has been to Barcelona please give me some insight. We are doing a Mediterranean Cruise. It is return to Barcelona.

We arrive back in Barcelona at 6:00am on a Monday. If I book a flight for the same day for 11:45am, will that give us enough time to get to the airport. We have booked a private car to take us from the port to the airport. Thanks in advance!!

[mskaufman]

If you are back in Barcelona by 6 am and off the boat by 7:30 - 8:00 you should be fine.

[kokopelli-az]

We got off the Epic in Barcelona on October 7.  The ship docked at 5am and tons of people were off the ship by 5:30am (self-disembark).   We had wheelchair assistance so we had to wait until that began but from the time we were pushed from the wheelchair meeting place (one of the theaters) to outside the Barcelona cruise terminal it took a grand total of maybe 10 minutes.  This was the easiest terminal we've ever gone through.   We had our private transportation pick us up at 8am; however, we could have told him 7am since we were sitting outside the terminal at that time.   We arrived at the airport about 8:30am. 

 

We were on Air Canada with an 11:45 am flight to Toronto.  The lines at the airport (BCN) were horrendous.  In our case, the Air Canada employees did not open "for business" until exactly 2 hours before our flight.   Once the employees started helping people we did get through fairly fast and made it to our gate in plenty of time.  There were a lot of check-points at the airport to go through. Arrive as early as you can to the airport.    

[Moose12345]

The Air Canada 11:45am flight to Toronto is the exact one that I was planning on booking. We don't get to Barcelona until 6am but I'm hoping that will work with us too. Thanks for posting Kokopelli-as. 😁😁

[fabnfortysomething]

when check in desks don't open till 2 hours before flight not much point in arriving before that

usually 30 mins to get from cruise port to airport

[WallyNDiane]

Just off the Eclipse 10/17/18 sailing. We were about the 10th couple in the walkoff line. We got to that line around 5:35 am anticipating a 6:30 am walkoff time. They opened the gate at 5:45 am. Long walk to taxi but immediately got taxi. Taxi was 39€ and we were at the airport at 6:15 or so. Had to wait almost two hours before Delta opened up their boarding agents. We had a 11:20 flight.

 

We did pass on the VAT tax line. It was huge. Much longer than the security line. So if you want to get your 21% VAT tax back, be prepared for a long line. Make sure you get your VAT receipts stamped. 

[Moose12345]

WallyNDiane,  I was just reading about the VAT tax, because II have never heard of it. This is all new to me as we have never travelled to Europe before. So if we do not want to claim the tax, does this mean that we Don't have to get a stamp of any sort.

Edited November 1, 2018 by Moose12345
Changed the question

[WallyNDiane]

11 hours ago, Moose12345 said:

WallyNDiane,  I was just reading about the VAT tax, because II have never heard of it. This is all new to me as we have never travelled to Europe before. So if we do not want to claim the tax, does this mean that we Don't have to get a stamp of any sort.

 

 

Correct, no stamp needed if not claiming a refund. You just donate the VAT tax. Now if you are buying big ticket items such as jewelry, you definately want to get the stamp and refund. We ate dinner with two sisters who bought some big time jewelry. They said that had over 750€ in paid VAT taxes. At 21% it adds up fast.

 

I donated 35€ to the VAT tax. Long line was not worth it. The VAT office was to the left of the security line. We waited 20 minutes in that line and we moved maybe 30' in the 20 minutes. So take this into account on your return plans if you want to recover the VAT tax. FYI- Celebrity specialty restaurants and purchased clothing have the VAT tax applied. So most people will have some VAT tax.

 

Edited November 1, 2018 by WallyNDiane

[Moose12345]

We don't plan on buying anything real expensive. Souvenir t-shirts for our kids, and a few souvenirs for us.

So I think we will be bypassing that long line as well.

 My main concern is getting to the airport and on my plane  on time so I can get back home without missing my flight! 😀

Thank you so much for all the information. I wonder just how many people know about this VAT tax Recovery. 

[kokopelli-az]

On 10/31/2018 at 5:39 PM, WallyNDiane said:

We did pass on the VAT tax line. It was huge. Much longer than the security line. So if you want to get your 21% VAT tax back, be prepared for a long line. Make sure you get your VAT receipts stamped. 

 

You can also send your documentation in via mail.  An envelope was provided with our purchase last month.  There were so many people at BCN that we didn't even look for the VAT location.  See attached information.