Barcelona on cruise day

[Jimditt56]

Taking the May 19 Oasis of the Seas cruise (hopefully). Our boarding time is showing as 12:30 - 4:30. I know people generally like to board early, but in our case, we would like to see a little more of the city. Would we have time to do a HOHO tour in the morning and still have time to get to the ship without having to rush?

 Thanks for any advice offered. 

[mskaufman]

The first bus is something like 9:30 and on Bus Turistic one loop is  a couple of hours.  So, now it depends where your luggage is and how close you are to a HOHO stop.  It also depends on if you are just riding around or plan to get off.  If you start at Place Catalunya, there is a transfer point that you can get the best of both routes in a few hours.  If the timing doesn't work, you can always get off the bus and take a taxi to wherever your luggage is.  Plan your route and watch the clock.

[Jimditt56]

Thanks mskaufman! 

[mskaufman]

We have left from Barcelona a couple of times.  On embarkation day we like to get an early start and walk the Ramblas before it gets crowded.  We like to stop a La Boqueria for breakfast, generally some fruit juice and pastry.  If we have some more time, we walk around the Gothic Quarter.

[ollienbertsmum]

I have always done something touristic on embarkation day.  I leave luggage in the hotel, get out early and have visited SAgradA  FamiliA, Casa Battlo, Barceloneta and The old town.  

 

We get the luggage at about 11:30 and head off in a taxi.  Board at noon in time for lunch.  

 

Plenty of time.  

[cparker01]

15 hours ago, ollienbertsmum said:

I have always done something touristic on embarkation day.  I leave luggage in the hotel, get out early and have visited SAgradA  FamiliA, Casa Battlo, Barceloneta and The old town.  

 

We get the luggage at about 11:30 and head off in a taxi.  Board at noon in time for lunch.  

 

Plenty of time.  

Did you view the interior of Casa Battlo? If so was it worth the fee? Most tours seem to do an outside view. I feel like inside could be worth it, trying to make so many decisions.

[CdnTravelGirl]

We toured the inside of Casa Battlo on our arrival day in Barcelona. Very unique building. My photos do not do it justice! I thought it was worth the time and money. We purchased "open date" tickets online in advance. We did this on our own, not as part of a tour.

[cparker01]

Great! Thank you. Yes I’m dying to see inside and out. So with your positive feedback I’ll be buying tickets ASAP as we sail in late May. We are doing our own thing too, I think hop on and off with several Gaudi experiences.

[CdnTravelGirl]

1 hour ago, cparker01 said:

Great! Thank you. Yes I’m dying to see inside and out. So with your positive feedback I’ll be buying tickets ASAP as we sail in late May. We are doing our own thing too, I think hop on and off with several Gaudi experiences.

FYI: The web site says there are restorations going on until May. Just wanted you to be aware in case they are still ongoing when you are there late May. I hope you enjoy your visit and cruise! 🙂

Edited April 26, 2019 by CdnTravelGirl

[ollienbertsmum]

 

15 hours ago, cparker01 said:

Did you view the interior of Casa Battlo? If so was it worth the fee? Most tours seem to do an outside view. I feel like inside could be worth it, trying to make so many decisions.

 

 

Thanks to TravelGirl for the photos.  I thought it was worth the fee (can't recall what it was though, but I do recall being so amazed by the building).  We were there just as it opened (because we wanted to get back to the hotel before check out) l remember that I was surprised by the queue that had built up whilst we were inside.  

 

I would be happy to do a second visit.  

[cparker01]

19 hours ago, CdnTravelGirl said:

FYI: The web site says there are restorations going on until May. Just wanted you to be aware in case they are still ongoing when you are there late May. I hope you enjoy your visit and cruise! 🙂

I did read that so I made sure they were refundable up until the 27th of May. We will be there on the 31st. I will check out reviews on trip advisor as the days approach. Hopefully they will be done by then!

[WallyNDiane]

We stayed just off La Rambla. We started siteseeing at seven am and walked the old Gothic Quarter. We were able to go in and tour the old Barcelona Cathedral which we really enjoyed. We saw the old city gates as well as most of the major sites in that area. We arrived back at our hotel at ten fifteen. We then packed and checked out right before eleven. We caught a taxi to the port and we were on the ship just before noon. We ate lunch on the ship and hung out till one forty five when they announced that rooms were ready. So we were able to get almost three hours of siteseeing in on cruise day. Certainly taking just off La Rambla helped us to do that.

[tdtanc]

11 hours ago, WallyNDiane said:

We stayed just off La Rambla. We started siteseeing at seven am and walked the old Gothic Quarter. We were able to go in and tour the old Barcelona Cathedral which we really enjoyed. We saw the old city gates as well as most of the major sites in that area. We arrived back at our hotel at ten fifteen. We then packed and checked out right before eleven. We caught a taxi to the port and we were on the ship just before noon. We ate lunch on the ship and hung out till one forty five when they announced that rooms were ready. So we were able to get almost three hours of siteseeing in on cruise day. Certainly taking just off La Rambla helped us to do that.

What hotel did you guys stay at? 

[WallyNDiane]

We stayed at Hotel Lleo. Very convenient to metro to see La Sagrada Familia and to La Rambla. Very short taxi ride to port as well. Inexpensive hotel with nice rooms and a great breakfast too.

[George C]

I believe Barcelona day tours has a deal where they will pick you up at airport give tour then drop you at ship. 

  We loved the city and stayed at universal Barcelona which had a really nice roof top pool and bar with great view of the city also walking distance to la rambla

[michelle-nh]

We are using Barcelona Day Tours. We are flying in a day early, but the plan is for them to pick us up at the hotel on cruise day at about 9 am and then drop us at the cruise port after a 4 hour tour.

[Chocolate Teapot]

To confirm what George and Michelle have posted above, Barcelona Day Tours can propose a half-day tour of Barcelona, with collection from your hotel and drop-off at the cruise port, but I think they can propose other options if you ask. I like the half-day tour, as otherwise there can be a bit of hanging around on embarkation day, so you may as well make the best use of (limited) time.

 

Please note I am not affiliated with Barcelona Day Tours in any way, simply a happy previous customer!

[cidymom]

In a previous post, someone posted there is a HOHO bus stop very close to the port.  Which bus stop would that be and for which line?  Thank you for your help.

[Knolmom]

On 4/25/2019 at 9:41 PM, CdnTravelGirl said:

FYI: The web site says there are restorations going on until May. Just wanted you to be aware in case they are still ongoing when you are there late May. I hope you enjoy your visit and cruise! 🙂

Just swe that the restoration has been completed and the scaffolding is down, as of May 23.

Edited May 28, 2019 by Knolmom
Sp

[ollienbertsmum]

On 5/1/2019 at 6:20 AM, tdtanc said:

What hotel did you guys stay at? 

I have done that sort of thing from all of the hotels I have stayed at.  I choose my hotel depending on what I want to visit.  If it is the Sagrada Familia - then in that direction, if it is MontJuic - then beside the Magic Fountains, if it is the Gothic district, somewhere like Hotel Suizo.  There are lots of choices on Hotel booking websites.  Put in your dates and book something cancellable.  

[victory2020]

How long does it take to get through customs in Barcelona? I'm arriving at 12:10 & ship departs at 5pm. I'm not too nervous because I booked airfare through HAL, but would like to have some idea of timing.

[mskaufman]

Last time we flew into Barcelona customs was fairly quick.  Luggage delivery was another story.  We were at the luggage delivery point within 30 minutes after landing.  Luggage didn't show up for another hour.

[victory2020]

On ‎6‎/‎17‎/‎2019 at 4:37 AM, mskaufman said:

Last time we flew into Barcelona customs was fairly quick.  Luggage delivery was another story.  We were at the luggage delivery point within 30 minutes after landing.  Luggage didn't show up for another hour.

thank you. i'm actually just doing carry on because of timing