Airfare to Barcelona Spain and Med cruise price

[MDTerp]

We sailed the Med in July 2011. We moved an onboard booking to the 10-night sailing (because the pricing was right), but really wanted to sail the 11-night cruise (love sea days). We kept watching airfare (it was around $1100/person from BWI to BCN), knowing we could change sailing dates. In late 2010, around the holidays, my husband found airfare, on the American Airlines website, from BWI thru JFK to BCN and return for just under $700/person. Needless to say, we jumped on it and sailed the 10-night cruise.

Watching for airfare was frustrating, but it definitely worked in our favor. Coincidentally, it was an email from AA advertising a "sale" in a different travel location (probably Carribean) that prompted hubby to check our dates, just out of curiosity.

Good luck in your search - the trip will be awesome and definitely worth the investment.

 

[Donna3271]

Hi,
for those in the NYC metro area, try Lufthansa out of EWR. It is around $800 pp into BCN.

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

I looked into flying to every major city near BCN (and some not so much like Paris and London) and by time we added the overnight train or another flight it just wasn't worth the maybe $100 savings rather than just flying to BCN.

I can't believe a PP got it for around $700, that's amazing! I never saw it go below $1100 and I started checking in the Fall. I also think one of the problems for us was I needed 7 tickets, so maybe if there are just two people it would be easier to find the "cheap" seats!

 

[DisneyOHFan]

I looked into flying to every major city near BCN (and some not so much like Paris and London) and by time we added the overnight train or another flight it just wasn't worth the maybe $100 savings rather than just flying to BCN.

I can't believe a PP got it for around $700, that's amazing! I never saw it go below $1100 and I started checking in the Fall. I also think one of the problems for us was I needed 7 tickets, so maybe if there are just two people it would be easier to find the "cheap" seats!

I'm not sure how you looked up the pricing, but just a thought. You may want to try checking for each ticket individually in the even there is only 1 or 2 tickets available at the lower price vs checking for airfare for all 7 people at one time.

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

I'm not sure how you looked up the pricing, but just a thought. You may want to try checking for each ticket individually in the even there is only 1 or 2 tickets available at the lower price vs checking for airfare for all 7 people at one time.

I ended up splitting two and five. I found lower fare for my parents but I was afraid to split my family up because while we all did get on the same flight from JFK to bcn we did not get on the same domestic flight...there were not enough seats. Thank you for the thought!

 

[TDC Nala]

$1200 actually sounds like it's pretty good.

 

[heatherbelle]

Last year DCL did not sell out their Med cruises. THey offered 20% off on onboard rebookings and Kids free on some dates.

Airfare in 2011 was almost double what I paid in 2010. Holding breath for 2013!

The 08/20 sailing that I was on was full.

 

[heatherbelle]

just a suggestion but would it be more economical to fly in London and then use one of the economy airline - easyject, monarch, bmibaby to fly onto barcelona - the typical are fare is around 100 gbp or 160 dollars return

You will only get cheap airfares outside of uk holiday dates to Bcn from the uk. School hol dates are the last week of may and the the kids break up around the 20th July for 6 weeks. There are never, ever any cheap flights during school hols.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Kcashner--I know you're a pro. I have a quick question and was wondering about KSF for the Med.

We have the OBB offer held on the June 1 sailing, 2 kids in the room. If KSF for Med comes out again, I know that the 2 discounts can't combine.

If I call Disney directly to apply the KSF (assuming one comes out), will I:
(1) retain my early booking discount (we booked on day 2); and
(2) retain the same room?

We didn't use a TA and would call DCL directly. I don't feel like putting down an extra deposit for a non OBB room just to anticipate a KSF offer. Thanks!

To the OP--sorry to hijack!

We are in the same boat.

If KSF comes out for the Med, we will move our OBB to a 3 nt dummy date and just keep myself on that res to keep that deposit very low; usually around $75. Since OBB discount is attached to a res #, the Med cruise would have a new res # so I would think they could capture the caibn but may not get early dining. Honestly, I'd be so thrilled to have a KSF deal I wouldn't care when we eat. We can always request to be waitlisted for early dining. I would think there are plenty of cruisers that would want max time in ports and not have to worry about returning to the ship so early to get ready for dinner. Just a guess.

 

[kris3kid]

I am doing the Repo cruise and wondering if anyone has done the Disney Air and ground transfers for overseas? We are thinking of booking it then still watching prices to see if we can get it cheaper. What was the cost if you have done it in the past?

 

[HELPDESKGUY]

How are you folks searching airfare for 2013? I'm not able to get rates yet for July August? Are the amounts being referenced from the last time out to BCN?

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

How are you folks searching airfare for 2013? I'm not able to get rates yet for July August? Are the amounts being referenced from the last time out to BCN?

I'm looking at the same dates as my Aug 2013 cruise but for 2012.

Philly to BCN has been running at around $1075-1100 since DCL announced the Med cruises. I searched for 2011 back in 2010 and it was $1200. My coworker waited to buy for 2011, hoping it would drop and it ended up going way up to $1600 and had to buy connecting flights.

 

[HELPDESKGUY]

I'm looking at the same dates as my Aug 2013 cruise but for 2012.

Philly to BCN has been running at around $1075-1100 since DCL announced the Med cruises. I searched for 2011 back in 2010 and it was $1200. My coworker waited to buy for 2011, hoping it would drop and it ended up going way up to $1600 and had to buy connecting flights.

Okay thanks. I've been doing the same thing just wanted to make sure I was not missing anything. It looks like we will have to wait 6 more months to get actual 2013 pricing..

 

[HELPDESKGUY]

I will say the 2012 Olympics makes it difficult to gauge prices based on this year for next....

Laughable $1600 RT from Cle to BCN on June 1st for 8 days! If that is the case next June I'm not going to the Med....

 

[Jon G]

I think the prices of the Med cruises will come down as most cat's are still available and are way more than we paid for 2010 11nt and 2011 2 x 7nt B2B.

We are booked on 12nt Venice on 25th July and even with discount its expensive. There are so many cruise deals coming out in the UK Whether that is because of Concordia or the economy I don't know.
RCC havent relaeased thier Med 2013 prices yet so it will be interesting to follow this once they do!! I am happy to pay a premium for Disney but it depends on how much.

Luckily being from the UK the flights are cheap. Although we are coming to WDW for 3 weeks in August 2012 and its costing alot even with free dining.

 

[Anal Annie]

just a suggestion but would it be more economical to fly in London and then use one of the economy airline - easyject, monarch, bmibaby to fly onto barcelona - the typical are fare is around 100 gbp or 160 dollars return

Well we won't have any concrete idea on airfare for another 6-8 months. Kayak will not let you search into August 2013yet.

I will say the airfare is very frustrating. I may look into the suggestion of flying into another euro city and taking train budget airline.

it is all a waiting game now.

We booked using a dummy booking we made aboard the Magic in November. I will say our cruise for a cat 5c 2 A 1C is less then 4 RT tickets to BCN!

Just a little warning that those European "budget airlines" can end up running you more in the end because they have VERY STRICT regulations on your carry-on sizes and the size of the bags you can check and especially the weight limits they allow (and they enforce their rules). They offer you very little in the way of weight & size and will charge you extra to go over (and it will be in a foreign currency that you'll need to convert to USD - which with the poor exchange rate can be a lot). Many people have enough trouble sticking to 1 checked bag on longer trips (according to US size & weight limits) so be sure to budget for these differences because the luggage is where they get ya & you won't know until you go what you'll really end up paying.

Here is Easyjets baggage policy (don't forget you have to convert kg to lbs. and Pounds to USD):

Hold luggage - how much can you take?

Each passenger who pays for a hold bag can take up to 20kg (44 Lbs) of luggage. This weight allowance applies to the passenger rather than to the bag so purchasing extra bags is possible but will not increase the weight allowance. If you think you’ll need to take a little bit more with you, you can buy some extra weight – it’s best to do this online before you fly as the online charges are considerably cheaper than at the airport.

If you are travelling in a group of two or more you may spread the weight of your luggage across the bags. For example, two passengers with a bag each may carry 20kg of luggage each, but if you wish to put 18kg in one bag and 22kg in the other, then that’s okay with us. You’ve just got to remember that you cannot exceed the 40kg total weight allowance without paying additional charges.

A few really important things to remember:

•We support health and safety guidance for checked luggage and recommend that you keep the weight of each individual bag below 23kg wherever possible.
•Legally we must apply a maximum limit of 32kg so any individual bag weighing more than 32kg cannot be accepted!
•Infants who share your seat do not have a baggage allowance, therefore, their items will need to be packed in your bag
•To keep our fares low, be able to board the plane as quickly as possible and ensure your comfort onboard, if you bring more than one piece of hand baggage we’ll check the extra into the hold. We’ll need to charge you for this – at check-in this fee is £25 due to higher handling costs at the airport if you don't buy the bag online and at the boarding gate this increases to £40 to ensure that we can bring you to your destination on time.


Ryan Air allows even less kg per bag - 15 kg (33 Lbs) or 20 kg (44 Lbs) and breaks their fees into seasons and charges differently based on how you book. You have to pay per kg and they have a strict carry-on policy (they allow ONE piece pp not an overhead piece & an under-the-seat piece).

CABIN BAGGAGE

Strictly one item of cabin baggage per passenger (excluding infants) weighing up to 10kg (22 Lbs) with maximum dimensions of 55cm x 40cm x 20cm is permitted. (handbag, briefcase, laptop, shop purchases, camera etc.) must be carried in your 1 permitted piece of cabin baggage.

Extra/oversized cabin baggage will be refused at the boarding gate, or where available, placed in the hold of the aircraft for a fee of £60/€60. If you are unsure, check at the Bag Drop desk before going through security.
:Checked Baggage*-Fees per bag/per one way flight
(Each passenger permitted to check-in up to 2 bags)

(UK £/Euro € or local currency equivalent) vs Booked on http://www.ryanair.com/

Booked via a Call Centre* or Airport
1st Bag (15kg) - Low Season (Oct-May) †
£15 €15 £60 €60

1st Bag (15kg) - Low Season - Selected Flights** ( Oct-May) †
£20 €20 £80 €80

1st Bag (15kg) - High Season (Jun-Sep) & (21 Dec 2012 - 4 Jan 2013)
£25 €25 £100 €100

1st Bag (15kg) - High Season - Selected Flights** (Jun-Sep) & (21 Dec 2012 - 4 Jan 2013)
£30 €30 £120 €120

1st Bag (20kg) - Low Season (Oct- May) †
£25 €25 £75 €75

1st Bag (20kg) - Low Season - Selected Flights** (Oct-May) †
£30 €30 £90 €90

1st Bag (20kg) - High Season (Jun-Sep) & (21 Dec 2012 - 4 Jan 2013)
£35 €35 £105 €105

1st Bag (20kg) - High Season - Selected Flights** (Jun-Sep) & (21 Dec 2012 - 4 Jan 2013)
£40 €40 £130 €130

2nd Bag (15kg) - Low Season (Oct -May) †
£35 €35 £105 €105

2nd Bag (15kg) - Low Season - Selected Flights** (Oct-May) †
£40 €40 £120 €120

2nd Bag (15kg) - High Season (Jun-Sep) & (21 Dec 2012 - 4 Jan 2013)
£45 €45 £135 €135

2nd Bag (15kg) - High Season - Selected Flights** (Jun-Sep) & (21 Dec 2012 - 4 Jan 2013)
£50 €50 £150 €150

Excess Baggage Fee - Per Kilo
This can only be purchased at the airport ticket desk/kiosk

Not Available Online Not Available Online £20 €20

*Up to 4 hours prior to your scheduled flight departure you can purchase online - checked bags, priority boarding, sports/infant equipment and musical instruments even if you have already checked in online for your flight

** Higher baggage fees apply on all flights on the following routes: International Canary Islands (excluding Spanish domestic), All international Greek Routes excluding Thessaloniki (SKG)


Personally, I am more comfortable paying US prices for an airline that is up front & more generous with their fees & luggage. If it were me going to Europe again I would be budgeting a ballpark amount of $1,200 pp for airfare for now. In the end it may be more, it may be less but I think that's a reasonable ballpark amount to expect.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Just a little warning that those European "budget airlines" can end up running you more in the end because they have VERY STRICT regulations on your carry-on sizes and the size of the bags you can check and especially the weight limits they allow (and they enforce their rules). They offer you very little in the way of weight & size and will charge you extra to go over (and it will be in a foreign currency that you'll need to convert to USD - which with the poor exchange rate can be a lot). Many people have enough trouble sticking to 1 checked bag on longer trips (according to US size & weight limits) so be sure to budget for these differences because the luggage is where they get ya & you won't know until you go what you'll really end up paying.

Here is Easyjets baggage policy (don't forget you have to convert kg to lbs. and Pounds to USD):

Hold luggage - how much can you take?

Each passenger who pays for a hold bag can take up to 20kg (44 Lbs) of luggage. This weight allowance applies to the passenger rather than to the bag so purchasing extra bags is possible but will not increase the weight allowance. If you think you’ll need to take a little bit more with you, you can buy some extra weight – it’s best to do this online before you fly as the online charges are considerably cheaper than at the airport.

If you are travelling in a group of two or more you may spread the weight of your luggage across the bags. For example, two passengers with a bag each may carry 20kg of luggage each, but if you wish to put 18kg in one bag and 22kg in the other, then that’s okay with us. You’ve just got to remember that you cannot exceed the 40kg total weight allowance without paying additional charges.

A few really important things to remember:

•We support health and safety guidance for checked luggage and recommend that you keep the weight of each individual bag below 23kg wherever possible.
•Legally we must apply a maximum limit of 32kg so any individual bag weighing more than 32kg cannot be accepted!
•Infants who share your seat do not have a baggage allowance, therefore, their items will need to be packed in your bag
•To keep our fares low, be able to board the plane as quickly as possible and ensure your comfort onboard, if you bring more than one piece of hand baggage we’ll check the extra into the hold. We’ll need to charge you for this – at check-in this fee is £25 due to higher handling costs at the airport if you don't buy the bag online and at the boarding gate this increases to £40 to ensure that we can bring you to your destination on time.


Ryan Air allows even less kg per bag - 15 kg (33 Lbs) or 20 kg (44 Lbs) and breaks their fees into seasons and charges differently based on how you book. You have to pay per kg and they have a strict carry-on policy (they allow ONE piece pp not an overhead piece & an under-the-seat piece).

CABIN BAGGAGE

Strictly one item of cabin baggage per passenger (excluding infants) weighing up to 10kg (22 Lbs) with maximum dimensions of 55cm x 40cm x 20cm is permitted. (handbag, briefcase, laptop, shop purchases, camera etc.) must be carried in your 1 permitted piece of cabin baggage.

Extra/oversized cabin baggage will be refused at the boarding gate, or where available, placed in the hold of the aircraft for a fee of £60/€60. If you are unsure, check at the Bag Drop desk before going through security.
:Checked Baggage*-Fees per bag/per one way flight
(Each passenger permitted to check-in up to 2 bags)

(UK £/Euro € or local currency equivalent) vs Booked on http://www.ryanair.com/

Booked via a Call Centre* or Airport
1st Bag (15kg) - Low Season (Oct-May) †
£15 €15 £60 €60

1st Bag (15kg) - Low Season - Selected Flights** ( Oct-May) †
£20 €20 £80 €80

1st Bag (15kg) - High Season (Jun-Sep) & (21 Dec 2012 - 4 Jan 2013)
£25 €25 £100 €100

1st Bag (15kg) - High Season - Selected Flights** (Jun-Sep) & (21 Dec 2012 - 4 Jan 2013)
£30 €30 £120 €120

1st Bag (20kg) - Low Season (Oct- May) †
£25 €25 £75 €75

1st Bag (20kg) - Low Season - Selected Flights** (Oct-May) †
£30 €30 £90 €90

1st Bag (20kg) - High Season (Jun-Sep) & (21 Dec 2012 - 4 Jan 2013)
£35 €35 £105 €105

1st Bag (20kg) - High Season - Selected Flights** (Jun-Sep) & (21 Dec 2012 - 4 Jan 2013)
£40 €40 £130 €130

2nd Bag (15kg) - Low Season (Oct -May) †
£35 €35 £105 €105

2nd Bag (15kg) - Low Season - Selected Flights** (Oct-May) †
£40 €40 £120 €120

2nd Bag (15kg) - High Season (Jun-Sep) & (21 Dec 2012 - 4 Jan 2013)
£45 €45 £135 €135

2nd Bag (15kg) - High Season - Selected Flights** (Jun-Sep) & (21 Dec 2012 - 4 Jan 2013)
£50 €50 £150 €150

Excess Baggage Fee - Per Kilo
This can only be purchased at the airport ticket desk/kiosk

Not Available Online Not Available Online £20 €20

*Up to 4 hours prior to your scheduled flight departure you can purchase online - checked bags, priority boarding, sports/infant equipment and musical instruments even if you have already checked in online for your flight

** Higher baggage fees apply on all flights on the following routes: International Canary Islands (excluding Spanish domestic), All international Greek Routes excluding Thessaloniki (SKG)


Personally, I am more comfortable paying US prices for an airline that is up front & more generous with their fees & luggage. If it were me going to Europe again I would be budgeting a ballpark amount of $1,200 pp for airfare for now. In the end it may be more, it may be less but I think that's a reasonable ballpark amount to expect.

Not to mention, time & aggravation. I've been looking at our Aug week of 2012 just to get an idea & had also wanted to do this in 2011 so I looked a lot in 2010. As of now, we can fly non stop from Philly to BCN on USAirways for $1200 incl taxes currently. When I 1st booked the cruise it was around $1095 which I would have booked had it been the correct year. lol! It also includes 2 free bags when flying to Europe & we wouldn't have to worry about additional risk of losing luggage through a connecting city.
Dh gets very stressed out when our travel plans get too complicated. I know he would gladly pay a few hundred more to not have to trek from one country to another just to get to the port, unless we had an extra week to drive & tour which we don't.
We all know our own tolerance level.

 

[Alexander]

Two years ago when we did the Med, we were able to snag $750 from Syracuse (small airport usually with higher prices than its larger counterparts in the area). Airfare seems much higher this summer, perhaps because of the Summer Olympics, perhaps not?

WOW! SYR is our home airport and we rarely fly from there because ROC or BUF are substantially cheaper. $750 is amazing! How far out did you book? We have the Med. booked but depending on airfare, I just don't know. It costs as much to fly as it does to cruise at this point. Hopefully the Olympics are impacting the flights this year. Pixie dust for everyone for lower fares in 2013.

 

[carpenta]

The European Union, of which Spain is a member,has also introduced a "carbon tax" that will some say add up to $100.00 a ticket round trip per airline passanger.Fuel also is projected to top $120.00 per barrel of oil in the near future and if the Iranian problem explodes..well lookout.. Where is Al Gore when you need him?

 

[Anal Annie]

Whatever ya'll do, I cannot stress enough the importance of allowing an extra day of travel before your cruise! DO NOT try to go THE DAY OF for love nor money! And PLEASE get travel insurance!! OH and PLEASE pack for a couple of extra days in your carry-on bags!!

From last summers Med cruises I know of 1 person who's US Air flight out of BWI was cancelled. They shuttled them up to Philly and they had an ordeal to deal with with all that. Then personally, our return flight home was cancelled!! We used Air France for all legs because we went to Paris first. There were NO direct flights home to the DC area from Barcelona. We were going to have to transfer SOMEWHERE no matter which airline we used SO we went back thru Paris. Just supposed to be a quick transfer. Once we got to Paris our flight home was cancelled & we were stuck there an extra night. I had used a Groupon deal for parking at a local airport hotel so I called them to tell them we were delayed by a day so please don't tow me and they said they were aware of the problem BECAUSE since our plane wasn't flying over to the US they also cancelled the flight LEAVING the US for Paris and they were getting some of the overflow passengers!! I was just soo thankful that our trip hadn't STARTED OUT like that! It was a sour note to END ON but at least it was at the end of the trip!! Air France did not give anybody their luggage back & I was surprised at how many people hadn't packed the bare essentials in their carry-ons. No clean undies, no toothbrushes...it was NOT a pretty sight in Paris that day!!