Earliest flight from BCN after Transatlantic?

[ahain]

We will be doing the Transatlantic on the Dream in May 2023 (Miami to Barcelona). We will request transfers from the port to BCN. What is the earliest recommended return flight time from BCN? Thanks for your help

 

[Marc D]

From the DCL site :

For the Barcelona to Barcelona sailings, we recommend the following flight-time guidelines:

• Latest arrival time to Barcelona International Airport on Embarkation Day: 1:30 PM
• Earliest departure time from Barcelona International Airport on Debarkation Day: 11:30 AM

The airport is a short cab ride away from the airport, maybe 10-15 minutes and cabs are readily available when you disembark.

 

[DCLMP]

Our flight was at 1015 am. You do not have to go through Customs in Barcelona. Just walk off the ship jump in a cab and go.

 

[PsylockeSmythe]

Our flight was at 1015 am. You do not have to go through Customs in Barcelona. Just walk off the ship jump in a cab and go.

Since they are doing the transatlantic and not a cruise leaving from and returning to Barcelona, are you sure that they won't have to go through customs when they arrive? I know when we took our 10 day Med cruise in 2018, we didn't have to go through customs when we arrived, but that cruise started in Barcelona. I do remember having to through 2 different security checks at the airport.

Psy

 

[CruzOle]

Since they are doing the transatlantic and not a cruise leaving from and returning to Barcelona, are you sure that they won't have to go through customs when they arrive? I know when we took our 10 day Med cruise in 2018, we didn't have to go through customs when we arrived, but that cruise started in Barcelona. I do remember having to through 2 different security checks at the airport.

Psy

 

[CruzOle]

Just off the May 2022 EBTA. After retrieving our luggage, we went thru customs in the cruise terminal, our passport was stamped with a symbol of a ship. At the airport we went thru security which was a very long and chaotic process.
You then go upstairs to go thru customs for a 2nd time, your passport will be stamped with a airplane symbol. Customs at the airport was a time consuming process.

 

[PsylockeSmythe]

Just off the May 2022 EBTA. After retrieving our luggage, we went thru customs in the cruise terminal, our passport was stamped with a symbol of a ship. At the airport we went thru security which was a very long and chaotic process.
You then go upstairs to go thru customs for a 2nd time, your passport will be stamped with a airplane symbol. Customs at the airport was a time consuming process.

Ok so I was remembering most of it correctly, once we arrived at the airport. I remember the first long security check, then the long line to get the VAT refunded, and then walking to another terminal and having to go through security and thought that they also checked our passports before allowing us to gate where the departing flight was leaving, but just couldn't remember.

Psy

 

[ahain]

Just off the May 2022 EBTA. After retrieving our luggage, we went thru customs in the cruise terminal, our passport was stamped with a symbol of a ship. At the airport we went thru security which was a very long and chaotic process.
You then go upstairs to go thru customs for a 2nd time, your passport will be stamped with a airplane symbol. Customs at the airport was a time consuming process.

Thank you. What time was your flight? right now I'm seeing either 10:55 am or 12:15 pm as my only Delta (KLM) options

 

[DCLMP]

Since they are doing the transatlantic and not a cruise leaving from and returning to Barcelona, are you sure that they won't have to go through customs when they arrive? I know when we took our 10 day Med cruise in 2018, we didn't have to go through customs when we arrived, but that cruise started in Barcelona. I do remember having to through 2 different security checks at the airport.

Psy

Yes. We did the transatlantic. You make other stops before Barcelona and your passports are checked so you are good to go.

 

[CruzOle]

Thank you. What time was your flight? right now I'm seeing either 10:55 am or 12:15 pm as my only Delta (KLM) options

American Airlines at 1:40pm Barcelona to Philadelphia connecting to Orlando

 

[Intr3pid]

If you haven't been to Barcelona before or recently, I'd recommend taking a later flight or even one the next day and touring the city.

The timings of the flights back to the US are tricky. Most of them arrive in BCN overnight and leave in the morning - and they all do so pretty much in the same window of time. International terminals get super busy for the TA flights. That said, most cruise ships time their arrivals in Barcelona, Rome/Civitavecchia, etc. for early mornings so you can get off the ship by 7.00/7.30 AM.

 

[Balbar]

We cruised the May transatlantic this year. Our flight was at 1:40pm and we barely made it. However, the hold up was the covid testing required to return to the United States at the airport. We had reservations for testing, but it did not matter - we waited 2.5 hours in line to get tested. (And then waited for results and while they came fairly quickly, we were getting nervous.) So, hopefully next year this will not be an issue. I still would pick a 1:40 flight over an earlier one if I could, but I would not hesitate to choose a 12pm either. Also - there were plenty of taxis. I don't know anything about Disney transfers and that may very well be the way to go, but we have done the transatlantic three times and never waited very long for a taxi.

 

[DCLMP]

Just off the May 2022 EBTA. After retrieving our luggage, we went thru customs in the cruise terminal, our passport was stamped with a symbol of a ship. At the airport we went thru security which was a very long and chaotic process.
You then go upstairs to go thru customs for a 2nd time, your passport will be stamped with a airplane symbol. Customs at the airport was a time consuming process.

Did EU policies change? I've never had to go through customs disembarking in Europe. It was always done on the first stop. I breezed through security both times I flew home from BCN, but that was pre-covid, and staffing shortages. I would not fly home the day of disembarking if covid tests are required, but goodness sake let's hope that's not a thing in 2023.

 

[Deb T.]

Did EU policies change? I've never had to go through customs disembarking in Europe. It was always done on the first stop. I breezed through security both times I flew home from BCN, but that was pre-covid, and staffing shortages. I would not fly home the day of disembarking if covid tests are required, but goodness sake let's hope that's not a thing in 2023.

We just did the EBTA last month that ended in Barcelona. After debarking, we waited in a line to have our passports stamped to show we were entering the EU. On recent previous EBTA's, our passports were collected when we checked in (in Miami) and we didn't get them back until late in the sailing after already having been in EU ports. When a previous EBTA stopped in the UK, their border agents boarded the ship and we were assigned a time to go to Animator's Palate get our passports stamped.

 

[DCLMP]

We just did the EBTA last month that ended in Barcelona. After debarking, we waited in a line to have our passports stamped to show we were entering the EU. On recent previous EBTA's, our passports were collected when we checked in (in Miami) and we didn't get them back until late in the sailing after already having been in EU ports. When a previous EBTA stopped in the UK, their border agents boarded the ship and we were assigned a time to go to Animator's Palate get our passports stamped.

That's how it was on my previous sailings. What did they do in Portugal because that's where you originally entered the EU? My cruise starts in UK and ends in Copenhagen. The last time I did a cruise that started and ended at those ports they kept our passports almost the whole cruise.

 

[PurplePencil]

Our flight was at 1015 am. You do not have to go through Customs in Barcelona. Just walk off the ship jump in a cab and go.

I did a Dover-Barcelona cruise and the Barcelona customs system went down right before we disembarked. A 10 minute process turned into a much longer process. I would not risk a 10:15 flight

 

[cedricandsophie]

We too were on the EB transatlantic that stopped in Barcelona on may 21. We elected to stay overnight and leave the next day at noon. That was primarily because of testing which we did at the hotel the afternoon before our flight. Because we weren’t in a hurry we got off the ship about 9 am, went thru passport control and started collecting out bags about 930 am. One of our bags was missing. We searched for about 15 min looking around for it. We were just filing a report when a lady came running back in with our bag. She picked up the wrong one although ours was blue and hers was green.

When we got to the airport the next day, around 9 15 am for our 12 pm flight we waited almost an hour in the business class Line waiting to check in. Then we went thru the security line, walked a distance to passport control and waited about 30 min there because of the long line before finally walking to gate. By the time we got to the gate we only had about 15 min before boarding. So we needed every min to board plane.

 

[Deb T.]

We just did the EBTA last month that ended in Barcelona. After debarking, we waited in a line to have our passports stamped to show we were entering the EU. On recent previous EBTA's, our passports were collected when we checked in (in Miami) and we didn't get them back until late in the sailing after already having been in EU ports. When a previous EBTA stopped in the UK, their border agents boarded the ship and we were assigned a time to go to Animator's Palate get our passports stamped.

That's how it was on my previous sailings. What did they do in Portugal because that's where you originally entered the EU? My cruise starts in UK and ends in Copenhagen. The last time I did a cruise that started and ended at those ports they kept our passports almost the whole cruise.

On this sailing, Captain Andy decided to skip Ponta Delgada due to a huge tropical depression, so our 1st port of call was Lisbon, Portugal. I'm not sure if anything was set up for passports in Ponta Delgada. On all our previous EBTA's, our passports have never been stamped (or validated) in Portugal. None of our Spain ports of call processed passports during this cruise either, until we debarked in Barcelona.

 

[SirDuff]

Just a point of clarification, the issue isn’t about having been in an EU country before getting to Barcelona - it’s about having been in a Schengen country. It is Schengen countries have “right of travel” between them, not EU. There is a lot of overlap, but not 100%. For example, Switzerland isn’t EU but we are Schengen so can travel to other Schengen countries without passport control/customs (though countries reserve the right to check and do sometimes). Whereas, even before UK left EU, there was passport control between UK and other Schengen (and EU) countries.

 

[Deb T.]

Just a point of clarification, the issue isn’t about having been in an EU country before getting to Barcelona - it’s about having been in a Schengen country. It is Schengen countries have “right of travel” between them, not EU. There is a lot of overlap, but not 100%. For example, Switzerland isn’t EU but we are Schengen so can travel to other Schengen countries without passport control/customs (though countries reserve the right to check and do sometimes). Whereas, even before UK left EU, there was passport control between UK and other Schengen (and EU) countries.

True. But the actual issue for U.S. travelers is having our passports show how and when we entered the country we are attempting to depart from to go home, whether it's an EU country, a Schengen country, the UK, etc. Otherwise, we're faced with a litany of questions on how we were able to enter in the first place, as if we purposely snuck into that country for possibly illegal activity.