Sept 18 2010 WB TransAtlantic Pirates/Capt Jacks Re-Repoing Repossession Cruise Pt.3

[pjpoohbear]

I was on DCL's website this morning. All categories are available again. The Cat 11's are $70/person more, but it is actually cheaper than my current ressie since there is no fuel supplement. I looked into cancelling and rebooking our ressie, BUT I would lose my assigned cabin and also have to come up with add'l deposit $$ since we were able to book under the 50% deposit deal before. So for now, we just keep what we have, I guess.!

Very interesting, I hope the Cat 11 are still open when I cruise in three weeks, i could add OBC and perhaps the %10 off. Can you do this if it has already been switched to a TA, or are we past the point of re-shopping?

Fingers Crossed Angie and Dennis.

Pj

 

[sandiedvc]

I don't there is a way to fly from SFO direct to Barcelona either. I am hoping we are going to have enough miles on United to use Lufthansa as they have a flight that goes from SFO to Frankfurt, then Frankfort to Barcelona.

Lufthansa flights are open but not United.

It will be interesting to see what happens to availability when Continental is added to the Star Alliance on Oct. 27. Continental does have a n/s flight flight from Newark to BCN and it looks like they offer some decent connecting flights from SFO too. (About $1620 one way at the beginning of 9/2010)

All our FF mileage is on Continental so we are watching the merger as well. I just can't get past having to pay for a round trip with miles and only use the one way portion! I'm such a scrooge with our miles!

 

[sandiedvc]

I seem to remember that a few years ago Heathrow was experiencing some problems with luggage.

Are they still having problems?

Any major European airports to avoid: Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt?

Thanks for the info!

 

[CACruisin']

We are going to stay at the Renaissance Barcelona Airport Hotel for the first two nights. This is a Marriott Hotel and perfect place for us to relax after a long flight. The cost is $135 Euros per night if you have a AAA card.

Since we have points, we are going to use them for this hotel, giving us extra money to spend on sightseeing.

Here is the website to check out.

https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/bcnbr-renaissance-barcelona-airport-hotel/

We are moving to the Le Meridien on Friday (using points) so we can be close enough to walk around and then go to the ship on Saturday.

It sure helps to have a DH who travels on business so we can accumulate both hotel and airline miles.

We stayed here (on points) after the EBTA in 2007. It is a very nice, modern facility. The only drawback was it is in the middle of a business park. The only choice for dinner was the hotel restaurant (not very kid friendly) or taking a cab ride back into Barcelona. Otherwise, the place was great and very convenient to the airport for our flight the next morning.

I definitely agree about the points. For the EBTA we used SWA awards to fly cross country to Florida, points for our hotel stay in Cocoa Beach before boarding, pts for the hotel stay in Barcelona after, and Delta miles for the trip home. I only had to pay for the cruise! As the economy tanked though, DH's travel has been cut way back. We might actually have to "buy" airline tickets for this trip. I haven't paid for airline tickets in 15 years!

 

[birkner]

We stayed here (on points) after the EBTA in 2007. It is a very nice, modern facility. The only drawback was it is in the middle of a business park. The only choice for dinner was the hotel restaurant (not very kid friendly) or taking a cab ride back into Barcelona. Otherwise, the place was great and very convenient to the airport for our flight the next morning.

I definitely agree about the points. For the EBTA we used SWA awards to fly cross country to Florida, points for our hotel stay in Cocoa Beach before boarding, pts for the hotel stay in Barcelona after, and Delta miles for the trip home. I only had to pay for the cruise! As the economy tanked though, DH's travel has been cut way back. We might actually have to "buy" airline tickets for this trip. I haven't paid for airline tickets in 15 years!

I don't mind being in a business park as I expect we will spend most of the day and early evening in the city. We will probably just sleep in the hotel.

SWA is a great airline and you can sure accumulate points quickly if you fly a lot. On our NYE cruise, I had enough certificates for everyone to fly to Orlando. Only drawback is that it is an all day flight from CA.

I love the "point" system. It used to be even better in the old days when first class really was first class. Sigh........

My DH travels constantly even in this economy. I guess it just depends on what business you happen to be in these days. He is leaving this Saturday for 5 days in Finland. He also spends a lot of time in different parts of Asia.

 

[TheDisneyGirl02]

Just popping in to say hi! The wedding is just two days away and we are crazy busy! Then in three days we are off to WDW for almost two weeks!

Hope all is well with everyone!

 

[MrsMork]

Very interesting, I hope the Cat 11 are still open when I cruise in three weeks, i could add OBC and perhaps the %10 off. Can you do this if it has already been switched to a TA, or are we past the point of re-shopping?

Fingers Crossed Angie and Dennis.

Pj

I think since we have switched we might not be able to rebook. But give it a try anyway! That is why I left some balance rather than paying off the whole thing.

 

[TotallyAngelic]

Just popping in to say hi! The wedding is just two days away and we are crazy busy! Then in three days we are off to WDW for almost two weeks!

Hope all is well with everyone!

Wishing you all the very best for your wedding day. Hope everything goes to plan, that you have a perfrct day and make lots of wonderful memories to treasure. Hope you have a magical honeymoon in WDW too

 

[gismo1554]

Just checking in with everyone and wanted to say hello and welcome to everyone that has joined. I hope to start posting more after the 1st of the year.

Hiya! Glad you're still with us. Jan will be here before you know it

 

[gismo1554]

From my travel agent (we are staying at Le Meridien)

Hi Noel,

Yes, there are fees per bag, but they are minimal. Here is how the fee structure works in BCN:

Supplements to the final meter price are added due to the following factors.

1. A supplement for each bag or suitcase carried in the boot of the taxi. ( 1 euro)
2. Supplement for Barcelona airport pick up or drop off ( 3.10 euro)
3. Supplement for picking up or dropping off at the Barcelona Cruise terminal (2.10 euro)
4. Supplement for pickup or drop off at the Fira exhibition centre (2.10 euro)

All supplement prices will be displayed at the passenger window of the taxi at the back of the cab. When the taxi stops you will see the meter price and then the taxi driver will press a supplements button on the meter to increase the fare to the final price inclusive of the supplements.

You should be able to take a cab from your hotel to the port for less than $40 including your luggage and the port supplement. I have a quote for a private car from your approximate location to the port, and the quote is $165. A private car is always more (and sometimes MUCH more) than a taxi.

Also, tipping for your taxi is customarily only rounding up to the next whole number, so your tip won’t add much to the total cost of the transport. A driver of a private car will expect a tip of around 20%.

Thanks Noel! Its good to know price ideas! Disney transfers are $35 per person from the airport to the port so taxi is slightly more if there's two people.

 

[gismo1554]

Thanks for the transportation post. I had no idea. When we did it the last time DCL took our bags to the ship.

There are six of us and I was wondering if a private car would not be more beneficial. We are hoping to get there on Thursday so we can sightsee a little. I am sad that DCL did not do it like they did last time. We stayed overnight in Barcelona on the ship. It was so convienant.


I am glad to hear that the captain is doing okay. There are so many people not posting anymore that I was wondering if they had jumped ship. It was to hard to keep up in the beginning so I gave up. Now, I am away for days and can catch up on my luch hour.

Have a great day everyone.

I liked the overnighter last time. It meant you could see a bit of Barcleona! This time we are flying in late on Friday so wont get any time which is why were doing Disney transers. Last time the DCL transfers from the airport included a tour of the city so fingers crossed theyll do this again!

 

[gismo1554]

In case you want to see Barcelona before we get there below is a link for a web cam of Barcelona.



http://www.lemeridienbarcelonaview.com/

Ohhh like this. Going to have to remember to look on here when DCL first docks in April/May

 

[gismo1554]

I've been looking at flight options from IAD (Washington Dulles) and the best flight option and price that I keep coming up with is Air Lingus non-stop from IAD to Madrid. The current price for the week before our cruise is about $500 a person. It also looks like flights from Madrid to Barcelona are plentiful and cheap (like $35-$85/pp) but no one will let me price that routing as a multicity trip, and none of the one way flight options do that routing either, so I assume it has something to do with it being a domestic flight (within Spain) versus an international one. So my question is, what is the best way to get from Madrid to Barcelona? If by plane, what impact will the luggage have? If not by plane, what other options? (Train, rent a car (we've actually driven around Madrid and the surrounding area on our honeymoon many years ago, but would need a car big enough for the luggage) or some other option?

Or would we be better off looking at another routing, and does anyone have any other suggestions from IAD or nearby airports?

As others have said luggage is definately an issue if you fly within Europe! I would look at driving down. As long as you're comfortable driving then its a great chance to see the country side. Looking at it on Google it takes around 6 hours but you could split this over a few days. It seems to go along some fairly motorway like roads. You could split it with an overnight in Zaragoza (31/2 hrs from Madrid and 3 hrs from Barcelona).

Otherwise I would look at booking a non-direct flight to Barcelona. IF you book from US with a stop as one flight ie. indirect via London or somewhere similar, you get the same baggage allowance all the way through.

 

[gismo1554]

I was on DCL's website this morning. All categories are available again. The Cat 11's are $70/person more, but it is actually cheaper than my current ressie since there is no fuel supplement. I looked into cancelling and rebooking our ressie, BUT I would lose my assigned cabin and also have to come up with add'l deposit $$ since we were able to book under the 50% deposit deal before. So for now, we just keep what we have, I guess.

We have so many things going on right now keeping us in flux that I'm not booking hotels, air or anything yet. I'd like to fly in a day ahead and see a few more sights around Barcelona, but too many other variables right now to make that decision (crazy school schedules!). The goal is just to get ON THE SHIP for now - I want two weeks of "Magic"!

Yeah I noticed all Cats were available again! Wonder what will happen when Dream is released? Will more become available?

You could always email DCL and see if they can change your reservation without loosing the room or the 50% deposit?

I think I've narrowed down our hotel now so feeling more organised.

 

[gismo1554]

If you did the N/S between Dulles and Madrid on Air Lingus, I think you would have to pick up your bags and recheck them to BCN.

Air Lingus does have some interline baggage agreements:
http://www.aerlingus.com/cgi-bin/obel01im1/Support/helpBaggage.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0774750146.1255553559@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccdadeiiiidhklcefecfigdffgdfkl.0&Category=3&P_OID=-536879754&C_OID=536889433#interlinebaggage

It looks like they will check thru to BCN on those carriers IF the flights are on the same ticket.

I was checking on Air Lingus for us out of Houston, and it looks like we would have to book IAH to DUB and then DUB to BCN. The website doesn't look like they would let us book the flights on the same ticket. (Maybe because of the 10 hour layover in Dublin!)

They may sock us for short haul baggage fees on the Dublin to BCN portion and they are high. No free bags and each bag costs 15 euros (about $22) if we save money by paying for them in advance.

It still may be a cheaper option, but I have to remember those baggage fees when I am planning!

Kathy - They probably will charge you extra for that leg. Thats the trouble when you can't book flights direct. Have you looked at whether BA are any cheaper? (not sure if they fly from Dublin). Only suggest as BA has 1 free bag for person and £28 for additional bags in advance. May work out cheaper.

 

[gismo1554]

Has anyone booked their hotel for the pre cruise nights before? I've been trying to figure out where to stay that 1. will be safe and 2. not cost more than $500 per night. Any suggestions? We want to take the red eye on Wednesday night (arriving in Barcelona on Thursday) to give us some time to see the city before the cruise.

Can't help much as catching the red eye on Friday so overnighting in the airport but last time (07) my parents stayed at Le Meridian and this was nice but I can't remember the price.

 

[gismo1554]

We are going to stay at the Renaissance Barcelona Airport Hotel for the first two nights. This is a Marriott Hotel and perfect place for us to relax after a long flight. The cost is $135 Euros per night if you have a AAA card.

Since we have points, we are going to use them for this hotel, giving us extra money to spend on sightseeing.

Here is the website to check out.

https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/bcnbr-renaissance-barcelona-airport-hotel/

We are moving to the Le Meridien on Friday (using points) so we can be close enough to walk around and then go to the ship on Saturday.

It sure helps to have a DH who travels on business so we can accumulate both hotel and airline miles.

We are either staying at Tryp at the airport or the Renaissance on Friday night! We booked both but the Renaissance came up for 125 euros yesterday (has been showing at 150 all week). You might want to look to see if you can get it a bit cheaper as there is a pre-booking discount I think on at the moment. We have both hotels booked and will cancel one after the weekend when we make a firm decision but I'm heading towards the Renaissance as me and my sister stayed there last time before the TA and it was fantastic.

 

[gismo1554]

I seem to remember that a few years ago Heathrow was experiencing some problems with luggage.

Are they still having problems?

Any major European airports to avoid: Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt?

Thanks for the info!

Don't panic Kathy! There's no problems now. There were issues because Terminal 5 had just reopened. As it is you probably wont be coming in to Terminal 5 (BA terminal - although BA to Barcelona only leaves Terminal 3) so no need to worry. There aren't any issues at the moment and haven't been for a long time!

The problems were due to luggage handler strikes as well as problems with the new Terminal.

 

[gismo1554]

We stayed here (on points) after the EBTA in 2007. It is a very nice, modern facility. The only drawback was it is in the middle of a business park. The only choice for dinner was the hotel restaurant (not very kid friendly) or taking a cab ride back into Barcelona. Otherwise, the place was great and very convenient to the airport for our flight the next morning.

I definitely agree about the points. For the EBTA we used SWA awards to fly cross country to Florida, points for our hotel stay in Cocoa Beach before boarding, pts for the hotel stay in Barcelona after, and Delta miles for the trip home. I only had to pay for the cruise! As the economy tanked though, DH's travel has been cut way back. We might actually have to "buy" airline tickets for this trip. I haven't paid for airline tickets in 15 years!

Oh that's probably going to feel very odd! I'm hoping - fingers crossed - to use my points for a 1 way back from Orlando as I finally have enough for 1 way! It's taken me over 10 years mind lol

 

[gismo1554]

Just popping in to say hi! The wedding is just two days away and we are crazy busy! Then in three days we are off to WDW for almost two weeks!

Hope all is well with everyone!

Oh my God! I can't believe its just 2 days away! Good luck! Hope you have a fantastic day! We want to see the photos when you get back!