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

[gismo1554]

One method of protection from a pickpocket is to line the inside of your handbag with mousetraps (not the fancy friendly traps, but the good old wire kind) They stick their hand in and . It's also a way of protection from the impluse shopping.

That made me laugh! Can just imagine people milling around Barcelona and forgetting the traps then putting their hands in their bags!

 

[gpb_1]

Well done! Have to remember this when it comes to getting people to volunteer to be part of a room tour! A Cat 3 would be useful!

We took part in the room tour on the last westbound TA, when we had a cat 3 midships, and I'm sure we would do so again. It was great fun.

 

[gismo1554]

We took part in the room tour on the last westbound TA, when we had a cat 3 midships, and I'm sure we would do so again. It was great fun.

Ah see I thought the name was familiar - me and Lindsay (my sister) organised that one too! Definately going to be hitting you up on this one lol.

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

WELCOME Chris and Julie

Great to have more 50 ish people along. We are right in that age group too.

I am Kathy and DH is Greg, this will be DCL #21 cruise for us.

Pouring rain all day and will continue for the next 7 days I cant wait to go to Florida next month then I can complain about the heat instead of the cold and rain

have a great day everyone,

Kathy

 

[orlandothebeagle]

We took part in the room tour on the last westbound TA, when we had a cat 3 midships, and I'm sure we would do so again. It was great fun.

WELCOME Chris and Julie

Great to have more 50 ish people along. We are right in that age group too.

I am Kathy and DH is Greg, this will be DCL #21 cruise for us.

Pouring rain all day and will continue for the next 7 days I cant wait to go to Florida next month then I can complain about the heat instead of the cold and rain

have a great day everyone,

Kathy

Kathy, you being ageist? My hubby is 50ishGreat I can join any party, age doesnt bother me, only the fun factor.

I am procastinating,(spelling?) I need to be washing the car!

 

[PBader]

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.

 

[birkner]

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%.

 

[1DisneyQueen]

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.

 

[birkner]

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.

Travel agent also got us a quote for 2 people with 2 bags for $121.00 in private car. That will be the day when we only have two bags!1

 

[acourtwdw]

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/

 

[birkner]

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/

We are going to be staying there at Le Meridien!!

 

[HallsofVA]

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?

 

[CACruisin']

One note: if you book your flight from Madrid to Barcelona separately (which it sounds like the airline is requiring) the luggage requirements are much, much stricter than those for an international/transatlantic flight. Look it up for the specific airline. Several people including "Ducky" Williams got hit with some very expensive unexpected luggage fees after the first Eastbound TA. They were leaving Barcelona for other parts of Europe (Paris, etc) before returning to the US.

 

[HallsofVA]

Yeah, that's my concern about what would happen with the luggage. For kicks, I looked into what it would cost to ship it to the hotel in Barcelona. Only $2800 - $3800 to ship 6-7 suitcases! Um, I think I'll pass on that one!

 

[CACruisin']

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"!

 

[sandiedvc]

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!

 

[sandiedvc]

We live in Houston and airfare here is never cheap! We also can't get to BCN non stop. This started me wondering where can I go to get a N/S flight?


Philadelphia (PHL) on US Airways #742 lv 6:30pm arr 8:35 am (This flight is also a code share for Spanair JK9786

Atlanta (ATL) on Delta 114 Arr BCN 8:43 am. Code Share with: Air France and KLM

JFK-- 2 n/s flights
Delta 94 Arrive 7:15 am. Code Share: Air France, Aero Mexico, KLM

American Airlines 152 Arrive 8:48 am. Code Share: Iberia, El Al

Newark (EWR) Continental 120 Arr 9 am (Continental is currently changing alliances, no code share info yet)


Air Canada has n/s flights from both Montreal and Toronto.


Let me know if I have forgotten any!

 

[acourtwdw]

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.

 

[birkner]

We live in Houston and airfare here is never cheap! We also can't get to BCN non stop. This started me wondering where can I go to get a N/S flight?


Philadelphia (PHL) on US Airways #742 lv 6:30pm arr 8:35 am (This flight is also a code share for Spanair JK9786

Atlanta (ATL) on Delta 114 Arr BCN 8:43 am. Code Share with: Air France and KLM

JFK-- 2 n/s flights
Delta 94 Arrive 7:15 am. Code Share: Air France, Aero Mexico, KLM

American Airlines 152 Arrive 8:48 am. Code Share: Iberia, El Al

Newark (EWR) Continental 120 Arr 9 am (Continental is currently changing alliances, no code share info yet)


Air Canada has n/s flights from both Montreal and Toronto.


Let me know if I have forgotten any!

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.

 

[birkner]

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.

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.