Go a day early or take a chance with the flight

[lovemummyfairy]

We've booked a family cruise for next year, one week Mediterranean. Cruise leaves from Barcelona so obviously we have to get flights there. Usually book holidays independently but have decided to use travel agent for this as it's a significant cost so wanted added protection/insurance from agent. At time of booking we couldn't book flights as it was too far ahead of time so TA would inform us of those details later. In the meantime DH and I decided it might be better to fly out the day before so no worries about potential flight delays or cancellations stopping us getting to the cruise on time. Also gives us a day to spend in Barcelona which we wouldn't otherwise have. Spoke to TA about it but unfortunately they had just booked our flights with the original date so to change it will incur an admin fee of £350.
DH isn't keen to add to the already large cost of the holiday so thinks we should leave it as is, get the early morning flight and not stress about it.
I'm on the other side of the fence, likely to stress and panic about it until we're safely on the cruise and drive DH mad in the process....which actually might make him pay the extra for the sake of his sanity! 😂
WWYD?

Don’t worry about it, and unless you’ve a burning desire to go to the sagrada familia then don’t pay the admin fee! You will be parted if it’s a package. How you’re sorted depends on the exact nature of the package…

If the flights are part of the package offered by the cruise company (e.g p&o or Norwegian are offering g the flights as part of their cruise) then there will be LOTS of cruise passengers on the flight, and if it’s delayed then the ship will wait in port until you arrive. I’ve been on many cruises and this is fairly standard - it’s same as if the ship offers an excursion which is late back. I’ve been on a ship which waited in Civitavecchia until 11pm for a delayed coach to return and it was no problem for the people on the trip, other than they were all knackered and missed dinner!

If it was a travel agency which packaged it up together then that’s different and it will be less straightforward, although absolutely down to them/ their own insurance to sort out! They will have to arrange a couple of nights in a hotel and speak to the ship about whether it’s possible to ‘onboard’ guests at the next stop.

I think I am leaning more towards just taking the early flight. As some of you have pointed out, not going to really be able to appreciate Barcelona in such a short time. I went there many years ago on a city break with a friend and we had a fab time. Happy memories of it that I wanted to share with my family but realistically not going to happen! My children are older primary age so more manageable than little ones but yeah, probably would moan about being rushed round sightseeing. And although it will be May, if Europe has a similar heatwave next year, it could be absolute hell!
I'll take my chances I think and just drive DH crazy in the meantime.
Thanks for your help.

Based on your follow up post I would leave things as they are. With those timings even if something did happen to the flight, they have enough time to get you to another airport. Besides it will be a bit hot for sight seeing that time of year. If it does arrive on time, I'd have a leisurely lunch.

I mean your flight the day before could be cancelled and you might not get one the time you need then, and I assume you'd have to sort yourselves out then rather than the travel agents

I think we arrive about 10/11am and need to be at the port by 4ish.
I'm like you in that I'd much rather have a night in between to act as a contingency buffer in case stuff goes wrong BUT now that fate has decreed you are to travel on the day of departure, I think it probably is best to roll with it. Once you're at the airport and checked in, you're at the mercy of the travel gods, you can't do anything about it and that's what the insurance is for. I would make sure you have a watertight plan for how to get from the airport to the port, although will the cruise company be running a shuttle?

So 5-6 hours? That’s enough of a buffer. A night would be better, but you rarely get delays that long, and if things are messed up, you won’t be the only ones so they’ll probably delay cruise departure.

a Couple of weeks ago I was listening to a radio story about the state of the travel industry and flight delays. One of the strong recommendations was to schedule your flight to arrive 24 hours before your cruise and they strongly recommended 48. The consequences of flight delays with a cruise are just so high.

Barcelona is one place I'll never go back to. Pickpockets are literally everywhere. Imagine getting your passports stolen and having to fuck around sorting that before your cruise. Nope.

I was pickpocketed in Paris but not in Barcelona 🤷‍♀️

Love both cities.

If money is no object I’d be tempted to go the day before just for peace of mind.

We are currently on a cruise and the TA wouldn't book flights to arrive the same day - had to arrive the day before even though our embarkation time was 4pm.

I would have happily just flown in that day 😂

I do think it's a short time though to try and do Barcelona. We managed some sightseeing (Athens) and had a pool but a bit of a faff of living out of the suitcase for 24 hours

I was hyper conscious of pickpockets in Barcelona last summer, it's a good point that I wouldn't have wanted to have to wander around for hours carrying all the passports, money, luggage etc. I didn't feel unsafe but it does have a terrible reputation.

Only time I ever fly in on day of cruise is if booked flights & cruise through cruise company. Otherwise no chance. Friend was affected by EasyJet & flights were cancelled & they had to sort themselves out for the following day. And no hotel accommodation.

Is 4pm embarkation time or sail away time? What’s the final boarding time?

If the flights were included with your package the ship will wait for delayed flights, this is common with p and o.
if not a package I’d be tempted to pay the extra money but have 2-3 nights of winding down pre cruise in Barcelona near the beach. In for a penny etc! It’s fabulous, kids love the parks and magic fountains and I’ve never been pickpocketed.

Undercover Barcelona police officers had a massive crackdown recently on pickpockets in Las Ramblas, and incidents have dropped considerably. I was there in May, happily wandered six miles round all the sights, didn’t encounter any problems at all. Five hours is plenty of safety margin for a cruise connection.

Why on earth spend so much on a cruise and then add the jeopardy of EasyJet. I'd pay it - not worth the worry!

Sorry, just seen it's a package and TA guarantees...

If you need to be at port at 4pm the chances are the cruise won't leave until 10/11pm for overnight sailing.

So that gives you up to a 12 hours window. You can check sailing time on your documentation.

It's extremely unusual for European flights to be completely delayed for that amount of time and the TA will have lots of experience and wouldn't have booked something that's very likely not going to work.

Which cruise company is it? E went with Tui and had hours in between to visit the city once we had boarded the ship.

If it’s booked through the cruise company as a package they will do a block booking and include the transfers and the ship will wait for you if you’re delayed