July 26 2014 Barcelona

July 26 2014 

The Magic arrives into Barcelona about 4:30 in the morning.  I am awake and have a hard time sleeping.  Decide to get up at 5:30 a.m.  Am planning on meeting Ken and Christie in the atrium at 7 a.m. to get off the ship.  We are skipping breakfast as we want to get to the airport in plenty of time for our flight.

The ship is cleared by 7:30 a.m. and we are off the ship in the first group and head right into the terminal to gather up our luggage.  Even though there are hundreds of bags in the terminal, it is well organized and we find out luggage right away.

Delta Airlines is the only airline that has check-in at the port, so I make my way with my two bags for check in (had to walk about 25 feet).  I am the first person to check in at Delta.  Ken and Christie are right behind me.  By the time we are done there are about 30 people in line.  There are 3 agents to check in guests.  I have my boarding passes and my luggage has been taken so at this point all I have is my carry on and backpack!  That is so convenient for check-in.  Makes it totally easy.  There is no customs to go through at the port.

Ken, Christie and I get a taxi to the airport.  It is Saturday, the traffic is low and we are to the airport in about 15-20 minutes.  Taxi fare was 30 euros.  We took a smaller car, but there were plenty of taxi vans at the port also.  It is a beautiful morning in Barcelona.

We are at the airport by 8:30 a.m. and we don’t need to collect any VAT refund or anything, so we go through security.  The terminal at Barcelona was under construction last time I was here, but everything looks completed now.  They even have signs at security showing the waiting time to get through. The sign says 6 minutes.  You do not have to take off your shoes.  I also did not have to take my laptop out of its’ case.  

After security is passport control.  There was no line there either.  However, it is not really clear (even though there are signs) that you cannot get to the food court after you go through passport control.  I know it says “Point of No Return”.  But I am thinking that once you go through passport control you hit the food court.  Not true.  So if you want to get any real food (because I haven’t eaten anything for the last 30 days) you have to go down the escalator and do all that before passport control.

Once through passport control (took about 10 minutes) you can go straight to your gate.  There is one location where you can get food, but the line was long and there was only one person working.  It was very slow.  Mostly self serve items.  Croissants, rolls, drinks.  

There were two Delta flights out from the terminal, the  one to New York left about 10:45 a.m.  Anyone from the cruise on this flight would not have a problem getting to the airport on time.  Our flight was scheduled at 11:40 a.m.  But we were delayed under 12:15 p.m.

Ken and Christie were on stand by and unfortunately they were unable to get a seat on the flight, so they ended up in Barcelona and did sightseeing.

I am posting a couple of pictures here, from last year with my daughter Jamie, just because I can!

 

The flight went pretty fast even though it was 9 hours.  Saw 3 movies.  Took a couple of naps and Delta served lunch and then before landing served a quick sandwich which was pretty good.  Even though our departure was late, we arrived in Atlanta on time.

As an American Citizen, you do not have to fill out a customs form.  Now you go through Passport Control and they stamp your passport.  Then you get your luggage.  Then you go to these new kiosks and put your passport in and it prints out a picture and form for you.  Then you go through customs and then drop off your luggage at the Delta baggage collection point.  After that you get in line to go through U.S. security.  So, that free bottle of water I just got on my Delta flight now has to be thrown away since I can’t take it through security.  Doesn’t make a lot of sense to me since I just got off a Delta flight and haven’t left a secured area.  Oh well……

The security line is very slow.  They only have a couple of machines open.  I have plenty of time though, so I am not worried.  I am going from the International Terminal to Terminal B.  After making it through security I hop on the underground tram and am to my gate in no time at all.

I get on my computer at the gate and reactivate my cell phone and text Shari to let her know my arrival time into Orlando.  Make a couple of phone calls to family to let them know I am alive and back in the United States and will be home in a couple of hours.

Flight to Orlando is on time and I got a first class upgrade for my last leg of the flight.  (That would have been really nice from Barcelona).

Arrive on time and Shari meets me in the terminal.  Boy it is sure good to see her!  Gather my luggage and Ken meets us at the curb for the 30 minute ride home.

All is well at the condo.  There has been a lot of rain in Orlando in the last month and the backyard looks like a jungle.  I am always amazed at how fast things grow here.  So it looks like I have some weeding in my near future.

While Ken and Shari are here, I open the front door and there is a Federal Express package for me from Disney Cruise Line.  It is my Golden Mickey Statute for celebrating my 50^th cruise.  What a great surprise to finish my trip.

I stay up as late as possible to try to get used to the eastern time zone again.  But finally call it a night.    

     

I will post a final recap with my thoughts on the cruises and my 30 days in Europe in a couple of days.  It was a great trip.  Wish I could have stayed longer.

Goodnight from Orlando!