Preparing to Head Back to Barcelona

In case you haven't noticed, I enjoy doing comparisons. Last year at this time, we decided to take the Azamara Journey from Barcelona to Miami. I asked the Azamara people to arrange the air for us, not because I cannot do the air myself, but because I wanted to see how Azamara would handle the air. A lot of cruise companies have contracts with the airlines, and British Airlines was the chosen airline for this trip. Leaving from Connecticut in the northeast, we live an equal distance between Boston's Logan airport and New York's Kennedy airport. The British Airways service from Boston was flawless. The flight arrived at the new Terminal 5 in Heathrow on time, and even though we had two hours between flights, we could have used 3 hours. There was no jetway service, and everyone had to make their way down the stairs of the flight, walk about 50 yards to an overcrowded shuttle bus which took us to the terminal. There were 15 people on that flight who had requested wheelchair assistance. The bus driver directed us to an area another 50 yards inside the terminal and advised us to wait for directions from airport personnel. The terminal was very quiet,the service personnel were non-existent, and there was only one wheelchair available. Fifteen minutes later, one lone lady walked by and gave everyone directions where to go to get to other shuttle buses for distant terminals. Several elderly persons only had one hour connecting time for their flight to Calcutta, and I rather doubt they made their flight. After a lengthy shuttle ride to Terminal 1, we inquired about wheelchair assistance to the gate for the Barcelona departure. The two young men ran at break neck speed, cutting through preferred waiting areas to get us to the departure gate. We were the next to the last people to board the flight which was the last one for several hours. It was necessary to have tip money in US Dollars (Boston), British Pound Sterling (London), as well as Euros (Spain).

We will be leaving from New York's JFK Airport this time to join the Azamara Journey for another sailing across the Atlantic. We will be flying the non-stop Delta flight to Barcelona. I believe the stress level will be considerably less.