Arrival: We flew through Heathrow from the west coast of the US. The flight allowed us to arrive the evening before the cruise which helped with jet lag. Pre-cruise stay was at Hotel Amister. When we arrived we were told the hotel was overbooked and we would be transferred to their apartments by Plaza Catalonia. While a pain at first the apartment met our needs and was in a good location. Cost of a taxi from airport to the hotel was about 20 Euros and Hotel Amister paid for the cab from the hotel to their apartments. We had dinner at Cata 1.81 in Barcelona that night. Great tapas and wine. We decided to sleep in the next day and go straight to the ship. Took a cab which cost about 13 Euros, based on other reviews I was surprised at the low cost. Even speaking some Spanish it took a minute to explain to the driver where we wanted to go. Luckily there is a picture of the port (Moll Adossat) on the taxi rate sheet on the window of all taxis. When in doubt just point.
Embarkation: The computer system was down, which caused long lines and delays. Took us about an hour and a half to get on board from when we arrived. Once the computers where up things moved quickly.
Cabin: We stayed in a mini-suite which met our needs. No real perks for being a "suite" other than a larger cabin size. Room stewards were good, but failed to meet our requests to convert the third bed into a couch during the day.