Our Amer. Air. flight from New York was on time & arrived in Barcelona around 9:00 a.m. Celebrity had a rep. at Barcelona airport who was able to sign us up for transfer to the pier for $30 pp without a reservation.
Embarkation went quickly and smoothly, we were able to board the ship around 12:00 noon. Weather was a bit chilly but dry and sunny. Luggage was in our cabin by 2:30 p.m.
After a nap to get over jet lag we toured the ship and ate lunch in the buffet on deck 10 and then enjoyed sail away music. With respect to dinners, since this is a very hectic cruise, Early seating at 6:00 was too early since the ship was in port til 7:00 and many of the excursions didn't end until 6:30 pm. Late seating was 8:45 which was too late since we were getting up early every morning for an excursion tour. We opted to utilize select dining which worked out wonderful for us. We had dinner every day we were in port around 7:30 and got seated right away. We chose to eat with others since we like to meet new people and the service was just as good as previous cruisings when we had set meal times. Food selections not as top notch as on previous Celebrity cruises, a bit of a disappointment, although service still top notch.
Cabin 6168 was a bit tight, the layout poorly situated. Closet with drawers directly in front of bathroom door. Television choices were very minimal. Cabin steward was extremely helpful and courteous.