We flew into rainy Barcelona the day of the cruise and started off by having our debit card "eaten" by the ATM machine in the airport. Luckily, we were able to use a credit card to take a taxi to the ship, but were unable to board due to the previous cruise having a massive outbreak of norovirus. We availed ourselves of the free Celebrity shuttle to Las Ramblas in order to try to figure out our money issues.

Long story short, I couldn't buy a phone card with dollars or a credit card (they only take euros) and I couldn't make a toll-free call to the bank to find out what the problem was without a phone card. After spending two hours in the pouring rain trying different pay phones and ATM's we finally found an ATM that would accept another card I happened to have with me, even though we hadn't called them to preauthorize a foreign transaction. Whew, that was stressful.

We went back to the place where the shuttle dropped us off (and where they told us to go) for a ride back to the ship, only to see every other shuttle but Celebrity there. After another 20 minutes in a downpour, we noticed a Celebrity bus driving on the other side of the parking lot and chased it to the far corner in order to grab a ride. The fun continued once onboard the ship,as we were told it would be another couple of hours before we would be allowed into our rooms, since the crew needed to sanitize the rooms thoroughly because of the norovirus. All the public spaces were packed, and we finally found seats in the casino where we slept on the blackjack tables until about 6:00 pm when we finally were let into the rooms. Read more