Pre-Cruise visit in Barcelona

Hotel Granvia. Ask for a room in the back. Recently totally redone - check out their reviews on TripAdvisor. We really enjoyed these two restuarants (the best 2 meals we had in Spain): Xaloc (in the Barri Gotic): http://www.xalocrestaurant.com/ Paco Meralgo (harder to find, mostly local, take taxi, well worth it): http://www.restaurantpacomeralgo.com/en/ I heard Cal Pep is amazing, but it was closed when we were there.
http://www.calpep.com/ Stay away from places with order by number menus and generally anywhere on or near Las Ramblas. Have fun and enjoy! I loved Barcelona.

We stayed at Hotal Campi. It was decent and well situated. Wherever you go, ask for a quiet room. You won't get a view but will get peace and quiet sleeping off the noisy roads. I found most tapas places on peoples lists in Barcelona were chains, most were nice but expensive (for tapas) and had little charm. Our favorite was Xampanet, it was the most fun/lively, most local, and most reasonably priced of the tapas bars we found in Barcelona (but it was also the place you're most likely to have standing room only).

We stayed two nights in Barcelona last January prior to a cruise. We stayed at the Hotel Catalunya ($90 per night on booking.com). It did not have old style architecture but the location was great on a pedestrian street off Las Ramblas just one block from Plaza Catalunya. Thus we were able to take the bus from the airport for about 6 Euros p.p. to the Plaza instead of a taxi for about 40 Euros. Our room had a balcony which we really enjoyed and did not seem particularly noisy. There was a café nearby with a roll and beverage for 2 Euros. On two other trips to Barcelona we took the tourist bus which worked well. I collect countries so once we took a bus to Andorra. A tapas place we liked was on the square near the cathedral. Facing the front of the church it is on the far right of the square. All tapas were 1.65 E and wine was inexpensive, although most people were drinking a lemon-beer beverage. On this trip we joined with two other couples on our cruise through cruisecritic.com and booked a private tour with Spanish Trails to Port Lligat (Dali's home), lunch at Cadaques, the Dali Museum in Figures, and a late stop at Gerona.
If you are going on RCCL or Celebrity, you are allowed to bring on two bottles of wine for cabin use and there are plenty of shops where you can get a bottle for as little as 3 E.

Judy is right on target with her posting. The tapas bar she mentions near the cathedral is my favorite one in Barcelona...and the suggestions re Dali's house,etc. are good as well. I would add Cap Roig, senic gardens directly on the shoreline. Look for its web site. And a recommendation of a place to sleep --El Balcón del Born the number one rated B&B in Barcelona. Check out the web page for Sagrada Familia and look for supporting membership - good price, some special discounts, and most importantly, you avoid the admission que.

Thanks everyone this will help with my planning. I will be printing these replies so in a way you will be going with us!!