We were on the Epic in May ( loved it!). We felt we made the mistake of taking the earliest check-in available - 9:30 as I recall. We arrived at that time, and stood in line outside for nearly an hour. Once inside, we were checked in quickly. But then we sat around and waited to be let on the ship. My recollection is on the ship between 11 and 12. At the time, we were not aware that others were boarded from Civ, so did not try to disembark. So can't answer that question. If we had it to do over again, would just take a later embarkation time, and spend more time touring Barcelona. So much to see and do there. We had a suite, and I was not aware that made any difference during embarkation.
Once onboard, went to the buffet ( as usual!). Allowed in staterooms after approx 2 hours. We also made show reservations immediately. No Priscilla yet. Burn the Floor and Quintessence (?- I think),a great cirque-like show in a small theater. Quintessence sold out quickly. My recollection is there were empty seats for Burn the Floor.
There is one sports channel on board, that they will play in the rooms and in the bars.
Cocovail Barcelona is a great sports bar , in the Eixample area.
It was a great cruise. Enjoy!