dub345

Several posts have referred to a bus tour for $20 that takes you around the island. Are there set times for this tour? Our ship will be in port from 8am to midnight.

Thanks in advance for any information you can give me, or if there’s a web site you can point me to.

Janet

Last year I had the Classic package as a perk, and when there was a sale on the upgrade price (before sailing), I was able to upgrade for the sale price. The gratuity was only on the additional amount I paid.  I think the sale was 20% off.

Last year we docked at 6 in Barcelona and I walked off around 7:30. I had a 9am train, but I got to the train station so quickly I could easily have made a train at 8 or 8:30.

Thank you all for your suggestions. I decided to call Celebrity, and they told me it was a credit for an overpayment - originally triggered when they applied the Go Better package to my account. Apparently that did something to the invoice so that I did not receive the the sale price on the cruise. I've had to contact them several times when I tried to change something on my reservation through the website, which in turn messed up the entire reservation/pricing, so perhaps this is a result of one of those incidents.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I booked directly with Celebrity, and don't have a TA. When I looked at my order history it seemed fine. The only thing that has changed is what shows as the price of the cruise, which is $180 lower than on all my statements from Celebrity. It's strange because the price of the cruise has gone up a lot, and long ago, just after I first booked, there was a price drop that I took advantage of. Even if the price did drop, my understanding is that since we're past final payment there would be no refund.

Is this a back to back cruise? I got the discount paid back to me a couple of days ago. No explanation. It was for a similar amount,.

I wish I were going on a B2B! But I’m afraid that can’t be it either.

Definitely a mystery.

Did you perhaps pre purchase a shore excursion through Celebrity that could've been cancelled for some reason?

Another good idea, but I bought them all with OBC, and none were that expensive.

I’ve received a refund of port fees before but that wasn’t as significant as $180.

That occurred to me, but the ports haven’t changed, and I didn’t pay that much in total for all of the taxes and port fees

Today I received an $180 credit on my credit card from Celebrity, and the price on the cruise in my reservation is showing as lower than before, even though I am only 45 days out and long past final payment. The price of the cruise is now much higher than what I paid, so it can't be any sort of "best price guarantee."

I could call Celebrity, but worry that they might realize it was a mistake and add the cost back on. Before I do anything, has this ever happened to anyone?

Thanks,

Janet

Thanks everyone! It sounds like it would be fine, so now I just have to decide how early I want to wake up and when I want to get to Madrid. Although I’m staying in a hotel, I’m mainly going to visit a friend, so an early arrival won’t really be a problem. And I agree that it can be sort of depressing to hang around the ship on the last morning.

Janet

Our ship (Celebrity Eclipse) docks at 6am on a Saturday morning in November.and I want to take the AVE from Barcelona to Madrid. Is 9am too early? I know it’s a quick trip to the train station, but am a little worried the ship may dock late or there are other possible delays I’m not aware of. Would love to hear about any experience anyone has had with this.

Thanks,

Janet

This past October I did two, one from Paris by Mouth, which was very good, and one by La Cuisine Paris, which was even better. The food is quite similar no matter where you go in Paris, so the difference is in the neighborhood history and the guides. I highly recommend La Cuisine Paris - I heard from some people on the tour that their cooking classes are wonderful too - unfortunately I wasn’t able to fit that into my schedule. I’d recommend booking early since their tours are quite small and fill up quickly.

Janet

On the cruisetour I have booked for late July/early August, the itinerary shows the Fairbanks hotel as the Princess Riverside Lodge.

Janet

I'd appreciate any advice on which one of these two cruisetours to choose.

The first is on the Coral Princess - 7 days from Vancouver to Whittier, followed by a 6 night land tour - 2 nights at Mt. McKinley Lodge, 2 nights at Denali Lodge, 2 nights at Fairbanks Riverside Lodge.

The second is on the HAL Zaandam - pretty much the same cruise stops/time in port, with the exception that it does not cruise College Glacier and ends in Seward. The land tour is 7 nights - 1 in Alyeska, 1 in Anchorage, 1 at Mt. McKinley Lodge, 2 nights at McKinley Chalet Resort, and 2 nights at the Fairbanks Westmark.

The price difference is $500 more for HAL - but the HAL cruise is for an OV cabin, while the Princess for an inside, and HAL has one more night on land. Both are guarantees, and include minimal amounts of OBC.

I'm wondering if the HAL itinerary is significantly better, and whether I'm correct in thinking that Princess lodges are a little nicer (and maybe the ship as well?) I've never been on either ship before and am usually a fan of Celebrity.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

Janet

I have cruised twice on Celebrity (Summit) and once on Azamara - all three cruises were in the Caribbean. On all three I cruised solo, and on two of the three I had inside cabins (including Azamara).

Your preference will likely depend on what you are looking for in a cruise, and where you're going. While I don't want non-stop parties, I found Azamara to be a little quiet, with not a lot of choice of activities. And though it was great to get free wine and drinks (I've never had a drink package), personally I prefer the food on Celebrity and like the larger selection at the buffet.

If you are on a port-intensive itinerary though, the more relaxed atmosphere and smaller size of the Azamara ships might be nicer.