City Stay Packages

[IrishMis]

We are Elite Plus X cruisers who are planning our first trip to Australia in '17. Considering taking the City Stay even though we think it is fairly expensive just to help adjust to jet lag etc. I would be interested to hear from anyone who has done a City Stay package in any of the cities and hear about your satisfaction level. Thx Sue

[Jim_Iain]

I have done a City Stay once. The hotel was 5* and was as advertised. In retrospect, it was about 2x the cost if I had booked on my own and really found their was no advantage. In our case it was suppose to include transfer. The transfer was so screwed up and the luggage took 4 hours that I have chosen to arrange hotel on my own.

[chemmo]

When travelling long haul we always attach a city stay of 3/4 days both to get over the jet lag and to enjoy the city itself. This flexibility also means you have more choice in which airline and flights you want. Sydney is a destination city in its own right, we loved it and are returning in the spring.

 

After talking to people who have booked through Celebrity they have had great hotels but at a higher price and they have not known at booking what hotel they will be in. For me this is a killer. If I am only in a city for a day or two I want a great location and a view, I want to choose my own hotel. On our last visit to Sydney we booked a harbour club suite at the Intercontinental which, on discussion during our cruise, was the price another couple had paid for a standard room booked through Celebrity. Another couple were in the same hotel as the one Celebrity was using (sorry, I can't remember which one) but had paid substantially less by booking independently. Equally if you are watching cost you could look at a more budget option...

 

If you want everything packaged, Celebrity will do a good job but it is easy to 'do it yourself' and it does then give you more choices.

[Kristal Blade]

Here is a totally different take.... How about using the money you would spend on the hotel stay to upgrade to a business class flight? We do this on long haul flights as we find a good sleep on the plane really helps to kick start your holiday. Maybe you are already flying business, but just a thought.

[Project_gal]

We are Elite Plus X cruisers who are planning our first trip to Australia in '17. Considering taking the City Stay even though we think it is fairly expensive just to help adjust to jet lag etc. I would be interested to hear from anyone who has done a City Stay package in any of the cities and hear about your satisfaction level. Thx Sue

 

Apologies for not answering your question but I hope the information I have will be useful as you are yet to book. This post also assumes, from your screen name, you may be considering booking through Celebrity UK.

 

There are now [and apparently have been for a couple of years] two very different ways of booking through Celebrity UK: either by 'phone or via the Internet.

 

If you book by 'phone, you will be booking the conventional way. Flights will be available, as an add on, approximately 10 months in advance of your cruise. Hotels will be available at some point, often about 6 months pre-cruise [but this is a much more moveable feast]. For both flights and hotels, you will be restricted to choosing from companies with a contract with Celebrity. Flight prices usually fall between the cheapest and full-flexible prices offered by the airlines - as the flights are slightly flexible. Hotel prices can be very competitive if the hotel is used a great deal by Celebrity/Royal Caribbean/Azamara otherwise, as they are per person prices, they may be more expensive than you can obtain elsewhere but, again, are flexible.

 

If you book at Celebrity.co.uk, your cruise booking will be the same but you book flights and hotels through Celebrity in a different way. Although it is invisible to you, you will be booking flights and hotels through external agencies and, once booked, you are committed - there is no flexibility. Flights will be available around the same time. Hotels, however, are likely to be available much sooner but different hotels will be available at different times. You will get a much greater choice of both flights and hotels BUT, as I have said, are committed from the time of booking them.

 

Both ways of booking through Celebrity are ABTA/ATOLK protected [sorry, I can never remember which is which] and you have the same guarantee of Celebrity getting you to the ship.

 

I only, finally, learned of these two ways of booking a short while ago because I persisted when I could not understand what I was seeing online. There are few people at Celebrity UK [and probably no one in Miami] who understands that Celebrity are selling cruises in two different ways.

[IrishMis]

Actually I am from Orlando, FL. Chose that screen name when I first joined CC while planning a trip to Ireland. DH did talk to X and they did tell us they could not guarntee us in advance which hotel we might get which wasn't what we had hoped to hear. Very much considering upgrading the flight but have no points on any airline so am a bit worried we may not get a seat on our preferred flight. But I do appreciate hearing from those who have possibly done Australia on their own or who love their City Stay experience. They do offer the drink package with City Stay which cannot be purchased for a TP so that is under consideration as well.