Using X's pre cruise hotels

[gracecarmo]

I am thinking of using X's hotel package for 1 night in London prior to our cruise from Dover.

I would like comments from anyone that has used their hotels, and most importantly the transfer service.

Do the transfers include services from the airport to the hotel, and hotel to the ship?

We are also using X's air package.

I know X is more expensive, but service is important to us.

 

Grace

[bob278]

Grace,

 

In 2003 we used the hotel package but not air. I mention the year because sometimes things change over time, but here is what our experience was.

 

We paid $180 each for the hotel and transfer from the hotel to the pier. We were on our own for transportation to the hotel. Our hotel was the Millennium Bailey's and it was quite nice. It did have a flavor of England (small rooms and elevator), but comfortable and they were open to letting us check our luggage with them early before checking in as we arrived at the hotel about 10:30. The transportation to the pier was easy and worked well, although it was a touch late and we had to stop at another hotel on the way. But we got to Dover about 1:00 and were on board by 2:00.

 

With the Celebrity air, you are supposed to have transportation to the pier so I don't know if they would exchange that service for transportation to the hotel. Logic says they should, but I think I read that someone was disappointed that they did not. I think they were told that they had used Custom air for a deviation by going in early and lost it because the airport to pier transport was only for those who arrived on day of departure. That's pretty convoluted thinking. The bus is going, what difference should it make when you arrived?

 

We are going in July (with RCL this time) but are doing it on our own. We are going in a group of 8 people and we can get a van service to take us to/from the pier for a little less than the cost of the Celebrity/RCCL transfer (which I believe is $85 p/p each way now). For sure, we can save on the hotel. I have the Heathrow Sheraton reserved for $90 (and it will take a $15-20 cab ride to get there) and a van for 8 people with a luggage trailer is $500. So our cost per person for hotel, cab and transfer is only $115. I didn't even bother to price the cruiseline hotel/transfer because I am confident it would be at least $190-200 p/p (and I wouldn't be surprised if it was at least $250). I freely admit that having done this before makes me much more confident about it. But then, we had barely discovered Cruise Critic then and were extreme rookies at complicated travel. We've learned a LOT here. This approach works only if you have at least 4 people and gets better as you increase up to about 10 or so. If you are adventurous, you could try using your roll call to get a group together.

 

Another note, one person on our cruise was staying at a hotel near ours and he had used Celbrity air, but came in a day or two early and did not use th ehotel package. He showed up at our hotel before the bus came and used the voucher that came with his air for the transfer. That worked perfectly for him - he got a good deal on air, cheaper hotels and was able to use the transfer he had already paid for. It's worth investigating. Just remember, you would have to get to either the cruisleiner hotel or back to the airport to do that. Or, price the cruiseline hotel on your own. You might save more than enough to pay for the cab and some sightseeing and still take advantage of the convenience.

 

We chose an airport hotel because it won't cost but about $5-6 p/p for a cab to get to the hotel. If you stay in central London, that $15-20 cab ride becomes more like $70-80.

 

Having said all that, if the transfer to the hotel is included, it is a convenient and not outrageously expensive way to go. But if it isn't included, you have a pretty expensive ride to the hotel to add to your cost (and the feeling that you lost out on part of what you paid for on the air). Of course, you can take the train into London from either airport, but the trains/tube are NOT luggage friendly once you get into town.

 

Sorry this is so long, but it wasn't a yes/no question.

[gracecarmo]

Thanks Bob, for your info. We were just in the UK (QM2 crossing), and now realise that transfers are very important to us, thus trying to use X's hotel, and air package. (DH has a mobility problem) I did write to X via e mail but have not had a response yet.

And, in calling, you get varied information.

As of now, I am in control of my reservation so do not have a TA involved.

We found prices in the UK to be almost double of what we pay here, I sure wish our dollar would be stronger. Burger King had whoppers advertised for 3.99 pound sterling...that translates to about $8.00 US. and no fries.

I try and juggle prices around, ie less pricey hotel, more pricey taxi, etc. to come out about even, but it is a chore! Who knows what the dollar will buy us next year?

BTW, we lived in Marietta for 18 years, and moved back "home" to retire 5 years ago. We miss the mild winters and beautiful spring in Atlanta, but do not miss the traffic!!!

 

Grace

[bob278]

Grace,

 

I couldn't agree with you more about the traffic. We plan to retire in a couple of years and will move to our smaller home in the mountains of North Carolina. It won't come soon enough to suit us.

 

I also agree with you about the convenience of having the package. If they will provide transportation to your hotel on arrival it would definitely be the way to go. I am pessimistic as they probalby don't have busses meeting flights each day for one or two days before departure. Thus, you will probably lose that benefit. Still, if getting to the hotel is all you have to do on your own, there is a lot to be said for the package. We were not unhapy with our hotel/transfer experience, just willing to do it on our own to save somewhere around $100+ per person.

 

So the simple answer to your question is that our experience with the hotel/transfer package was good and I hope the air to hotel works out for you.

 

Are you going on the fjords or Baltics cruise? We did the fjords in 2003 on Constellation and will do the Baltics on the Jewel.

[gracecarmo]

Bob: we are on the Connie TA next Sept. I am still thinking the pre cruise hotel, and am also exploring going direct to Dover from Gatwick and staying there. However, I will have to arrange transportation from Gatwick to Dover via a private car service. That would be do-able. I also have to consider lodging.

A lot goes into travel planning....

 

Grace

[aloanldy]

Grace -

 

We were on Connie last April and we used the cruise air and pre hotel. They did include from the airport to the hotel and then from the hotel to the ship. You are right it is quite expensive but service to me is important also.

We are booked again for Connie in March and we will do the same this time.

Celebrity does offer transfers you can purchase without purchasing their hotel packages, i'm not sure of the price but I did notice them last year.

Our cruise was the S caribbean so our hotel was in Old San Juan and the big shuttles couldn't get in the streets so Celebrity made arrangements for us to have a taxi instead, which was fine with us because it meant no waiting while they filled up the shuttle.

 

Charlie

[julieanne]

Yes, if you take their air/hotel, all transfers are included. We will be staying over in Barcelona next May on our own, so we will have to arrange our own transporation to the airport. However, on our last transatlantic, we stayed on our own in Rome. Instead of losing those "airport transfers", they allowed us to use them to go from Civitavecchia to the train station. They were wonderful about it and it was no problem whatsoever! Many times, the consultants really cannot answer some of these questions as they don't know, but once you get on baord, the Purser's office is very accommodating! You can also purchase transfers on board for the end of your cruise. :D

[wv4891]

We just did the Sept 2005 Constellation TA cruise, starting out with Celebrity Custom Air and pre and post cruise hotel packages from Celebrity. All transfers, from airport to hotel, hotel to ship are included in the package. In our case we cancelled our precruise package and made our own hotel arrangements in London and kept the Custom Air ( a really great price for us!!!). We did this after joining our rollcall thread (still very active) and a group of us got together in London and arranged for our own hotel and bus transportation to Dover. With Custom Air you still have the transfers included from the airport to the ship (we did not use them), even if you cancel the precruise hotel part of the package. Our experience with our post cruise arrangements with Celebrity (NYC) was a little on the unsure/ what do we do side. We disembarked at Port Liberty (New Jersey) and asked inside the baggage area where we had to go to catch the Celebrity transfer to our hotel. No one really knew until we found a porter, he took us to where we had to wait for a small van to transport us into NYC, Times Square). The van driver got lost and we had to give him directions on how to get to the Marriot Marquis in Times Square. Our transfer arrangments for our transfer from the hotel to the airport (Super Shuttle) were in a letter from Celebrity that we received at the front desk of the hotel when we checked in. It all ended up ok but it was a little on the unorganized/ not a comfortable feeling side in regards to the transfers.

[ahoymatey3]

Put most simply:

 

Purchase X air only (non custom, same day of sailing) = airport to port transfers included

 

Purchase X air only (custom air, same day of sailing) = airport to port transfers included

 

Purchase X air only (custom air, not day of sailing) = no transfers included

 

Purchase X air (custom or non-custom air) AND X hotel = airport to hotel and hotel to port transfers included.