pre cruise vacation with Celebrity

[neeko]

Are these city stays prior to a cruise worth reserving? We are thinking of London England.

[mom says]

I refuse to pay the exhorbitant prices for any cruise line's pre or post cruise stays. With only the most cursory research online you can compare the costs of booking similar or identical independant stays, and will usually find DIY is considerably less expensive and allows you to sightsee at your own pace . London is one of the easiest cities in the world for this. And don't forget- the price for the cruise line's stay is  Per Person. Which usually means you end up paying at least twice as much as you should be. London has hundreds, if not thousands of decent hotels, an excellent and easy to use public transportation system, and multiple ways to get to and from Southampton. IMO, to put it bluntly, most cruise line city stays are for the timid or the lazy.

[jelayne]

Everyone has their own comfort level, time and money for a trip.  Some don’t want to research & plan the details of a trip; others don’t have the time to do the planning.  In those cases a pre cruise stay arranged by a cruise line is worth the cost. 

 

If if you are looking to save money then DIY is less expensive.  There is no right or wrong way to go. 

[4774Papa]

I agree, we have never found any cruise line's package deals for pre or post cruises to be competitive.   We can book a four or five star hotel or wonderful B&B, purchase local tours on our own and the cost is always way less than the cruise line offer.  Sometimes the difference is that going DYI the cost is less than a third of the cruise lines.

[CruisinNole]

13 hours ago, neeko said:

Are these city stays prior to a cruise worth reserving? We are thinking of London England.

We have taken two pre cruise tours. First, 2 nights in Paris, followed by 2 nights in London before a British Isles cruise was terrific. First class hotels, lots of free time, small group with a great guide. The second, last year prior to a TA, was just the opposite. We did this because we wanted to go to the Cotswolds and Bath. Still a small group but the hotel did not compare, tour guide was not that good and almost no free time. We have done London on our own but after doing all the planning for 4, including one with mobility issues, I just didn't want to have to do the tour guide, travel agent job again. Like a previous poster says, do what makes you feel comfortable. 

[ScubesDad]

As previously mentioned there is no right or wrong answer; it is a person "comfort " decision. We have looked at a few pre/post packages and decided against them solely on a cost basis.  We no longer will consider a pre/post package unless we consider language to be an issue or barrier to our enjoyment. 

We have been in England for the past three summers..all pre cruise. (Our daughter was working there....)  We spend two trips exploring in and around London and were able to travel with ease. The transport system is amazing, busy and crowded at time, but amazing.  the system looks daunting; however there are route planning tools which simply the process.  Hotels are expensive; however, there is an extensive array at all price points.  the advantage of DYI is to see what you want...

From a practicle point of view you could probably squeeze an extra day or two in London for the same cost.

The rail network is quite extensive, it is so far superior to anything we have in Canada. It is very easy to get essentially anywhere you desire.

 

[mjscruffy]

We have been on two precruise trips with Celebrity and enjoyed both of them very much.   We had only 14 in each group and found everyone to be fun and enjoyable to be with.  We have kept in touch with many of them over the years.  Celebrity does things right -- from the airport to the hotel to the tours to the pier, everything is well done and taken care of.  

I am neither timid nor lazy.  I work long hours and my husband has no interest in planning our travels.  This was the best fit for us at the time and I'm happy we chose the pre cruise options.