Celebrity Customer Support offers three choices: you are either ignored, insulted, or you spend hours on the phone.

[aromring]

Celebrity Beyond cruise of the Mediterranean Sea, originating from Rome on August 18, 2023. First of all, the cruise itself was awesome. The booking process was not.
Since Civitavecchia port is 77  km from Rome, on July 14 we have booked an expensive bus trip ("excursion") named:

Rome City Center to Ship Transfer

The trip description says all about what kind of bus it will be and a pick-up time, but nothing about the geographic pick-up point besides the vague "Rome City Center". Well, the said "city center" is very big. Why would they omit such a crucial information? Thus, I sent an e-mail to Celebrity Support asking about the exact pick-up location. In spite of reassuring feedback about receiving a response within "30 days" my question has been utterly ignored to this day. Next, on August 9 I sent an e-mail to the Celebrity Destinations Team. Their non-answer came the next day (yay!), but it belongs to a category of "polite insults". It's so hilarious I quoted it verbatim in my original review, but CruiseCritic has removed my original post. 😞 Basically, they "answered" questions I did not ask, essentially repeating the trip description, and on the very crucial question I did they referred me to Celebrity's Welcome Letter. Well, there was NOTHING in the Welcome Letter about the bus trip! Amazing, isn't it?
With the cruise date quickly approaching I had to spend 3 hours (!) on the phone to finally have a Celebrity rep reveal the big secret: The bus pick-up was at Crowne Plaza hotel in Rome at Via Aurelia Antica 415 - which is NOT in the “Rome Center”!

 

[Homosassa]

Were others booked on this transfer?

 

How did they know where to met and you didn't?

[Jeremiah1212]

That's unfortunate. There must have been some omission in your cruise planner.

 

 

[aromring]

Hi Homosassa. The bus was full. I didn't ask.

[wanderlust58]

Years ago, that was the cruise hotel. You're right; definitely not the city center!  We took the transfer from there without a hitch. I've since switched to another method.

[Jeremiah1212]

13 minutes ago, wanderlust58 said:

Years ago, that was the cruise hotel. You're right; definitely not the city center!  

 

For several years now tour busses are banned from the city/historical center. They have significant restrictions in a second ring around the city center which is why you'll see most of the touring coaches stopping outside of the city. That particular Crown Plaza is one of the closest locations they can reach. 

 

[aromring]

4 hours ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

That's unfortunate. There must have been some omission in your cruise planner.

 

 

That's very interesting, Jeremiah1212. No, we did not have this in our cruise planner, neither on the website, nor in the "X" app, although other shore excursions were there. There must have been some screw up in their database which they refused to own...

[aromring]

2 hours ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

For several years now tour busses are banned from the city/historical center. They have significant restrictions in a second ring around the city center which is why you'll see most of the touring coaches stopping outside of the city. That particular Crown Plaza is one of the closest locations they can reach. 

 

Why don't they simply call the trip "Rome Crowne Plaza Hotel to Ship Transfer " is beyond (or rather "Beyond" 🙂) me.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Why didn’t  you just book your own ride ? 
that would’ve been the smart thing to do 

[aromring]

1 minute ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Why didn’t  you just book your own ride ? 
that would’ve been the smart thing to do 

I did. From the airport to our apartment near Vatican. Rides from there to the sea port were even more expensive than the mentioned bus.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

2 minutes ago, aromring said:

I did. From the airport to our apartment near Vatican. Rides from there to the sea port were even more expensive than the mentioned bus.

I have a transfer for 4 at 125€ Rome to the port 

[Georgia_Peaches]

2 hours ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

that would’ve been the smart thing to do 

So much gets lost in translation in an online platform. I’m sure what you meant was that there are other transfer options that possibly leave less up to guesswork and are therefore more of a sure thing, not to mention, cheaper. 
 

I’m equally certain you also intended to empathize with the intimidation factor that often accompanies visits to foreign countries where English speakers may not be the norm…hence the reliance on ship sponsored travel arrangements…

Edited September 15, 2023 by Georgia_Peaches