Free Shuttles-?

[agabbymama]

Even here in the good old USA they charge for the shuttle. I paid $26 for a trolley tour of Boston off the Constellation, and they did not make one stop for any shopping, souvenir purchasing or anything. The one stop they made at the Boston Market she stated we would have to take the shuttle back to the bus for $8.00 one way. SO Boston got none of my money, because after paying for the tour I wasn't going to pay for the shuttle too.

[pcur]

We disembarked the Millennium on June 6th and have a completely different opinion (and I hate to disagree with you because I always enjoy reading your messages and Hank’s too). Most of the “activities” on the ship were nothing more than a sales presentation with little or no practical information provided. We had two fellow passengers at our dinner table from Ireland who were cruising for the first time, and they had a lot to say about this in addition to our own personal observations and those of others on our sailing. I’m sure the Celebrity cheerleaders—and I’m not including you in that group—hate it that Conde Nast magazine has written an article busting Celebrity on this practice (see the discussion at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=10558462#post10558462).

 

By saying that RCCL is as bad, I guess that’s not surprising because they’re both owned by the same company. We did not see as much of the hawking on RCCL, but we haven’t sailed that line for the past three years so can’t speak for recent RCCL sailings. In comparing Celebrity’s practices to all the other lines that we have sailed (all of the mass market lines and a few others, including two that are now out of business), I have to say that Celebrity was the most egregious in this area and that other cruise lines handled these matters with much more class. Oceania was head and shoulders above the rest and does very little of this type of practice. I understand what you’re saying about just saying no to products/services that you don’t want, but it does affect the overall cruise experience for us and for others.

 

I’m glad that Celebrity was accommodating for you with the revenue issues, but that is not our experience with Celebrity.

 

Donna

 

I have no problem whatsoever with you disagreeing with me: we all have our own experiences. I was specifically referring to the Shore Excursion Desk and their accommodating attitude about the shuttles. We spend very little on board ship, so we don't really get involved in a lot of the money-making things like wine, the cost of drinks, the spa, art auctions, etc. We also think on ALL cruise lines these things are outrageously expensive (the spa prices are more than double, for instance). However, I think any all-inclusive resort anywhere in the world has this same marketing model. They all have a captured audience, so to speak!:D

[hcat]

If you are taking ship's excursion or ship's airport transfers in Civitavechhia do you need to take any shuttle bus to the port gate??? or do you board a bus as you get off the ship???

[carlmm]

If you are taking ship's excursion or ship's airport transfers in Civitavechhia do you need to take any shuttle bus to the port gate??? or do you board a bus as you get off the ship???

 

The buses stop right at the ship (or close by).

[Hlitner]

I will give you one example (I have many) of what I speak. While in South American, Celebrity promoted one particular jewelry store in Rio which was Amsterdam Sauer. They went as far as to print (everyday) in the daily scheule that passengers should not use services or shuttles provided by any other jeweler and should notify guest relations if any other jewel tried to solict their business. Of course the major jeweler in Rio (and one of the better jewelers in the world) is Stern..s, but Stern will no longer pay a "bribe" to Celebrity. Not only does Celebrity fail to mention Sterns or its free shuttles, fascinating factory (located in Rio), but they tried to intimidate passengers from using anyone other than Amerstrdam Sauer (a decent jeweler but not in the same class as Sterns). This is only one example, but there was a time when Celebrity would have told passengers of all the reptutable merchants...but now they only mention the ones that pay a large promotional fee...even when it means not informing passengers of their options. One other example was that when we arrived in Rio we had a hotel package purchased from Celebrity that included transfers (we almost never buy these kind of packages). We were met at the airport (after an 11 hour flight) and told that we should just "hang around" the airport for 2 hours until they could fill their bus with another plane (not due for over 1 1/2 hours. Needless to say, quite a few of us simply took taxis (it cost about $25) to our hotel rather than wait for our "transfer." When we complained to Celebrity their supervisor of guest relations said (and this is a quote), "you should have seen how bad they were 3 years ago." Needless to say, there was no offer of reimbursement for our taxi or an appology. I am not a whiner on cruises, in fact, after spending more than 20 months of my life on cruise ships I have only pursued a single complaint (it was an issue with Carnival). The situation on our cruise got to be so ridiculous that one of our tablemates (a Brit on his 29th Celebrity cruise) said he would never cruise with Celebrity again. Celebrity markets itself as the more upscale company owned by RCI, but we would choose RCI over Celebrity for many many reasons. Celebrity also does not measure up to what we have seen on HA, Carnival, and Princess (and this is all in the past year).

 

Hank

[dbh62ark]

Hank, I know you're not a whiner and respect your opinion. Thanks for leaving the additional information, and I hope you have a great next cruise.

 

Donna

[teacherman]

We will be in LaCoruna from 7:30-3:30. How long does it take to get the train to Santiago de Compestella? Would we have enough time to do this and "enjoy" our day, or with this limited port time would we feel rushed?

 

Also, our Lisbon port time is 12:00-6:00. What do you feel would be the best way to see some of the "better" sites? HOHO bus? Taxi?

 

We like to see some sites and hopefully have time to sit at a cafe and watch the world go by in every port.

 

All opinions are welcome.

[dbh62ark]

I hate to say it because I really do not like ship's tours (too much time wasted loading buses and on potty breaks, etc.), but I think you need to take a ship's excursion due to the short port stop. You can check train schedules for your date of travel--train schedules vary based on the day of the week--at http://www.renfe.es/. We had a 15 minute taxi ride from the dock to the train station, and then after we arrived in Santiago de Compestella, the cathedral was approx a 15 minute walk from the train station (go straight across the street in front of the train station and climb the hill, and this is a lovely walk). I still get goosebumps remembering our arrival in the village with some of the pilgrims who were singing. It was awesome, and this is a special place. Since the train ride was approx an hour each way and then we had approx an hour of walking and riding, I think your timing would be too tight to go independent. Even though it will be a short visit, I would not miss the opportunity to visit Santiago de Compestella. Maybe another board member knows of a private driver who could serve you as a substitute for the ship's excursion.

 

With your short port stop in Lisbon, I think I would concentrate on the Belem area. Frommers has good information on the monastery, tower, and coach museum, but I would check the web site for each of those sites to confirm opening/closing times. When we stayed in Lisbon, we were pleased to find that the attractions stayed open late in the day as compared to other cities in Europe, so I hope that's still the case (we were surprised to find a mall open in Lisbon until midnight with lots of people of all ages walking around). If the museums are closed or are not open until 5:30 or so on the day of your visit, an alternative plan would be to take a taxi to the Alfama and then walk up to St. George's castle for the panoramic views. Note that the Alfama is quite a climb so would not be good for those with physical disabilities or someone with bad knees. If you go with the sites in Belem, I would advise taking a taxi from the ship to the tower first and then walking (you walk approx 20 minutes beside the highway and then will see a pedestrian bridge that you'll need to cross to the other side of the highway to walk through some gardens and then to the monastery) to the monastery and coach museum because taxis are harder to find at the tower but not in the monaster/coach museum area. Frommers has a nice walking tour of that area too that is in the Frommers Portugal guide.

 

Have a great trip,

Donna

[dbh62ark]

P.S. You'll need to check train schedules from A Coruna (instead of La Coruna) to Santiago de Compestella.

[RetiredFL]

I would caution that it is best to shop around and negotiate a firm price for a taxi at the port. The first one we talked to wanted 50 euro to take us to Belem. I believe we finally got one for 15 euro for four people. Be sure you agree it is for the taxi and not per person. We also found the opening times were a little fuzzy (for lack of a better word) and the discoveries monument opened an hour later that the web site said. We took the trolley from Belem to the downtown plaza. It was very easy, a straight run, and I believe the instructions were in English. Be sure and ride the old elevator to the top of the hill. (Tickets on one side, entrance on the opposite).

We took a taxi back to the ship and felt we may have been overcharged but there appears to be special charges to enter the port area. We chalked it up to a travel experience.

All in all we found Lisbon one of the high lites of the trip and look forward to going back again. Be sure to walk the shopping streets.