Why doesnt Celebrity have pre-cruise hotel deals for puerto rico???

[smithtown]

I am sailing on the Celebrity Summit Repositioning Cruise on April 27th. I was looking for a pre-cruise hotel, and their was nothing available on Celebrity's site. Why not?:confused:

 

I was able to find a few good deals at different hotels like Sheraton, Marriott and Embassy Suites (incase anyone els is finding this issue for that cruise), but i was hoping to book everything through Celebrity like I always do.

[cruisestitch]

They usually appear around six months prior to sail date. You might just be too early.

[PinotBlanc]

I am sailing on the Celebrity Summit Repositioning Cruise on April 27th. I was looking for a pre-cruise hotel, and their was nothing available on Celebrity's site. Why not?:confused:

 

I was able to find a few good deals at different hotels like Sheraton, Marriott and Embassy Suites (incase anyone els is finding this issue for that cruise), but i was hoping to book everything through Celebrity like I always do.

 

 

Caribe Hilton. Check it out.

[Orator]

I've stayed in hotels used by X, like Majestic in Barcelona and have booked them for 1/2 of the X price. You'll do much better on your own.

[Lois R]

Deals? I didn't know Celebrity had pre-cruise "deals". I book my

own hotels and usually get really good deals through Hotwire/Priceline:D

[Orator]

Deals? I didn't know Celebrity had pre-cruise "deals". I book my

own hotels and usually get really good deals through Hotwire/Priceline:D

 

Celebrity lists hotels in their cruise planning booklets, but believe me they're not deals. I was told by one of their specialists that the Majestic was sold out. I contacted them directly and they had lots of rooms leading me to conclude that X takes a block and when sold says that the hotel is sold out. As I said before, I paid 1/2 of what Celebrity was quoting and received an upgraded room when I checked in.

[Tomato53]

I've never found Celebrity's pre- or post-cruise hotel rates to be a "deal". If you see a good rate for somewhere you want to stay, I'd book a cancelable reservation and watch for price drops.

 

We have enjoyed the Marriott Stellaris Casino and Resort in the Condado. It has a beach (nice for a city beach) and great pool area. There are shops and restaurants within walking distance.

[fleckle]

Deals? I didn't know Celebrity had pre-cruise "deals". I book my

own hotels and usually get really good deals through Hotwire/Priceline:D

Same here. We always find much better prices booking on our own, whether through Hotwire/Priceline/LastMinuteTravel or other discounters, or booking directly with the hotel itself.

 

We also prefer being able to hop in a taxi and leave whenever we want instead of needing to wait for the cruise line's shuttle.

[richsea]

You are much better off booking a San Juan hotel on your own, preferably through price line. Celebrity's hotel rares are ridiculously expensive.

[Blue Lagoon]

We are sailing on a Wine Immersive Cruise and were expecting to find hotels pre-cruise in London or Southampton. We waited and waited and finally phoned Celebrity - none to be had. In fact, no hotels were being offered at all for this itinerary. In the past, we have used the hotels that Celebrity has put together in a package.

 

 

We were more interested in the transfer to the ship that would be linked with the hotel stay. Nada.

[librarylady19]

Check out the San Juan board here on CC. There are a lot of helpful posts concerning hotels and Priceline/Hotwire

[phoenix_dream]

Agree - sailed out of SJU many times and would never, ever book through Celebrity. Taxis are very easy to arrange so there is absolutely no need to worry about transfers at this port. We have used Priceline (or was it Hotwire? can't recall) once and had very good luck - got a very nice room at the Caribe Hilton for $75 a few years ago. Now, as Hilton Honors Diamond members, we always look for Hilton family hotels directly. We really like the Embassy Suites the OP mentioned (it is close to a grocery store, it has an Outback Restaurant on site, a very nice pool, it has a casino on site, and it is within walking distance to other restaurants and hotel/casinos). We have also stayed at the Hampton Inn near-by, which is also a nice one. These are near the airport. Mid-way between airport and cruise dock is the Doubletree. We really liked that as well - restaurants on site and easily walk-able, and a grocery store directly across the street where we could buy our Diet Coke and bottles of wine to bring onboard.

[cherylroslyn]

I am sailing on the Celebrity Summit Repositioning Cruise on April 27th. I was looking for a pre-cruise hotel, and their was nothing available on Celebrity's site. Why not?:confused:

 

I was able to find a few good deals at different hotels like Sheraton, Marriott and Embassy Suites (incase anyone els is finding this issue for that cruise), but i was hoping to book everything through Celebrity like I always do.

Come over and join the roll call, I do that cruise every year. Puerto Rico is one of the easiest places to get a Hotel room using priceline. This year the deals are not out yet. I am predicting that it will be pretty easy to get a very nice hotel in November. I will post when I get mine and I will put details as to my bid so that you can follow it if you choose.

[Hlitner]

The pre and post cruise line Hotel Packages are seldom to never a "good deal." In nearly every case you can save a lot of money by booking your own hotel and arranging your own transfers (in San Juan you just get a taxi).

 

Hank

[warmwinds]

And the taxis are zoned fare, so a dispatcher writes on a piece of paper what the fare will be, so no fear of getting taken for a ride. We stayed at the Sheraton pre-cruise (nice for a city hotel but next time I'd choose the beach), and it was also one of the "Celebrity" hotels, we walked past the people stacked like sardines in the lobby waiting for the transfer bus, waltzed out and got a taxi, and were on our way ahead of all of them, plus saved money.

[SFCAcruiser]

And the taxis are zoned fare, so a dispatcher writes on a piece of paper what the fare will be, so no fear of getting taken for a ride. We stayed at the Sheraton pre-cruise (nice for a city hotel but next time I'd choose the beach), and it was also one of the "Celebrity" hotels, we walked past the people stacked like sardines in the lobby waiting for the transfer bus, waltzed out and got a taxi, and were on our way ahead of all of them, plus saved money.

We had the same experience at the Caribe Hilton - we had to step around the masses of "hotel package" Celebrity cruisers and their luggage in order to get to our taxi. Like you, we arrived at the ship long before those other passengers.

 

I suspect the OP is a traveler who is ready, willing and able to pay a premium for some additional "hand holding" and enjoys the perceived convenience of one-stop shopping, regardless of the cost. So, the advice to join his/her roll call might be the most useful information.

[cherylroslyn]

We had the same experience at the Caribe Hilton - we had to step around the masses of "hotel package" Celebrity cruisers and their luggage in order to get to our taxi. Like you, we arrived at the ship long before those other passengers.

 

I suspect the OP is a traveler who is ready, willing and able to pay a premium for some additional "hand holding" and enjoys the perceived convenience of one-stop shopping, regardless of the cost. So, the advice to join his/her roll call might be the most useful information.

Don't worry I'll guide them:)

[Hlitner]

We had the same experience at the Caribe Hilton - we had to step around the masses of "hotel package" Celebrity cruisers and their luggage in order to get to our taxi. Like you, we arrived at the ship long before those other passengers.

 

I suspect the OP is a traveler who is ready, willing and able to pay a premium for some additional "hand holding" and enjoys the perceived convenience of one-stop shopping, regardless of the cost. So, the advice to join his/her roll call might be the most useful information.

 

The last time we cruised out of San Juan we went on Priceline and were able to get a room at the Caribe Hilton for $65! When we checked-in they were going to give us a parking lot view and we asked if they had anything with ocean view. They said they would upgrade us to ocean/beach view if we could wait an hour for a room to be vacated. That same $65 would have cost more then $200 from the cruise line. I just checked pricelines sister site where you can see the bids that have been accepted and the Caribe Hilton now goes for about $85 (give or take a few dollars).

 

Hank

[Mr. Click]

Someone else mentioned the Doubletree, we stayed there in 2010 before our cruise and it was great. Sadly they are already booked solid for our March 9 cruise...We booked the Hampton Inn nearby for 179 plus tax as a back up hotwire/priceline.

[smithtown]

Cherylroslyn, thanks for the info. I keep applying to the roll calls but I keep having to re-apply. its weird and it says only 48 people applied for my cruise. I do hope to see you there if you do book this cruise.

 

I decided to book a few hotels people mentioned previously and wait and see if I find better deals or not. I keep seeing $65 and $79 deals mentioned here but have yet to find that good of a deal.

 

I am also a Hilton Diamond member like Phoenix Dream, and the best deal I found so far was Embassy Suites for $100 a night. I like Embassy Suites cause your rooms are usually pretty large as compaired with Marriott and Sheraton hotels. I am a member of almost every hotel chain rewards program and I find Hilton has one of the best reward programs and some of the best customer service people when I have an issue that needs solving.

 

I have been cruising and traveling for many years but have never been to Puerto Rico and have heard many great things, so I decided to spend a few days here before my cruise. This will be my first time in Puerto Rico and my first time going back on Celebrity in 8 years, so I am excited.

[Jborosara]

there are a couple of good reasons to choose celebrity "deals" -

 

if a hotel that you want is completely booked or will only accept two day or longer stays during high cruise season, you can sometime get that same hotel through celebrity, albeit for a higher price - happened to us with Sheraton OSJ last winter, though celebrity no longer has packages through that hotel

 

also, it should be noted that celebrity will completely handle your luggage from room to ship - they come by on embarkation morning to get your bags - you see them next on the ship -

 

we skipped the celebrity bus to the port - wanted more time in OSJ

 

overall would do this again if i couldn't get the hotel i wanted for the days i wanted any other way... otherwise, probably not

[cruisestitch]

Good points -- we don't know why the OP wants to book through Celebrity -- maybe there are some mobility issues and they want a lower-stress option than doing everything independently -- so advice about getting your own hotel might not be on target for the OP.

[phoenix_dream]

Good points -- we don't know why the OP wants to book through Celebrity -- maybe there are some mobility issues and they want a lower-stress option than doing everything independently -- so advice about getting your own hotel might not be on target for the OP.

Agreed. It is not always about the best deal price-wise necessarily.

[smithtown]

Cruisestitch- No, its just that I like checking what they have to offer against what I find on my own. Some times they have deals that are a little better than what I find. For example, once I stayed someplace really nice in Miami for 1/2 what i was finding on priceline and other sites cause the cruise line booked a block of rooms. This was Norweigan though, not celebrity.

 

I am greatful for all the comments and post. Thanks!

[BrendaJ]

We are sailing on a Wine Immersive Cruise and were expecting to find hotels pre-cruise in London or Southampton. We waited and waited and finally phoned Celebrity - none to be had. In fact, no hotels were being offered at all for this itinerary. In the past, we have used the hotels that Celebrity has put together in a package.

 

We were more interested in the transfer to the ship that would be linked with the hotel stay. Nada.

 

That's unfortunate. While we usually do our own pre-cruise hotel and transportation, on our transatlantic cruise out of Dover, we chose to book our pre-cruise hotel with Celebrity mainly for the transfers into London and to the port, both of which are a fair distance away. We had expected to have to wait after our flight for a busload of people to gather to go to the hotel; however, instead, we had a driver with a sign with our name waiting for us when we exited customs and he took us right to our hotel.

 

That was certainly a nice, easy start to our trip, and I don't regret booking with Celebrity at all in that case.

 

However, San Juan is easy to navigate with taxis and there are no long transfers required either to hotels or the ship, so we book our own there. That being said, I've never seen the type of deals mentioned in this thread for hotels in San Juan anytime I've cruised from there. Our hotels were more in the $150 neighbourhood, and I'm not talking about anything fancy either. Must have just been the expensive time of year.