Sea and Stay packages

[germanyboy]

For our May 2014 Alaska cruise, we would like to do Vancouver pre cruise and Seattle post cruise, each for 3 or 4 days.

How does Celebrity's pre and post cruise program work? Are they a good bargain or overpriced? It is a long way off, so they just have a few hotels listed, but no prices up yet.

Better to use Celebrity or try to do it on my own?

Anyone with experience with them?

[Project_gal]

We choose to book through Celebrity rather than doing it ourselves provided we are happy with the hotels offered. For us, it is the convenience AND the peace of mind - the protection we get by booking the package [which is part of the equation if you are from the EU]. We have booked our own hotels twice [both actually Azamara cruises - but the first was booked while they were still Celebrity!] because of hotel choice and it has been OK. Difficult to comment on choice becasue they were not offered by the cruise company [Raffles in Singapore and the Pen in HK].

 

We stay most often in the Embassy Suites in Fort Lauderdale and the only time we looked at prices, Celebrity was much cheaper. They do a great deal of business with the hotel and probably get a very good rate. For hotels like this, you can probably get a better last minute deal but that only works if you do not care where you stay.

 

In some places, but not all, Celebrity will collect your luggage and take it to the ship separately. This is great when it happens! In the hotel we have used in Barcelona, they actually pick it up from outside you room at night so you do not even have to worry about getting it downstairs! I would pay for that service!

 

When comparing prices, you need to remember that Celebrity prices include the transfers to/from the ship AND to/from the airport if you book your flights through Celebrity.

 

However, you say that you want to stay for 3 or 4 days. 3 days is the maximum that Celebrity will offer. So, if 4 days are important to you, to have to book separately.

 

Sue

[Hawks11]

We will be on the Solstice this May and have a package involving a two night stop at Seattle before the cruise at The Seattle Warwick Hotel which is near the port and link to the main transport systems as well as Pike Market and the downtown area. Following that we head off by Amtrak to Chicago before our flight to UK. I will probably post how we fared but if you are booking yourself it does seem the right area to be in.