Help! celebrity! We( you) have a problem!

[Knolmom]

In early April, we booked a Baltic Cruise. We are not new to Celebrity or their website, having cruised with them since 1994. Celebrity, every day you send both my husband and myself an e- mail urging us to book shore excursions with you! Every night, I sign into the " already booked" site and try to access the Shorex for our cruise. I am able to view day1 and day2, then the site either boots me off or abruptly shuts down. I have tried using my MAC, my IPAD, and friends computers at different locations. Still no luck.

If you expect folks to book, your IT people are not making it easy. You want my business, make your site available without glitches, and user friendly. And please don't tell me that my reservation is undergoing adjustments. I have made no adjustments. Please, just make the site available or I will soon book private tours for my itinerary. Some much less hassle, so much less expensive.

[ghstudio]

If you expect folks to book, your IT people are not making it easy. You want my business, make your site available without glitches, and user friendly. And please don't tell me that my reservation is undergoing adjustments. I have made no adjustments. Please, just make the site available or I will soon book private tours for my itinerary. Some much less hassle, so much less expensive.

 

You are certainly not the only person who has complained about the Celebrity web site...you may not even be the first today. Fortunately, they run their ships far better than their IT department.

 

Having said that, I'm not sure why you want to book Celebrity Excursions when private or small group tours (perhaps with others from your roll call) are generally far more enjoyable (do what you want at your pace), clearly less crowded, sometimes even less expensive.

 

I'd stop even being concerned about not being able to see Celebrity's offerings and spend the time finding recommended guides and excursions.

[DinaS]

You are certainly not the only person who has complained about the Celebrity web site...you may not even be the first today. Fortunately, they run their ships far better than their IT department.

 

Having said that, I'm not sure why you want to book Celebrity Excursions when private or small group tours (perhaps with others from your roll call) are generally far more enjoyable (do what you want at your pace), clearly less crowded, sometimes even less expensive.

 

I'd stop even being concerned about not being able to see Celebrity's offerings and spend the time finding recommended guides and excursions.

 

 

I can think of one extremely GOOD reason that many people want to book Celebrity Excursions.

 

If you book a Celebrity Excursion, there is no worry about not making it back to the ship in time. Booking private or small group tours, you run the risk of having an issue with timing.

[Andy]

I can think of one extremely GOOD reason that many people want to book Celebrity Excursions.

 

If you book a Celebrity Excursion, there is no worry about not making it back to the ship in time. Booking private or small group tours, you run the risk of having an issue with timing.

 

I agree with you Dina. In general, I'm a worrier, and would be worried about missing the ship. I realize the odds are slim, but it is possible. For that reason, our comfort level was to chose Celebrity. With that said, this isn't a one size fits all situation. Everyone should make up their own minds, and do what fits their situation best. Personally, I wouldn't make a blanket statement not to choose Celebrity. There are many reasons to choose Celebrity, and many reasons to consider independent providers as well.

 

IMO, when choosing shore excursions, it's best to do your homework, and select what best fits your comfort level.

 

Hope this is helpful !

[ClaudiaB]

OK here's a good reason to book independently:

 

All these tour professionals make their living at this. They know the ships' schedules and that people need to be back. If they didn't get you back they'd be out of business. We only book through Celebrity if the city/location warrants it, such as Panama ferry through the Canal, etc.

 

The way most people do it is get on Trip Advisor and other sites, guide books, etc. and find out what's available and of interest. Then google and research. Then get on your roll call and let the coordinating begin. We've had some of our best travel experiences ever, on independent tours.

 

Celebrity (and other lines) are obliged to give that spiel about not waiting for you if you're late, almost as a scare tactic. It's true but you don't have to worry if you go with a reputable person/company. A savvy traveler doing his own thing will know not to be at the far end of an island an hour before sail away, in their own car. So will the tour guides who make their living day after day, year after year.

 

You will get smaller groups, see more "stuff", and have a better tour if you just do a few things yourself and you'll very likely pay less. Often these people see the big buses are one place and avoid them. We did 7 tours in different cities with Spain Day Tours last fall on our TA and it was great. We passed up the buses from the ship and did our own thing. Never more than 8 on our little van (sometimes 4 to 6) and we saw and did so much more and our cost was half the bus tours. There's nothing like eating tapas in a local off-the-beaten-path place that only your driver can find for you - and getting to know him and the area that he's passionate about.

 

I've heard so many good things about the St. Petersburg and other Baltic city tours done independently, and when we do a Baltic cruise you can believe we will be doing it ourselves with people from our roll call. Have a great time and don't worry about missing your ship. You won't.

[luv2cruisecats]

OK here's a good reason to book independently:

 

All these tour professionals make their living at this. They know the ships' schedules and that people need to be back. If they didn't get you back they'd be out of business. We only book through Celebrity if the city/location warrants it, such as Panama ferry through the Canal, etc.

 

The way most people do it is get on Trip Advisor and other sites, guide books, etc. and find out what's available and of interest. Then google and research. Then get on your roll call and let the coordinating begin. We've had some of our best travel experiences ever, on independent tours.

 

Celebrity (and other lines) are obliged to give that spiel about not waiting for you if you're late, almost as a scare tactic. It's true but you don't have to worry if you go with a reputable person/company. A savvy traveler doing his own thing will know not to be at the far end of an island an hour before sail away, in their own car. So will the tour guides who make their living day after day, year after year.

 

You will get smaller groups, see more "stuff", and have a better tour if you just do a few things yourself and you'll very likely pay less. Often these people see the big buses are one place and avoid them. We did 7 tours in different cities with Spain Day Tours last fall on our TA and it was great. We passed up the buses from the ship and did our own thing. Never more than 8 on our little van (sometimes 4 to 6) and we saw and did so much more and our cost was half the bus tours. There's nothing like eating tapas in a local off-the-beaten-path place that only your driver can find for you - and getting to know him and the area that he's passionate about.

 

I've heard so many good things about the St. Petersburg and other Baltic city tours done independently, and when we do a Baltic cruise you can believe we will be doing it ourselves with people from our roll call. Have a great time and don't worry about missing your ship. You won't.

 

I agree totally. We only do ships tours if the time in port is very short or it is a simple and inexpensive city tour. 8 people is ideal size group; with 20 to 30 there is always someone that wanders away or decides to look at every last thing in sight while we wait for them.

[BrendaJ]

In my opinion, a whole lot depends on the actual area you will be in.

 

If you are on an island and don't make it to the port on time, it will be very expensive to catch up with the ship, as you will likely have to fly. If you are one who does not carry their passport when they are off the ship, you might have a very hard time getting home.

 

On a vacation in Europe, if the port is on the mainland, like Spain or Italy or any number of the non-island ports, you can probably fairly easily catch a train or other public transportation to take you to the next port. You might have to sleep on a train, or get a room for the night, but it could be relatively painless. On a private tour in Rome, when we expressed concern that we might not make it back to the ship on time, our driver told us he had never missed a ship, and if he did, he would bring us to stay at his cousin's place and drive us to Florence in the morning. That certainly made us feel better, and even with a big traffic jam, we made it back to the ship on time (although not much time to spare). The drivers in Europe are very experienced and generally know exactly how much time they need to get you to the ship. If you tell them you want to be back at the ship an hour before sail-away, they will certainly accommodate you.

 

Once in St. Maarten, I took a cab to town to shop with a friend; we figured we had left enough time to grab a cab to get back to the ship easily; however, when we tried to get a cab, they were all taken - none at all were available. We finally jumped in front of a mini van with a bunch of people in it and begged the driver to take us to the ship, which he did (we certainly gave him a large tip) and we made it to the ship just as they were raising the gangway. I hope to never cut it that close again.

 

The private tours allow you to visit just the sites you want, but often the driver is just that, not a guide, and you have to pay additionally for an actual tour guide (Pompeii and the Vatican are examples of places you would actually want to hire a guide in addition to your driver.) The drivers will give you basic information, but they are generally not experts of every possible site you might be interested in seeing. A good guidebook might make the difference. If you need to hire guides to get the full experience of some sites, it can get pretty pricey doing private tours.

 

If there's something far from the port I want to see, on islands, or in locations where I'm not comfortable with the language or safety, I always take a cruise line tour, just for my peace of mind.

[suec12]

I think many of us are cruising with a fair amount of OBC these days - using them for X excursions could be a good idea and if you book ahead of time, you can't use the OBC. Just a thought.

[ghstudio]

We almost exclusively do private/semi private excursions using the roll call for the cruise. The exception is for excursions that take us far from the ship and/or are too tight on time. We plan for any private tour to return us to the ship at least 90 minutes before it sails...and we plan a reasonable start time, allowing for the ship being late or in the case of tendering, not getting an early tender (although we get priority tender tickets).

 

There are a few reasons to do a ship's tour...the biggest being a fear of missing the boat. As others have said, if you are dealing with a large tour company or someone known who has a reputation to maintain, you will make the boat one way or the other...even if they have to call a friend because they have a flat tire.

 

The second reason is if you are travelling alone because it's generally prohibitively expensive to book a private tour so it just makes financial sense to go on a celebrity tour.

 

A third reason is if you have a disability...Celebrity tours are wonderful ways to do excursions if you fall in this group.

 

Finally, as mentioned, sometimes you have lots of non-refundable OBC and it's just easy to take the ship's shuttle to the center of town or a short "see the city" tour. (there are other ways to get your non-refundable OBC's back..but that's a different thread).

 

Of course, it would be in everyone's best interests if Celebrity could keep their web pages working and accurate. As a participant here for years, I (and others, I'm sure) have little hope of seeing that in my lifetimes....

Edited April 16, 2015 by ghstudio

[richsea]

We almost exclusively do private/semi private excursions using the roll call for the cruise. The exception is for excursions that take us far from the ship and/or are too tight on time. We plan for any private tour to return us to the ship at least 90 minutes before it sails...and we plan a reasonable start time, allowing for the ship being late or in the case of tendering, not getting an early tender (although we get priority tender tickets).

 

There are a few reasons to do a ship's tour...the biggest being a fear of missing the boat. As others have said, if you are dealing with a large tour company or someone known who has a reputation to maintain, you will make the boat one way or the other...even if they have to call a friend because they have a flat tire.

 

The second reason is if you are travelling alone because it's generally prohibitively expensive to book a private tour so it just makes financial sense to go on a celebrity tour.

 

A third reason is if you have a disability...Celebrity tours are wonderful ways to do excursions if you fall in this group.

 

Finally, as mentioned, sometimes you have lots of non-refundable OBC and it's just easy to take the ship's shuttle to the center of town or a short "see the city" tour. (there are other ways to get your non-refundable OBC's back..but that's a different thread).

 

Of course, it would be in everyone's best interests if Celebrity could keep their web pages working and accurate. As a participant here for years, I (and others, I'm sure) have little hope of seeing that in my lifetimes....

 

Looks like you answered your own question from post #2.:rolleyes:

[ghstudio]

Looks like you answered your own question from post #2.:rolleyes:

 

guilty as charged :cool:

Edited April 16, 2015 by ghstudio

[workstocruise]

I see both advantages of private tour companies and Celebrity excursions. On our Baltic cruise we used SPB tours for both Berlin and St. Petersburg and they were great. However we had $1000 obc and needed to use it so for all the other ports we booked with Celebrity and their excursions were every bit as nice as the private tours we took. So it's really your own choice. Like someone else said if you are late and booked with Celebrity, they will never leave you. On one of our recent cruises, a couple of people were left behind in three different ports. Needless to say they were not happy campers, but it was their problem.

[Sillyjilly]

Even when the site is working it's the pits. :eek:

[Knolmom]

There are two ports on our Baltic Cruise where times are tight. As a matter of fact on one of those days, a tour that typically runs 7 hours is being offered both privately and with the cruise line. We are only going to be in port for 6 hours on those days so I would like to go with the cruise line tour just to be safe. Even tonight I cannot access the site.

[Welland]

There are two ports on our Baltic Cruise where times are tight. As a matter of fact on one of those days, a tour that typically runs 7 hours is being offered both privately and with the cruise line. We are only going to be in port for 6 hours on those days so I would like to go with the cruise line tour just to be safe. Even tonight I cannot access the site.

 

 

 

Phone Captain's Club in the morning and speak with someone who can put you on to the excursion desk. Book your choices with this person on the phone and ask for an e-mail to be sent back to you verifying what you have ordered.

 

Good luck. Please keep us posted.