Lalof Posted August 18, 2023 #1 Share Posted August 18, 2023 We are on a Celebrity cruise next July. We leave from Rome (Civitavecchio). We plan to get to Rome a few days early so we have some time to explore. And eat. (Mostly eat). Celebrity offers a 3-night pre-cruise package for $1,444 that includes a driver pickup at the airport, hotel, 2 half-day tours and then transport to the port. Has anyone taken a package like this? Did you find it worthwhile? We are debating whether we could finding out own hotel/tours/transportation could result in spending less money, but taking up a bunch of time to research and book. It seems like there could be some comfort in having the cruise line take care of the details for us. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiserBruce Posted August 18, 2023 #2 Share Posted August 18, 2023 You can almost always do better on your own. Sometime much less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare carlmm Posted August 18, 2023 #3 Share Posted August 18, 2023 Depends on the hotel, of course, but most probably you can get everything for much less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare marazul Posted August 18, 2023 #4 Share Posted August 18, 2023 It is easy enough to find out. Look through the Hotels in Rome thread on this board and look at the price of transfers with romecabs.com or look up a shared shuttle transfer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mapleleaves Posted August 18, 2023 #5 Share Posted August 18, 2023 what are the 2 half-day tours ? Do they interest you ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lalof Posted August 18, 2023 Author #6 Share Posted August 18, 2023 39 minutes ago, mapleleaves said: what are the 2 half-day tours ? Do they interest you ? The tours are of the major highlights, plus we would have a day to do whatever we want. Trying to find out what hotel would be included as that might also be am important piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare marazul Posted August 18, 2023 #7 Share Posted August 18, 2023 23 minutes ago, Lalof said: The tours are of the major highlights, plus we would have a day to do whatever we want. Trying to find out what hotel would be included as that might also be am important piece. If the tours are only drive-by tours, you may be better off doing tours on your own. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megr1125 Posted August 19, 2023 #8 Share Posted August 19, 2023 I'd book it on your own. You'll probably save money, can do what interests you and not overpay a cruise lines' inflated hotel rates. Streets in Rome can be small and crowded. Big vehicles won't get close. My Aunt and Uncle did a night time golf cart tour (I do not know which one) and got a lot closer to sites and they raved about it. (She's fussier than I am and I am super fussy). Just a thought. Also, if you find some hotels on line, and email them, sometimes they'll offer you a slightly better rate. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbaraEH Posted August 19, 2023 #9 Share Posted August 19, 2023 I tried to look into the Celebrity 3-night pre-cruise package a few months ago and had a number of questions that Celebrity couldn't answer like what hotel was included. I was told to send a message to their shore excursions group and never got a reply. So I started looking into booking it ourselves and it has proven to be less to book it all ourselves...almost $900 savings (based on the $1,444 price you quoted above) for the two of us and that includes meals which aren't included in the Celebrity pricing. I have spent quite a bit of time researching everything though so there may be a trade-off between savings vs. time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cattalystt Posted August 27, 2023 #10 Share Posted August 27, 2023 (edited) On 8/19/2023 at 11:30 AM, BarbaraEH said: I tried to look into the Celebrity 3-night pre-cruise package a few months ago and had a number of questions that Celebrity couldn't answer like what hotel was included. I was told to send a message to their shore excursions group and never got a reply. So I started looking into booking it ourselves and it has proven to be less to book it all ourselves...almost $900 savings (based on the $1,444 price you quoted above) for the two of us and that includes meals which aren't included in the Celebrity pricing. I have spent quite a bit of time researching everything though so there may be a trade-off between savings vs. time. I have a cruise scheduled out of Rome with Celebrity this year. Early on it gave a generic option for the 2- and 3-night pre-cruise package, but now it actually also includes the option to choose either the Crown Plaza or Empire Palace hotels. I imagine this may change sometimes, but also may give you/anyone a good idea of what hotels to expect, should you book. Enjoy! Edited August 27, 2023 by cattalystt a word added Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cruisemom42 Posted August 27, 2023 #11 Share Posted August 27, 2023 Most times cruises use hotels that are less central; sometimes in areas far from good restaurants, etc. (The Crowne Plaza mentioned above is one such…). In my opinion it’s important to be in a walkable area so you can have some independence and not have to take a taxi to every meal and site. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Got2Cruise Posted August 27, 2023 #12 Share Posted August 27, 2023 Go on your own It’s very easy to book the tours you want thru TripAdvisor or Viator. The only time it would be worth it is if it’s a hassle to get to the city to the cruise port independently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now