Madrid, Zurich, Frankfurt pre-cruise...pick one and why?

[babylene]

You are right. It's much too risky. I think we'll have to fly in one day early. I wonder whether or not I could still get transfers? From what I understand, it's like a voucher and you take the same bus as everyone else. What have you heard?

Your poor parents. What needless stress.

[Bruin Steve]

I've heard you can buy individual transfers for (2004 price) $67 per person each way...with the pick-up at Victoria Station Bus terminal...

If you do the hotel package through Celebrity, they include the transfer from the respective hotel...

If you fly in on Celebrity's Air program, it includes the transfer directly from Heathrow...

But, whether it's all the same bus is doubtful, I'd imagine they have enough people in each category to have several buses...

Now, my question is, if you purchase your air through Celebrity AND a hotel package through Celebrity, aren't you, in effect, double-paying that transfer charge that's part of both costs?

[babylene]

It sure sounds like it! Actually, we have enough points for one air ticket. Probably we will end up doing our own air...one day before...I am thinking of spending the night in Dover instead of London. That might be fun. We'll be so tired after travelling that something low-keyed will probably be a better choice...and less expensive,too!

[Live the good life]

[quote name='Bruin Steve']
Bottom line, any trip to Europe is tops in my book--both cruises and land trips--they're just different...
[/QUOTE]
High Steve,
I find the discussions on this post very interesting!!! Because of my upbringing, I have a special interest in Europe and have enjoyed all 3 destinations (Germany,Switzerland-many years ago with my mom) and recently twice in Spain with my husband, teenage daughter and other relatives. We had such a memorable time during X-mas 2003 in Madrid and Barcelona!!! We visited friends and relatives in Paris and decided to fly Iberia to visit Spain...As one of our hobbies is sampling the top 100 hotels in the world (per Conde Nast Traveler), we tried Hotel Ritz at both cities.

For Madrid, Hotel Ritz is near the Prado. We noticed other hotels nearby that were also very nice and of much better value (Suite Prado and Hotel Carlton-4 star yet less than 140 euros)...During our recent 4 nights pre "Celebrity Millenium" Mediterranean stay, we visited Madrid and Barcelona again, and also visited Seville. We stayed at the Alfonso, great choice, but there were other hotels which were of much better value; (we often use [url]www.expedia.com[/url] and rely on comments from [url]www.tripadvisor.com[/url] )... During the day, we used the hop on hop off buses (in both Madrid and Seville), visited the museums, cathedrals, royal palaces (the one in Madrid is a must for us), and Retiro Park (in Madrid)...At night, we had a great time seeing Flamencos at the Barios in Seville...We wish we had time to visit Toledo, Granada, and Cordoba!!! During this pre-cruise stay in Madrid, we chose to be in Puerta del Sol. We stayed at the Senator Gran via, a 4 star that is within walking distance to many other hotels such as Best Western Carlos V, High Tech Petit Palace Londres... Our relatives stayed at the High Tech Petit Palace Londres and really liked it (had good buffet breakfast, wake up call and free internet usage) and balcony rooms overlooking Puerta Del Sol...Our room at Senator Gran via also has balcony overlooking Gran Via, which was also fun until midnight...As you may have recalled from your visit many years ago, Puerta Del Sol has cafes and live musicians just like those in La Ramblas, Barcelona. During this trip, we used both Spainair and Iberia to fly between the cities, and the rates were less than 80 euros per person (one hour flight)...One could also use the AVE train to go to Toledo, Granada, Corboba from Madrid...Hope these infos are helpful...We are currently making plans for our Baltic Cruise next July as well !!!
Kim-"ltgl"
P.S. both DH & I were Bruins in the early 1980's...