Celebrity Cruises
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UNDERWHELMED
GREEK ISLAND CRUISE REVIEW 18/09/2024 to 01/10/2024 The negativities we encountered fell into three main areas Pre-Cruise Booking Cruise Experience Post-Cruise Experience Pre-Cruise Booking - We did leave our booking quite late and perhaps as a result of the short time, until cruise departure, contributed to the nausea we experienced. Initially, all seemed very attractive the UK Celebrity Agent seemed knowledgeable, extremely helpful and provided an attractive price for our consideration. As we now had a booking reference number we were advised we would have a dedicated rep to look after our needs, so as advised the following day we spoke with our “dedicated rep”, but sadly the hotel was no longer available, the Air Flights had gone up, and his computer was “playing up”. Sadly the following day, the first rep was on leave, resulting in me being transferred to USA, where I had difficulty in understanding her dialect, but the outcome was, she said she had to start the reservation all over again, but her computer was playing up, and she would call me back - THIS NEVER HAPPENED. Day THREE and I had to phone - USA AGAIN - it seemed as if it was “Groundhog Day” territory, a repeat of the previous days nausea, with prices racing skywards, and another promised - BUT NEVER KEPT - PHONE CALL I think you can see the emerging picture, as Each conversation with a USA rep resulted in yet another revised schedule. The penultimate one had over $500 Anomoly, but to be fair the (SIXTH) rep dealing with it, he refused to take any monies until he resolved the issue, AND he did phone us back and successfully concluded the transaction. But at no time could anyone advise us where we were sat on plane, or if we could bring overhead case Does the £1336, for flights. SEEM LIKE A BARGAIN? Also “Easy Jet” did not allow me to sit beside my wife and more or less told me to dry my eyes, and had I paid the EXTRA COST WE COULD HAVE CHOSEN OUR SEATS - FLY AGEAN AIRWAYS MUCH CHEAPER, FRIENDLIER CREW, BETTER SERVICE Cruise Experience - The ships cabin crew attendant Satish went above and beyond, making our cabin experience enjoyable, despite both my wife and myself catching a respiratory issue on the ship, exacerbated with the air conditioning systems all over the ship, indeed we are now home and still NOT functioning 100% after something like SIX DAYS of this horrible infection on the ship. The food was tolerable - NOT EXCITING The entertainment on the ship was woeful. Z LIST NOBODIES that were either out of tune, amateurish in their craft or worse NOT FUNNY resulting in many of the audience departing the theatre early. Plus the pressure from waiters and crew members to take out either a drinks package or WiFi was intolerable, especially as you would need to drink $110 a day to justify the $1200 DRINKS DEAL, plus the WiFi was a PLUS COST, and we were advised it was weak. $11 FOR A BOTTLE OF 0% ALCOHOL BEER $18 FOR A GLASS OF WINE Charging $5 for bottled water is a disgrace, which on previous cruises was provided free. Rachael was a star ensuring you got seated in your preferred dining area, always greeting you with a smile. Egressing the ship at Istanbul was - HORRIFIC - from our balcony we could almost touch the pier, but instead we had to negotiate an underground tunnel that cost millions to create apparently, and seemed like miles to negotiate before exiting, IT CERTAINLY WAS NOT VERY FRIENDLY FOR ANYONE WITH WALKING ISSUES. AND POORLY SIGNPOSTED As Celebrity did not provide shuttle buses into the town area we were left to the mercy of the TAXI MAFIA - WHAT A RIP OFF. Despite agreeing the fare before we sat in the seat, for our return trip, he added TEN EUROS COST, as we were passing over the bridge, THE SAME ONE WE HAD TO PASS ON THE OUTWARD TRIP FOR FREE. Post-Cruise Experience - Thanks to ships crew attendants one of our luggage cases was completely ruined (wheel came off, plus a smashed side of the case. To be fair the disembarkation was well organised and information was provided continuously to enable a speedy get off the promised ONE HOUR TO AIRPORT - WAS ACTUALLY TWO HOURS. QUESTIONABLE WHETHER EDINBURGH AIRPORT WAS WORSE THAN ATHENS BUT SECURITY AT ATHENS WAS DIABOLICAL IT SEEMED LIKE TWENTY PASSPORT CHECKS WERE REQUIRED before we were allowed in to departure lounge. So I’ll let you determine why I offered low ratings of my experience and why I chose NOT TO RECOMMEND CELEBRIT