Celebrity Cruises
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Buyer beware - hidden costs and expensive extras
The ship itself was good; staff worked very hard cleaning everything in sight, frequently. We only ate in the OceanView buffet restaurant - most other restaurants onboard cost extra. The food there was plentiful and good quality, decent choices including a couple of themed nights and Asian, European and American cuisine - no complaints. Buffet food is never really piping hot but that's expected. We chose a west Mediterranean tour including Palma and Toulon as the listed destinations. But at Palma the ship was docked a good distance from Palma centre and we had to pay an extra 30 euros for a shuttle bus. This wasn't notified in advance. A local taxi from the pier may have been cheaper - check first, 10 euros per person might have cost more than a local taxi. When we arrived in "Toulon" I discovered we were not actually in Toulon. We were around 10 km away by road from Toulon in a small port - La Seyne-sur-mer. Nothing of interest there. I asked Guest Relations staff why we were not in Toulon and the desk person told me that to get to Toulon, Celebrity offered guests a sea shuttle, priced at $20 per person! This wasn't notified in advance and I was angry because I'd expected that the ship would have docked in Toulon port. Toulon is on the stated itinerary - not La Seyne. I was misled. So be warned - getting to Palma old town and Toulon costs an extra $30 dollars per person. Our "all-inc" drinks "Classic" package only applies to a choice of wines, spirits and beers under $9. There was enough choice for us but take care to choose the right brands - you could easily pick one not listed on the package and incur an extra service charge. This applies to the small mini-bar in the room - a bottle of Evian still water was $8, small Pringles $3 - a half bottle of wine extra $24 - no kidding - (and perhaps + 18% service added to that too?) - so be careful not to buy from the mini-bar - it's extortionate. And why do guests have to pay ridiculous extra costs for a mini-bar when we've already paid to have drinks included? It's a complete rip-off - I felt cheated. We discovered that "free wifi" only means basic. Texts or emails only. You can't surf the internet as we'd expected - unless you upgrade, costing an extra $349. That may well be per person knowing Celebrity's drip-drip extra pricing tricks. The silent disco was fun and there were the usual options for entertainment and activities onboard - pub quizzes, music, deck games, wine tasting (extra cost) and the like. Our room (6004) was OK except for the horrible not very efficient basic shower curtain - large double bed and sofa-bed for our daughter - but "ocean view" actually meant a view of the helicopter pad. If you stretch the sea was visible - just! I didn't like the cheap shower curtain - especially considering the fancy steel/chrome and glass fittings in most other areas of the ship like the sleek expensive shopping arcade & art rooms. My family felt short-changed, misled and overcharged. Not good value for money. I wouldn't book with Celebrity again.
