jimbham

For our Venice trip last September, we also booked a meet-and-greet outside customs, Mercedes transfer to the water taxi, and a private water taxi to the hotel. It was absolutely NOT worth the extra money to do so. The Mercedes ride was longer than the walk would have been and we arrived at the taxi stand AFTER the people that were BEHIND us leaving customs. And our "private" taxi was just one particular boat at the water taxi stand and looked identical to all of the others - iconicly Venetian, wooden, low, small windows around, velvet cushions, etc.

Next time, we will simply exit customs, follow the clearly-marked signs down the covered walkway to the water taxi stand, wait patiently in the short (4-5 people) line, and pay the taxi driver to take us to our hotel.

On our first Celebrity cruise, we were celebrating our anniversary and indicated so on our reservation. What a pleasant surprise when we received a personal, written invitation to attend the honeymoon/anniversary cocktail party with the Captain! Then, to top it off, on our actual anniversary dinner evening, our entire waitstaff, asst MD and the head MD along with several other waiters brought out a cake and sang "Happy Anniversary to You" at our table - very loudly I might add. We've been Celebrity advocates ever sense!