Transportation to Ship

[Eggy13]

I and my daughter, on Sept, 14, are taking the Vision of the Sea Northern European cruise. We are spending September 13 in Copenhagen. We are using a RCCL recommended hotel. My TA is trying to arrange transportation to the ship. RCCL is saying they just recently started to do this. What have been others experiences? We already have ship to Heathrow.

[Gonzo70]

I and my daughter, on Sept, 14, are taking the Vision of the Sea Northern European cruise. We are spending September 13 in Copenhagen. We are using a RCCL recommended hotel. My TA is trying to arrange transportation to the ship. RCCL is saying they just recently started to do this. What have been others experiences? We already have ship to Heathrow.

 

I was not aware RCI was recommending hotels; in the past you could book a hotel through them - but at an exorbitant price (generally the same or similar hotel could be booked on one's own for about half price or less). Likewise I have always found transportation provided by cruise lines to be woefully overpriced. I have always managed to find less expensive and more comfortable transportation independently, or via linking with some other people through Cruise Critic's Roll Call boards. You may want to check out your Roll Call for this cruise and see what people are doing with regards to transportation - or if some are organizing shared rides.

[petel]

I and my daughter, on Sept, 14, are taking the Vision of the Sea Northern European cruise. We are spending September 13 in Copenhagen. We are using a RCCL recommended hotel. My TA is trying to arrange transportation to the ship. RCCL is saying they just recently started to do this. What have been others experiences? We already have ship to Heathrow.

 

We used a cab arranged by the hotel. It is usually a good idea to schedule your pickup for the ship as soon as you check in. Enjoy :). We love the Vision crew! :)

 

Eating in Copenhagen will be expensive. If the hotel offers meals they are usually a bargain.

[hazeleyez3]

We just took a cab from our hotel to the port.

[hellsop]

I was not aware RCI was recommending hotels; in the past you could book a hotel through them - but at an exorbitant price (generally the same or similar hotel could be booked on one's own for about half price or less). Likewise I have always found transportation provided by cruise lines to be woefully overpriced. I have always managed to find less expensive and more comfortable transportation independently, or via linking with some other people through Cruise Critic's Roll Call boards. You may want to check out your Roll Call for this cruise and see what people are doing with regards to transportation - or if some are organizing shared rides.

 

Part of what you're paying for in these cases is not having to make the arrangements, and that often includes the bearing of responsibility for consequences of that choice, including the unforeseeable. If the cruise line arranges hotel, they'll often take care of arranging transport to it from the airport. Maybe that's something the hotel will do anyway, but if those hotels that do that are all full because there's a Mouskateer convention in town (no actual Mouskateer convention is known to be scheduled), the arrangements to whatever hotel is found become Not Your Problem. Transport hotel to port might cost more when the cruise line arranges it, but they'll hold the ship if an oil truck overturns on the freeway and delays your shuttle six hours while they clear it, and again, it's Not Your Problem. For a lot of people they're fine taking those small risks and making their own arrangements, but saying that the additional money buys nothing isn't fair either. You just don't value what it does buy.

[cruisenfever]

I and my daughter, on Sept, 14, are taking the Vision of the Sea Northern European cruise. We are spending September 13 in Copenhagen. We are using a RCCL recommended hotel. My TA is trying to arrange transportation to the ship. RCCL is saying they just recently started to do this. What have been others experiences? We already have ship to Heathrow.

We did a b2b on Vision this past June which included a 2 day pre-cruise hotel package through RCI in Copenhagen at the Scandic Copenhagen. Our transfers from hotel to ship were included in the cost of the hotel.

 

When doing a pre-cruise hotel package through RCI, you must provide your own transportation from airport to hotel, but your transfers are provided from hotel to ship.

 

We have done several pre-cruise hotel packages through RCI starting back in 2005 and each time our transfers were included from hotel to ship, so this is nothing new.

[Eggy13]

The hotel is one that RCCL uses. I am using their transportation for convenience.

[Gonzo70]

Part of what you're paying for in these cases is not having to make the arrangements, and that often includes the bearing of responsibility for consequences of that choice, including the unforeseeable. If the cruise line arranges hotel, they'll often take care of arranging transport to it from the airport. Maybe that's something the hotel will do anyway, but if those hotels that do that are all full because there's a Mouskateer convention in town (no actual Mouskateer convention is known to be scheduled), the arrangements to whatever hotel is found become Not Your Problem. Transport hotel to port might cost more when the cruise line arranges it, but they'll hold the ship if an oil truck overturns on the freeway and delays your shuttle six hours while they clear it, and again, it's Not Your Problem. For a lot of people they're fine taking those small risks and making their own arrangements, but saying that the additional money buys nothing isn't fair either. You just don't value what it does buy.

 

That is exactly what the cruise line wants you to think so they can mark up the price approximately 100% and make a gigantic profit of you; I am not drinking the Kool Aid.

[cruisenfever]

The hotel is one that RCCL uses. I am using their transportation for convenience.

Do you know the name of the hotel?