My excursion review: too hot for Celebrity

[Hawkstar33]

I appreciate hearing the truth....I also believe and agree that Celebrity would want to know that this happened, so that it could be remedied..In reality, they quickly will remove any derogatory posts or replies, no matter how truthful they may be..I've seen it several times, for different reasons, including a recent few of my own...

[Single_dreamer]

Celebrity sent me an email asking me to review an excursion I took (CitySightseeing 4-hour tour from Port Everglades to Miami). This excursion was post-cruise, and I had a day to kill before flying back home, so I decided to take it.

 

It was an awful experience, so when the review email came in, I gladly complied. I got an email this morning:

 

 

 

You'll note nowhere do they specify what guideline I allegedly violated (and I made very clear not to violate any of them, since I was writing a negative review and figured X might be a little overzealous in their 'moderation'.)

 

Celebrity, what are you guys scared of? You can't have reviews where you don't let the bad ones get posted. If I violated some guideline (I didn't), you should have said where it was and offered to let me edit the review so it does meet them.

 

Here is the full text of the review Celebrity decided was too 'in violation' to post:

 

 

 

Folks, is this not something you'd want to read before choosing that excursion? I can't for the life of me figure out why X refused to post it and it really ticked me off.

 

I've taken this excursion multiple times with 3 different cruise lines. It was truly a hop on hop off excursion but they steered away from it and took us only to the sites that were preselected and did not allow non-cruisers on the tour because of time constraints and cruisers needing to make their flights. I too have sat at the pier waiting for others to fill the bus before the tour would depart.

 

All in all...I enjoyed the sites. I did however not enjoy being smacked in the forehead by flying palm trees at 30 miles an hour.😀

 

I would email the big red bus company directly.

 

http://eng.bigbustours.com/miami/home.html?gclid=CISq8onW5cQCFdQ9gQodyjQAIw

 

infomiami@bigbustours.com

Edited April 8, 2015 by Single_dreamer

[waterbug123]

"I assume ... kickback" is a statement of opinion, based on how the restaurant dropoff was handled and advertised. It is perfectly reasonable to post.

 

Yes, you said "I assume...kickback" so technically you've said it was only your opinion that that's what happened. But you still put it out there, and planted that idea in people's minds. Kind of like when a witness comment or attorney question is stricken from the record in a courtroom. It may be stricken from the record but it doesn't mean the jurors can un-hear it, so it's still out there, quite possibly affecting their decision (even though it's not supposed to.) You can't just say whatever you want, but put "I assume" in front of the statement to avoid accountability for what you've said.

[blueboro]

This recently happened to someone else: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2173651

 

That was my review and amazing how similar the experience is. Mine was not published either perhaps because I felt the same way about the restaurant and the tour guide actually waiting tables and perhaps being paid to drop us off there. It is NOT as advertised and fortunately it was not a very expensive tour. Our tour guide was beyond unbearable.

[Hlitner]

Sounds like an awful experience. On the other hand, there are cruisers like moi who consider nearly any large group excursion an awful experience. So when I read about "another" bad cruise line "overpriced" excursion falling short of expectations it just reinforces are desire to do nearly everything on our own (all over the world). In the case of having to kill a day in south Florida we would normally just rent a car for the day, store our luggage in the trunk (boot for you Brits), do our own thing, and then drop the car at the appropriate airport when it's time to check-in.

 

Hank

[jagoffee]

That was my review and amazing how similar the experience is. Mine was not published either perhaps because I felt the same way about the restaurant and the tour guide actually waiting tables and perhaps being paid to drop us off there. It is NOT as advertised and fortunately it was not a very expensive tour. Our tour guide was beyond unbearable.

 

It would have been interesting to know if the review would have posted if you would have just left out this part -"Maybe he gets a cut of the checks." The rest of the review seemed to be within the guidelines. A maybe or assume does not really change the insult. By the way I am sure that he or the tour company benefited in some way. Standard practice in many places.

[blueboro]

It would have been interesting to know if the review would have posted if you would have just left out this part -"Maybe he gets a cut of the checks." The rest of the review seemed to be within the guidelines. A maybe or assume does not really change the insult. By the way I am sure that he or the tour company benefited in some way. Standard practice in many places.

 

Probably correct in that was why it was not published. But it was part of our experience and, while we can't prove the guide got a cut, it was sure odd when he came around to wait tables and got rather upset when some people decided to eat elsewhere. Oh, well...it was slightly better than spending 7 hours in the FLL zoo they call an airport.

[jagoffee]

Probably correct in that was why it was not published. But it was part of our experience and, while we can't prove the guide got a cut, it was sure odd when he came around to wait tables and got rather upset when some people decided to eat elsewhere. Oh, well...it was slightly better than spending 7 hours in the FLL zoo they call an airport.

 

Agree about the airport. Try the boat ride next time. I am going to Miami airport next time. At least there I can check my luggage in on American at any time.

 

I still suspect the experience part about the guide without the reference to a cut would have been fine, but we will never know for sure.

[onespots]

Four us ( ages 38 &40 62 &66 ) returned from a 7 night cruise on the Silhouette in late Feb. 2015. We were looking for someway to kill time for our 5pm flight out FFL. Since we were off the ship early & basically had a full day ahead of us.

 

I echo your statements & disappointment with this excursion thru Celebrity. I will say this bus trip was &^%$@# &%... or at best awful. Celebrity should be embarrassed offering this tour & get rid of that vendor. Because we waited for over an hour to even load on the bus for a 5 minute ride over to the RCCL port to get some more passengers, this tour did not begin till after 10:am. Then it started to rain & everyone headed for cover inside the bus, which is not equipped to handle all the passengers. Fortunately this rain quit 10 minutes later. The guide issued Ponchos, we need them to sit on, as there was no one available to wipe up the water. ( likely no towels ) Poorly organized & no one prepared for a weather change.

 

If Celebrity would have explained this was an open-top bus, we would not have taken this excursion. We assumed it was a large enclosed coach with big windows & A/C. ( Bad judgement on my part ) The sound system was terrible & we could not hear much of what the guide was saying. The bus driver was insane with his poor driving skills & always slamming on the brakes, like we were on some kind of an amusement park ride.

 

I told our TA about it, sent an email to guest relations & shore excursions. No response.

 

Finally I would like to say, we have enjoyed all of our cruises with Celebrity ( several ) We rarely complain, as we take the high road & learn from others & our own experiences. We have gained valuable information from our fellow CC members on this site. People need to be aware of posts, like yours... They are informative & keep us passengers from making poor decisions in the future. Keep up the good work...

 

Sincerely, John

[blueboro]

Agree about the airport. Try the boat ride next time. I am going to Miami airport next time. At least there I can check my luggage in on American at any time.

 

I still suspect the experience part about the guide without the reference to a cut would have been fine, but we will never know for sure.

 

We wanted to book the Fort Lauderdale Boat and Motor coach tour. We went to the excursion desk on day 1 and were told that trip was not available...not sold-out...just that they were not offering. It was listed in the brochure at the desk so we were never able to find out why they were not offering it.

[blueboro]

Four us ( ages 38 &40 62 &66 ) returned from a 7 night cruise on the Silhouette in late Feb. 2015. We were looking for someway to kill time for our 5pm flight out FFL. Since we were off the ship early & basically had a full day ahead of us.

 

I echo your statements & disappointment with this excursion thru Celebrity. I will say this bus trip was &^%$@# &%... or at best awful. Celebrity should be embarrassed offering this tour & get rid of that vendor. Because we waited for over an hour to even load on the bus for a 5 minute ride over to the RCCL port to get some more passengers, this tour did not begin till after 10:am. Then it started to rain & everyone headed for cover inside the bus, which is not equipped to handle all the passengers. Fortunately this rain quit 10 minutes later. The guide issued Ponchos, we need them to sit on, as there was no one available to wipe up the water. ( likely no towels ) Poorly organized & no one prepared for a weather change.

 

If Celebrity would have explained this was an open-top bus, we would not have taken this excursion. We assumed it was a large enclosed coach with big windows & A/C. ( Bad judgement on my part ) The sound system was terrible & we could not hear much of what the guide was saying. The bus driver was insane with his poor driving skills & always slamming on the brakes, like we were on some kind of an amusement park ride.

 

I told our TA about it, sent an email to guest relations & shore excursions. No response.

 

Finally I would like to say, we have enjoyed all of our cruises with Celebrity ( several ) We rarely complain, as we take the high road & learn from others & our own experiences. We have gained valuable information from our fellow CC members on this site. People need to be aware of posts, like yours... They are informative & keep us passengers from making poor decisions in the future. Keep up the good work...

 

Sincerely, John

 

Totally agree. Reading the description, we thought we would take a bus to Miami and THEN board the open-air double decker bus. We were quite shocked when we had to ride all the way from Port Everglades to Miami and then on to the airport open air. It was very unpleasant when we actually got on I-95 for a short while. If you have never experienced an open air bus on an interstate...DON'T! Also, having to dodge palm fronds and other tree limbs kept you alert.

[wwcruisers]

Yikes! We find ourselves in a similar situation, but different port city. Next month, after our Summit / Bermuda cruise, we are facing a 7-8 hour wait at EWR. Having flown out of EWR before, this is not a particularly appealing option. So, we're looking at doing X's post-cruise tour of NYC (by bus). Hope we don't regret that decision! :eek: