Roll Call Celebrity Millennium 10/29/2006

chachabell · September 8, 2006

Yea. Things are pretty quiet on these boards. We are going to PA camping (tent) with Lou's family this weekend, then my sister and husband will be visiting for a week from Atlanta for my mother's 91st birthday. So I've been preoccupied. But just about ready for this trip. Tried to get tickets for Doges Secret Itinerary tour and was told they are only available through the end of Oct.

JoeyandDavid · September 8, 2006

Diane does that mean you guys wont be able to visit it?

Cruisergal · September 8, 2006

Hi Gang,

Here is a review from someone just getting back. It is from the "other side" but has some good info.

) Somewhere on one of the boards, there was a mentioned that all the shuttle buses that were available at the ports, there is now a charge for them when they used to be free. I keep calling Celebrity, but they have no knowledge of these shuttle buses. They said that it's the port that are providing the buses. Is there a fee for the shuttle buses? If so, how much were they? Were there shuttle buses at Venice taking you to Piazzale Roma?

We took private tours for Florence, Rome, Naples, and Athens, so I can't speak to those ports in terms of shuttle service.

I can tell you that in Villefranche, the ship tenders offshore, and the Millenium tender boats are completely free, and leave about every 15-20 minutes or so. Once you get to Villefranche, you can explore the port itself (which some of my group did) or head to Nice by train (which two of our group did, and they HATED it...said it was filthy and disgusting, which I heard from others, too) or do what my husband and I did, which is take the train into Monaco/Monte Carlo. You need to check the train schedules and try to time it such that you're not waiting around 40 minutes for the next train. My husband found the schedules online.

In Santorini, you can explore the city itself (which is lovely) and then we public bus transportation up to Oia, which is worth the trip because it's gorgeous.

In Dubrovnik, you simply get off the tender and you're right there. I was not prepared for how absolutely breathtaking the city would be, particularly as you walk along the wall. Try to go early before it gets too crowded (we docked there early that morning, and another cruise ship pulled in about 3 hours behind us).

We screwed up royally when it came to Venice, so please learn from our mistake. The Milennium no longer docks right by St. Marks' Square, and instead docks alllllllll the way on the opposite side of Venice. I don't think they could get further away if they tried. Celebrity has a boat shuttle that is right there next to the ship, but they charge 13 Euro per adult and half price for children. We were so angry! These shuttles used to be free, from what I've heard, and we thought that was a ripoff. We'd heard that you can walk a short distance to public shuttle boats (Vaporettos) that are much cheaper, so our group of 10 said "Let's do that." Big mistake. It was hot as heck outside, and it's a good 10-15 minute walk across busy Italian streets to get to the vaporetto. Once we got there, we found that it cost 11 Euro per person roundtrip, with NO discount for the kids. If we'd taken the Celebrity shuttle, the 13 Euro ticket is good ALL day long, so you can bop back and forth to the ship as much as you want. The Celebrity shuttle also puts you right by St. Mark's square. The vaporetto was crowded with commuters and other stupid tourists like myself. I recommend you bite the bullet and pay for the Celebrity shuttle. It's a crime that they don't provide it for free, but they have you over a barrel, so you're stuck.

2) Those of you who took private tours, did you have difficulty leaving the ship before 8:00 a.m.?

Only if you follow the rules and wait like a sheep for them to say, "Okay, we're cleared for all passengers to go ashore." Celebrity tells you to head to the Celebrity theater at 7am and wait there for tender tickets. Instead, we asked Millenium staff members what the disembarkation floor was for that particular day (sometimes it's deck 1 midship, other times it's forward) and we just headed down there on our own at around 7:30. No problems.

3) There is a website that said that the cable cars in Santorini only run every 20 minutes. Is this true?

Not in my experience. We got right on in the morning, and going back in the afternoon we waited maybe 5 minutes. NOTE: I was absolutely convinced we would take donkeys up the hill, because the kids were so into it and I thought this is the one time we'd ever get to experience it. Listen to me: TAKE THE CABLE CAR. I heard so many horror stories about the donkeys, and how they're not fed all day long to minimize all the poop on the steps, and how they sometimes freak out and people have fallen and gotten hurt, and how it takes forever to get up the hill, etc. Not only that, if you take the donkeys up, you will SMELL to high Heaven when you get to the top. I walked into a gift shop and stood next to a woman who had taken the donkeys up, and I nearly died from the stench. Poor thing had to walk around all day like that.

4) In Santorini, do you recall when was the last tender back to the boat? We leave at 10:00 p.m.

Don't remember, but it's usually a half hour before the ship sails.

5) On another board, someone said that in Citavecchia, due to remodeling, it now takes a long time to get out of the terminal. Did you run into this problem?

We had a private tour that drove us out of the terminal, so I couldn't say. It was a hike from the ship to the outside, even by private car, but there weren't any sort of delays, it was just a long drive.

I hope that helps. Have a wonderful trip, and say hi to Ante S. and Palanko (our waiters in the main dining room) for me (table 462 on the left-hand side) if you get a chance. Thanks!

--Lisa

chachabell · September 8, 2006

Tried to get tickets for Doges Secret Itinerary tour and was told they are only available through the end of Oct.

We should be able to get tickets in another week or so. Just too early to get them online.

JoeyandDavid · September 8, 2006

ok cool......I know you guys have really loking forward the that

CaryNC · September 9, 2006

Is anyone interested in joining us just for transportation to Florence and back? I am going to look into private companies, and we are hoping to hire a car/van to take us there early and return late in the afternoon.

Pam & Bob

terumim · September 9, 2006

oh how is everyone doing....

have we all planned till we can't plan anymore LOL LOL

been very quiet on this board lately

hope everyone is having a quiet weekend

tonia

sorry carync i have already arranged for a drv in florence.. sure there will be someone looking soon

JoeyandDavid · September 9, 2006

Hey Tonia.. I too am looking for my second or is it 4th wind....this has been a long A$%$^ planning session.

As far Barcelona do you think it would be possible for you, after you confirm the gathering place, to have your hotel call our hotel and leave us/me a message as to the final arrangements and i will make sure everyone in our space is notified....(and will try and spread the word to other hotels if i can get some cooperation from the front desk at our place...

joey