Different Bev Pkg Question

So, my husband and I are booked on Dec 13 Windstar out of Barbados. Very excited! Our last couple of cruises have been on Seabourn and we have already become accustomed/spoiled by the included open bar and the atomshere it creates (no upselling of drinks, being able to imbibe in something new, and most importantly no chits to sign with every purchase)

For those of you who have actually purchased/experience the beverage package;

1) Did you find that the service lacked at all? I assume since gratuity is already included that wouldn't be a problem?

2) How did the crew know you purchased this? Is there a sticker on your Boarding card? Did you have to show it each time?

3) The main reason we would purchase it is for convenience. Do you still have to sign something each time you order? I'm not sure how else they would do this for bookkeeping purposes.

4) I know we have the chance to look at the menus prior to purchasing to see if it fits our needs, but was there anything not included that you wish was? (Other than wines by the bottle which I assume would be finer vintages) I am curious if most top shelf liquors are included and maybe your favored brand wasn't.

Thank you in advance for your time.

So, my husband and I are booked on Dec 13 Windstar out of Barbados. Very excited! Our last couple of cruises have been on Seabourn and we have already become accustomed/spoiled by the included open bar and the atomshere it creates (no upselling of drinks, being able to imbibe in something new, and most importantly no chits to sign with every purchase)

 

For those of you who have actually purchased/experience the beverage package;

 

1) Did you find that the service lacked at all? I assume since gratuity is already included that wouldn't be a problem?

 

2) How did the crew know you purchased this? Is there a sticker on your Boarding card? Did you have to show it each time?

 

3) The main reason we would purchase it is for convenience. Do you still have to sign something each time you order? I'm not sure how else they would do this for bookkeeping purposes.

 

4) I know we have the chance to look at the menus prior to purchasing to see if it fits our needs, but was there anything not included that you wish was? (Other than wines by the bottle which I assume would be finer vintages) I am curious if most top shelf liquors are included and maybe your favored brand wasn't.

 

Thank you in advance for your time.

Great question. We too have enjoyed cruising on Seabourn and the all inclusive wine and liquor package that comes included with the price of the cruise. We will be sailing on Windspirit in Tahiti next month and have been talking about taking the beverage package this time, our past Windsurf cruises we didn't feel we should since we always brought a case of our own wines aboard the ship. But the restrictions in Tahiti regarding taking wines into the country makes that very difficult so on this trip we will be drinking the wines that the Windspirit provides.

Would love to hear the answers to any of your questions.

I'm not sure how current this is, but here's a relatively recent room service beverage list that given you an idea of the Windstar pricing:

http://media.windstarcruises.com/media/plan_your_voyage/cruise-documents/gift_order_form.pdf

At the daily price for the package, if you drink a cocktail in the afternoon, have a bottle of wine with dinner and maybe an after dinner drink you're better off buying as you go. If, like us, you buy wine on shore for later afternoon drinking your absolutely better off buying a bottle of wine at dinner.

I'm not sure how current this is, but here's a relatively recent room service beverage list that given you an idea of the Windstar pricing:

 

http://media.windstarcruises.com/media/plan_your_voyage/cruise-documents/gift_order_form.pdf

 

At the daily price for the package, if you drink a cocktail in the afternoon, have a bottle of wine with dinner and maybe an after dinner drink you're better off buying as you go. If, like us, you buy wine on shore for later afternoon drinking your absolutely better off buying a bottle of wine at dinner.

Not sure but I didn't see a room service menu only a menu for bottles and special events etc.

The reason we are thinking of taking the Bev.Pac is because the ports in and around Tahiti will in all likelyhood not offer the opportunity to purchase wines at a reasonable price or selection. If our ports were in Europe of course that would be different. When we sailed out of Barcellona we found a wonderful upscale wine shop before we boarded and bought a case of outstanding Spanish wines to take aboard.

I'm not sure how current this is, but here's a relatively recent room service beverage list that given you an idea of the Windstar pricing:

 

http://media.windstarcruises.com/media/plan_your_voyage/cruise-documents/gift_order_form.pdf

 

At the daily price for the package, if you drink a cocktail in the afternoon, have a bottle of wine with dinner and maybe an after dinner drink you're better off buying as you go. If, like us, you buy wine on shore for later afternoon drinking your absolutely better off buying a bottle of wine at dinner.

We actually DO like to drink while on vacation (more cocktails than wine actually), so we will be looking over the actual bar menus when we board to get an idea if brands we prefer are avialable and if it makes sense price wise. I know it seems silly, but I am more concerned about having to sign for every drink ordered. It was just so nice on our last cruise NOT having to do that and/or having all those little slips from the bar stuffed into my,purse....if we are going to to have to do that anyway, then we might as well pay as we go, so maybe that's my main question for those who have actually purchased the plan before.

Anyway, I've read through the threads and those few who have purchased it seems pleased if they got their money's worth, but haven't spoken of the questions I asked above, so hopefully they will see this and answer.

We were on the Tahiti cruise and purchased the beverage package. They do put a small sticker on your ID card, but after the first few hours they amazingly seem to know who you are and you don't have to show your card anymore. You do have to sign a paper, but you do not get a slip back that you have to hold onto. It was very easy and I was glad that we purchased it. There was a great selection on cocktails and frozen drinks - they make an excellent mojito! It seemed that you could get just about anything that you would want. Definitely recommend it!

We were on the Tahiti cruise and purchased the beverage package. They do put a small sticker on your ID card, but after the first few hours they amazingly seem to know who you are and you don't have to show your card anymore. You do have to sign a paper, but you do not get a slip back that you have to hold onto. It was very easy and I was glad that we purchased it. There was a great selection on cocktails and frozen drinks - they make an excellent mojito! It seemed that you could get just about anything that you would want. Definitely recommend it!

Thank you for sharing this information about the beverage package. It's very helpful to me as of course we too will be sailing Windspirit in Tahiti in a couple weeks. Really the main reason for us to even consider the package is because of the difficulties of either taking wine with us on the cruise along with the lack of "new world wines" at any of the ports. Another consideration is of course price with everything on these island very pricey.

Again reading cc continues to be such a good way to prepare for a cruise both on shore and onboard.

Shirley

So, my husband and I are booked on Dec 13 Windstar out of Barbados. Very excited! Our last couple of cruises have been on Seabourn and we have already become accustomed/spoiled by the included open bar and the atomshere it creates (no upselling of drinks, being able to imbibe in something new, and most importantly no chits to sign with every purchase)

 

For those of you who have actually purchased/experience the beverage package;

 

1) Did you find that the service lacked at all? I assume since gratuity is already included that wouldn't be a problem?

 

2) How did the crew know you purchased this? Is there a sticker on your Boarding card? Did you have to show it each time?

 

3) The main reason we would purchase it is for convenience. Do you still have to sign something each time you order? I'm not sure how else they would do this for bookkeeping purposes.

 

4) I know we have the chance to look at the menus prior to purchasing to see if it fits our needs, but was there anything not included that you wish was? (Other than wines by the bottle which I assume would be finer vintages) I am curious if most top shelf liquors are included and maybe your favored brand wasn't.

 

Thank you in advance for your time.

We did the same cruise out of Barbados last March and purchased the drink package. to answer your questions:

1 - Service did not lack, in fact it was probably better because the bar staff knew you were on the drinks package and always looked after you

2 - The Bar Manager is the person who you see on day 1 to purchase the package and he works the bar along with the other staff. They all know you after the first day and will remember what you like to drink. On our cruise the bar guy Tata said that "he will look after us very well" which was true!

3 - From what I recall, when you order your first drink of the day they will ask your cabin number. I believe thay start a "tab" on a bill, but I don't remember signing anything. After your first order they will know what cabin you are in and just automatically bring you what you want with no signing. It is very informal

4 - It included everything that we like (i.e. Grey Goose etc). There were a few exclusions (i.e wine over $11/glass) but we thought everything that was included would meet our needs. Really depends what you like and if you want any specialty liquors. I think there is a previous thread on this board that gives more details so you might try searching it.

Hope this helps.

Thanks so much for the responses so far! Sounds like this might be the way to go for us.

I see the price for the drink package is 108.00/day per cabin. Can someone confirm that that means 108.00/day per person? ie, 216.00/day total.

Also, I took a peak at the wine list, but I don't see prices by the glass. Also, does anyone have an idea of what cocktail prices run?

Thanks!

Never mind! I found the answers to my questions in older threads. :o

We have done three WS cruises. Our experience is that having a couple of drinks in the afternoon and two to three glasses of nice wine per day, we paid FAR less than the beverage package price. We paid about $700'per week for all of our alcohol.

We did a Windstar BTB on the Windsurf and did not purchase the package. My opinion based on the two week experience, we came out much better with individual purchases. It depends a great deal on your drink choices and habits. I had a Scotch on the rocks several times a day including two or three during the evening. We had a bottle of wine once or twice with meal. DW drinks wine by the glass and a couple of Scotch Whiskey drinks. One thing that was really evident on that ship was that the drinks were very heavily poured. You can "nurse" one or two but if you drank very many you felt as if you overdid. I don't remember the actual bill but recall thinking the total for two weeks was significantly less than the package for one week. If the bartenders poured light I may have felt differently. As for the "hate to sign" comments, the drink package folks signed as well, they just weren't charged later.