Solstice premium drink package

Just off the Solstice yesterday morning. This was our 13th Celebrity cruise. We had a great time with one exception.As part of our cruise deal we got the classic drink package. I work in the California wine industry so we paid to upgrade to the premium drink package. Really looked forward to the fine wines available. Every day multiple times in the MDR , Cellar masters and Café Bacio we tried to order premium wine by the glass that was on their drink menus. They never not once had the premium wines by the glass available. The third day onboard we had a conversation with the MDR manager who acted surprised when we told him about it. He wrote down our stateroom number and promised to call us back with an explanation. He didn't. We have another Celebrity cruise booked in February.We are not complainers normally and always find a lot of enjoyment when we cruise. This just rubbed us the wrong way.:(

We have, on occasion, found that a particular wine (s) that was on the menu was not available or ran out mid-cruise. When this has happened we have always been offered alternatives that were equally as good or better than the wine on the menu.

When the MDR manager didn't follow up I would have followed up and if that didn't work I would have contacted the F & B Mgr.

We have, on occasion, found that a particular wine (s) that was on the menu was not available or ran out mid-cruise. When this has happened we have always been offered alternatives that were equally as good or better than the wine on the menu.

 

When the MDR manager didn't follow up I would have followed up and if that didn't work I would have contacted the F & B Mgr.

That has been our experience in the past. This time it was every premium wine on the menu by the glass. It wasn't the servers fault they would have gotten better tips. It was only a short 7 night cruise didn't feel like standing in line going up the chain of command.

I am a wine by the glass drinker as well, and am underwhelmed by the poor selection of decent wines available by the glass in the "premium" category. For those of us that upgrade the package to improve wine selection, how hard would it be to offer a few Napa and Sonoma wines that retail for $12-15 a bottle and are quite drinkable? We're not asking for much.

That has been our experience in the past. This time it was every premium wine on the menu by the glass. It wasn't the servers fault they would have gotten better tips. It was only a short 7 night cruise didn't feel like standing in line going up the chain of command.

So what did they offer you as an alternative selection when what you wanted wasn't available?

We were on the Solstice in Feburary and they ran out of my favorite Pinot Noir. Every evening the Sommlier brought me a bottle of some wonderful wine, mostly Pinot Noirs, and left it at the table. What I didn't drink never reappeared and never a charge. These were all wines sold normally by the bottle only. Running out of what I would have normally ordered gave me a chance to try a lot of new wines.

We were "given" the classic drink package as part of a promotion. Does anyone have a photo of the current bar menus and prices or know where I can find them? We are sailing on the Solstice in February. Thanks.

I think that in the future I will wait to decide whether or not to upgrade after spending the first night in the MDR and conversing with the sommelier. We have found that they are often out of the wines on the menu but that they are able to provide alternatives...it sounds like the OP had a very bad experience with this cruise's sommeliers.

This worries me. I will be on the Solstice in 2 and a half weeks and we plan on upgrading precisely to enjoy and try different wines that would be out of the price range for the Classic package. We will all be quite upset (4 of us) if we pay the upgrade and still can't find wines to drink. It is one thing to be out of a wine or two but another completely to just have nothing available and not even offer something comparable. In that case they should start offering glasses of wine not normally sold by the glass or offer to cover the charge of glasses that are slightly over the premium price. I don't see how they can sell a product that they don't have.

This worries me. I will be on the Solstice in 2 and a half weeks and we plan on upgrading precisely to enjoy and try different wines that would be out of the price range for the Classic package. We will all be quite upset (4 of us) if we pay the upgrade and still can't find wines to drink. It is one thing to be out of a wine or two but another completely to just have nothing available and not even offer something comparable. In that case they should start offering glasses of wine not normally sold by the glass or offer to cover the charge of glasses that are slightly over the premium price. I don't see how they can sell a product that they don't have.

After the first couple of days of our cruise we stopped using the menus as much of what we requested was not available...we told the Sommelier the type of wine we liked and always had something pleasant brought to us. Some of them we never saw on any menu. There was always a pleasant Kendal Jackson as a standby! Some Sommeliers seemed to make more effort than others....I think the OP unfortunately didn't have a good one. The MDR manager should have come back to them...

As Jeylane said...it became a positive for us as it encouraged us to try new wines. I am sure you will be fine on your cruise and if you feel the selection is below standard voice your feelings...

We were on Solstice last Christmas and had no problems getting premium wines. Our sommelier was excellent and I'm fairly certain we occasionally had wines that weren't on the wine list. After a few days we stopped looking at the wine list and would just tell our sommelier what we had chosen to eat and every time he delighted us with a perfect match of good quality wine, and we're quite fussy about the wines we drink.

We didn't drink wine with our meals, well, not red or white.

Prosecco. Ran out.

Tokaji/Tokay. Fabulous. Better than a sauterne. Ran out.

Ok, Tokay I understand but prosecco? Come on.

After the first couple of days of our cruise we stopped using the menus as much of what we requested was not available...we told the Sommelier the type of wine we liked and always had something pleasant brought to us. Some of them we never saw on any menu. There was always a pleasant Kendal Jackson as a standby! Some Sommeliers seemed to make more effort than others....I think the OP unfortunately didn't have a good one. The MDR manager should have come back to them...

 

As Jeylane said...it became a positive for us as it encouraged us to try new wines. I am sure you will be fine on your cruise and if you feel the selection is below standard voice your feelings...

We were always offered the Celebrity label Kendall Jackson wines.Call me a wine snob Kendall Jackson is a grocery store brand available in our area by the bottle for the price Celebrity charges for 2 glasses.Cafe Bacio always offered the seeker Chardonnay. An individual can't even buy that it's a bulk wine purchase not premium wine.

We were always offered the Celebrity label Kendall Jackson wines.Call me a wine snob Kendall Jackson is a grocery store brand available in our area by the bottle for the price Celebrity charges for 2 glasses.Cafe Bacio always offered the seeker Chardonnay. An individual can't even buy that it's a bulk wine purchase not premium wine.

Well it goes to show how subjective wine is! We really like a couple of the Kendall Jackson reds and frequently buy them to enjoy when visiting the US! I have no objection what so ever to them being a 'grocery store' brand!

You totally missed the point of my post which was that we had no issues securing a wide selection of wines we enjoyed after discussions with sommeliers.

I ordered a La Crema Pinot Noir on night 4 or 5 and was told by my sommelier "we ran out of that a while ago. There were only 30 bottles". I did tell the beverage manager, Michael, about this as I ran into him often. He also helped locate kettle one when 3 bars told us they didn't have any. Very disappointed about La Crema, they need to order more to keep up with the demand! He offered a comparable Pinot Noir called Whitehaven. It is a similar price point, but would have liked to get my La Crema. Despite which Pinot is in your hand, I wish you a wonderful cruise! Find Michael, he's a gem and doesn't like to say no!

I am not a complainer either and have been on close to 20 cruises. This is a problem for me and I have spoken to several officers about it. Sometimes you just have to go find a lounge where they serve the wine you want. I really haven't had a problem in the MDR, just in the bars and lounges

On the bright side, at least with the premium package you can pay the difference to order a glass of wine that might cost just several dollars more than the current by-the-glass price point. If you've got some extra OBC, it's not a bad way to spend it. Still, if Celebrity is calling this a premium package, they should offer at least a few decent wines.

We were "given" the classic drink package as part of a promotion. Does anyone have a photo of the current bar menus and prices or know where I can find them? We are sailing on the Solstice in February. Thanks.

Breakdown of packages:

https://secure.celebritycruises.com/celebrity/media/celebrity/shared_assets/pdf/Classic-Premium-Bev-Pckgs.pdf

Menus courtesy of "GAMBEE"

http://www.cruisewithgambee.com/celebrity-drink-lists/

Unfortunately, those drink menus are from a cruise three years ago. Selections and prices have changed at least several times.

I was on the Silhouette at the end of March / beginning of April. If you want to see the menus (food and beverage) from that voyage, they're are at: https://goo.gl/photos/kbWoo3hRLaURB3LU6

Hope this helps!

So on the Silhouette there was only ONE Pinot Noir offered by the glass and it costs $21 which prices it way out of the Premium package. Is that for real? If that is the case I don't know if I should bother upgrading to Premium. I love Pinot Noir and I don't expect tons of choices but I expect they could have a few choices under $13

WE had a few Pinot Noirs with premium package last week - I am not familiar with the wine brands I think they were USA - in fact - aisde from Sauternes (which I was delighted to be able to have) there were few Italian/French favourites. Many Californian which we do not know so well.

Reds I generally prefer a Chilean or Argentinian - Whites - New Zealand or ZA if neither is available in French.

I had one glass corked on Bistro on 5 - the girl stuck her nose up at me - she soon had the receiving end of a not so ignorant wee scots wummin! I didn't need an analysis - the wine was corked - end of story - change it!

In Scotland we do a wonderful wine called "Cairn O'Mhor" (think about it ;) )

You can ask Celebrity directly for the latest drinks available with pricing and they will send you a spreadsheet. At least that's what I did and received.

As for running out of wines, it depends on where the main stores are brought on board and also storage. It's a logistical nightmare of where everything goes. I am in awe of how it's all done on a floating piece of steel. After working in hotels for years, it's easy (in most cases) to just nip out to a supermarket and go and buy wines but when you rely on different suppliers and limited amounts of time there's bound to be some shortages.

I understand the logistics but they should restock weekly. If the Solstice is going RT out of Seattle then they should restock each week in Seattle. I could understand them being out of a popular wine on night 5 or later but not right away. And this is a problem because people are paying for something and not receiving the product. Just because I can drink other things does not mean it is OK.

I will just make sure to talk to the sommelier and let them know we have the Premium Package and hopefully they will bring us great pairings whether or not they are on the menus. If we can't get anything we want I will take it up the chain of command until we at least get refunded the cost of the upgrade as that is the only reason for us to upgrade; wine.

The wine selection on Solstice last week was not very good even with the Premium Package. Only one Pinot Noir under 13. The sommelier in Murano tried to upgrade us but it was an extra $7.00.

That was our only real disappointment on what was an exceptional cruise. In fact not even worth mentioning but I am. Guess I should flame myself.

You would think they could stock up on some decent wines that retail in the $15-18 a bottle range and include them in the premium menu.