Beverage Packages

[Moeve]

I guess it is a crap shoot. I am faily certain that we are going to get the beer package (for dh) and the frozen drink package (for me.) However you have got me thinking. If illness strikes one of us, it may be a real $ loss (14 night cruise). But the ease of it is really applealing to me. I was also going to bring some wine on board to have at dinner. Hate adding that Corkage fee to my beverage costs though.

 

I was in quarentine for one and a day and a half too but I have decided that instead of me buying the package next time I will rather buy a OBC in advance to spread out the costs the next time. Other than the advance payment I didn't see too much convience in my package because I still had to sign everytime and often the bar tenders simply over saw the "package sticker" so I spent several trips to the front desk to get those postings removed......

 

Some win and some loose - this time around I lost and the line won.

[jagoffee]

Before I ask this I know this is super tacky so please don't jump down my throat about it but.... Has anyone purchased just one beverage package (whether it be beer, liquor, soda) and shared it with your spouse? I know it says you can only get one beverage at a time using your sticker - how strict are they with this? What stops my husband from going and getting a beer, bringing it to me, and going back to get himself one?

 

Each beer has a microchip that is programmed to the purchaser's DNA. If someone else tries to drink the beer it turns into Bud Light which is like drinking tap water.

[rollnoles2]

I was in quarentine for one and a day and a half too but I have decided that instead of me buying the package next time I will rather buy a OBC in advance to spread out the costs the next time. Other than the advance payment I didn't see too much convience in my package because I still had to sign everytime and often the bar tenders simply over saw the "package sticker" so I spent several trips to the front desk to get those postings removed......

 

Some win and some loose - this time around I lost and the line won.

 

I like your idea about buying an OBC-hadn't thought of that-and spreading the cost of the cruise out is definitely one advantage of buying the package.

[rollnoles2]

each beer has a microchip that is programmed to the purchaser's dna. If someone else tries to drink the beer it turns into bud light which is like drinking tap water.

 

 

lol:):)

[sweetdeal]

in a couple of replies, you suggest getting an OBC, okay, I'm a newbie cruiser, what is OBC please?

[worldsbestcandles]

in a couple of replies, you suggest getting an OBC, okay, I'm a newbie cruiser, what is OBC please?

 

 

OBC = on board credit

 

HTH! :D

[Yeldarb]

I was also going to bring some wine on board to have at dinner. Hate adding that Corkage fee to my beverage costs though.

 

....Get a glass from a bar. Pour your wine into the glass and carry it to dinner with you. Voila! One glass of wine with dinner and no corkage fee.

 

Cheers!

[Lsimon]

For the experienced cruisers, what are your thoughts on the water packages. considering we plan on being on shore for 8 days, is there no alternative to getting water on the ship?

 

Sure there are alternatives. In fact i find it hard to believe that the beverage packages are worthwhile unless one drinks much more than average or intends to try and cheat the system by sharing. You can buy bottled water on the ship in large bottles (about 1.5 liters for $4 + 15% gratuity I think) or smaller bottles (single serving can't recall price but think it is about $1.50 to $2 plus gratuity). You can also drink the ship's water which is fine - except that it has more sodium from water treatment than we're used to so it makes our hands and feet swell up a bit. Another alternative is to carry on your own water which some are suggesting. We've done that where it is cheap and convenient at a port, but it is seldom that you find this condition without spending a lot of time and effort looking and lugging.

 

... I was also going to bring some wine on board to have at dinner. Hate adding that Corkage fee to my beverage costs though.

If you just buy the wine in the dining room you'll pay reasonable restaurant/resort type prices (naturally higher than retail except for one or two bargains) for wines from a surprisingly good wine list and completely avoid the corkage fee. Use the 2 bottles (maximum allowed) you brought on board to enjoy in your cabin.

[Lsimon]

....Get a glass from a bar. Pour your wine into the glass and carry it to dinner with you. Voila! One glass of wine with dinner and no corkage fee.

 

Cheers!

 

Your room steward will be more than happy to bring you wine glasses or even keep a few clean ones in your room for you. There is no need to go to a bar and retrive them yourself. The room steward will even chill wines (that need chilling) in an ice bucket for you on request. We do this all the time, although we just enjoy our wine in our cabin most of the time.

[cruiseinfoseeker]

...If you just buy the wine in the dining room you'll pay reasonable restaurant/resort type prices (naturally higher than retail except for one or two bargains) for wines from a surprisingly good wine list and completely avoid the corkage fee. Use the 2 bottles (maximum allowed) you brought on board to enjoy in your cabin.

 

I really don't want to play around trying out wines for the first time on board. I stick to that at home mostly. There is really no rhyme or reason to why I like one over the other. So it wouldn't be a good option for me to do that as I just want to have a glass that I know I enjoy with dinner.

 

I suppose that I could just bring a glass with me, but I like reds and I am not the most graceful.;) Most likely I spill some on myself (I really think there is a hole in my lip) at the table anyway:D, but walking to dinner with it is really pushing the odds against me (and any light clothing I may wear)

 

I figure in the scheme of things its $50 (2 bottles) more than I really need to spend but it would make my experience more enjoyable for it to be my wine in the dining room from day to day for the 14 days. Between now and then I'm sure I can cut something for $50 out of my budget specifically to offset this so I don't feel defeated;)

 

However, I thank you both (Lsimon and Yeldarb)for the suggestions--they would suit a non-clumsy:(, wine-understanding person very well.

 

Lisa

[Moeve]

OBC = On Board Credits and they can be purchased via the Gifts section on the lines website. You can do that at any time after you have a valid booking number. I thought I would be able to do 3 drinks a day but I just never got to them or I wasn't feeling up to having one. So I figured that the next time I would go for the OBC instead which would also leave me very flexable.... If I want a Martini that it is and if its only ginger ale well then so be it and I probably wouldn't be spending more than what my package cost either.

 

This may not apply to all but this is just the experience I made on this last trip.

[Lsimon]

I really don't want to play around trying out wines for the first time on board. ...

 

I certainly understand your position.

 

If you are at all interested, I have a wine list from a little over a year ago on my photo site - click here. Although it is a little dated we've found over the years, and on later cruises this past year, that the list doesn't change very much nor very often. So you can see if there are some wines you're familiar with on the list. If not I can appreciate that you'd rather stick with what you're familiar with.

 

Myself: We used to bring a lot of wine on board years ago. On our first Celebrity cruise in 2004 (7 day) we brought about 6 bottles on. The corkage was much less expensive then and there was no limit to the amount brought on board. To our surprise, and unlike the other lines we'd sailed, we found the Celebrity wine list had many of our favorites including several we'd brought on board. Since then we haven't bothered carrying much on, except for a bottle or two of Champagne or Cava to enjoy at sail-away or on our balcony - or some special wines bought at port on Europe cruises.

[Argentine Tango]

Boatnerd,

 

On my last Celebrity cruise (Soltice) I had the pleasure of a trip to the "Bridge". One of the questions that I asked the "First Officer", was about the water quality. He told me that they use a reverse osmosis (RO) system to 'make the water' for the ship, both in terms of the consumption in the engine room and for passengers consumption. As much as I am familiar with the 'reverse osmosis system', I am aware that it essentially removes all of the impurities including dissolved particles,solids and bacteria; you are left with essentially pure water. Pure water is good enough for me. So, I do not buy any water, I use the on-ship water which is the best that I can get and I don't waste any money on needless water purchases.

 

Cheers

[Kan't Wait]

This was in a chart layout but when I pasted it, but it came out as a super long list...sorry. I found it interesting regarding the issue of sodium in the water on ships.

 

Reverse Osmosis Contaminant Removal List:

Giardia cysts

100%

Criptosporidium cysts

100%

DDT

>99.9%

PCB

>99.9%

E.coli bacteria

>99.9%

Fecal bacteria

>99.9%

Lindane

>99.9%

Salmonella typhi

>99.9%

Vibrio choleriae

>99.9%

Shigella disinteriae

>99.9%

Serratia marcescenes

>99.9%

Toluane

>99.9%

Sodium Fluoride

99%

Calcium Cloride

99%

Sodium Chloride NaCl

99%

Sucrose

99%

Magnesium Cloride

99%

Nickel Sulfate NiSO4

>99%

Copper Sulfate CuSO4

>99%

Lactic Acid pH5

99%

Glucose

98%

Sodium Nitrate NaNO3

97-99%

Chlorinated Pesticides

99.9%

Silica SiO2

98%

Sodium

95-99%

Nickel

95-99%

Chloride

99.9%

Radioactivity

95-99%

Potassium

92-99%

Zinc

95-99%

Bicarbonate

99%

Sulfate

95-99%

Calcium

95-99%

Strontium

95-99%

Nitrate 3

90-99%

Ferro cyanide

96-99%

Magnesium

95-99%

Cadmium

95-99%

Fluoride

90-95%

Arsenic +3

95-99%

Iron

95-99%

Silver

95-99%

Silicate

95-99%

Arsenic +5

95-99%

Aluminum

95-99%

Mercury

95-99%

Phosphate

95-99%

Lead

95-99%

Ammonium

95-99%

Barium

95-99%

Chromate

95-99%

Copper

95-99%

[Moeve]

The hitch is just how much Chlorine they throw in for good measure. We were on the Azamara last year directly after them coming in with so many Noro cases so they uped the Chlorine content for our cruise tooo. I developed heartburn something very unusual for me it stopped when I moved to bottled water.......

[jmark82]

The hitch is just how much Chlorine they throw in for good measure. We were on the Azamara last year directly after them coming in with so many Noro cases so they uped the Chlorine content for our cruise tooo. I developed heartburn something very unusual for me it stopped when I moved to bottled water.......

 

Typically it 2-5 parts per million any more and it starts to smell like pool water. A residual at that level keeps bacteria in check. It likely starts a bit higher but gets used up in the system. I would not be surprised if they used ozone instead of chlorine.

[perodise]

I've read different posts concerning the cost of buckets of beer. Although not as convenient as buying one at a time, it does drive the cost per beer down therefore making the "breakeven" on a beer package harder to reach. Can anyone give me a recent costs of buckets and the beers offered. In addition, I have also read that Celebrity does restrict the beers included on the ship yet the promotion on the wrb sit sounded like all beers were included .

[yamo]

I am an occasional lurker on your boards here but thought I would share my thoughts on my previous beverage package use.

 

For starters, I do like to drink. I especially like to drink on vacation.

 

My trip was on the Celebrity Mercury, and it was also the ships 2nd last voyage under that name. It was 12 day eastern carib cruise.

 

I travelled with 2 other guests who both had the classic package. I had the premium package.

 

To sum it up, on my final bill which lists all of my free drinks, I ended up having ~170 drinks over the 12 days. YIKES! but remember that not all of these were alcoholic. Every morning I had a fresh squeezed shake, every afternoon a cappuccino/espresso, and countless bottles of water to keep me hydrated during my alcohol binge... I mean *ahem* cruise vacation.

 

Lets say that on average my drinks costed 9 bucks. A la carte this would be $1500 worth of drinks. This would cost $125 per day, which is well over the cost of the package.

 

In terms of my consumption pattern, I do not believe that the package 'made' me drink more, I just think that this is how much I would have drank had I been in an all-inclusive. 2-3 beer at lunch, 2 premium cocktails before dinner, 2-3 glasses of wine with dinner, a post dinner digestif, and whatever I wanted during that nights festivities. Plus the juice/coffee/water options as above.

 

In my opinion, these packages are excellent value and a tremendous savings for those who like to fill their tanks...like me!

 

 

 

In terms of classic versus premium, my opinion is a little mixed. Certainly the vast majority of drink options fall under the 8$ limit, and there are also few drinks that max out the 12$ limit of the premium package.

 

Things that my premium package gave me that my friends didnt: premium water (evian, perrier etc), premium coffees (alcoholic), a few alternatives on the dinner wine list (maybe 3 greater than $8 but less that $12, as well as premium cocktails/martinis at the vodka bars/lounges. A few frozen cocktails were also over $8. I also had access to premium spirits, such as cognacs and premium gin. There are probably other benefits too but these were the major ones.

 

 

In terms of using other peoples cards to sneak drinks, its very possible, but it is certainly a hassle. A lot of times you are being waited on by a server who asks if you want more drinks, who are occasionally hard to find, and they take your cards/passes on the spot.

 

 

 

I also found out about tipping, as gratuity is already paid when you buy the package. Every server who bills a drink on your card gets a split from the total tip that you prepaid. If you drink tons of drinks, like me, than their share gets smaller and smaller. As such, I tried to use the same bartenders over and over, as well as tip additionally on occasion. Olga in Michael's club made a fantastic Hendricks martini. mmmm

 

 

 

As an FYI, you CAN buy the drink packages during the cruise. BUT you can only buy it for the remainder of the trip at the posted rate. Some people bought it later in the trip during at-sea periods to get better value.

 

 

 

Overall we found that the drink packages were easy to use, great value, and freed us up from the headache/worry of racking up huge bills. I will sail celebrity exclusively in the future because of this package availability.

[Joanie510]

I purchased the Premium Beverage Package for our cruise this Nov on Silhouette. I understand this does not include room service; however, can I bring wine with me when I return to our cabin at night or even during the day??

[naples09]

We are on a 7 day cruise in November, does anyone know what the last day is to buy a drink package on board the ship? We leave on Saturday, so is the last day to buy a package Monday, Tuesday?

[Lsimon]

I purchased the Premium Beverage Package for our cruise this Nov on Silhouette. I understand this does not include room service; however, can I bring wine with me when I return to our cabin at night or even during the day??

 

Yes. I've read lots of posts from people who regularly bring drinks back to their cabin. It is no issue purchasing a drink of any sort any place on board and carrying the drink to another location, it is done all the time.

 

We are on a 7 day cruise in November, does anyone know what the last day is to buy a drink package on board the ship? We leave on Saturday, so is the last day to buy a package Monday, Tuesday?

 

The Celebrity Web Site FAQ says "It can be purchased on board up until there are 2 nights left in the cruise and must be purchased for the remainder of the voyage. " I don't know if this means you can purchase still purchase it on the second to last night of your cruise (Thursday in your case) or if it means that the last day you can purchase it is the day of the third to final night (Wednesday in your case).

[emcee207]

I am an occasional lurker on your boards here but thought I would share my thoughts on my previous beverage package use.

 

For starters, I do like to drink. I especially like to drink on vacation.

 

My trip was on the Celebrity Mercury, and it was also the ships 2nd last voyage under that name. It was 12 day eastern carib cruise.

 

I travelled with 2 other guests who both had the classic package. I had the premium package.

 

To sum it up, on my final bill which lists all of my free drinks, I ended up having ~170 drinks over the 12 days. YIKES! but remember that not all of these were alcoholic. Every morning I had a fresh squeezed shake, every afternoon a cappuccino/espresso, and countless bottles of water to keep me hydrated during my alcohol binge... I mean *ahem* cruise vacation.

 

Lets say that on average my drinks costed 9 bucks. A la carte this would be $1500 worth of drinks. This would cost $125 per day, which is well over the cost of the package.

 

In terms of my consumption pattern, I do not believe that the package 'made' me drink more, I just think that this is how much I would have drank had I been in an all-inclusive. 2-3 beer at lunch, 2 premium cocktails before dinner, 2-3 glasses of wine with dinner, a post dinner digestif, and whatever I wanted during that nights festivities. Plus the juice/coffee/water options as above.

 

In my opinion, these packages are excellent value and a tremendous savings for those who like to fill their tanks...like me!

 

 

 

In terms of classic versus premium, my opinion is a little mixed. Certainly the vast majority of drink options fall under the 8$ limit, and there are also few drinks that max out the 12$ limit of the premium package.

 

Things that my premium package gave me that my friends didnt: premium water (evian, perrier etc), premium coffees (alcoholic), a few alternatives on the dinner wine list (maybe 3 greater than $8 but less that $12, as well as premium cocktails/martinis at the vodka bars/lounges. A few frozen cocktails were also over $8. I also had access to premium spirits, such as cognacs and premium gin. There are probably other benefits too but these were the major ones.

 

 

In terms of using other peoples cards to sneak drinks, its very possible, but it is certainly a hassle. A lot of times you are being waited on by a server who asks if you want more drinks, who are occasionally hard to find, and they take your cards/passes on the spot.

 

 

 

I also found out about tipping, as gratuity is already paid when you buy the package. Every server who bills a drink on your card gets a split from the total tip that you prepaid. If you drink tons of drinks, like me, than their share gets smaller and smaller. As such, I tried to use the same bartenders over and over, as well as tip additionally on occasion. Olga in Michael's club made a fantastic Hendricks martini. mmmm

 

 

 

As an FYI, you CAN buy the drink packages during the cruise. BUT you can only buy it for the remainder of the trip at the posted rate. Some people bought it later in the trip during at-sea periods to get better value.

 

 

 

Overall we found that the drink packages were easy to use, great value, and freed us up from the headache/worry of racking up huge bills. I will sail celebrity exclusively in the future because of this package availability.

 

Yamo, I felt like I was reading a post I wrote! A man like me!

 

We tried the Premium Package this past Feb on the Equinox and my experiences are similar to yours (as well as my consumption!:D Hey, I"m on vacation and I'm not driving or operating any heavy machinery!)

[Muushka]

Just back from the summit....

 

First, the packages were not even advertised anywhere (except the usual soda and wine packages)

 

Second, I also asked around and spoke witha few of the bartenders and drink servers on teh ship. they stated that basically they don't get credit for the sales fromt eh packages even if they sell you the pkg (like the sommelier does for wine) and they don't get to count the drink total towards their sales goal for each shift, therefore they were very reluctant to sell the program and were very slow to refill those who had the pkgs. They also don't get a full tip from the sale either, so unless you tip an additional 15% they don't get anything....

 

We got the same story from more than 6 servers/bartenders. Thought the whole thing sounded pretty shady.

 

OK, I'm confused. You said that they don't get a full tip from the sale. How much of a tip do they get?

 

This really bothers me. Someone is not telling the truth. Either Celebrity or the bar tenders.

Plus, the service I received on our last cruise did not indicate that they were not receiving tips. I will be very embarassed to think that these people who gave me such great service did not get compensated for it. I did give a tip to a couple at the end of the cruise, but I would have given more had I known.

 

Does anyone know for a fact if what was stated above is true?

[LegalCat]

I don't see how they could get a full tip...

 

Just for ease of numbers, if you pay $200 for 4 days of liquor card and the tip is 15% that would be $30... If you only drank $100 worth of drinks, the $30 would be split over the various drinks that made $100... but if you drank $1,500 worth of drinks the same $30 would have to be split, you still paid the same $30 when you bought the card...

 

Thats what it seems like to me anyway...

[LegalCat]

If you pre-purchase this on the website before you sail, how do you get the card? ie, if I want to have a drink at the pool 10 minutes after we get onboard, is that going to be a problem?