What drinks are free on Celebrity? (Summit)

[JoanSharon]

I've been reading here about drink packages that can be purchased, but I'm wondering what is available without paying extra?

 

For example,

 

Water...I know that there's a charge for bottled water in the cabins, but is the tap water drinkable?

Are there drinking fountains around the ship? Is juice available without charge other than at breakfast?

Can you bring bottled water on with you when you board?

 

Wine with dinner:

 

About how much do they charge for a bottle of wine, to serve 4 persons? What is the range for good quality wine?

 

Is coffee or tea available free mid-morning or afternoon?

 

How much is the charge for a little bottle of vodka, for example, from the mini-bar in the cabin?

 

Is beer available from the mini-bar? If so, how much is it?

 

Traveling with hubby, both of us might have a beer or cocktail before dinner and 1 glass of wine with dinner.

Occasionally maybe a glass on sherry on our balcony at night.

 

What's best for us to do re packages or not?

 

Thanks

 

Joan

[cb at sea]

The tap water is probably better than bottled and is quite drinkable!

Coffee and tea are avail. almost all of the time....wherever there's a "drink station".

 

Not usre there's ANY alcohol in the mis-named "mini-bar"...it's a fridge with sodas and snacks. The prices are marked.

 

If you are only drinking 1 or 2 drinks a day, then go "ala carte"..no package...you have to drink alot to make it pay for itself!

[kitkat9438]

I've been reading here about drink packages that can be purchased, but I'm wondering what is available without paying extra?

 

For example,

 

Water...I know that there's a charge for bottled water in the cabins, but is the tap water drinkable?

Are there drinking fountains around the ship? Is juice available without charge other than at breakfast?

Can you bring bottled water on with you when you board?

 

Wine with dinner:

 

About how much do they charge for a bottle of wine, to serve 4 persons? What is the range for good quality wine?

 

Is coffee or tea available free mid-morning or afternoon?

 

How much is the charge for a little bottle of vodka, for example, from the mini-bar in the cabin?

 

Is beer available from the mini-bar? If so, how much is it?

 

Traveling with hubby, both of us might have a beer or cocktail before dinner and 1 glass of wine with dinner.

Occasionally maybe a glass on sherry on our balcony at night.

 

What's best for us to do re packages or not?

 

Thanks

 

Joan

 

Hi Joan. You will find free tea, water, coffee, lemonade and fruit punch from the drink stations in the buffet area and at dinner. Juice is only available free in the morning from the fountain. If you want bottled juice, water or premium coffee, they are all extra. HOWEVER, if you are in a concierge class cabin, you can order fresh squeezed juices free of charge on the expanded breakfast menu.

 

Yes, you can bring bottled water and soda onboard. I don't think the water tastes bad on the Summit, but I tend to retain water when drinking ship's water so I try to supplement my water with bottled water.

 

If you just drink a small amount, I would probably just order as you go instead of getting a package.

 

Here's a link to bar prices so you can compare what you might order.

 

http://schplinky.smugmug.com/Solstice-2010/Bar-Menus/12454637_Aaaum#891897713_fnbEU

 

 

You will love the Summit.

[ocbeachbums]

Also, each cabin is allowed to bring two bottles of wine when you board. We always take on two bottles and store them in the mini refrigerator in our cabin. And we also bring at the very least a 6 pack of bottled water to have on hand. The steward will take the prestocked items out of the fridge if you request that to give you more room. He will also bring you a carafe of iced water and ice, but I like to have the bottled water to take on shore in the ports we visit. I even will refill the bottles if I need to. And one small heads up, when you leave the boat in a port there is someone onboard the ship at the ramp ready to sell you a bottle of ice water- those are not free! We love going down to the bar for a drink before dinner. It's fun and a great place for people watching and that's just part of our cruise experience. I'm thinking that the little bottles of vodka in the mini bar may be in the $8-$10 range maybe. The drinks at the bar run that with some of the speciallty martini's and the martini flights a little more.

[geojobes]

We were on the Summit in May & we can definitely give 2 thumbs up to the martini flight! My DW & I shared one before dinner 1 night & we got a little tipsy! It was $18.50 + 15% tip & there were 6 (greater than) 1/2 size martinis. I'm a rum drinker, normally & can drink a good amount of rum, but these martinis really got me "buzzed."

 

The water is fine to drink & the coffee is OK (much better than Princess!) There is a drink station outside of the Waterfall Cafe on the pool deck that's open 24 hours a day. There is coffee, tea, iced tea, lemonade, fruit punch & water. In the morning, in the Waterfall Cafe, there is also orange juice, apple juice & another juice such as orange-guava juice. If you are in a Concierge Class cabin, you can order fresh squeezed Orange Juice or Pineapple Juice & others. Also they have several types of Smoothies.

[Lsimon]

Here are some of my thoughts:

 

Unless you drink a lot of exactly what the packages cover they probably will not be favorable economically. We plan on continuing to do pay-as-you-go. Even though we typically have large beverage tabs a big portion of that is for wine by the bottle which isn't part of any of the packages.

 

Wine by the glass is mostly in the range of $6 to $10 and bottles of wine start at around $25 and go through a very wide range from there. The prices are higher than retail as one would expect in a restaurant or lounge. I have a copy of a wine list on my photo site which is a couple of years old but the prices and selection are pretty representative of what we saw on our cruise last March: http://simon-pics.smugmug.com/Cruises/Cruise-Ship-Rooms-and-Features/Menus-and-Information/4467773_J9pi2#380496344_Chg4T

 

On most of our Celebrity cruise the tap water has tasted and looked just fine. On the Summit I believe they still put ice and a thermal water pitcher in your room and fill both twice a day as well as on request but the water is just tap water. Personally, I've found that I'm sensitive to the sodium levels in the water and because of that I choose to drink most of my water consumption from bottled water. I've also been on a couple Celebrity cruises where the water has come out of the tap murky which the ship's staff said was due to "stirring the tanks" but said it was safe to drink even though I found it a turn off. On a couple cruise I've also found the water had a bad taste even though it tasted fine on most. Water quality is a big topic of debate and there are other threads with a lot of this debate in them. All I'll say is I have no problem drinking modest quantities of the ship's water but do drink a lot of water and prefer bottled for most of my consumption.

 

Here is a link to mini-bar prices which might be slightly dated as well, but not too far off the mark: http://simon-pics.smugmug.com/Cruises/Cruise-Ship-Rooms-and-Features/Menus-and-Information/4467773_J9pi2#519792278_xgRVg

Beer and non-alcoholic beverages in the mini bar are the same price as they are elsewhere on the ship. (The other alcoholic beverage prices are in-line but not sold in the same form elsewhere). If you'd like more of something stocked in your mini bar just ask your rooms steward and they'll take care of it.

 

Coffee, tea, milk and hot coco are available 24/7 in the buffet at no charge and also in other dining venues when meals are served. In the buffet they also have no-charge dispensers which offer several juices in the mornings and switch to iced tea, lemonade and fruit punch (or something like that) at other times. You can also receive any of these items 24/7 from room service at no additional charge. The Premium Coffee another poster mentioned would be espresso based coffees which run $4 and up at the coffee bar and certain other venues. There is a charge for soda pop and any bottled or canned beverages.

[BKFlowerMound]

One thing to keep in mind about the wine at Dinner is that you don't have to drink the whole bottle. The wine steward will put your name and cabin number on the bottle and it will be stored for you until the next night.