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Evaluating a beverage package? Here is a beverage list with prices, as of mid-2010.


jg51
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I know I read somewhere on CC the exact charge to bill for the premium package ...cannot find it now ... does anyone know exact charge with tip and tax for premium ??? classic ????

 

thanks

 

Looks like $789 for premium package for 2 people. Includes gratuity - I see nothing about tax.

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No, packages cannot be shared. If you want 2 drinks you need 2 cards.

 

 

What if you purchase a drink for you, and then, say 10-15 minutes later, you go back for another drink. Does that work? Or are you limited as to the number of drinks you order every day. For example, one could order a beer for oneself, and a few minutes later, order a specialty coffee that you could let your partner drink??? Or if you order a drink and bring it to your cabin, who would know who drinks it??? Does it make sense?

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What if you purchase a drink for you, and then, say 10-15 minutes later, you go back for another drink. Does that work? Or are you limited as to the number of drinks you order every day. For example, one could order a beer for oneself, and a few minutes later, order a specialty coffee that you could let your partner drink??? Or if you order a drink and bring it to your cabin, who would know who drinks it??? Does it make sense?

 

In theory I suppose that would work, because as far as I know there is no limit. But it would be stealing and I for one would not want to ruin my cruise by feeling guilty or worrying that someone would find out. Smuggling wine on board is one thing, but out and out stealing is just wrong.

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I know I read somewhere on CC the exact charge to bill for the premium package ...cannot find it now ... does anyone know exact charge with tip and tax for premium ??? classic ????

thanks

 

Hello again, "riandei" (Eileen).

Here are the prices, as of today, at the Celebrity site:

 

Classic Non-Alcoholic Package: base price $13 ... add 15% (1.95) = $14.95 per person per day -- which would come to $104.65 for seven days or $209.30 for fourteen days.

 

Premium Non-Alcoholic Package: base price $16 ... add 15% (2.40) = $18.40 per person per day -- which would come to $128.80 for seven days or $257.60 for fourteen days.

 

Classic [Alcoholic] Package: base price $39 ... add 15% (5.85) = $44.85 per person per day -- which would come to $313.95 for seven days or $627.90 for fourteen days.

 

Premium [Alcoholic] Package: base price $49 ... add 15% (7.35) = $56.35 per person per day -- which would come to $394.45 for seven days or $788.90 for fourteen days.

 

I do not expect to see a tax levied on the above amounts -- with one possible exception. According to what a Celebrity representative told me, by phone, recently, there could be a VAT charged on the Constellation if a package is purchased on Embarkation Day at a Spanish port.

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Do you have to purchase this prior to sailing or can you do it on board? Thanks.

Hello, "Tudorcruisers."

You can purchase packages on board. There will be no difference in price -- unless you happen to purchase it, on the ship, immediately after Celebrity has increased or decreased the rate. (In that case, you would have done better to make a pre-purchase.)

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For example, one could order a beer for oneself, and a few minutes later, order a specialty coffee that you could let your partner drink??? Or if you order a drink and bring it to your cabin, who would know who drinks it??? Does it make sense?

No, it never "makes sense" to break the law. Please, "mamoune," do not cheat. Not only would it make you guilty of a crime, but it would hurt the rest of us.

 

If enough people cheat Celebrity and they thus begin to lose money (or to profit insufficiently), they either will stop offering packages or will jack up the prices "artificially."

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I have a question - does the premium package include all alcohol on the ship?? Is there anything that is not included? I am assuming bottles of wine are not included...but beyond that?

Thanks in advance for your answer.

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I have a question - does the premium package include all alcohol on the ship?? Is there anything that is not included? I am assuming bottles of wine are not included...but beyond that?

Thanks in advance for your answer.

 

The premium package includes anything up to $12 - so bottles of wine are not included, nor is any single drink priced above $12. That would mean some wines, the martini flights, and some Scotches, Whiskeys, ports or other liquors.

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Thanks for the all the responses Jg51. I'm not familiar with the VAT charges charged when embarking in a spanish port. So If a drink package is purchased the day I embark in Barcelona there would be this extra tax as compared to if I bought it later?

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The premium package includes anything up to $12 - so bottles of wine are not included, nor is any single drink priced above $12. That would mean some wines, the martini flights, and some Scotches, Whiskeys, ports or other liquors.

 

Our dinner tablemates had the premium package, and the sommelier brought them any bottles of wine that were valued at less than $12 a glass. So presumably, anything less than $48? They were even allowed to take the bottle with them if they didn't finish it. I guess it all depends on how lenient your sommelier is...

 

You can only get one drink at a time, at least that's how I interpreted it. If you order a beer, you can't immediately order a coffee for your partner until your beer was finished. I guess you could go around to different bars - in some places it wouldn't be hard to do since some of the bars/lounges are close together. But it would be technically cheating and it would look rather awkward, not to mention extremely inconvenient.

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I'm not familiar with the VAT charges charged when embarking in a spanish port. So If a drink package is purchased the day I embark in Barcelona there would be this extra tax as compared to if I bought it later?

 

That's what I was told by phone ... but, if I were you, I'd call "X" myself to see if the same story is told.

 

Perhaps the VAT applies only to individual drinks that are sold, rather than a package. However, if you are told (by phone) that you would get taxed in Barcelona for the package, you would have two choices -- which I've seen others discussing here at CrCr:

(1) Pre-purchase a package.

(2) Wait until about an hour after sailaway to purchase a package -- when the ship is in international waters.

 

With regard to option #2, I have seen two people mention this:

They boarded in Spain without a package, and they bought some drinks (while in port) that were charged to their account. Then, when they bought a package after sailaway ... Celebrity removed the charges for the early drinks.

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Our dinner tablemates had the premium package, and the sommelier brought them any bottles of wine that were valued at less than $12 a glass. So presumably, anything less than $48? They were even allowed to take the bottle with them if they didn't finish it. I guess it all depends on how lenient your sommelier is ...

Hello, "labeachcomber."

I have never seen anyone else mention something like this, so I suspect that it was an aberration -- perhaps an error made by a poorly trained sommelier. (Or perhaps your tablemates "bribed" him/her!)

 

My understanding is this:

The MDR's wine list has multiple pages showing the varieties and prices of more than 50 wines available by the bottle. Then it has one page (at the end) showing the varieties and prices of about 25 wines available by the glass. A sommelier (allegedly) will serve only wines from that final page -- not the earlier pages -- to a passenger that has a beverage package. Here is the MDR's wine list from 2010, according to a CrCr member:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160677&d=1277749749

 

The last time I cruised, I was told that a bottle is considered to hold five glasses, rather than four. A Premium Package-holder can get wine priced at up to $12 per glass. So, if your sommelier was bending/breaking the rules, he/she may have been allowing your tablemates to polish off $60 bottles.

Edited by jg51
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Hello, "labeachcomber."

I have never seen anyone else mention something like this, so I suspect that it was an aberration -- perhaps an error made by a poorly trained sommelier. (Or perhaps your tablemates "bribed" him/her!)

 

My understanding is this:

The MDR's wine list has multiple pages showing the varieties and prices of more than 50 wines available by the bottle. Then it has one page (at the end) showing the varieties and prices of about 25 wines available by the glass. A sommelier (allegedly) will serve only wines from that final page -- not the earlier pages -- to a passenger that has a beverage package. Here is the MDR's wine list from 2010, according to a CrCr member:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160677&d=1277749749

 

The last time I cruised, I was told that a bottle is considered to hold five glasses, rather than four. A Premium Package-holder can get wine priced at up to $12 per glass. So, if your sommelier was bending/breaking the rules, he/she may have been allowing your tablemates to polish off $60 bottles.

 

It's possible that the sommelier was only allowing them to select from the wine-per-glass list, but then he would just bring out the whole bottle. As we didn't have a beverage package, we never asked how it exactly worked. Seems like the "rules" suggest only one glass at a time, so I guess he was lenient.

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This may be a stupid question but are the drinks packages UNLIMITED.

How do they actually work say if we get the classic.

Is it a card with X amount of drinks on it and when you use you are finished.

Can you please explain to a newby.

Thanks

Pauline

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This may be a stupid question but are the drinks packages UNLIMITED? How do they actually work, say, if we get the classic? Is it a card with X amount of drinks on it and when you use you are finished?

Can you please explain to a newby? Thanks. Pauline

Hello, Pauline.

It's very simple.

The packages are unlimited -- with regard to the NUMBER of drinks that you can consume. (There are other limitations -- e.g., the categories of the drinks that are included, and/or the maximum price of the drinks that are included. You can learn those limitations by reading all the rest of this thread, above your post.)

 

Yours is not a "stupid question," because I know that another cruise line has a limited coffee card (fifteen punches).

Edited by jg51
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Just returned from Summit on July 18.....for the first time, I purchased the alcohol drink package $39/day. Had great fun hanging out at "the office",with one drawback......don't remember a lot about the cruise after 2:00 pm each day when my group was "making money". Several nights in the dining room our table was "short" a few people. Most of our pictures have alcohol in them. Next cruise I have booked is a 13 day........probably won't buy package, my liver would have a problem & then I would have to go to all those meetings when I get home.:cool:

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Hello, Pauline.

It's very simple.

The packages are unlimited -- with regard to the NUMBER of drinks that you can consume. (There are other limitations -- e.g., the categories of the drinks that are included, and/or the maximum price of the drinks that are included. You can learn those limitations by reading all the rest of this thread, above your post.)

 

Yours is not a "stupid question," because I know that another cruise line has a limited coffee card (fifteen punches).

Thanks jg51 I did read the above quotes but none of them actually said it was unlimited so thankyou so much for your answer and your help.

Pauline

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ON the FAQ page at celeb I found this infor regarding coffee drinks ... I found it helpful and thought others might ... if you are thinking of the beverage pkg ...you should check out the FAQ section with regards to drink pkgs ...it has good info:

 

 

 

Premium coffee's (e.g. espresso's, latte's and capuccino's) are served in our coffee lounge's such as the Cova Bar and Café al Bacio, specialty coffee's include coffee with alcohol and are served in any bar or lounge.

 

 

 

regards,

 

eileen

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Thanks for so much great info !!!

 

My wife and I eat several times in the specialty restaurants. Has anyone had experience getting wine by the glass (with a premium package) during dinner there? Also, is there any problem getting a second (or even third) glass of wine at dinner in the specialty restaurant?

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Thanks, Eileen.

The words that you quoted from the "X" FAQ list were also quoted in post #25 of this thread, but there's no harm in repeating them to "reinforce" the facts.

 

 

Hello, "PelicanLvr."

In recent weeks, several CruiseCritic members have stated that they have had no problem obtaining wine by the glass in specialty restaurants [sRs]. I recall, however, that at least one person considered the number of wine varieties (available by the glass in the SRs) to be too few -- perhaps just one or two whites and one or two reds -- and they were not enjoyable wines. I recommended obtaining one's favorite wine at a bar, just before dinner, and carrying it into the SR.

 

 

Thanks for the favorable report, "toronto25." Exactly what I was hoping to read.

 

 

Hello, "Woobstr112G."

I don't recall reading that about "Sam Adams" beer, but I do recall reading it about some of the expensive foreign beers that are listed on the bar menus. It is probably not easy for "X" to keep them in stock, especially if their nations of origin are 1/2 way around the world.

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