Drink package consumption

[i guide the sky]

I have been struggling with the value of a drink package so I thought I would pose the question to those of you who have had one. Do you think you have consumed more beverages with the package than you would have without it? Or about the same?

[Lois R]

Hi,:) I am betting the % of answers you will receive will be yes

it was worth it. The reason I say that is if you do a search on the

topic most folks feel it was worth it.;)

 

For me? Not even close. I purchased it once and that was only due to

the fact I had a large obc that almost covered the whole thing. After

that cruise I never purchased it again and I know I did the right thing

becuause when I got my final bill it wasn't close to the total amount

of what the package would have cost me.

I know others say they prefer the package, not just for the price,

but you don't have to sign any receipts so the convienence is part

of it as well.

For me? Signing is no big deal. I know more than booze is included

in the packages too but I really don't drink enough of anything

to buy it....no, I don't drink bottle water and although I enjoy my

Martini's and Mudslides? They don't cost me enough to buy the

packages.

Just one person's opinion:)

[librarylady19]

Yes I definitely drank more in both quantity and variety of drinks and it was well worth it! I normally don't order sparkling water with meals or wine with lunch son that was a nice treat.

[colocop004]

I would say that we did not drink more than usual, but we did have a larger selection of beverages. I am a ber drinker, but on our last cruise I tried more cocktails than usual.

 

I have to say that the packages were well worth it for us. Not because of the amount of liquor we drank, but because of the non alcoholic bverages we had also. We definitely drank way more of those than usual. In the past we would not pay for any of the non alcoholic beverages to keep the costs down.

[seabreeze78]

Hi,:) I am betting the % of answers you will receive will be yes

it was worth it. The reason I say that is if you do a search on the

topic most folks feel it was worth it.;)

 

For me? Not even close. I purchased it once and that was only due to

the fact I had a large obc that almost covered the whole thing. After

that cruise I never purchased it again and I know I did the right thing

becuause when I got my final bill it wasn't close to the total amount

of what the package would have cost me.

I know others say they prefer the package, not just for the price,

but you don't have to sign any receipts so the convienence is part

of it as well.

For me? Signing is no big deal. I know more than booze is included

in the packages too but I really don't drink enough of anything

to buy it....no, I don't drink bottle water and although I enjoy my

Martini's and Mudslides? They don't cost me enough to buy the

packages.

Just one person's opinion:)

I agree with you. What I drank was 1/4 of what I would have been charged if I bought a package This included Mole Bar trips wine with dinner and several martinis. and even a few specialty coffees thrown in for good measure. You just have to sit down and figure if the plan is a good fit for you.

[SusieV]

Oh yes, I definitely drank more than I would have a la carte, and increased my variety as well. But when I look at what my normal spending would have been (1/2 bottle of wine a night plus a cocktail or two a day), I would have been in the ballpark of $40 a day anyway, so why not spend a little bit more to really enjoy myself and have whatever I want?

 

I would rarely have purchased any nonalcoholic drinks like fresh squeezed juice, soda, or specialty teas without the package because I wouldn't have wanted to spend the extra money. But since they are included, it definitely increases my enjoyment of the trip just to be able to have whatever I wanted and not worry.

[BKFlowerMound]

More. We ordered the premium alcohol package even though it was twice as much as we ever spent on drinks during a cruise. Why? Well, as we talked about it, both of us realized that we're too cheap even on vacation to get what we want. We would drink the mediocre free coffee when we really wanted a latte. We would order a bottle of wine at dinner and stretch it to two nights even though we both wanted a second glass. We would drink free fruit punch rather than the smoothy we wanted. We wouldn't pack the bottles of water when we went ashore. We wouldn't get that piña colada at the pool even though we wanted it. We would never have tried the drinks at the molecular bar.

 

With the package, we could get wine by the glass that matched each course. We moderated consumption by asking for half glasses. You could always try those strange drinks that you always wanted to try. If you want to find out what St. Germaine, an elderflower liqueur tastes like, you can order it. We would get bottles of water for our room each night before turning in.

 

It cost us more, but we also enjoyed ourselves more.

[rlsii488]

Definately worth it!!!! My Husband and I did the 14 night Southern Caribbean this past March, 2011.....he loved it! Getting up and having a bloody mary with breakfast, or two; the fresh squeezed orange juice that is $5 something a glass; and throughout the day and evening. We were anal to see if it was worth it so we counted them up on our final invoice. It was worth it and I would suggest it to everyone!!!!!

[GranthamMommy]

I haven't gone on my first celebrity cruise yet, but have been debating on the drink question as well. I'm thinking the premium non alcohol package because I will drink alot of premium coffee drinks and water. But I rarely have more than two drinks a day, maybe three. If I had lots of sea days in the Caribbean in the winter months, I might rethink it.

 

I could be wrong, but I thought the premium non-alcohol was $18 and the premium alcohol was $54. I could still have a number of drinks and still save money.

 

But who knows, I may want to make my way through the drink menu and upgrade my drink plan.

[Bobby Dee]

I'm another who say it was worth it. I probably drank more than I would have if I'd been paying by the drink, but then again, like stated above is because I'd have not purchased a couple of drinks that I wanted. I didn't drink more than I should have, and when I wasn't in the mood for a drink, I'd get a diet coke. Point is, I wasn't drinking to try to make sure I got my money's worth.

I'm booked on a Transat in October and I've already purchased the premium drinks package for that cruise.

One thing about my personality though; I don't like to worry about my spending on a vacation. If I can't go and enjoy myself, I'd rather wait and not go until I can. That doesn't mean that I am in favor of wasting money, but it does mean that I feel the packages, for my wife and I, add enough to the cruise experience to say it's worth what it costs.

[boxman266]

More and different. I think its not just about the value, its also the chance to try lots of different drinks that you normally wouldn't.

I suspect that if you have to think too much about the breakeven then its perhaps not for you. I took the decision to buy it and enjoy it, what I didn't want to do is to ponder over the value or not once we had taken the plunge.

I would say that you have to be either interested in drinks or enjoy the feeling of being more than a little merry. Casual beer drinkers, or occasional cocktails drinks should buy on board as they go.

[TRadle]

On our last cruise in July we did not come close to breaking even so we won’t be buying it again. We do have a large OBC so we will order what we want and not worry about it at all.

[Solstice23]

Totally worth it! 2 martinis, 2 beers some mineral water and a glass of red with dinner, mineral water at lunch and a night cap crown royal and 2 latte you break even :) us your not paying gratuity each time it's added in base price. Plus the value of not signing is great!

 

I happy celebrity has large ships with the choice to buy specialty and drink packages to make it still cheaper then some other cruise options

[mitttocs]

Like many of the others have said, we definitely feel like we got plenty of value by taking the package, and not having to sign and add gratuity each time was also very nice.

 

That being said, we do feel like we drank more than we would have had we not ordered the package. Particularly after dinner, it was very easy to sit at Martini Bar or Molecular Bar and order another one and then another one.....you get the picture. We never drank enough where we were drunk, mind you, but we clearly felt in evaluating the package after the cruise was over that we had clearly gotten our monies' worth!

[pamstravel]

My husband and I bought the classic package on our recent Solstice trans atlantic. I definitely drank more than I would have and hubby probably drank about the same. We enjoyed being able to get most anything we wanted and not worrying about the bill but I am not sure that we would have spent nearly as much if we hadn't had the package. The wine selection was meager on the classic pkg but I never had the desire to upgrade just for the better wine selection. I don't think that we would have come anywhere near getting our moneys worth if we hadn't had so many days at sea. The good news is, the bar service was just as good as our travel partners had who didn't have a package.

[bighairtexan]

I too drank more than I would have otherwise. I didn't have to think twice about "My gosh my bill is going to be astronomical." I didn't worry when I ordered something that I just really didn't like. I'd just order something else (didn't happen often). I drink BOTTLES and BOTTLES of water all the time and I really enjoy the premium/specialty coffees at Cafe al Bacio. Several times a day! And I never had to worry about several drinks at the MOLE bar at $12 a pop.

 

And I didn't get drunk or even tipsy and I have an average tolerance for alcohol.

[Fixit2010]

There is another school of thought as opposed to "would I drink more/less with our without a package".

 

I have cruised where I have calculated I need x number of drinks per day to break even of what I spent. On these cruises, I felt I was being cautious, calculating every penny, etc.

 

However last cruise, we decided to take a drinks package and adopt the approach of "well we are spending so much on the cruise, an extra $x is neither here nor there and enjoy it". This put a whole new feel on the idea of drinks.

We visited different bars, tried other drinks, we introduced a daily hot drink in to our routine. Rather than worry about the pennies, we felt even if we didn't break even, we experienced more ship life that we had previously, by avoiding bars.

 

Ordering a drink on a whim and not worrying about the cost is my preference now.

[Coralin]

Hi, we've been on four Celebrity cruises so far with two more coming up this year, one of which is a long cruise with loads of sea days.

 

We haven't had an alcohol package before, although we have have the original soda package a few times, but we've booked a "classic alcohol" package each for the long cruise with many sea days.

 

I know that left to my own devices I would have drunk a lot more than I have done on previous cruises, but DH doesn't drink as much as me,

(not sure what that says about me!)

& I've been very aware of cost when deciding what & how many drinks to have, so I think if you know that you'll fancy a posh coffee or two, nice bottled water, a few frozen drinks or cocktails whilst round the pool/on deck during the day & then wine with dinner, a drink of two at the theatre etc. then you can't go wrong with a package.

 

The current 10% off offer ends tommorrow, so decide soon.

[simon stingray]

Oh yes, I definitely drank more than I would have a la carte, and increased my variety as well. But when I look at what my normal spending would have been (1/2 bottle of wine a night plus a cocktail or two a day), I would have been in the ballpark of $40 a day anyway, so why not spend a little bit more to really enjoy myself and have whatever I want?

 

I would rarely have purchased any nonalcoholic drinks like fresh squeezed juice, soda, or specialty teas without the package because I wouldn't have wanted to spend the extra money. But since they are included, it definitely increases my enjoyment of the trip just to be able to have whatever I wanted and not worry.

 

This is exactly how I feel. We took our first Princess cruise over the Christmas holidays and whilst it was very nice, we are planning to return to X for our next cruise.

 

One of the main reasons is because we missed the premium drinks package.

[Lois R]

To the OP, I knew most the replies would be to buy the package;)

[cottonball511]

we have just booked our first celebrity cruise for a 12 nite mediterranean sailing in may, so i have been visiting these boards to glean some info and advice.

 

sorry to be ignorant but how do these alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks packages work?

are the drinks unlimited or what?? i tried to get into celebrity's website but somehow info was not given. pls explain to this newbie. tks!!

[Esprit]

Oh yes, I definitely drank more than I would have a la carte, and increased my variety as well. But when I look at what my normal spending would have been (1/2 bottle of wine a night plus a cocktail or two a day), I would have been in the ballpark of $40 a day anyway, so why not spend a little bit more to really enjoy myself and have whatever I want?

 

I would rarely have purchased any nonalcoholic drinks like fresh squeezed juice, soda, or specialty teas without the package because I wouldn't have wanted to spend the extra money. But since they are included, it definitely increases my enjoyment of the trip just to be able to have whatever I wanted and not worry.

 

My exact experience aboard Solstice last summer. I wouldn't have bothered with the special coffees, molecular bar cocktails and Pellegrino water with dinner every night had I not had the premium alcohol package.

 

It was just fantastic

[kristikae]

You've all reassured me! I purchased the premium for my upcoming Solstice cruise and have been beating myself up over whether it's worth it or not. I've never had a bill come close to $400 on a 7 day sailing but I know I don't get things becuase I'm thinking about the cost. Things like latte, fresh squeezed OJ etc I would never order if I had to pay for them.

 

My kids tease me all of the time because I'll spend hundreds to upgrade to a suite when I'm cruising but will cut corners on little things to save pennies. I tell them it's the cutting pennies that allows me to cruise in suites!

[caribbeansun]

I would say that we drank more but not to excess (okay, maybe once ;)).

 

Do you think you have consumed more beverages with the package than you would have without it? Or about the same?

[VikingRob]

I would say that we drank more but not to excess (okay, maybe once ;)).

 

I agree with this statement for our situation. We have done the Premium package twice now and I find that I was drinking more nonalcoholic drinks than anything else. As a lot have said the best part was just not having to sign every time you get a drink. It is hard to go by our bill, because one thing I did notice is not all of our drink purchases showed up on our bill. Especially the wine in the dining room. Kim