First cruise on celebrity --- questions

[lreinstein]

Hi

 

My wife and I are planning to take our first cruise of the Adriatic on Celebrity to celebrate our 20th anniversary. I have some basic questions

 

1. The whole beverages thing is a bit overwhelming. If I eat in the main restaurant and want a glass of water, is there a charge? What about a diet coke? Is the "tap" water drinkable?

 

2. Which beverage package (or NONE) would be be best off with? We typically like very good coffee in the morning. Drink mainly seltzer/club soda throughout the day. And at night have a dry-martini (premium gin) and perhaps a good glass of wine with dinner. Based upon this, what is recommended?

 

3. We are not leaving for about 14 months. I want a really good concierge class or veranda cabin so was planning to book now to have a much wider choice. Since it is our first cruise and a special occasion I was not going to worry too much about the savings I might be giving up. Is this foolish? Am I better off waiting? Is it OK to book directly for a cruise line agent?

 

Thank you for your patient help.

 

Larry

[cruisestitch]

1. The whole beverages thing is a bit overwhelming. If I eat in the main restaurant and want a glass of water, is there a charge? What about a diet coke? Is the "tap" water drinkable?

 

Tap water is drinkable. Your assistant waiter should keep your glass full of ice water during dinner. Diet Coke would need to be ordered, from a bar waiter (not your table server or his assistant). They will walk through the dining room and ask if you want anything, but if you say "no" the first time, they probably won't be back around and you'll have to ask someone to get a bar server to come back to the table.

 

 

2. Which beverage package (or NONE) would be be best off with? We typically like very good coffee in the morning. Drink mainly seltzer/club soda throughout the day. And at night have a dry-martini (premium gin) and perhaps a good glass of wine with dinner. Based upon this, what is recommended?

 

No need to decide that now. You can add a beverage package once you are on board, or after doing more research == you'll see dozens of posts about this, take your time, read some, and you'll get a feel for what would work for you.

 

3. We are not leaving for about 14 months. I want a really good concierge class or veranda cabin so was planning to book now to have a much wider choice. Since it is our first cruise and a special occasion I was not going to worry too much about the savings I might be giving up. Is this foolish? Am I better off waiting? Is it OK to book directly for a cruise line agent?

 

It is not foolish to book a specific cabin now. The good news is that should the price drop between now and then, you may be able to get the new price. It depends on the conditions of your booking, and where you live. It is definitely ok to book directly with the cruise line, or if you know of a good travel agent where you live, you can book with him/her. For a first time cruiser, a good travel agent can be invaluable.

[David Owl]

2. Which beverage package (or NONE) would be be best off with? We typically like very good coffee in the morning. Drink mainly seltzer/club soda throughout the day. And at night have a dry-martini (premium gin) and perhaps a good glass of wine with dinner. Based upon this, what is recommended?

 

You will probably want to do some research that I am not really in a position to help with, but one thing I wanted to mention.

 

On the one occasion that I have had the drinks package (premium non-alco) I just about broke even in terms of cost. The biggest advantage was that it enabled me to take a chance with things that I had not tried before and if I didn't like it, just got something else.

[waterbug123]

2. Which beverage package (or NONE) would be be best off with? We typically like very good coffee in the morning. Drink mainly seltzer/club soda throughout the day. And at night have a dry-martini (premium gin) and perhaps a good glass of wine with dinner. Based upon this, what is recommended?

 

\

 

So you want good coffee in the morning, 1 premium martini in the evening and MAYBE a single glass of wine with dinner? Skip the premium package, which is what you'd need for all of those to be covered, but at just 3 or 4 drinks a day you'll lose money. Just buy the drinks a la carte.

 

As for the soda, I am not sure if plain old club soda off the gun (not bottled) is charged like a regular soda or not. If it is (I don't think so but can't say for sure), it would be included in the premium package, but you'd still need to be drinking an awful lot of it just to break even on the package. If you find out they DO charge for fountain-style club soda, and you would drink a LOT each day, just get a soda package and stick with buying your 3-4 alcoholic or fancy coffee drinks a la carte.