is the drink package worth the price

[fotoguykev]

I like the way you think...and drink. Thanks.

[wallie5446]

Oh, I forgot to mention a stop in Michaels to sample the craft beer selection!

[jhans24]

Oh, I forgot to mention a stop in Michaels to sample the craft beer selection!

 

Michaels has been converted to a VIP lounge

[colombiangirl]

@wallie5446...After reading your post I decided to upgrade to the Premium Drink package. A couple of drinks here and there along with a glass of wine or two with dinner will quickly add up. Thanks!

 

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[Lois R]

I normally do not buy the drink packages. But when I recently sailed

Century I booked another cruise while on board and the 123package

was part of the promo being offered:)...so yes, I took it and yes,

I will pay the difference and upgrade it to Premium. The cost isn't

much extra and since I will be on an S class ship it will be worth

it to me. I love The Molecular Bar:D

[wpgcycler]

Michaels has been converted to a VIP lounge

 

Only during the day. It's open to the likes of me at 5:00 PM. Having said this, it was nearly vacant every night last week on Reflection. Enjoyed some great Scotch, Cognac, company and quiet conversation there.

[Lois R]

Only during the day. It's open to the likes of me at 5:00 PM. Having said this, it was nearly vacant every night last week on Reflection. Enjoyed some great Scotch, Cognac, company and quiet conversation there.

 

Hi, Reflection has not been changed yet but after sailing Century last month, Michael's was closed all day and night to the public. It was

only open to "Zenith cruisers and suite passengers". All the ships will be turned into that same venue, so eventually Michael's on Reflection

will not be open to "all others"....no matter what the time of day.

Edited March 10, 2014 by Lois R

[wpgcycler]

Hi, Reflection has not been changed yet but after sailing Century last month, Michael's was closed all day and night to the public. It was

only open to Zenith cruisers and suite passengers. ALl the ships will

be turned into that same venue....so eventually Michael's on Reflection

will not be available to "all others" at all, no matter what time of day.

 

Thanks Lois. Too bad, but I can't say I blame them. The space was just not appreciated - even by those who claim there is nowhere quiet to go.

[Chitown12562]

When I mentioned that I drink about 5-6 drinks a day on a cruise I meant all types of drinks. OJ in the morning, 1 or 2 drinks at the pool, 1 for lunch, 1 at dinner, and 1 after dinner.

 

When we tried the premium drinks package we had everything from juice, frozen mocha cappuccinos, bottled water, wine at dinner, and drinks at the Molecular Bar later. We still could not make the package work for us. It was about the volume of liquid. I personally can not drink that much liquid in a day. I've had beers with friends and they ask if we should get a pitcher of beer and I say one if there is more than 2 of us, because all I can drink is maybe 2 or 3 beers. It's not about alcohol, it's about capacity. But that's just us, and mostly me.

 

Pay $200-300 just to not have to worry about the cost? No way I'm throwing that money away!

 

But many many people can take in more liquid than me and I bet for them the packages work great!

[Mermen]

We've never purchased a general bev package (have ordered wine packages), but selected one as part of our 123 promo for our upcoming cruise in September.

 

We will upgrade to the premium package, for a larger wine selection.

 

Without sounding like a greedy pig, with the classic or premium package, am I permitted to order 2 glasses of wine for one order? We typically get a wine package, so the server, Maitre'd or sommelier pour throughout supper. Since a bottle won't be there, I'd rather not have to flag down the sommelier or assistant to order a second or third glass of wine. Does this make sense?

[Purplsmurf]

You can't order 2 at once, but from my experience my glass kept getting refilled before I even had a chance to finish it! I eventually had to tell them to stop!!

 

 

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[Yellowfurbaby]

We would not of bought it but as it came as part of the offer would be rude not to.

 

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[4774Papa]

I am amused by how many of the thread topics pertain to the drink packages.

That said, here is another one.

I am booked on a 12 night cruise and am considering the drink package options. Having never sailed Celebrity before, I do not know how they price their drinks.

Would the basic alcohol package (up to $6 per drink, I think) be sufficient to cover the cost of, say, the average "drink of the day?"....multiple times over?

I guess I am just trying to determine how many drinks per day one would need to consume to make it worth while?

I want to get my money's worth, but still remember the cruise.

For us, any drink package would be a huge waste of money.

 

We don't drink specialty coffee or bottled water (ship's water is just fine).

We usually buy a wine package for meals, but since we are elite, the happy hour reduces the number of drinks we purchase.

 

Try adding up the alcoholic drinks and wine you consume on a cruise and come up with the amount spent. Even before we were elite, the packages did not make good sense.

[chisoxfan]

In our case the itinerary would have a huge bearing. On an 11 night Med cuise with many ports definitely not. Likewise on an Alaska cruise. On a Carib itinerary for sure. We opted for the premium package on our Reflection cruise (123Go) and it was a game changer. Others have stated (and I dismissed this sentiment previously) that they liked the convenience of a drink package. It most definitely added to our cruise enjoyment. Not signing for anything was fantastic and made the cruise more 'carefree'.At dinner the somelier would keep a bottle of wine I chose nearby and would fill the glass periodically. At the end of the cruise we had 116 drinks on our 'tab'. Probably 16-20 were water, coffees.That said I am sure it would have been a 900+ tab with the many $12 wines and cocktails we had. A few evenings we drank more than we normally would but we really did not feel the need to try and 'break the drink bank' so to speak. We were probably back in our room by 11PM most nights.

We booked Reflection next year to make sure we had the drink perk and adding the premium package makes everything that much simpler (there was a lot of 'is this covered under our classsic package' going on at the bar).

Based on the value and simplicity added for us I frankly cannot see sailing another cruise line in the Carib while X offers this. Hope that it keeps up. JMHO

[PrincessVIP]

Princess has premium coffee cards for a very reasonable price. Celebrity should look into offering something similar.

[chisoxfan]

Princess has premium coffee cards for a very reasonable price. Celebrity should look into offering something similar.

 

We have some from a few years ago and I understood they never expire. Agree they are a good deal (they were sometimes offered on a buy ine get one promo). We still have some of the princess cruise credits that we need to use or have refunded. I understoof these were valid for four yers but never expire. We like Princess but X has marked the spot recently for us.

[4774Papa]

In our case the itinerary would have a huge bearing. On an 11 night Med cuise with many ports definitely not. Likewise on an Alaska cruise. On a Carib itinerary for sure. We opted for the premium package on our Reflection cruise (123Go) and it was a game changer. Others have stated (and I dismissed this sentiment previously) that they liked the convenience of a drink package. It most definitely added to our cruise enjoyment. Not signing for anything was fantastic and made the cruise more 'carefree'.At dinner the somelier would keep a bottle of wine I chose nearby and would fill the glass periodically. At the end of the cruise we had 116 drinks on our 'tab'. Probably 16-20 were water, coffees.That said I am sure it would have been a 900+ tab with the many $12 wines and cocktails we had. A few evenings we drank more than we normally would but we really did not feel the need to try and 'break the drink bank' so to speak. We were probably back in our room by 11PM most nights.

We booked Reflection next year to make sure we had the drink perk and adding the premium package makes everything that much simpler (there was a lot of 'is this covered under our classsic package' going on at the bar).

Based on the value and simplicity added for us I frankly cannot see sailing another cruise line in the Carib while X offers this. Hope that it keeps up. JMHO

If your drink tab without the package would have been $900+, what was your cost of the package for two for 11 days. Isn't the package something like $56 per day, per person. 56 X 2 = $112 X 11 = $1232.

[msboilerman84]

Celebrity has the best drinking package, It's well worth it. It covers your fancy coffees, bottled water, sodas, and alcohol drinks

 

 

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[cherylroslyn]

We've never purchased a general bev package (have ordered wine packages), but selected one as part of our 123 promo for our upcoming cruise in September.

 

We will upgrade to the premium package, for a larger wine selection.

 

Without sounding like a greedy pig, with the classic or premium package, am I permitted to order 2 glasses of wine for one order? We typically get a wine package, so the server, Maitre'd or sommelier pour throughout supper. Since a bottle won't be there, I'd rather not have to flag down the sommelier or assistant to order a second or third glass of wine. Does this make sense?

Mermen, the wine steward will put the wine bottle right next to you in the bucket, just like with a normal bottle of wine. They will keep pouring and topping you off throughout dinner.....

[mpbmark]

There is a consideration I've not seen mentioned (although with all the "drink package" threads, I could certainly have missed it). ;)

 

If you are an Elite member, you do have access to the Elite lounge each night for drinks at no charge. Great benefit which we have utilized on several cruises. Thanks Celebrity for that perk.

 

BUT....... if you are traveling with friends that haven't made the Elite level, you have a decision to make. Leave your friends each night to drink for free or join them and pay at the bar. :confused:

 

With the package, either Classic or Premium, you can skip the Elite lounge and spend time with your friends at any bar and order ANY drink (within your package), not just what is available in the lounge.

 

We are traveling next year with a group of 12 and will be the only Elite couple :cool: in the group. We used the 123 package as our perk which will allow us to spend the early evenings with friends and if we don't go to the Elite lounge, we only lose access to the appetizers which are only OK at best. :rolleyes:

 

Just my thoughts to add confusion to the decision. :eek:

[Mermen]

Mermen, the wine steward will put the wine bottle right next to you in the bucket, just like with a normal bottle of wine. They will keep pouring and topping you off throughout dinner.....

 

Thanks so much for your reply!

[wallie5446]

Princess has premium coffee cards for a very reasonable price. Celebrity should look into offering something similar.

 

 

They do! http://www.celebritycruises.com/onboard/tabLanding.do?pagename=onboard_beverage_packages&tab=onboard_beverage_packages_premium_classic_tab%2Fonboard%2FasrPanel.do%3Fpagename%3Donboard_beverage_packages_premium_classic%26ComponentTypeId%3D30%26categoryId%3D%26currencyCode%3DUSD

 

Pay just one price to enjoy a wide variety of beverage choices such as premium coffees starting at $16 per day.

We too have a couple of punches left from a Princess coffee card.

[cherylroslyn]

Thanks so much for your reply!

And this might have been a little "white trash" of me...but we topped ourselves off as well. It was kind of a joke with the steward and he didn't mind at all, he actually showed me where he was placing the bottle. We had three premium package people who really like their wine....so it would take super human speed to keep up with us........

[chisoxfan]

If your drink tab without the package would have been $900+, what was your cost of the package for two for 11 days. Isn't the package something like $56 per day, per person. 56 X 2 = $112 X 11 = $1232.

 

Drink package was included. I ponied up around 200 bucks for premium package. This was a 7 day cruise. Understood that many have been able to take advantage of the 123 Go and pick a perk programs of X. Obviously if one is paying for the program in full this has to be viewed on an individual basis. The point I was trying to make is 1)many people drink much more than they would have thought 2) the drink package enhances the vacation aspect of the cruise much more than I would have thought before trying it.

[matondo]

We took the $300 onboard credit. It will be interesting to see how it all pans out for us. :)