Drink package disaster

[Oville]

So it sounds like I'm right....the 'rules' are made up on the ship....what a way to run a company...the bean counters must not know :). The issue, of course, isn't whether there's negative or positive feedback...it's just understanding what we are paying for...so there is consistency. Oh well...it was worth poking at, even if we still don't (and celebrity apparently still doesn't know the rules because there aren't any that cover the martini flight or document that you only pay the difference if something is over the allowed limit if you have the premium package.

 

Check out post 5 of this thread. The post was made by "Celebrity Cruises" last year.

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=36617196#post36617196

Edited April 20, 2014 by Oville

[ghstudio]

Check out post 5 of this thread. The post was made by "Celebrity Cruises" last year.

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=36617196#post36617196

 

I just read that post and there is nothing in there that talks to any of my questions (which are the same as many others have posted). It would be nice if celebrity cruises came back and reposted that post here with some additions that address what's covered (martini flights, vodka tastings); the official policy on paying for a drink that costs more than your package allows; does it cover any drink up to $8/13 or only the drinks with alcohols listed on the menu found sporadically in bars; what's covered in the martini bar (e.g. why do they only make some of the drinks in smaller glasses even when they all cost the same in the larger glasses).

 

We know Celebrity Cruises is here reading because I saw at least one post from them this weekend. I hate this sporadic participation....especially when we're asking for something that should be official policy. The lack of any statement is telling....I suspect there is no official policy, just a marketing thought that the ships get to implement whatever way they want.

[fla jack]

In our case Off the Eclipse yesterday.

1st night Wine Steward took our premium beverage

cards when we sat down. We ordered 2 glasses

of wine each at dinner. He imput the total $$ for

the two glasses on each card.This exceeded

the $12 limit & we were charged as tho

we had no package. It also happened on night 2.

I went to customer service to resolve the problems

& they were immediately corrected. I also SPOKE

to the Wine steward on night 3 BUT the same thing

happened on night 4. Result-another trip to customer

service desk & NO TIP for the Wine Steward.

Jack

[ghstudio]

In our case Off the Eclipse yesterday.

1st night Wine Steward took our premium beverage

cards when we sat down. We ordered 2 glasses

of wine each at dinner. He imput the total $$ for

the two glasses on each card.This exceeded

the $12 limit & we were charged as tho

we had no package. It also happened on night 2.

I went to customer service to resolve the problems

& they were immediately corrected. I also SPOKE

to the Wine steward on night 3 BUT the same thing

happened on night 4. Result-another trip to customer

service desk & NO TIP for the Wine Steward.

Jack[/QUOT#]

 

After night 2, I would have considered asking the wine steward to bring his manager to the table so we could have a short meeting. The (dumb) problem would have been resolved very quickly.

 

BTW, it was wrong for two reasons. If you had the premium package, you should have been only charged for the difference (the additional charge)...but you are right, you should not have been charged at all. I do sympathize with the Celebrity management on board....training is a real problem with all the changes...

Edited April 21, 2014 by ghstudio

[Bru92]

I think one reason why some of these posters have become so frustrated is that their first visit or call to guest relations did not solve the problem in a timely manner.

 

I was on the Reflection a few weeks ago and had some errors on my account. I discovered that by bringing the errors to the attention of guest relations that they send email messages to the venue making the charge asking the venue manager to look into the error.

 

Of course, guest relations has not taken ownership of the problem and if a prompt response is not received it doesn't get fixed. No one follows up except the guest.

 

One charge error took three visits to guest relations to resolve but by then it wasn't about the money any longer.

 

Mike

[bbappel]

Mrsz - You have my sympathy for getting a guest relations agent who was clearly having a bad time. She probably had personal issues that she allowed to overflow into her work time. It is easy to do that if your personal issues are severe. Maybe she is quite nice normally - or she wouldn't have that job. Most of the agents I've dealt with have understood that their job is to make you happy, not to be obstructive. You were clearly in the right (assuming your explanation is correct, of course).

 

Several times I've dealt with issues at Guest Relations and in 12 years of cruising (primarily with Celebrity), only once have I been less than happy. In some instances I've been overjoyed. One Guest Relations agent on Eclipse took my word for it that our booking agent had promised us a bottle of wine (he had and it hadn't been noted in our record). I was willing to accept a deferral of the bottle to our next cruise (my suggestion), but instead she gave us a good OBC (I can't recall the amount) that we then used to book specialty dining since we had a drinks package.

 

So if it was one agent on one cruise, please don't think this means that all agents on Celebrity are like this. The majority are terrific people who want to make the guests happy.

 

While "disaster" might have been hyperbole - it is a pain in the tush to spend vacation time dealing with financial issues. In fact, that is the very reason we get the drinks package, so we don't have to deal with financial issues on our trip.

 

Happy sailing. I'm glad this didn't put you off cruising altogether.

 

Beth

[sasset]

Just off Infinity and our first experience with the beverage program. We had the Premium Plan. Never had a single problem with. We used it in Trellis, Martini Bar, Bacio, Constellation Lounge, Oceanview and Rendezvous.

 

We definitely got full value, if not more. The litre bottles of Evian (we each had at least three a day), Perrier, San Pellegrino and the coffees in il Bacio put us into positive territory. We would definitely do it again.

[fla jack]

The over charges happened to us last month on the

14 night Eclipse. The wine steward was lazy.

Upon sitting at the table he took our cards (both Premuim).

What he did was add up the total of the wines each

of us had at the table 2-3 glasses each.

He imput the total & then swiped our cards.

Because the total was in excess of the $12 limit we

were both charged for $30-35 each. He did this

the 1st 3 days despite my mentioning it on night #2.

All was resolved by visiting Guest Relations THREE TIMES.

The 1st time I did not tip the wine steward.

Jack

[Tog]

No. You should be able to have as much wine as you can drink over dinner as long as you order them a glass at a time.

 

Agreed....my wine waiter on the Silhouette was topping me up at a real rate of knots!

[DavidYYC]

I would think no. DH and I got off the Silhouette on April 6th and I had the Classic Package and DH had the Premium Package. We each ordered glasses of wine at dinner and our sommelier refilled our glasses when they got low without us even requesting it. I wondered if seeing our ship cards on day one was enough as he wasn't asking for our cards for refills. We never signed a single receipt either.

 

This is our experience. You choose the wine and the sommelier just topped it up as necessary. He took the card details on the first night and never again.

 

What happened to the OP is not a disaster, IMHO.

[cpj]

I just read that post and there is nothing in there that talks to any of my questions (which are the same as many others have posted). It would be nice if celebrity cruises came back and reposted that post here with some additions that address what's covered (martini flights, vodka tastings); the official policy on paying for a drink that costs more than your package allows; does it cover any drink up to $8/13 or only the drinks with alcohols listed on the menu found sporadically in bars; what's covered in the martini bar (e.g. why do they only make some of the drinks in smaller glasses even when they all cost the same in the larger glasses).

 

We know Celebrity Cruises is here reading because I saw at least one post from them this weekend. I hate this sporadic participation....especially when we're asking for something that should be official policy. The lack of any statement is telling....I suspect there is no official policy, just a marketing thought that the ships get to implement whatever way they want.

 

I think the person from Celebrity who reads these posts does not know the policy also.

[drinkspackageexpert]

I got the martini taster set of 6 on the Eclipse October 2013.I had the premium package. The only charge was the amount over my allowance. As for multiple drinks.........we would get 2-3 glasses of wine and a diet cola or water every night.....in al bacio we had hot chocolate and water AT THE SAME TIME...drank the hot chocolate and took water back to room. Never had a single problem. Not one.

[bvocruise]

I'm trying to figure out if we can order water for the table and then a drink each under the premium package. It sounds like we can't as the water would have to be finished first. I'm thinking of ordering water for the table and then just one drink for my wife and I to share. Then we could order another water when empty along with another drink when it is finished.

 

Has anyone done this before. We are open to suggestions to play within the rules along with maximizing the benefits of the package.

[Cruise a holic]

We were recently on the Silhouette and had the Premium a Beverage a Package. The first day we went to The a Porch for lunch and when I checked my bill we were charged for our wine. I went to the guest relations desk and a very arrogant woman named Vera said we ordered water and wine too close together that is why we were charged. We were at the Porch for 2 hours for lunch.and they took our cards at the end. How was it charged too close.

 

At the end of our cruise we were charged $32 for wine which was all charged at the same time. We only ordered 2 glasses of wine. We had to go again to guest relations 3 times to get this resolved. This is not the way we planned on spending our cruise disputing charges that should have never been.

 

This is just a word of advice to check your bill everyday. I don't understand how they can charge for drinks when it clearly states on our cards that we have the drink package.

 

Sounds like a mistake and a rude clerk. We have ordered a cocktail, then wine with dinner, then a specialty coffee in the dining room without ever having any problem.

 

Unfortunately, sometimes they make mistakes, but rectify them without a hassel. I would have asked to speak to her manager.

[wallie5446]

I'm trying to figure out if we can order water for the table and then a drink each under the premium package. It sounds like we can't as the water would have to be finished first. I'm thinking of ordering water for the table and then just one drink for my wife and I to share. Then we could order another water when empty along with another drink when it is finished.

 

Has anyone done this before. We are open to suggestions to play within the rules along with maximizing the benefits of the package.

 

We had the Premium last Nov and ordered the water and wine at the same time. They get it! You will have no need to share nor split one. Our ast waiter had our speciality coffee without asking by the 3rd evening before the desert menu was presented too.

[C 2 C]

I'm trying to figure out if we can order water for the table and then a drink each under the premium package. .

We always order water and it will be waiting for us on successive days. There is no problem ordering water and drinks or wine at the same time.

[Cruise a holic]

We had the Premium last Nov and ordered the water and wine at the same time. They get it! You will have no need to share nor split one. Our ast waiter had our speciality coffee without asking by the 3rd evening before the desert menu was presented too.

 

Never had a problem with water at dinner. In fact my DH orders Pelligrino and I order Evian.

[bvocruise]

Never had a problem with water at dinner. In fact my DH orders Pelligrino and I order Evian.

 

Nice, we can't wait for the cruise. It will be our first time on X. We have Sailed on Carnival, HAL, RCL and Sea Dream. We decided to try X because of the their favorable smoking policy and nice Mediterranean Itineraries.

[wallie5446]

Nice, we can't wait for the cruise. It will be our first time on X. We have Sailed on Carnival, HAL, RCL and Sea Dream. We decided to try X because of the their favorable smoking policy and nice Mediterranean Itineraries.

 

Which ship? Awwwww it dont matter, any Celebrity ship in the Med is wonderful! Enjoy!

[bvocruise]

Which ship? Awwwww it dont matter, any Celebrity ship in the Med is wonderful! Enjoy!

 

It is the Reflection. I was nervous about booking Aqua Class after reading all the problems with Blu due to overcrowding. It sounds like those issues will be resolved in Apr when the new suite dining room is open. My guess suite dining room will be very good and those staying in suites will stay away from Blu although they can still use it if they want. Plus I heard they are converting all of the Aqua Class Suites on Reflection to Sky Suites.

[wallie5446]

It is the Reflection. .

 

You are in for a wonderful time on ship! We were on the Reflection last Nov and after 25+ years of cruises she is now our favorite ship of the 7 diff lines we have sailed!

 

You have been on enought, you know what is what, so let the foo-foo go in one ear and out the other. We all create most of our own fun on a cruise anyway!

 

But please do come back and give us your thoughts on how it compared to your other cruises.