Buying Non Alcholic Drinks Package Mid Cruise

[ShellzbellzShellzbellz]

Hi. We will be cruising for the first time on Celebrity in the summer and there's a question I have which I can't find the answer to which I hope someone can help with.

 

Myself and DH have been given the classic drinks package but our 2 teenage kids don't have any drinks package. I think they would tend towards frozen drinks and specialty coffees which means they would need to purchase the premium non-alcoholic package. However, as we're on a very port intensive cruise, I think it might work out better just to pay for drinks individually.

 

My question is this, I know you can upgrade the classic package mid cruise and only pay for the number of days left but can you also buy a drinks package at any time during the cruise. I think I'd like to go for a day or 2 to see how much they're actually buying before committing to the package for a 14 night cruise.

[Guindalf]

I believe you can buy the package pro-rated up to a few days into the cruise.

 

However, it's my experience that there's a different mindset when you have a package over paying for individual drinks anyway, so if it were me, I'd go ahead and get it from the beginning. Even on a port-intensive sailing, unless you are in one port for several days, you'll still be on board every day from when you return to the ship until the following morning in which time, you can get a drink for by the pool, at dinner and also through the evening's entertainment!

 

I know our situation is slightly different. I rarely drink at home, but when we first got a drinks package (on NCL), I was having a couple of Bloody Marys in the morning, beer through the day, wine with meals and liquor in the casino or while enduring a production show! Even before that, I found the soda package essential and wished I could just get a bottled water or virgin slushie drink now and again without it costing close to $10 a pop!

[bottomfeeder]

Yes, you can buy a package up to the last 2 or 3 days (forget which) of the cruise if you'd like. You'll be charged the per-day amount for the days remaining on the cruise.

[Fish Lover]

I would just purchase the packages when embarking or prior to the cruise. Otherwise the two teenagers will have to sign for each drink, save their receipts and give them to you to do an analysis as to whether it will pay off or not. You can look up your current billing total online at anytime, however, I'm not sure if you will be able to tell which child ordered each drink. In other words, one may order much more than the other and it would makes economic sense for one and not quite for the other. This seems like an enormous amount of work to possibly just save a few dollars. With the package, they can order to their hearts content and enjoy, without worrying about the rest. After paying so much for a 14 day cruise, it seems to make sense. Also, I suspect they will spend enough to make it worthwhile. The non-alcoholic frozen drinks, special coffees,etc are quite expensive.

 

When we first decided to get drink packages, it was amazingly liberating. No more receipts. No more signing. No more surprises at the end of the trip, because the bill had already been paid.