Drinks & More package--- anyone try yet?

[CruisinDawn]

Called and got ours upgraded from the Premium to Drinks & More on our cruise next month for $126 so basically $26 because we would spend $100 easily in the casino anyway. 😎 (Note the Drinks & More package is currently 10% off in the planner). 

 

BonVoyage

Dawna

[Virga]

Was pleasantly surprised to see beverage package upgrades available in my cruise planner this morning. $40 extra for Drinks&More over Platinum, which we'd have upgraded to onboard without this offer.  Not sure we'll even touch the mini bar, but with even a tiny bit of luck, we'll make up the difference in a quick run through the casino.  Perhaps we'll make friends to help us drink the wine on our balcony 😃

[hiccups]

1 hour ago, Virga said:

Was pleasantly surprised to see beverage package upgrades available in my cruise planner this morning. $40 extra for Drinks&More over Platinum, which we'd have upgraded to onboard without this offer.  Not sure we'll even touch the mini bar, but with even a tiny bit of luck, we'll make up the difference in a quick run through the casino.  Perhaps we'll make friends to help us drink the wine on our balcony 😃

 

So for $40, you got $100 in casino credit?  Wow!

Also, you originally had classic and were going to upgrade to Premium for the $12 per day?

Edited January 7, 2020 by hiccups

[Bytor62]

FYI. I originally booked with the Classic Beverage Package as a perk and later upgraded to Premium. I called Celebrity today to upgrade to Drinks and More. They said I couldn't as I have already upgraded once. If I had originally had the Premium as a perk, I could upgrade to Drinks and More. What she was able to do was remove my Premium Package upgrade and then upgrade from Classic to Drinks and More.  It actually saved me $18 for the both of us! Woohoo, where am I going to spend all that extra money. 😉

Edited January 7, 2020 by Bytor62

[Virga]

4 hours ago, hiccups said:

 

So for $40, you got $100 in casino credit?  Wow!

Also, you originally had classic and were going to upgrade to Premium for the $12 per day?

Yep, the rate I booked for the two night cruise only came with Classic and we intended to upgrade to Platinum onboard.  When the upgrades became available online, though, Platinum was showing $10.80 pp/pd, and Drinks&More was showing $21.00 pp/pd. I did not click through the Platinum upgrade to see why it wasn't $12, because the casino credit made the D&M a no brainer regardless. 

 

Suggestions for non creepy ways to offer total strangers our free bottles of wine are welcome and appreciated =p

[bazbaz65]

We honestly found it to be more trouble than it was worth.  I gather that because it is such a new program, the staff is not very clear on it.  Our room steward had no idea we were on it and we had to ask to have the mini-bar stocked.  And restocked.  Never saw any vodka.  My stepson was in a cabin on another floor and they had everything that was on the list (4 mini Tito vodkas, small Chardonnay and small Cabernet Sauvignon, 2 Heineken, 2 Cokes, 2 Diet Cokes, 1 Evian, 2 Pringles and 2 Kind Bars).  But, they had to ask to have it restocked because their room steward also had not been informed they were on this package.  We never had the vodka, the wine was not restocked, we were able to trade out the Cokes for Coke Zeros, and the Pringles was usually only one.  As for the free wine with the package, I had specifically asked when I booked whether or not we were able to choose our wine.  They said yes.  But, that's a no.  I did manage, after a trip to Guest Services, to get them to take back the Chardonnay and Cab that they'd left and give us a Sauvignon Blanc and a Pinot Grigio...but still no choice in what the actual brand was.  

 

As someone else said, I would have been annoyed if I'd paid for the Wine Tasting.  So many people and no information really - just pouring tastes at six stations with the mob.  No problem getting the Casino credit at least.  But, next time, I'll just stick with the Premium Package.

[hiccups]

1 hour ago, Virga said:

Yep, the rate I booked for the two night cruise only came with Classic and we intended to upgrade to Platinum onboard.  When the upgrades became available online, though, Platinum was showing $10.80 pp/pd, and Drinks&More was showing $21.00 pp/pd. I did not click through the Platinum upgrade to see why it wasn't $12, because the casino credit made the D&M a no brainer regardless. 

 

Suggestions for non creepy ways to offer total strangers our free bottles of wine are welcome and appreciated =p

Ah, okay, so it was $42 total PP and you got the $50 casino credit PP.  Still pretty great!  We paid $10.80 for the premium upgrade on our last cruise because it was on sale, so yours must be as well.

 

i also wondered about how to give out the wine—I don’t drink it.  Someone mentioned giving it away at the CC gathering, so I might do that.

[Virga]

1 hour ago, hiccups said:

Ah, okay, so it was $42 total PP and you got the $50 casino credit PP.  Still pretty great!  We paid $10.80 for the premium upgrade on our last cruise because it was on sale, so yours must be as well.

 

i also wondered about how to give out the wine—I don’t drink it.  Someone mentioned giving it away at the CC gathering, so I might do that.

 

That's a good idea - I doubt there will be one on mine, but there's bound to be some group or another meeting we can pass them off on.  I try wines hoping that someday it'll be like beer and I'll have developed a taste for it, but so far I'm still just a heathen ::shrug::

 

And yes, we paid $84 total to upgrade our Classic packages to D&M, but we'd already planned on $48 to upgrade to Platinum - even calling the wine, the wine tasting, and the minibar worthless, that's an extra $36 for the $100 in casino credits.  

Edited January 8, 2020 by Virga

[miched]

I read it as two bottles of wine pp for a total of 4 if both order the package.   Is this what you get or just two bottles per cabin?

 

hopefully there is a choice of a better wine tasting than the free one for the Elite.     We went 2 times and no longer bother.  

 

thanks 
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Edited January 8, 2020 by miched

[hiccups]

10 hours ago, miched said:

I read it as two bottles of wine pp for a total of 4 if both order the package.   Is this what you get or just two bottles per cabin?

 

hopefully there is a choice of a better wine tasting than the free one for the Elite.     We went 2 times and no longer bother.  

 

thanks 
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

It's supposed to be two per person, but people have reported having trouble with that, as staff starts to understand the package.

There have also been mixed reports about the wine tasting.  I think earlier in this thread someone said they've booked the package twice, and once it was the Elite wine tasting, and the other time it was one of the tastings that are purchased (that was the better experience of the two). 

Edited January 8, 2020 by hiccups

[killsport]

We recently did the "and more" on Infinity. The room steward didn't know much about it and we had to ask to have the mini bar restocked (never did get more Kind bars). The wine (or pre-vinegar, as I call it) in the room was two bottles - had it been something we liked, we would have requested the other two bottles; we just left it in the room. The wine tasting was the Wines of the World tasting (pretty poor selection - most smelled of barn, and not a clean barn). There was a decent chardonnay (and I strongly prefer reds). We talked with folks and tasted all the wines. We poured out most after tasting. The casino credit was easy to get.

For a 5 night cruise it makes sense ($45 to get $50 casino credit). For a 7 night ($63 to get a $50 credit) you have to determine how much you like pringles, kind bars, and not having to go to a bar if you feel like a quick drink in your room.

[hiccups]

4 minutes ago, killsport said:

For a 5 night cruise it makes sense ($45 to get $50 casino credit). For a 7 night ($63 to get a $50 credit) you have to determine how much you like pringles, kind bars, and not having to go to a bar if you feel like a quick drink in your room.

I'm wondering if at some point Celebrity will not make the drinks and more package an option on cruises less than 7 nights, as it seems to be a loser for them.  Or maybe they assume that casino credit will keep people playing, and they'll earn their money that way.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we booked it because we have nonrefundable OBC and figured what the heck, even though we don't gamble (at least with our own money--last cruise DH used OBC to enter a blackjack tournament).  I guess it ends up being a winner for X, because otherwise I'd spend that money in the shops, which I assume actually costs the cruise line something, compared to giving us casino credit.

I'm going to make it my mission to eat $13 worth of Pringles and Kind bars 😁

[bazbaz65]

13 hours ago, miched said:

I read it as two bottles of wine pp for a total of 4 if both order the package.   Is this what you get or just two bottles per cabin?

 

 

Yes, it is supposed to be two per person but we did not get that.  Only one per person.  

[Desert Steve]

I purchased the drinks and more package as an upgrade from premium. In my opinion the only way that this package is a good deal is if you are bringing all the stuff off the ship with you. We had our car at the cruise port and I packed up the wine including the splits that are restocked every day and Titos vodka and am enjoying them now at home. Could never do this if you are flying home.

[bazbaz65]

2 hours ago, Desert Steve said:

I purchased the drinks and more package as an upgrade from premium. In my opinion the only way that this package is a good deal is if you are bringing all the stuff off the ship with you. We had our car at the cruise port and I packed up the wine including the splits that are restocked every day and Titos vodka and am enjoying them now at home. Could never do this if you are flying home.

 

Agreed!  Which is why it is particularly annoying that we never once had Titos in our fridge.

[miched]

6 hours ago, Desert Steve said:

I purchased the drinks and more package as an upgrade from premium. In my opinion the only way that this package is a good deal is if you are bringing all the stuff off the ship with you. We had our car at the cruise port and I packed up the wine including the splits that are restocked every day and Titos vodka and am enjoying them now at home. Could never do this if you are flying home.

 

wouldn't broadcast it as X may be monitoring these posts and may put a stop to it.

We drive to and from the ports from Mi. My wife will buy those small bottles of wine to have in the hotel.   I will have a beer.   Don’t want to be stopped with open bottles in the car so those little bottles of liquor will be nice to have if we want some liquor.  

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅
 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 9, 2020 by miched

[bazbaz65]

5 hours ago, bazbaz65 said:

 

Agreed!  Which is why it is particularly annoying that we never once had Titos in our fridge.

 

And...they did not restock those little bottles of wine for us after the second day.

[jrs101]

We did the offer on our recent 4 night.  As others have stated it’s a no brainer when the cost is less then the “rewards”.  Even backing out the wine, which we left in the room, and the wine tasting we never went to, we were still ahead $14 / person as we have no problem using the $50 person credit in casino.  The wine name is listed,  if googled, it’s not well rated.  
 

I was happy to see the note in our room On embark day regarding the DAM package.  And we never once had any billing issues.  I don’t drink and my bf rarely does so all we consumed were the large Evians, Pringle’s and the diet cokes that were replenished daily.  The room steward would actually leave two Pringle’s in fridge and put two on the counter.  
 

It might have been a replenishment issue over the holidays, but our bar fridge was the only place we could actually get a large still water (Evian).  All the bars we went to only had large sparkling water (Pellagrino) and small generic bottles.  Or maybe they want people who don’t have to the DAM package to consume the large Evian from the mini bar thinking they can replace it from a bar before the steward does his daily restock, then have to pay for it.  We did ask at one of the bars and someone said the large bottles were just getting wasted.  :0
 

 

 

Edited January 9, 2020 by jrs101

[buttonandted]

On 1/1/2020 at 4:25 PM, CruisinDawn said:

How did you do it online in the cruise planner? If I put it in the cart it wants the full amount. I would rather do that than call. 

 

BonVoyage

Dawna

I tried it today and it asked for full amount  not just the upgrade amount from ourOBC so interested to know this also

[DaKahuna]

8 hours ago, buttonandted said:

I tried it today and it asked for full amount  not just the upgrade amount from ourOBC so interested to know this also

 

 I ran into a similar problem trying to select it for our upcoming Reflection cruise in December.  It would have me the discounted price but for my wife it said the Premium Beverage package had to be purchased first.  We are in a Suite and the PBP is included.  

 

I just send my TA an email explaining that I wanted it for my wife and I and it should be at the discounted price for both of us and to pay for it out of our OBC.  Next day we were upgraded to the Drinks and more for the discount price. 

 

This fits the recurring them, if it does not work online, get your TA involved or if you are booked direct, call Celebrity direct and get it worked out. 

 

 

[CruisinKikster]

On 12/2/2019 at 10:09 PM, DebInAntigua said:

• The bottles of wine - never opened them. They were low end wines and we don't drink much in our cabin anyway. Value = $0
• The casino credits ($50 each person, on each of 2 cruises) - We don't gamble much and treat it as entertainment only. We had a total on both cruises of $200 promotional credit to play, and we managed to flip that on Roulette into about $165 we were able to cash out and keep. The ratio of the casino credit value is related to how long the cruise is, as you have to pay the upgrade per day but get $50 flat pp, whether the cruise is 5 days or 15.
• The minibar - we never touched the vodka and drank very little of the wine. However, we loved the convenience of having large bottles of water restocked daily, along with Kind bars and Pringles and some soft drinks for the room. Yes, I know we could get the beverages with our package and carry them back to the room, but we enjoyed the convenience a lot of the minibar being included. Some people have been able to get the room steward to swap beverages. We got Sprite instead of Coke, for instance, on several days by asking.
• The wine tasting events - Hit or miss. On the first cruise, we were given the "World Wine Tour" and it was terribly oversold and crowded. I said to my husband that if we had paid out of pocket in the Cruise Planner for that event, I would have been mad. It was poorly done. On the second cruise, we were granted access to the "New World vs. Old World" wine event, and the sommelier Sebastian (Edge) who led it was great. Very informative and fun, engaging and entertaining. He introduced us to some new wines we had never tried before and we really enjoyed that one. So I think the value of the wine event will depend entirely on the number of people they cram into it and the quality of the sommelier(s) running it.

 

 

We had Drinks & More for our last cruise (2019), and we have it for our upcoming Reflection cruise. Both times, we paid about $56 per person for the week. It's been worth it for us, but I probably wouldn't pay much more than what we have so far. 

 

1. Agree - the wines aren't great. I just pack them up and bring them home for use in sangria or for bringing to events where people aren't fussy about wines. 

 

2. Casino credits - This is what makes the package worth it for us. We'd spend about $100 in the casino anyway as we are very casual gamblers. And since the credits are already pretty much what we pay per person, it works out. 

 

3. Minibar - We also enjoyed the big bottles of water and the snacks. We aren't big drinkers in the room, but we like having access to things if we are feeling lazy. 

 

4. Good to know about the wine tasting event. I wasn't planning to hit it up again - our experience on the Equinox was that it was the "freebie" for Captains Club members. Packed in like sardines. Could hear nothing. Not worth our time. However, if it's one of the actual other experiences, it might be worth checking out on our upcoming cruise.

 

 

 

 

[CruisinKikster]

3 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 I ran into a similar problem trying to select it for our upcoming Reflection cruise in December.  It would have me the discounted price but for my wife it said the Premium Beverage package had to be purchased first.  We are in a Suite and the PBP is included.  

 

I just send my TA an email explaining that I wanted it for my wife and I and it should be at the discounted price for both of us and to pay for it out of our OBC.  Next day we were upgraded to the Drinks and more for the discount price. 

 

This fits the recurring them, if it does not work online, get your TA involved or if you are booked direct, call Celebrity direct and get it worked out. 

 

 

I emailed celebrity to ask for the drink package to be reflected in my account. Once it is, then you can get the option for the D&M upgrade. 

[WIIsland]

I just received an email about this upgrade for our upcoming cruise. I was unable to do this under cruise planner. When I called Celebrity, the representative did not know about this upgrade. She said I already have Premium drink package, and that’s the best you can get. 
 

Has anyone had experience recently with upgrading? 

[bama4cruisin]

4 minutes ago, WIIsland said:

I just received an email about this upgrade for our upcoming cruise. I was unable to do this under cruise planner. When I called Celebrity, the representative did not know about this upgrade. She said I already have Premium drink package, and that’s the best you can get. 
 

Has anyone had experience recently with upgrading? 

I believe Celebrity is no longer offering the Drinks and More package, but is honoring it when it was purchased before it was discontinued.

[WIIsland]

3 minutes ago, bama4cruisin said:

I believe Celebrity is no longer offering the Drinks and More package, but is honoring it when it was purchased before it was discontinued.

Thank you. So bizarre because I just received this email 2 days ago.