Did Celebrity just increase drink package prices?

[toddmanka]

1 hour ago, DCPIV said:

 

From the beginning.

I don’t think so.  3 night pkg was 129 when u go to check out now and they add additional 18%

[D C]

18 minutes ago, kywildcatfanone said:

My point really was they are pushing these packages because they are making large amounts of money from them.  Are some passengers drinking the daily limits (if they exist), sure, but far more are buying a package and drinking 2-3 drinks a day, which would have been far cheaper to just buy individually.  They know this, and that is why every promo include drink and gratuity packages.  It's simple marketing.

They wouldn't push them if they weren't profitable 🙂

[jagoffee]

I cannot even remember the last time Celebrity increased the cost for the drink packages?  Anyone remember?  Perhaps over 10 years ago?

 

With the AI bundle and the previous 123 and BBB bundles I seriously doubt if Celebrity sells very many individual drink packages.  
 

 I am sure they sell a lot of upgrades from Classic to Premium.  The cost to upgrade from the Classic Drink Package to the Premium as been $10 plus gratuity from the very start.  (From what I recall).

 

With the current inflation trends, it would be more of a surprise if the prices were not increasing. 
 

Princess is also increasing the cost of their Plus bundle that includes the drink package.  They are also also creating a new Premium Drink package that will cost $25 a day to uograde from the Standard package to the new Premium package.

[grandgeezer]

2 hours ago, Mark_T said:

Yes if you booked with an 'Always Included' fare, but only the 'Classic' brands, and some do purchase 'cruise only' fares though.

 

So there will be people who got the 'Classic' drinks included wanting to upgrade to 'Premium' and those on 'cruise only' wanting to buy a package to go with it...

Why in the world would a person buying “the cruise only” package also buy a drink package? Most people buy the cruise only package so they don’t get stuck paying for things ( drink package, and crappy internet) that they don’t see the value in. Ai is a deal breaker for us and probably quite a few other people out there.

[D C]

10 minutes ago, jagoffee said:

I cannot even remember the last time Celebrity increased the cost for the drink packages?  Anyone remember?  Perhaps over 10 years ago?

 

With the AI bundle and the previous 123 and BBB bundles I seriously doubt if Celebrity sells very many individual drink packages.  
 

 I am sure they sell a lot of upgrades from Classic to Premium.  The cost to upgrade from the Classic Drink Package to the Premium as been $10 plus gratuity from the very start.  (From what I recall).

 

With the current inflation trends, it would be more of a surprise if the prices were not increasing. 
 

Princess is also increasing the cost of their Plus bundle that includes the drink package.  They are also also creating a new Premium Drink package that will cost $25 a day to uograde from the Standard package to the new Premium package.

Price increases are not unexpected.  The magnitude of the increase for an upgrade certainly IS unexpected. 

 

As the difference between a 'classic' item and a 'premium' item, it's easy for guests to say "has the difference between my classic beer and premium beer offering increased by 40%?"  difference in wine price? spirit price?   Nope. 

 

Had they said "Wow... we haven't increased prices in a while...hey Jim, how much do we need to raise them?"  and Jim said "We're going to throw a 40% increase on the upgrade, which is what most people will see" the answer should have been "We can't do that! Not all at once".   

 

So you slip in a $1.50 increase now for new bookings, then another $1.50 in 6-9 months, then another.   FAR more palatable.

[Mark_T]

13 minutes ago, grandgeezer said:

Why in the world would a person buying “the cruise only” package also buy a drink package? Most people buy the cruise only package so they don’t get stuck paying for things ( drink package, and crappy internet) that they don’t see the value in. Ai is a deal breaker for us and probably quite a few other people out there.

As you have pointed out, the drink package is not the only thing you avoid by buying 'cruise only' ...

 

[jagoffee]

16 minutes ago, D C said:

Price increases are not unexpected.  The magnitude of the increase for an upgrade certainly IS unexpected. 

 

As the difference between a 'classic' item and a 'premium' item, it's easy for guests to say "has the difference between my classic beer and premium beer offering increased by 40%?"  difference in wine price? spirit price?   Nope. 

 

Had they said "Wow... we haven't increased prices in a while...hey Jim, how much do we need to raise them?"  and Jim said "We're going to throw a 40% increase on the upgrade, which is what most people will see" the answer should have been "We can't do that! Not all at once".   

 

So you slip in a $1.50 increase now for new bookings, then another $1.50 in 6-9 months, then another.   FAR more palatable.

True.

 

  The  issue was created  by  Celebrity increasing the price  of the Classic Drink package by less than the Premium Drink package.  It does appear that the Premium Drink Package increase is not strictly driven by inflation, but also making the Premium package more valuable.  (Thus more profitable). Thus the issue is not really the price  of the upgrade, but the price increase for the Premium Drink Package.  I wonder if the cost of the Indulge bundle will increase as well?

 

As we know Specialty dining pricing has increased by 18%.

 

Good thing it did not increase as much as gas has increased.