Celebrity Newbie, can I ask some questions please?

[*Fudge*]

Hello, we have only ever cruised with Royal Caribbean so I need some advice etc please.

 

I have read about the All Included pricing on the website and I have looked at the price separately of the items included for a 10 day cruise.  I was wondering, apart from the gratuities, do Celebrity have offers after booking on the drinks package and the WiFi or is it a better offer to just do the All Included price at the time of booking?  

 

Ta Muchly.

[jelayne]

After booking you may find a slightly lower price in the Cruise Planner.  My upcoming cruise has the Classic Beverage at $62 and Premium at $76.  Plus 20% which a added.  The All Included price cover Drinks and gratuit.
Three are upgrading Wi-Fi on all the ships and the prices will go up slightly.  
 

In my experience All Included is less expensive than buying a drink pkg, Wi-Fi and paying the daily gratuity.

[capecodmercury]

1 minute ago, *Fudge* said:

Hello, we have only ever cruised with Royal Caribbean so I need some advice etc please.

 

I have read about the All Included pricing on the website and I have looked at the price separately of the items included for a 10 day cruise.  I was wondering, apart from the gratuities, do Celebrity have offers after booking on the drinks package and the WiFi or is it a better offer to just do the All Included price at the time of booking?  

 

Ta Muchly.

Without snark, the answer to the question has to be, it depends.  A lot of the answer is dependant on the cost difference you are seeing between the sail only (plus any add ons you may get) and all included price.  If there is a substantial price difference,  you are unlikely to see this made up by any specials that may get offered. 

 

Second question is how much you value (and need) all aspects of the all included price. If, for example,  you won't need or take full advantage of a drink package or if you can do without slow internet for 10 days, then paying for these will be a waste, no matter what you pay.

 

Finally, what status do you have with Royal Caribbean? Due to status match, you might be able to get some discounts (10-15%) on booking drink packages separately.   Also, if you match to Elite status (I think this is Diamond or above on Royal), you will have the free drinks from 5 to 7, which can affect your cost calculation. 

 

Anyway you shake it, enjoy your first Celebrity Cruise!

[*Fudge*]

Thank you both, the price difference between cruise only and All Included works out at £35 a day.   We are at Emerald with Royal at the moment.  

[chemmo]

17 minutes ago, *Fudge* said:

Thank you both, the price difference between cruise only and All Included works out at £35 a day.   We are at Emerald with Royal at the moment.  

Drink prices as you will know on Royal are not cheap. Even if you are not a big drinker the cost of a few waters and coffees a day soon add up. Personally, if we ‘do the sums’ we probably break even with a package but we simply enjoy knowing up front what our cruise will cost. We also experiment more with a package. When paying by the glass I will choose a wine I know and trust, with a package I will try new ones knowing if I don’t like it I can just get another! Ditto for cocktails.

 

Welcome to Celebrity cruises. We (like many) are ex RC cruisers, Celebrity is a much more relaxing cruise experience in our opinion.

[capecodmercury]

44 minutes ago, *Fudge* said:

Thank you both, the price difference between cruise only and All Included works out at £35 a day.   We are at Emerald with Royal at the moment.  

At £35 per day, no doubt about it, go all included.  Gratuities would take up half of this and one drink/glass of wine and a specialty coffee per day would make up the balance.  There is no way that you are going to be able to get a better deal.

[Jim_Iain]

I really believe it depends on what you enjoy on a cruise.    When booking if getting a Suite you currently don't have a choice and will get the all inclusive -   If in Aqua and Below I believe you can still book without any perks.    If you don't really use the drink package or Internet it might make sense to book No Perks.     

 

If you want to find the sweet spot -   pull out Excel and enter the price per day for Internet premium and Basic, Drink Package Premium and Basic and Tips per day  and often the additional OBC and calculate the cost.

 

Now compare it to the Fully Inclusive -   I generally find all inclusive would be a better deal.  

 

I'm a Zenith and get Free Premium Drink Package and Internet bu traveling in suites we loose the benefit and have to pay for it.   Would love to be able to book without perks but that's the way it is so we accept it.

[CNSfromHI]

3 hours ago, *Fudge* said:

Hello, we have only ever cruised with Royal Caribbean so I need some advice etc please.

 

I have read about the All Included pricing on the website and I have looked at the price separately of the items included for a 10 day cruise.  I was wondering, apart from the gratuities, do Celebrity have offers after booking on the drinks package and the WiFi or is it a better offer to just do the All Included price at the time of booking?  

 

Ta Muchly.

As a traveler who recently completed his first Celebrity cruise, we booked with the all-in-one stuff right away and didn't regret it -- despite the zillion "offers" we received via email or saw on the Celebrity site afterward. In my limited experience, there is some financial benefit to the all-in-one offer.

 

cjr

[chimchimtx]

The included wifi on our recent Equinox cruise was useless.  It's was comparable to saying we 'include' a free umbrella but the umbrella has holes in it.  We sailed Aqua and had premium beverage package so we weren't expecting to spend too much extra.  But then we had to blow a large amount of OBC on internet packages.  We had to have working internet for work.  I share that just because it could possibly sway your decision when determining cost/value of each package option.  From what I have read here internet is a very large fail for Celebrity currently across most ships. Hoping the new Elon Musk satellites are better, but not counting on it since his cars are terrible...

[*Fudge*]

Thank you all, we are definitely going to book and going with the All Included, I had looked at GTY Veranda but then I looked at Aqua with the All Included and with my BlueLight discount I can get that for an extra £270, it’s a 10 day cruise.  Is Aqua a nice option to have?  At the moment I’m just looking at pics on the internet. 

 

Thanks again all. 🙂  

[wrk2cruise]

The best part of Aqua is the private Blu restaurant.  It's smaller and more intimate than the MDR.  Some of the Aqua rooms are in some less desirable areas like under the pool deck.

 

[PTC DAWG]

18 hours ago, chimchimtx said:

The included wifi on our recent Equinox cruise was useless.  It's was comparable to saying we 'include' a free umbrella but the umbrella has holes in it.  We sailed Aqua and had premium beverage package so we weren't expecting to spend too much extra.  But then we had to blow a large amount of OBC on internet packages.  We had to have working internet for work.  I share that just because it could possibly sway your decision when determining cost/value of each package option.  From what I have read here internet is a very large fail for Celebrity currently across most ships. Hoping the new Elon Musk satellites are better, but not counting on it since his cars are terrible...

Just off Equinox, Wife streamed a football game on YouTube on the pool deck under cover off to the side one Saturday..using the basic WiFi..so obviously it can vary on ship location,  FWIW we were dodging Ian during this time, very cloudy and rainy. 

Edited September 30, 2022 by PTC DAWG

[PTC DAWG]

7 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

The best part of Aqua is the private Blu restaurant.  It's smaller and more intimate than the MDR.  Some of the Aqua rooms are in some less desirable areas like under the pool deck.

 

We were right under the Solarium recently, rarely heard anything.

 

Blu was on point as you say. 

[leo72976]

We completed our first Celebrity cruise in August and did the basic rate without any add ons and had a great time.  We are booked to sail again at the end of October and chose to try the all-inclusive.  When we did the math, it just made sense for us to try.  I agree with several posters that it just depends what you are looking for.  What works for me may not work for you.  I will say that most people on the ship did have a beverage package and we felt left out.  No matter what you choose to do, you will have a great time!