Drink package costs

[shipshape sam]

Looking to book and purchase AI or not.  Any help on the pricing for the 2 levels of alcoholic drink packages would be great.

 

Thanks in advance.

[cruisestitch]

Have you looked at your booking on the Celebrity website? It’s all spelled out there

[shipshape sam]

6 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

Have you looked at your booking on the Celebrity website? It’s all spelled out there

Not booked.  Playing around with AI and think I can get pretty close to AI package price by making it my own way, ie gratuities and Premium drink package and skip the wifi as we do not use it anyway.  On last cruise used 0 of our Elite plus internet minutes.  I am thinking Premium is $70 a day plus or $490, gratuities of $17 per day or $120 for 7 days.  Thus the AI package being offered is $600/person for the Classic drink package.

 

I think I am swapping internet for upgrade to Premium drink package, but  want to confirm before I book, if possible.

[Esprit]

If price is an issue and you are an occasional drinker you’d be better off paying as you go.

Personally it’s the Premium package every time. Peroni beers and fresh orange juice are my “go to” daily drinks mixed in with wine at lunch and dinner times.

[NantahalaCruiser]

Per Celebrity Website 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/things-to-do-onboard/onboard-packages/beverage-packages

Standard Pricing is:

 

Classic =     $69 x 1.20 = $82.80 per person per day

Premium = $84 x 1.20 = $100.80 per person per day

 

Pre-cruise online discounts may or may not occur

Edited November 16, 2022 by NantahalaCruiser

[jelayne]

26 minutes ago, shipshape sam said:

Not booked.  Playing around with AI and think I can get pretty close to AI package price by making it my own way, ie gratuities and Premium drink package and skip the wifi as we do not use it anyway.  On last cruise used 0 of our Elite plus internet minutes.  I am thinking Premium is $70 a day plus or $490, gratuities of $17 per day or $120 for 7 days.  Thus the AI package being offered is $600/person for the Classic drink package.

 

I think I am swapping internet for upgrade to Premium drink package, but  want to confirm before I book, if possible.

The Premium package for 7 nights is about the same  as AI at $600 pp

Edited November 16, 2022 by jelayne

[NantahalaCruiser]

And

 

Celebrity automatically adds gratuities** to guests’ onboard SeaPass® account, except for guests in Excluded Bookings*, as defined below, in the following amounts for sailings commencing on or after October 17, 2022: 

 

• $17.50 USD per person, per day for Inside, Ocean View, and Veranda staterooms 
• $18.00 USD per person, per day for Concierge Class and AquaClass staterooms  
• $21.00 USD per person, per day for guests of The Retreat. 

[NantahalaCruiser]

12 minutes ago, jelayne said:

The Premium package for 7 nights is about the same  as AI at $600 pp

Website now shows $84 plus gratuity per day or $705.60 pp for 7 nights.

 

But one of my booked cruises is currently showing a 9% pre-cruise discount - $75.99 + 20% or $638.32 pp for 7 nights

Edited November 16, 2022 by NantahalaCruiser

[PTC DAWG]

14 minutes ago, NantahalaCruiser said:

And

 

Celebrity automatically adds gratuities** to guests’ onboard SeaPass® account, except for guests in Excluded Bookings*, as defined below, in the following amounts for sailings commencing on or after October 17, 2022: 

 

• $17.50 USD per person, per day for Inside, Ocean View, and Veranda staterooms 
• $18.00 USD per person, per day for Concierge Class and AquaClass staterooms  
• $21.00 USD per person, per day for guests of The Retreat. 

Those are included under the AI rates. 

[LB_NJ]

Generally, if you are going to get a drink package then the AI makes sense. It tends to price out at the drinks package plus gratuities (or less) and wifi for free.

 

On one of my cruises the classic package is $74.39 pp/night (this includes the gratuities). For 7 nights this would be $520.72.  When gratuities are added it is $645 pp.  AI would be cheaper.  You can always buy the upgrade to premium if the math works.  

[shipshape sam]

Thanks for help/responses.

[NantahalaCruiser]

On 11/16/2022 at 3:09 PM, PTC DAWG said:

Those are included under the AI rates. 

Obviously! But the OP was asking what they would be with or without AI.

[PTC DAWG]

1 hour ago, NantahalaCruiser said:

Obviously! But the OP was asking what they would be with or without AI.

Just pointing out to not forget about the included DSC that the AI also covers, it could sway the decision. In hindsight, I think we were both trying to help the OP make the best decision.  

Edited November 29, 2022 by PTC DAWG

[Islander500]

Quick somewhat related question. 

On 11/16/2022 at 2:57 PM, NantahalaCruiser said:

Website now shows $84 plus gratuity per day or $705.60 pp for 7 nights.

 

But one of my booked cruises is currently showing a 9% pre-cruise discount - $75.99 + 20% or $638.32 pp for 7 nights

Quick somewhat related question, if anyone knows. If you purchase AI fare, and then find there is a Beverage package sale, is the cost to upgrade still the difference between both sale prices, i.e. $15 dollars?  So in effect, no discount to upgrade?  Seems wrong but to Celebrity's benefit since you didn't have access to that sale info before you booked the AI.          

[PTC DAWG]

37 minutes ago, Islander500 said:

Quick somewhat related question. 

Quick somewhat related question, if anyone knows. If you purchase AI fare, and then find there is a Beverage package sale, is the cost to upgrade still the difference between both sale prices, i.e. $15 dollars?  So in effect, no discount to upgrade?  Seems wrong but to Celebrity's benefit since you didn't have access to that sale info before you booked the AI.          

I have never seen a beverage package sale on Celebrity..

[drakes2]

14 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

I have never seen a beverage package sale on Celebrity..

Neither have I. Best I get is 10% off to upgrade from basic to premium. 

[Islander500]

3 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

I have never seen a beverage package sale on Celebrity..

My cruise on Equinox shows a 9% off price on the cruise planner for both Premium & Classic Packages.  An ever higher percent reduction for non-alcohol packages.  

[shipshape sam]

We decided that we would purchase the premium non alcoholic package.  At my age for a warm weather cruise, I can see me having a beer sometime during the day, enjoying the standard red wine via Captain's Club elite+ hours and/or for that evening some of our own 2 bottle limit wine.  I actually like to drink tonic water over rocks and it tastes great and absent the alcohol if given enough to taste it, I will be good to go.  Will try at least one martini, which I like.  Don't drink sodas often (tonic water does have calories), so looking for the specialty coffees and bottled water day/night.

 

That is another question.  If you are not under the alcohol drinks package, is your martini served in a smaller glass with a lessor portion? I think that happened to us on the Solstice once at the Martini bar.

 

Thanks for everyone's input

[miched]

Another thing to consider is that the availability of “premium” drinks.   We just got off of a B2B on the Equinox.    We we in a SS.   The premium wines seemed to disappear during the cruise and weren’t available on the next.   Supply issue was the excuse.  
 

I am a bourbon drinker.   On the Apex in Mar Woodford was available.   On the Equinox they wasn’t any to be found.  Supply issue.  

 

The only bourbons were those that were covered in the classic package.   Supply issue

 

There were also other spirits in the premium list that weren’t available.  Supply issue

 

I wonder why there weren’t any supply issue with those in the classic package ?

 

Being a suite that had a premium pack included I got nothing better than a classic offering.    Didn’t get what I paid for 
 

Something to consider.    You can read many post about the so called supply issue on the spirits

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[Bo1953]

I have read in several threads complaints of 'certain' brands not available on certain sailings...

 

I can say that when the brand I wanted was not available on the PBP, My bartender was happy enough to upgrade me without additional charge, likewise for wine when the bottles I brought were somehow empty by night five (5)...

 

Very accommodating, or so I thought... So no complaints on this front.

 

Cheers and bon voyage

Edited December 1, 2022 by Bo1953

[drakes2]

3 hours ago, miched said:

Another thing to consider is that the availability of “premium” drinks.   We just got off of a B2B on the Equinox.    We we in a SS.   The premium wines seemed to disappear during the cruise and weren’t available on the next.   Supply issue was the excuse.  

Save yourself a few bucks and skip the beverage package. The so called premium wines were not fit to be called premium and I personally don't believe its related to a supply chain issue. Celebrity is just not contracting better wines since covid. Been on 4 cruises since and have yet to get some decent wines.  I bring on 2 rather pricey wines one is Austin Hope the 2019 release far superior to Caymus IMO and they could not even get Caymus in October even though it was listed by the bottle price.  Same for Decoy ran out half way through the cruise so substituted CK Mondavi. 

[jules27556]

18 hours ago, shipshape sam said:

We decided that we would purchase the premium non alcoholic package.  At my age for a warm weather cruise, I can see me having a beer sometime during the day, enjoying the standard red wine via Captain's Club elite+ hours and/or for that evening some of our own 2 bottle limit wine.  I actually like to drink tonic water over rocks and it tastes great and absent the alcohol if given enough to taste it, I will be good to go.  Will try at least one martini, which I like.  Don't drink sodas often (tonic water does have calories), so looking for the specialty coffees and bottled water day/night.

 

That is another question.  If you are not under the alcohol drinks package, is your martini served in a smaller glass with a lessor portion? I think that happened to us on the Solstice once at the Martini bar.

 

Thanks for everyone's input

Are the non alcohol drink packages still available?  I did not find them when exploring drink package options.  Thanks!

[shipshape sam]

3 hours ago, jules27556 said:

Are the non alcohol drink packages still available?  I did not find them when exploring drink package options.  Thanks!

It was on our sailing, Beyond 1/15/2023.  It was below the alcohol drink packages.  Try scrolling down as that was where it was when we ordered it.

 

Have a great cruise.

[shipshape sam]

10 hours ago, drakes2 said:

Save yourself a few bucks and skip the beverage package. The so called premium wines were not fit to be called premium and I personally don't believe its related to a supply chain issue. Celebrity is just not contracting better wines since covid. Been on 4 cruises since and have yet to get some decent wines.  I bring on 2 rather pricey wines one is Austin Hope the 2019 release far superior to Caymus IMO and they could not even get Caymus in October even though it was listed by the bottle price.  Same for Decoy ran out half way through the cruise so substituted CK Mondavi. 

Will look up your choices for carry on wines.  We do like Decoy and Decoy runs just under $20/bottle here in Georgia.  They had Decoy on our Alaska trip in 2019 which is a long time ago and things can change in a week.  They did run out of Decoy by day 4/5. Never tried Austin Hope 2019 or Caymus  or CK Mondavi.  

[shipshape sam]

On 11/16/2022 at 2:46 PM, NantahalaCruiser said:

Per Celebrity Website 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/things-to-do-onboard/onboard-packages/beverage-packages

Standard Pricing is:

 

Classic =     $69 x 1.20 = $82.80 per person per day

Premium = $84 x 1.20 = $100.80 per person per day

 

Pre-cruise online discounts may or may not occur

Yeah the prices are high and you have to drink more than I like to drink to break even let alone feel that the package pricing is a good deal.  We have booked premium before on most cruises along with speciality dining package.  No plans for either on our upcoming cruise. They have hit our elasticity of demand by a couple of drinks and after paying for cruise (MDR meals included) do not see the value in a $40-$60 up charge per person per meal to, in theory, have a higher quality meal/service.  

 

Our premium non alcoholic package was $25 and discounted to I think $22.  So for us in looking at our breakeven $84 less $22 gives me $62 a day for a beer and a cocktail.  Assuming beer is $7 and cocktail is $15 giving me $22.  That would give me $62 less $22 or $40 per day to save or splurge.  $40 time 7 saves me $280 for each of us or $560.  

 

And for us as Captain Club Elite+, we can get some drinks during CC happy hours, I think 5-7pm daily.  Not sure about 1st night availability. Plus we plan to have 2 bottles brought onboard with us.

 

Anyway, thanks for your link