What drinks can you get FREE with meals if you don't have a drink package?

[PTC DAWG]

1 hour ago, sanger727 said:

Ok, to clear a handful of things up.

 

 

The real reason to bother with the drink package is - soda, specialty coffee (cappucino, etc), bottled water, and alcohol.

All this, and no slips to sign unless you go over in price..

[dreamer321]

On 3/25/2023 at 4:18 PM, oddly excitered said:

I mostly drink Iced tea on a cruise, have my mug filled all the time.

We are going on our first celebrity cruise this summer in Alaska, Is their tea good and strong? we have only been on Royal and the tea is good, how does X compare?

Don't forget, they have free tea bags and hot water available all the time in the Oceanview Café. You can steep the tea to your desired strength then pour over ice. On my last cruise on Beyond I had "All Included" with the premium drinks package because I got a really good deal on it but my next cruise I'd doing without a drinks package and skipping "All Included."

 

Café al Bacio also sells Organic Ceylon Tea over ice for $6 plus gratuity if you don't have a drinks package.  Since I had a drinks package I got at least two or three pots a day. It's a great way to have a relaxing start to the day.

Edited March 27, 2023 by dreamer321
edited tax to gratuity

[perakcruiser]

1 hour ago, sanger727 said:

Ok, to clear a handful of things up.

 

1. All cruise lines charge a daily service charge to cover your state attendants and waiters/waitresses.

Just to clarify, this is not true for many European cruise lines and even Celebrity does not charge a daily service charge in some European markets. 

 

On 3/26/2023 at 9:35 AM, cruisestitch said:

these are tonight’s dispensers in Eclipse.  The orange juice is unusual but the other drinks are as expected.

These wonderful machines are found at the buffet only, not in the MDR, right? Does Celebrity still put a mug of water on the table in the MDR or do you have to order water by the glass? 

[sanger727]

1 hour ago, perakcruiser said:

Just to clarify, this is not true for many European cruise lines and even Celebrity does not charge a daily service charge in some European markets. 

 

These wonderful machines are found at the buffet only, not in the MDR, right? Does Celebrity still put a mug of water on the table in the MDR or do you have to order water by the glass? 

 

Yeah, I was mostly speaking about NCL and Celebrity but I should have clarified with American cruise lines. But just wanted to make sure that the daily service charge and beverage package service charge didn't get mixed up.

[cruisestitch]

3 hours ago, perakcruiser said:

Just to clarify, this is not true for many European cruise lines and even Celebrity does not charge a daily service charge in some European markets. 
 

when sailing out of Southampton the drinks prices are inclusive of gratuity.  Australia, too.

 

These wonderful machines are found at the buffet only, not in the MDR, right? Does Celebrity still put a mug of water on the table in the MDR or do you have to order water by the glass? 

I have never seen a carafe of water on the table on Celrbrity. The assistant waiter comes by to fill your glass during the meal

 

[perakcruiser]

2 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

I have never seen a carafe of water on the table on Celrbrity. The assistant waiter comes by to fill your glass during the meal

That was 12 or 13 years before on a Celebrity cruise in Europe. I prefer to fill by myself from a carafe, but not a big thing. 

[mkcurran]

To add to this topic, can water or sodas be purchased for the stateroom ahead of time? 

[PTC DAWG]

4 minutes ago, mkcurran said:

To add to this topic, can water or sodas be purchased for the stateroom ahead of time? 

I am not aware of this on Celebrity..it may exist. 

[Fly and Sail]

5 hours ago, dreamer321 said:

Café al Bacio also sells Organic Ceylon Tea over ice for $6 plus gratuity if you don't have a drinks package.  Since I had a drinks package I got at least two or three pots a day. It's a great way to have a relaxing start to the day.

 

$6++ for hot water and a tea bag. Pathetic. I bring my own TWG.

[wadewood]

On 3/25/2023 at 11:16 PM, kwokpot said:

Juice blends aren't available at dinnertime in the MDR. Last month on the Solstice the Iced Tea at the buffet was sweet tea and it was disgusting. I don't know when Celebrity changed to sweet tea or if it's fleetwide but it was never sweet tea before this year. 

I complained to the Food and Beverage Manager about that sweet tea on the Solstice.  They had switched vendors and he described it as lightly sweetened.  Hopefully they change back.  I ended up mostly making my own ice tea starting with a tea bag in hot water.

[kwokpot]

2 hours ago, wadewood said:

I complained to the Food and Beverage Manager about that sweet tea on the Solstice.  They had switched vendors and he described it as lightly sweetened.  Hopefully they change back.  I ended up mostly making my own ice tea starting with a tea bag in hot water.

I should have done that too. Thanks for speaking up. 

[tschwa2]

10 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

I am not following this math…when I back out the room grats and WiFi from the AI upgrade, I am usually right around $50 a day or so pp for the classic drink package.  That is no where 11-15 drinks..what am I missing in your comment? 

If you aren't getting wifi and don't drink alcohol or for whatever reason booked the rate without the all included, you could be  looking at 11-15 soda or juices a day.

[cruisequeen4ever]

Breakfast- orange, apple, and POG juices

 

Lunch and Dinner- Fruit Punch, Lemonade, and Iced Tea

 

All times- filtered water, coffee, and tea

[taglovestocruise]

Does X have the equivalent of the Diamond lounge on Royal Caribbean. Diamond lounge has pastry and light breakfast items in the morning, snacks throughout the day, espresso machine available most of the morning and afternoon.  Royal has gone with the 4 free drinks per day at any bar or lounge for Diamond, is this also done on Celebrity. Royal recently has seen lots of wait time problems with their MTD procedures, is there a version of any time dining on X. thanks, asking for a friend

[kearney]

On 3/26/2023 at 12:16 AM, kwokpot said:

Juice blends aren't available at dinnertime in the MDR. Last month on the Solstice the Iced Tea at the buffet was sweet tea and it was disgusting. I don't know when Celebrity changed to sweet tea or if it's fleetwide but it was never sweet tea before this year. 

Oh no!! I only drink unsweetened iced tea for lunch..

[hrhdhd]

2 hours ago, taglovestocruise said:

Does X have the equivalent of the Diamond lounge on Royal Caribbean. Diamond lounge has pastry and light breakfast items in the morning, snacks throughout the day, espresso machine available most of the morning and afternoon.  Royal has gone with the 4 free drinks per day at any bar or lounge for Diamond, is this also done on Celebrity. Royal recently has seen lots of wait time problems with their MTD procedures, is there a version of any time dining on X. thanks, asking for a friend

No dedicated lounge for Elite and above. Free drinks for Elite and above during happy hour (5-7 p.m.; details on a perks paper in the room upon boarding). All the E-class ships have anytime dining only. The others have anytime or reserved seating at one of two sittings.

[taglovestocruise]

5 minutes ago, hrhdhd said:

No dedicated lounge for Elite and above. Free drinks for Elite and above during happy hour (5-7 p.m.; details on a perks paper in the room upon boarding). All the E-class ships have anytime dining only. The others have anytime or reserved seating at one of two sittings.

Thanks, we are D+ on Royal and my wife has been talking about booking the Ascent in 2025. happy cruising

[neverlaysup]

On 3/25/2023 at 8:23 PM, wallyj said:

Hi @Hui C Stanek, many first timers are surprised or did not do their research to understand most cruiselines, except for some very high end luxury lines, add a daily ‘service charge’ to your account either daily or at the end of the sailing. NCL currently has a minimum $20 per day per person, meaning for a party of 2 adults, that is $40/day billed to your stateroom, so yes, I can see depending on the number in your party and the length of the cruise, $600 in ‘service charges/tips’, is normal/expected. 
 

I think the minimum service charge on Celebrity is $17.50 a day per person, depending on cabin type booked,  so be sure to budget or plan on this ‘cruising’ expense.

what the OP was saying was that if you want to book NCL with the "free" drinks, you actually have to pay the gratuity as if you purchased the drink package. Essentially, if you book an NCL cruise with free drinks, they add about $20 per day per person to the cruise fare in the checkout window. I think it's wrong the way they advertise "free" but make you pay for gratuities. The same goes for "free" specialty dining on NCL, they add 2 or 3 nights worth of Specialty restaurant gratuities to your cruise rate. Go to their site and you will understand after doing a mock booking.