All-you-can-drink packages - Celebrity
 

Has anyone purchased an all-you-can-drink package on Celebrity cruises? If so, could you tell me if everyone in the cabin has to buy one if one does or only one person can do so. I saw that mentioned for Carnival and some other lines (in the fine print) but not for Celebrity.

I couldn't get the Celebrity page because of maintenance. In the article I read, the Classic package is advertised $44-$49 and the Premium one $54-$59. Are those prices right or did they increase? And is it worth the price?

Thanks to anyone who can help me.

The prices I believe are per person.

Whether it's worth the price totally depends on what you like to drink AND how much you drink. The packages haven't made sense for us but that's due to our preferences.

There are many options, I would call their toll-free number and ask a rep to talk you through them. Be sure to confirm where and when they can be used, if gratuities are included, etc.

They are per person per day so it does depend on how much you use.

You can bring two bottles of wine on board for use in your cabin and only upon embarkation.

You can also purchase from X booze for use in the cabin.

Not everyone in the cabin is required to purchase the drink package.

However, if the classic drinks package is a perk that you chose as part of a promotion (like the recent 123 promo) then everyone in the cabin will receive the package.

As said before, whether it's worth the price depends on your usage and what you like to drink. Last year on the Solstice I had the premium package and I felt it was worth it. I recall the daily price per day was around the $55 mark.

I like single malt whisky and those were not covered by the classic package price limit. Also, the wines by the glass selection covered by the classic package in the dining room was very limited. By that alone I chose the premium package.

However, once on board I did find the package useful for trying different types of drinks at the Molecular Bar that I might not have tried if I didn't have the package.

jacketwatch - You mentioned that you can also purchase from X booze for use in the cabin. Does this mean that I can go to the ship's boutique and buy lets say a bottle of rhum and they will let me take it to the cabin. Usually they hold it till the end of the trip and then send it to the cabin.

chepar - If I were to buy a package and would like once in a while my son to have a drink, do they really check what you order and how often you do. I read somewhere that a woman order some wine at the diner table and she had to finish her glass before being able to order another one.

No, it's not that way. You can either preorder on line thru X's website or do it once you are on board. I forgot the price but it sure isn't like the duty free on board. :). However it's not that bad either. They deliver it to you. You can't buy it in the shops and take it to your cabin.

If you order a bottle of alcohol for your cabin, the price is close to what you might pay for an equivalent amount of drinks at the bar. On a previous Celebrity cruise (before they started the drinks package) I ordered a bottle of Macallan whisky for my cabin. It came along with a 6 pack of soda (there are different mixers to choose from) and a small selection of bar type snacks - nuts, crackers, etc. The price for this was close to $100. Any alcohol purchased through duty free shops will be held for you until the end of the cruise.

You are not supposed to pass drinks if you have the package, though I'm sure it happens. If you are going to sit in one location and order drinks, the same servers usually attend to you and they will notice you passing drinks.

Although I've not tried to do so, I've heard that you can only order one drink at a time. So if you wanted a drink and a bottle of water, you would have to wait a little bit before being able to order the water. I'm not sure how long the "waiting period" is between drinks.

You should check out the Celebrity forum at cruisecritic.com if you haven't yet already - there are many threads about the drinks packages.

Chepar I think thats incorrect. McCallan is a very good single malt and I'll bet a shot of that at the bar is at least $12.00 plus tip. IIRC the in room cabin set up gives you a litre bottle so if one drink is about 30 cc that means there is about 33 shots per litre. At $12.00 per shot plus 15% tip thats well over $400.00 if you were to do it at the bar separately.

I looked at Celebrities website but the in cabin set up info is down now.

BTW, slightly off topic but I think the Celebrity web site is dire, really doing a disservice to what I think is a great cruise line.

whiteowl - in the case os your son being thirsty and wanting a drink. The solution is that you buy him a drink and pay for it.

whiteowl - in the case you asked about - when your son wants a drink, you order it and pay for it.

On Royal Caribbean all members of the stateroom don't have to have the package if one person does. So I imagine it's the same on Celebrity?

No, not every one in the same stateroom has to buy a drinks package, you just can't share.

jacketwatch,

>if one drink is about 30 cc that means there is about 33 shots per litre<

My pours are noticeably heavier than that. :)

Now that I think about it some more, I think my recollection of the package costing $100 was a little low, but not by more than $30. At the time I think they were charging $9 or $10 for Macallan at the bars (but this was 5 years ago, too). Still, when you do the math, it does seem the in room set up is cheaper.

The in room package was good for that particular cruise we were on (Baltic), because we spent full days in port and often returned to the ship with little time before our dinner seating. It was nice to have a drink while getting ready, since we didn't have time to go to a lounge prior to dinner.

But I much prefer sitting in a lounge and people watching, so I do enjoy the packages that they now offer.

I just looked at the Celebrity page and they're currently charging $100 for a bottle of Glenlivet, which I guess is not bad, considering they're charging $80 for a bottle of Dewar's White Label. There does not seem to be a consistent mark up percentage, at least based on my knowledge of how much those particular brands cost me at home.

Here's to bartenders who favor heavier pours. :D

BTW I think I paid about $12.00 for a single malt on our CCL cruise last April. Yep, they have gone up.

We sailed with Celebrity in March and were given a drinks package as part of our reservation. However, I know from enquiring in the past, that travelling companions must both purchase a drinks package, otherwise it would be too easy to 'share'. Also, in the past when we asked to purchase a bottle/litre for our cabin, we were advised that, unfortunately, you must, indeed, pay for the number of 'shots' in the bottle, so there is no advantage, unlike Princess and HAL which give do give a significant discount.

Whether or not paying for the drinks package is worth it, is up to how much you would normally consume. We enjoyed the convenience of the drinks card and yes, you can only order 1 drink/card at a time, so one person can take 2 cards to the bar and get 2 drinks. We did find our wine topped up, regularly, at dinner without the need to empty our glasses. We don't drink soft drinks that often, but my husband enjoyed being able to have fresh-squeezed juice. If you find that part of the enjoyment of your trip is several drinks a day, a few specialty coffees, wine with dinner and a couple of drinks following, you may get your money's worth, otherwise, you are just paying for the convenience. But it's great, if you can get it 'for free'!

nexttrip,

I wasn't aware both parties had to purchase a package, I guess I misunderstood. Sort of awkward if one of the two is a non-drinker.

Impossible to check on their website without actually placing an order.

Cathinjoetown,

When we did a family cruise on the Solstice last year, there was no policy that both people in the cabin had to purchase the same drink package. My father had the premium package and my mother did not have a package at all.

Not sure if they've changed the policy since then.