Drink package - Expensive.....buy now or on board?

For my upcoming cruise, I picked up the Premium Non-Alcoholic Package for $22 per day+gratuity. (I don't like alcohol, and that's ok). This will allow me to try out some expensive drinks and smoothies that I normally won't have in my everyday life.

 

You can use it to upgrade online before sailing. Did it two weeks ago for Solstice

 

How, do tell? When I pick beverage package all I am presented with is the full cost of what I am selecting and I am not eager to hit the next button to find out if that is not really what will happen. I do not have an 'upgrade' selection.

 

Yes, it comes up on my cruise planner too. Unsure why the quoted message keeps quoting my user name when I originally stated you could do it on line and now use OBC - it was poffles that was the OP having problems upgrading.

 

Odd, this is not showing in my cruise planner. It offers only packages at full price so maybe it's a timing thing? Perhaps you have to be closer to your trip? Perhaps only some countries see it? Will have to keep watching, long time away still so all good and worst that can happen is I upgrade once on board.

Thank you everyone for your replies.

 

Was hoping you would all say wait till you are on board as it's half the price ....obviously not the case.

 

As we have quite a few days at sea looks like the Classic package might be a good option. We might wait a few more weeks to see if any special offers come along as mentioned by Luvcrusn.

At least we know we can get it on board at the same cost, I was worried it was going to be higher on the ship but as not the case as a few of you mentioned might as well wait.

You might well be better to track the $/£ exchange rate. Celebrity's is currently on the low side of 1.215 so you will be charged £45/£53 for the Classic/Premium packages (plus 18% gratuities). You would be advised to check whether this rate has changed before buying the package of your choice and if it is this low, buy your preferred package on board when you would be charged in dollars, and you can get your credit card company to do the conversion at a more favourable rate to you.

Celebrity's rate is often in our favour for those of us in the UK but not at the moment.

You might well be better to track the $/£ exchange rate. Celebrity's is currently on the low side of 1.215 so you will be charged £45/£53 for the Classic/Premium packages (plus 18% gratuities). You would be advised to check whether this rate has changed before buying the package of your choice and if it is this low, buy your preferred package on board when you would be charged in dollars, and you can get your credit card company to do the conversion at a more favourable rate to you.

Celebrity's rate is often in our favour for those of us in the UK but not at the moment.

Thanks Kitekat for the reply.

I was under the impression that the 18% was included in the £45 but have just tried to add it to my booking and realised that it is not the case! So for 17 days a Classic is now £904.00 :o

So are you saying that the £45 daily cost could changed before October depending on the exchange rate? Therefore could be even more expensive........

Thanks Kitekat for the reply.

I was under the impression that the 18% was included in the £45 but have just tried to add it to my booking and realised that it is not the case! So for 17 days a Classic is now £904.00 :o

So are you saying that the £45 daily cost could changed before October depending on the exchange rate? Therefore could be even more expensive........

Yes, the cost in pounds sterling depends on the rate that Celebrity offers. I believe that Celebrity buys its currency ahead of time so can offer good rates. However, at the moment the exchange rate for $/£ has improved above the hedge level that Celebrity originally bought at, so the rates available for us in the UK are definitely not as good, so I would wait. The best way to check is to check the 'gifts by Celebrity' for "On Board Credit" the value offered is for blocks of $25, so it is easy to check the exchange rate offered.

At the moment, I would wait until I board and, as mentioned before, get my credit card company to make the conversion. This would also apply to excursions.

Just keep checking the exchange rate and Celebrity's offering.

We are due on a 17 nights cruise in October, have just looked at the cost of the drink packages :eek:

The cheapest starts at GBP36.90 so for 2 of us we are looking at a minimum of GBP1254.60/USD1608.00 for the cruise!!!! The cruise is a very special occasion so don't want to be worrying about having a drink whenever we fancy one but at the same time this seems VERY expensive.

 

Would it be cheaper to wait and buy on board? Do they have special deals or the opposite, once on board it is a lot more expensive????

 

Thanks for any advices/suggestions.

You may wish to check exactly what this package offers you in the way of drinks. The current classic package is £45.10 (incl the 18% grats), this may be the standard package (or what ever it is called) which X has slotted in below the classic package. The list of drinks included in each package is on one of the threads here on CC. If we do not get the drinks package as a 'freebie', I normally buy OBC through X and have my own drinks fund 😀 Since, as has previously been said, buying OBC through X is more advantageous due to the fact that they give you more dollars than you get here in the UK!

You may wish to check exactly what this package offers you in the way of drinks. The current classic package is £45.10 (incl the 18% grats), this may be the standard package (or what ever it is called) which X has slotted in below the classic package. The list of drinks included in each package is on one of the threads here on CC. If we do not get the drinks package as a 'freebie', I normally buy OBC through X and have my own drinks fund 😀 Since, as has previously been said, buying OBC through X is more advantageous due to the fact that they give you more dollars than you get here in the UK!

Through Celebrity, at the moment, we are getting $1.2195 based on the purchase of a block of $25 OBC, costs us £20.50. We are not buying any more OBC or excursions until their exchange rate improves or we will buy on board and pay with our credit card.

Through Celebrity, at the moment, we are getting $1.2195 based on the purchase of a block of $25 OBC, costs us £20.50. We are not buying any more OBC or excursions until their exchange rate improves or we will buy on board and pay with our credit card.

That's a pity, often you can get a much better rate, it all depends on when they update!! I must admit that the charges that were put through after our cruise a couple of weeks ago were not too bad, although our card issuer does charge a fee on top. Still a bill of ~£17 at the end of a cruise was not bad 👍😀

Hi Poffles,

Thanks for the reply, I have just checked and the "good news" is the 18% gratuity is included in the price.

 

Probably missed something but lots of the replies mentioned OBC, it's only our 2nd time with Celebrity and I don't think we have any, nothing shows in My reservation/profile. How do we get OBC?

Edited: I was wrong and the 18% gratuity wasn't included :(

Edited: I was wrong and the 18% gratuity wasn't included :(

Well that changes things ... bummer. Though best to know sooner than later.