Are the perks really free?

i am booked on Summit to Bermuda in August. We received free drink plan and $300 OBC.

Is the drink plan really free? Someone just told me on NCL you have to pay the 18 percent gratuity on the free drink plan

Thx

Unlike what I hear about NCL, gratuities are included on Celebrity for the beverage packages.

Jimmies

I'm sorry but are you saying I am paying gratuities on Celebrity on the drink plan or I'm not

Thx

There is no additional gratutity charged on the drink package. Having said that the perks are not free; they have been built into the fare you paid. Sometimes you can opt not to book with the perks and the rate is lower

We were just looking at a 7 night Summitt and a Veranda with 2 perks started at $2049. When I looked at other pricing options the price without perks and either a senior or resident rate was $900 per person less.

i am booked on Summit to Bermuda in August. We received free drink plan and $300 OBC.

Is the drink plan really free? Someone just told me on NCL you have to pay the 18 percent gratuity on the free drink plan

Thx

The drink plan is not free. It is included in your fare and they included it. Did they charge you the full list price, most likely not, but I would guess you did pay a higher total cost for your cruise. As to the 18 percent gratuity, it is my understanding that is included in the program, thus if true, it is already paid.

I am planning to try the drink package on our next cruise as we too got it included.

Jimmies

I'm sorry but are you saying I am paying gratuities on Celebrity on the drink plan or I'm not

Thx

The tips are included in the drinks on Celebrity with the drink plan, you just get the drink and head on your way.

Great. Thank you

Just checked NCL as we set thinking of Alaska next year

They charge $99 per person for drink plan on 7 day cruise and $12 for dining in specialty restaurants 3 nights

Still not too bad since drink plans are so pricey

Shipshape

you might be right that we paid more for the cruise with the perks

I guess nothing is free in this world!! Lol

Thx

My cruise in Sept offers a senior, military and resident rate which are all the same but no perks included. Had I booked with the perks instead, the total price would have been about $1000.00 more. You get perks but they are built into the price.

When one books one's cruise on Celebrity and as long as they have an oceanview cabin or above and are not on a transpacific or trans atlantic repositioning cruise one is able to partake in the go big go better go best perk scheme. The perks are : free gratuities, free OBC, free drinks package, free internet. In most instances on can choose one of the perks under the Go big promotion which is the cheapest cruise option. If one wants a second perk then one pays an additional per diem charge. In NZ for example to obtain a second perk costs us $NZ20 per day. Under recently revised rules Australian and NZ passengers must pay gratuities but have an additional $150 per person OBC added in the perk list as a compensation. It sort of balances out depending upon the length of the cruise. If one takes the drinks package(Classic) as the second perk one pays $NZ20 per day as opposed to $US65 per day if purchased on board. Sometimes as a promotion 2 perks are offered for the price of one but as prices change so often on X websites one can never be 100% sure that one is getting a bargain. Somehow someone has to pay for the perks so there is no such thing as free lunch or pina colada

They're not 'free', but they are also not priced like NCL. On an 7 day NCL cruise if you chose the beverage package and specialty dining for your perks, you would pay an additional $224 service charge on top of your normal daily grats of (soon to be) $13.99 per person per day. On Celebrity regardless of your perks, you only pay the daily gratuities. There is no service fee based on the full cost of the perk.

They may not be truly free in that prices may be inflated to cover the perks however when I was investigating booking our first Celebrity cruise I discovered that the price of a balcony cabin (2A) with an included Classic drinks package was only a few dollars more than the combined price of an inside cabin and separately purchased Classic drinks package. Naturally I booked a balcony cabin. :D

i am booked on Summit to Bermuda in August. We received free drink plan and $300 OBC.

Is the drink plan really free? Someone just told me on NCL you have to pay the 18 percent gratuity on the free drink plan

Thx

We almost booked a NCL cruise with the 'free drinks'. But when I figured out how much this 'free' drinks plan was going to cost, we cancelled the cruise. My husband only drinks soda and the tax/grats on the 'free' drinks were more than what he drinks in soda. Useless. It was Epic, which we think is a butt-ugly ship so cancelling wasn't the end of the world for us.:D

No, you don't have to pay anything above unless what you order is over the limit. Many upgrade. Myself included. Husband, no.

i am booked on Summit to Bermuda in August. We received free drink plan and $300 OBC.

Is the drink plan really free? Someone just told me on NCL you have to pay the 18 percent gratuity on the free drink plan

Thx

As others have already said, unlike NCL, there is no additional per drink gratuity on board so long as you keep to the drinks included in the Classic Beverage Package. But regarding the cost of the Package itself, here is the current cost of the Package based on current fares for your cruise:

On your August 29th 7N cruise to Bermuda, the current price difference between the Go Better fare and the 55+ or military fare is $250 for both ocean view and veranda cabins. Subtracting out the $150 OBC, the effective price of the Classic Beverage Package is only $100 - or $14.29 per day per person - a 78% savings relative to the standard $64.90 (including the 18% gratuity.)

We do an NCL cruise every fall from New York, either down to the Caribbean or New England/Canada. While the perks on either ship are not "free", but are built into the price, I have to say that Celebrity gives you so much more bang for your buck. Besides the $300plus gratuities we pay for the drink package on NCL, there is no OBC or prepaid gratuities. Our upcoming November cruise did give us a 4-night specialty dining package.

On NCL, there is nothing like X's Cafe al Bacio, so no fancy coffees or teas, and no bottled water included in their beverage package. AND you are no longer able to bring your own case of water onboard with you.

The prices for the 10 day cruises are almost the same (X and NCL) with Celebrity winning in the perks department. Also winning in the quality.

That being said, we like a NCL cruise for the convenience of not flying and also it's very casual. More of a party ship atmosphere, and very friendly crew.

At the end of the day, I'll pay for the perks on Celebrity. Well worth it.

Well, just to keep in mind, on celebrity your drink plan is free - but it's the classic plan that only includes drinks up to $8 AND, if you want a $8.50 drink it'll cost u $8.50....

On NCLs plan, u pay approx $14 pp pd in gratuities on the drink plan but it covers drinks up to $15 and if you want a $15.50 drink it'll only cost u $0.50

To get the comparable product on celebrity you need to upgrade to premium for $11.80 pp pd. Still less, but not that much less.

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Yes I understand that. I only drink beer so I won't go over the limit

Thx

Well, just to keep in mind, on celebrity your drink plan is free - but it's the classic plan that only includes drinks up to $8 AND, if you want a $8.50 drink it'll cost u $8.50....

 

On NCLs plan, u pay approx $14 pp pd in gratuities on the drink plan but it covers drinks up to $15 and if you want a $15.50 drink it'll only cost u $0.50

 

To get the comparable product on celebrity you need to upgrade to premium for $11.80 pp pd. Still less, but not that much less.

 

 

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You still have to pay the service charge ($224 for drinks and dining) on top of the $14 daily grats. This is where NCL starts to lose value compared to Celebrity. On NCL on a 7 night cruise you pay an extra $420 for 2 people just in service charges and tips. They also don't include water, specialty coffees, etc which really diminishes the value for me.

On other boards Celebrity has a stigma of being expensive but once you factor in perks, they offer a really solid value compared to the other mainstream lines. If we put together a comparable RCL cruise to what we're getting on Celebrity next winter we would spend nearly $1100 more between drinks and tips with a measly ~$50 OBC.

Thanks for all the information.

Back to the drawing board!!! Lol

IMHO, perks are not free; the saying that there is no free lunch probably describes this the best. It is all fully contrived and made to look like it is extra. Yes, I have gotten lots of OBC and freebie perks, but I know that in some way I am paying for it. Unfortunately, some are paying more and some less. However, it I feel that I am getting a fair price for the product, it makes me feel better and i am more likely to purchase the cruise.;)

It cost us $200/pp or $400 more to book Go Better. We got the $300 OBC and Classic Drink Package which would have been $770 for the cruise. So for $400 we got $1070 in "perks" thus about $670 for free.

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It cost us $200/pp or $400 more to book Go Better. We got the $300 OBC and Classic Drink Package which would have been $770 for the cruise. So for $400 we got $1070 in "perks" thus about $670 for free.

 

 

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Technically, not free, just a bonus for a higher fare.

As well, a trip to X's website may clear up the gratuity issue, if you cannot find it in a search here.

Bon voyage

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But not all Celebrity cruses can you find other fares, senior, resident etc. So you can't always compare prices with or without the perks. I usually look at RCCL pricing for a balcony without any perks and Celebrity is usually the same price with 1 or 2 perks. So I do think that Celebrity usually is a very good value

If you like to sail NCL - have a look into german pricing and or TA

Within germany NCL cruise price is all incl - no tax, no service charge - for nothing....

We do an NCL cruise every fall from New York' date=' either down to the Caribbean or New England/Canada. While the perks on either ship are not "free", but are built into the price, I have to say that Celebrity gives you so much more bang for your buck. [/quote']

 

Not so sure about more bang for your buck.

 

On one cruise I have, cruise fare includes your choice of two perks (lets assume beverage and Internet). This is the "go better" package as it has two perks. You can purchase "go best" which would include free gratuities (worth $162) and $150 OBC. Thus these two additional perks are worth $312/person.

 

 

However, the cost of going from "go better" to "go best" is $540/person.

 

 

Paying $228 more than the added two perks are worth is not what I would call more bang for your buck.