Beverage Package

I'm sure this has been asked, however I am normally on the Celebrity forum. My parents will be on the Dec. 11 sailing of the Zuiderdam which will be their first cruise in maybe over 20 years. They are look into the Signature beverage package and have a few questions. Can they buy this onboard? They depart from Fort Lauderdale, is it better to buy after they are at sea because of taxes? Can they buy it a day or two into the cruise? We have always found that the Celebrity package has been worth it, do you all feel that it is a good deal on HAL? Any other information would be appreciated. We may cruise on HAL in 2017 so your answers will help us too. Any other HAL secrets I can pass on to Mom and Dad? Thanks!!!!

I cant help you with the time to purchase but if you have had the Celebrity beverage package it is very similar ...wines by the glass,fancy coffee,beer and most mixed drinks ..well worth it to us ...

The SBP can only be purchased onboard on the first or second day of the cruise. I don't believe tax is charged on the package. It can also be purchased in advance online. Log in to their account (set one up if not previously set up), under My Reservations, click on Purchase, click link to Gifts and Indulgences, click Beverages, and scroll down to the Signature Beverage Package.

I know nothing about Celebrity's package to compare with HAL's but HAL's does limit each person to 15 beverages a day that are less than $8.00. This does limit wines by the glass to HAL's house wines with a few exceptions.

If your parents will drink more than 7 beverages a day that cost close to $8, then the package will probably be worth it. If they're wine drinkers mostly, then I would do more research before committing the money, if I were you.

You may also want to check their actual booking confirmation. It could be that the SBP was included in their fare under the Explore4 promotion, if it was available, for that cruise, at the time they booked.

On our last cruise we had the Explore4 promotion which included the Signature Beverage Package. I kept track of how much we drank each day.

We had thought about buying the Signature Beverage Package for our next cruise. As the cruise is 21 days, the package would have cost us a little over $2100 for the two of us.

Looking at what we drank on our cruise in October, drinks added up to about $850 -- total for both us.

Definitely it is not worth it for us to buy the package. As mentioned you need to buy at least 7 cocktails around the $8 limit per day. We can't drink that many a day.

Remember that each person over the age of 21 staying in the same cabin must buy the package.

Celebrity has a way to upgrade to a "Premium" beverage package for an additional $10-$12 per day that includes higher end liquors. Does HAL have anything similar or just the standard Signature BP?

HAL has only the one Signature Beverage Package.

Therefore no upgrading to anything better.

and never hit the limit even when getting doubles. Next 3 cruises also have it so we shall see how we do.

Does the package include specialty coffees and fresh juices and water bottles?

Grab a copy of the drink menus from Holland America. That way you can see if it makes financial sense. Don't compare based on beverage price limits, because they're often quite a bit different from line to line.

Does the package include specialty coffees and fresh juices and water bottles?

Specialty coffee: Yes. Every bottled water HAL has: Yes. Holland America has fresh squeezed orange juice at no charge in the morning at breakfast. As far as other juices are concerned, I don't know. Basically, if the menu price of a liquid us less than $8, it's included.

Specialty coffee: Yes. Every bottled water HAL has: Yes. Holland America has fresh squeezed orange juice at no charge in the morning at breakfast. As far as other juices are concerned, I don't know. Basically, if the menu price of a liquid us less than $8, it's included.

Less than $8 or $8 and below?

Less than $8 or $8 and below?

$8 and under. I don't think that there's anything above $7.95 though.

$8 and under. I don't think that there's anything above $7.95 though.

Most of the glasses of wine are above $8. So if you are wine drinkers, the Signature Beverage package might not be a good option.

Thank you to everyone for your input. I I'll pass the info along to my parents. It sounds like a pretty good plan, but so far I think Celebrity's is a bit better. That being said, we are considering HAL. for 2017 so I really appreciate the responses.

Most of the glasses of wine are above $8. So if you are wine drinkers, the Signature Beverage package might not be a good option.

The current bar menu shows 11 different glasses of wine under the $8 limit and 10 different wines over the $8 limit.

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Bar-Menu.pdf#page=7&zoom=100,-334,646

The current bar menu shows 11 different glasses of wine under the $8 limit and 10 different wines over the $8 limit.

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Bar-Menu.pdf#page=7&zoom=100,-334,646

Thanks for the update! Do you happen to recall if there were other $8 or under wines on the various restaurant lists?

Do some people really drink 15 beverages per person per day? Yes i know special coffee, cokes, etc....but even if you have two coffees and two sodas that is still another 11 cocktails?

Wow.

Guess I am a "light" drinker.

Thanks for the update! Do you happen to recall if there were other $8 or under wines on the various restaurant lists?

Strange you should ask since I just posted the Dining Room Wine List by the glass at:

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Dining-Room-Wine-by-the-Glass.pdf

Here is the Canaletto Wine List on Page 2:

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Canaletto.pdf

The PG wine list is on Page 4:

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Pinnacle-Gril-Dinner.pdf

Life is too short to drink cheap wine!!!!!!

The package is a bit of waste. Two years ago I tried the package. For B2B cruises.... 21 days. The first day I drank water and that evening on glass of house wine. Next day... more water and one wine at lunch and another in that evening. On third day.... I could see I had just wasted almost 25 drinks on those first two days. It was a waste. If you are going for the top limit of 15 drinks a day.... and are happy with house wines at dinner..... :eek: I think you are better to have the drinks that you really enjoy... just go for what you wanted before and if you go over what you might have spent on the package... jut grin and have a good time.

Definitely it is not worth it for us to buy the package. As mentioned you need to buy at least 7 cocktails around the $8 limit per day. We can't drink that many a day.

.

We just returned yesterday from the Rotterdam where we both purchased the Signature Beverage Package.

The 15 drink limit is on alcoholic drinks only. In addition to this you get unlimited non-alcoholic drinks-coffee, juices canned sodas and bottled water.

As we would have probably spent $10-$15 each per day on non-alcoholic drinks, our break even point was more like 4-5 cocktails or glasses of wine per day.

Some of the house wines are not good-the Santa Carolina Chardonnay was terrible, but I found that if I told the bar tender I had the package and didn't want the Santa Carolina, in some of the bars and the MDR I was offered other (better) wines that were not on the menu/wine list.

I agree that it the package is not as good as the one offered by Celebrity but it was still good value for us and we would get the package again in future.

Strange you should ask since I just posted the Dining Room Wine List by the glass at:

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Dining-Room-Wine-by-the-Glass.pdf

 

Here is the Canaletto Wine List on Page 2:

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Canaletto.pdf

 

The PG wine list is on Page 4:

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Pinnacle-Gril-Dinner.pdf

Thank you.

We got the SBP as part of Explore-4 on a 26 day ATH to FLL Trans-Atlantic. Of the 26 days, we had 10 sea days. So we had plenty of opportunity to use the 15 drink limit of the SBP.

On our ship (Zuiderdam), the SBP was needed for every beverage except ice-tea and tap water and some juices. A typical sea day, beverage totals are per-person:

Specialty coffees and hot chocolates in the Explorer in the morning. (2)

Lunch, cold Grolsch beers, varied, but usually (3).

A few wines while reading a book in the afternoons (2).

Pre dinner cocktails, usually a double vodka gimlet. No problems ordering doubles. Two of those counted as (4).

Wine with dinner (2), and yes, the wines were limited, but a decent selection of $8 wines.

After dinner drinks at the piano bar or show room, (3) or more. Most drinks are $7.95, included in the package, and the 15% gratuity is covered.

So, in a typical sea day we hit or exceeded our 15 drink limit. And we were never flagged for overage.

The best part is on departure day when you get your final bill. There is no panic when you anticipate how much you spent on drinks.

Yes, our typical days might not be the same as other people, but, if you take into consideration that even bottled water is charged for, the SBP might be for you.