Retired-N-Happy

You mentioned that you like the Premium package on Celebrity. It's nice but you pay 24 for the upgrade and another 16 for gratuities on Celebrity. So that's an extra 40 a day or 80 a day for two. It adds up and because of this Celebrity is now in our rear view mirror.

The only main stream line I'm aware of that gives away drinks is the 4-6 drinks per day on RCI for Diamond, Diamond Plus and Pinnacle.

If you ever bought a drink package then you would know when they start. It's usually at 600 or 700 am when the first bar opens, which is usually the coffee bar if cruisers wish to add Bailey's or something else to their coffee.

I have purchased drink packages ever since they started many years ago on Celebrity. I've had them on Celebrity, Princess, Carnival, MSC, NCL and RCI. The best value and it's not even close is Princess. Drinks per day varies. 6-7 on a slow day, double digits on a good day. And I do 90% of my alcohol consumption while cruising.

Celebrity's is 24 pp per day higher just for drinks and you still have to pay gratuities. Princess's is 20 pp per day higher for Premier and you have many more additions such as two specialty meals, unlimited casual dining etc. There is truly no comparison.

I understand but the free casino deal you get from Princess would be the primary reason to cruise Princess over Celebrity. I know there are drinks on the Plus package with the 15.00.limit that you couldn't get on Celebrity because their basic package tops out at 10.00. Even though it's unlimited, it's unlimited crap against the higher end stuff available on Princess with the Plus package.

And you're forgetting about the included wifi and gratuities. But if you don't need to be online and you don't need to tip the hard working servers on board, then get that package. I'm just trying to point out that you don't need to drink alcohol in order to make the plus package work. It's that simple.

Yet you have no problem with the 15 drink limit because of the great casino deals you get with free balconies. My comparison was that the 15 drink limit on Princess with the 15.00 drink price limit blows away the unlimited drinks with 10.00 limit on Celebrity.

Which drink packages are you comparing? The basic on Celebrity has a 10.00 ceiling using bar level liquors and you can't even get a Blue Moon or even a Michelob Ultra since they charge 11.00 for them. The basic on Princess is 15.00 and you can get a plethora of beer choices, craft cocktails and espresso martinis. If you need to upgrade to premium on Celebrity, it's 24.00 pp per day.

Congratulations on showing how you personally can knock back 15 drinks per day. But do you really need to cruise on another line such as Celebrity because they have an unlimited amount of drinks. (At a 10.00 ceiling with standard bar choices)

Congratulations, you're really getting your monies worth.

You can make it zero a day if you drink fresh squeezed juice(1), specialty coffee(2), bottled water(2) & canned soda(1).

So I will infer that you don't drink any bottled water, canned soda, mocktails, specialty coffee or fresh squeezed juice. Because if you did then maybe it would make sense that you could easily reach the number without consuming any alcohol.

Once again, the sea day theory doesn't hold water. You're back on board on a sea day by 5:00. If you go to bed at 11:00, that gives you 6 hours to hit your number. Easily doable even without consuming alcohol. You could have taken two bottles of water ashore or had a specialty coffee or a fresh squeezed OJ before you left the ship that goes towards your total.

First of all, you don't have to come close to 15 drinks to make it worthwhile. Just over half of the cost of the 60 goes towards gratuities and wifi. Then you have the peripheral stuff such as ocean now activation, medallion shipping and the two casual meals. Basically you just need to spend just over 20 bucks in drinks to make it worthwhile. And that doesn't have to be alcohol. Bottled water, specialty coffee, canned soda, and fresh squeezed OJ can all easily make the number, so even if you don't drink alcohol, it can be worthwhile. But, many teetotalers just automatically assume that it's not for them. If you only drink tap water, regular coffee, lemonade and iced tea, then don't get the package. But there are many cruisers in the 25% that don't get the package don't realize that in fact you can make it worthwhile without consuming a drop of alcohol.