ailetoile

Both are available under the Classic Package. Whilst the Martini Bar Martinis are off limits to Classic packages most drinks can be made to comply . If a particular cocktail requires a "premium" spirit a "classic " equivalent can generally be substituted. The only exception I have found so far is a Singapore Sling which requires Cherry Herring as a major ingredient and that is a premium spirit.

This may sound weird, but thank you for listing that oddly specific exception.

Check out the loose teas on the Tea Forte site - much cheaper per serving and they have specials periodically. :D And they have a bunch of different flavors. If you have some sort of tea ball type infuser you could probably use it instead of the pyramid tea bags.

You can also often find small Tea Forte "gift boxes" on sale at bookstores like Chapters (can't remember the US equivalent anymore). They go on clearance at the end of the season, and at that time even in Canada I have often been able to pick up Tea Forte for ~$0.75 / bag. I've seen them on Groupon as well for a much bigger box, but I haven't checked that site in a few years.

Recommendation for all travelers: Get the TSA Precheck pass. If they still offer the GOES (works going through U.S. customs from some countries) get that. It will be one of the best $100 you'll ever spend.

 

You can Google it and start the process. Overall it took a couple of months for my husband and I. If the airport has it offered, you skip the long line into a much shorter one. No taking off your shoes, belts or jackets any more. Coming in from certain countries, e.g. Great Britain, same thing. Special kiosks that read your card and fingerprint, print a receipt type thing and you go right up to a customs officer while those poor other people wait in a line that seems to go on forever.

 

Once you get your card, put it on all your plane tickets. There is usually a spot for it. If not call the airline and have them put it on file. Then it prints right on your boarding pass.

You can't always count on TSA Pre-check. I have Nexus and I absolutely adore all of the perks that come with it, but I've run into multiple situations in the US where I was Pre-check eligible and the line was THERE but closed, forcing us to wait in 1-2 hour security lines instead. :mad:

First, thank you, thank you, thank you for this outstanding resource. I just found it today and can't wait to share it on my Roll Call.

 

I did not read the entire thread (most of it :D) but I did want to make one comment. The PDF you included is outstanding and people may not realize that they can SEARCH it for what they are after. Many folks on CC don't realize that PDFs can be searched. That alone may help some find what they are looking for in this wonderful (but really long) thread.

 

Keep up the amazing work.

 

BTW: I downloaded the last PDF I could find and noted that at the bottom it says that "This information is accurate as of April 2015." You might want to update that line either there or at the top so we can be sure we have the latest PDF. A line at the top would be great saying, "Last Update...and then the date."

Ah thanks for the reminder to change the date. I rarely have Word set to show footnotes since most of my work documents don't have them and I hide them to save on the dead space. Out of sight, out of mind in this case :o

Celebrity's website says the following:

 

"Classic Beverage Package option includes beer up to $6 per serving, spirits, cocktails, and frozen drinks up to $8 per serving, wine by the glass up to $9 per serving...."

 

Last month, I was on the Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas and I think the cost for a pina colada was about $12.00 plus 18% gratuity. Celebrity customer service told me that frozen drinks like pina coladas and mud-slides are included in the Classic Beverage Package. That would mean they cost less than $8. per serving.

 

Are the prices for these same drinks so much less on Celebrity?

They were not that high the last time I sailed about a year ago,at least when prepared with well liquor.

I will confirm my experience in a month and report back how it goes.

Thanks :) I only get to go on cruises once every year or two, so as much as I love information aggregation (enough to write this FAQ even), it's hard to stay up-to-date through my personal experience.

I am not sure anyone has really experienced the drink of the day not being include in the premium package. I find it hard to believe that a special drink of the day would ever cost over $13.

 

I wonder if QE-2 just made a mistake when they said it was not included.

If it comes in a special commemorative glass it won't be included in either package according to Celebrity's own documented rules. I'm thinking that QE2-Fan has had more experience on cruises than I have, so I would be happy to defer to him if he says he has seen a drink of the day that was not covered by the Premium Package. I'd just like to know more details :)

Thanks, are the drinks of the day covered (or large bottle beer specials in cellar masters) or excluded in the premium package? Also is there a special drink at sail away (this was the case on Princess) and is it covered? (It was not on Princess if I recall correctly)

 

Thanks again!

Last I've heard, the PREMIUM Package covers Deal of the Day drinks under its typical rules (covered below $13 and prorated above that), but the CLASSIC Package only covers the Deal of the Day drink if it is noted in Celebrity Today. This very likely goes for drink specials at specific bars and such, too.

I haven't been on a cruise in over a year, though, so this is all based on past knowledge and the fact that I haven't heard differently.

Edit: I'm just going to upload the most recent copy of the FAQ here since it's been several pages and I always want to keep it somewhat readily-available.

Bev Package FAQ.pdf

Is there a price advantage to purchasing any package in advance vs. onboard? For instance, on a 7-day cruise, if I purchase on the second day, will it be approximately 6/7 of the pre-board price?

Yes, it will be prorated if you purchase on the second day. You can also pay with onboard credit if you purchase on board (it's credit card only if you purchase in advance).

Thanks for the advice on the wine package.

 

With regard to buying a Bon Voyage Gift of wine - do you know if the recipient can bring it with them to the DR - with or without a corkage fee? I suspect the price is about the same as a wine package, just curious.

One of the upsides of using gifts by Celebrity and purchasing wine in advance is that there's no corkage fees. You can even gift it to yourself so that it arrives in whichever dining room you're anticipating that you'll be in on a specific nigh if sending it to your room is too tame ;)

You're probably right about the price.

We are on an Infinity Alaska cruise this summer. First cruise with Celebrity, but have sailed with Royal Caribbean and other lines several times.

We have a Concierge cabin, and do not have a beverage package but were curious about a wine package. The Celebrity website for beverages/pricing does not seem to be functioning at the moment.

 

We understand we can bring on 2 wine bottles per stateroom at embarkation, but if we take them to DR we pay corkage.

Also that we get 1 bottle of sparkling wine in our stateroom on Day 1 that we may be able to exchange for red or white, which we could drink in DR without corkage.

We aren't sure if wine packages (bottles) are still possible for use in DR? We don't want a beverage package.

 

Appreciate some of the wine-related posts on earlier pages - 1 excerpt copied here.

The beverage FAQ was great also!

Hadn't considered ordering wine as a gift (#5 below):

Thank you for any updates / confirmation of wine policy.

The wine package is basically a discount package when you commit to purchasing a certain volume of wine. It's absolutely available in any dining facility. If you don't finish the bottle on a particular night, it'll be kept by the sommelier and tagged with your name and room number. It'll be brought back to your table the following night if you're in the same dining facility, and you should be able to request it if you dine somewhere different.

Is the Classic pkg. wine still up to $9. ?

Yes.

My understanding was that because the coffees are under $8 they're covered by the Classic package. Was served by several different baristas/servers over the course of the cruises and never questioned or charged. Perhaps I'm reading the details of the package incorrectly but it does state mixed drinks/cocktails up to $8 which an Aspen or other alcohol-containing coffee would be. Definitely lots of confusion about this subject!

As QE2_fan said, the problem here is that some baristas seem to consider the alcoholic coffees to be specialty coffees (not included in the Classic Package), but others consider them to be alcohol under the $8 limit. I suspect it's actually the discretion of the manager, not the individual baristas. That would explain the consistency on the same cruise while also explaining the inconsistencies over many peoples' experiences.

Not true. Had many aspen, irish, Kingston coffees on our Summit b2b in Feb at Cafe Al Bacio with the Classic pkg. Perhaps they're using a cheaper alcohol on the Classic coffees? Def could taste the alcohol and combining with coffee I don't taste whether it's premium or regular brand anyway.

This really is based on the discretion of the barista.

Some people (like you) have no trouble getting them with the Classic Package. Some people are able to get it but have to get the drink on two separate charges. Some people have to buy the alcohol separately and add it (the coffee and alcohol are each covered but the drink itself is not). I haven't heard about this last one happening recently, but I have seen it in the past.

I do wish that Celebrity would just standardize this particular policy.

I have heard that Celebrity has raised the prices on daily special drinks and some others to $8.25 so if you have the Classic package it would not be included. Does anyone know if this is true?

 

Also, does anyone know the prices of Martini's. Would those be included in the Classic package?

My understanding is that the daily drink specials were NEVER covered under the Classic Package, even if the price looked like it should be, unless it was noted otherwise in Celebrity Today. It's possible they raised the price to just clarify that.

You should be able to get normal-sized Martinis at bars that aren't the Martini Bar that are covered by your Classic Package.

double shots are no problem...still falls within the per drink limit! My coffee fix daily was a double shot extra hot caramel macchiato!! Found their coffees (like Starbucks) to be rather weak without the extra hit of caffeine! Never had any issues ordering the double shot, and loved the fact they would just turn around and make me one on sight without even having to order!!

Thanks for that information, friend. If I were to drink a double shot of caffeine in the mornings I think I would actually die of caffeine. I'm envious of those who can do it!

I am not sure how to link, but this is an example from Kevinyork on. Different thread:

 

"My OH doesn't drink alcohol but on the last three Eclipse cruises (and a RCI cruise) we have gone straight to guest relations on boarding and asked to downgrade to the Premium non alcoholic package for the same reason as the OP and each time it's been easy to do.

 

It gets more difficult for them if you try after you've had a drink or two on your package as they have to work out if that drink would have been covered by the package you want to change to. Guest relations have a preprinted form for you to sign to agree that you want to change but will get no refund of the price difference. We have two X cruises booked this year and will be expecting to do the same."

 

I think the key is you have to make the change on board and the idea to do it before you buy a drink is good.

Fair enough. I can't put in the FAQ that downgrading to the Premium Non-Alcoholic Package is a sure thing since it really isn't (there have been plenty of people who have been told a firm no at Guest Services), but knowing that it's a possibility and that it gets more difficult to accomplish if you've purchased something with your package is very good information. Thanks!

I recall reading numerous reports of people doing this once on board. That is changing the Classic alcohol package to the premium non-alcohol package. Maybe some other can post here.

Really? I've heard of people occasionally being able to downgrade to the Classic Non-Alcohol Package, but I've never seen the Premium pop up on here. I'm not saying that you're wrong since I sometimes go reasonably long stretches without checking in on these boards, but I am saying that I'd really like to hear from someone who can confirm that they have had that experience!

Hey everyone,

I have a question. First time getting the classic package as a perk. I mostly drink coffee so I like that I can get my fix at Cafe Bacio. Will I be able to get an extra espresso shot in a drink "free"? IF I also get a coffee for my husband will I need his card or can I get 2 drinks??

 

Thanks !!!

 

Ali

Honestly, I think that whether you can have the extra shot of espresso for "free" will depend on whoever is ringing you up. It's possible it's always covered, but it's also possible that you may have to ask for your second shot in a second cup and then have two separate purchases. Could someone that has had experience with this chime in here? If I tried to do this, I'd be so energetic that I could probably power the ship! :D

If you get a coffee for your husband, you will definitely need both his card and yours.

I would have, except we got 2 perks. I chose OBC and drinks package. For the drinks I just want to be able to get cappuccino, lattes, hot chocolate etc from cafe el bacio as well as smoothies from the aqua spa cafe. I don't mind that I wouldn't get any refund down grading to the premium non alcoholic package. I am just not sure if celebrity would let me

Qualifiedcruisologist indicated earlier that they have the classic bev pkg. I believe there are several non-alcoholic drinks available on the premium bev pkg that are not available on the classic - therefore they want to switch to the premium non-alcoholic pkg to get these since they do not drink alcohol. Given price of premium non-alchoholic pkg is less - than classic pkg with alchohol, I suspect Celebrity would agree to the exchange - but as alway, you won't know until you try. :)

There are mixed reports about Celebrity letting people downgrade their beverage packages at all. Some people have had success, and some have been met with brick walls at every turn. Your mileage may vary here, but I have never seen a single report of someone coming out of this with the Premium Non-Alcoholic Package... Just the Classic Non-Alcoholic Package, maybe. There is a very real chance that even if you get your downgrade you will still be asked to pay $4.72/person/night to upgrade from the Classic Non-Alcoholic Package to the Premium Non-Alcoholic Package.

Please keep in mind going into this that the Classic Package is a PERK that you have chosen in lieu of free gratuities or (I believe) Internet. Celebrity is under no obligation to change the perk to something different that you prefer. You may see it as saving Celebrity money, but at the end of the day you have entered into a contract with Celebrity for the Classic Package, which is what you should go into this with the expectation of keeping.

Also keep in mind that you can absolutely enjoy non-alcoholic beverages under the Classic Package that are the equivalent to what you will enjoy with the Classic Non-Alcoholic Package. There is no difference between the non-alcoholic components of the Classic Package and the actual Classic Non-Alcoholic Package.

In other words, there's little point to downgrading unless you are trying to avoid the temptation of alcohol outright, or if the savings of $7.08/person/night (the difference between upgrading between the two alcoholic packages versus upgrading between the two non-alcoholic packages) is worth the time of potentially several trips to Guest Services to you.

We have the free Classic package but we want to upgrade to the premium package. Last time we upgraded on board and it went against our room account. Is there a way to upgrade before the cruise and pay via credit card. Husband likes to have everything cruise related paid off prior to leaving.

 

thanks

You can call Celebrity and pay for the upgrade in advance. To my knowledge there is no way to do the upgrade on-line.

RickT is 100% right. You can call in advance and put the charge on a credit card, but there is no way to do it online.

You've asked a lot of questions in here, so I've gone through below and answered in GREEN text :)

My wife & I will be in a Royal Suite. Our daughter & son-in-law will be in a Celebrity Suite.

I understand we are provided a complimentary Premium Beverage Package. We plan to upgrade our daughter & son-in-law to a Premium Beverage Package. I also understand we receive of one bottle of vodka and one bottle of scotch or gin with mixers (beginning January 2016, a choice of spirits and wine) in our suite.

 

It sounds like you are aware that you may be able to switch this out for wine since you've mentioned it here, but I would encourage you to work with your butler when you board to actually make those arrangements to your satisfaction.

 

We don’t drink distilled spirits. We do drink a lot of good wine. We look forward to sharing afternoon canapés in our suite with our daughter & family. We are going to empty that 1 bottle of wine on the first night or 2 bottles by the second night. That leaves 10 more nights.

 

Your family sounds awesome ;)

 

It looks like to get bottles of wine either in our suite or a restaurant, we need to buy another wine package or buy bottles individually. Without buying bottles or a bottle package, is our only choice to keep ordering wines by the glass?

 

This really kind of depends on how you approach the situation. You have a few different options here:

 

1. You can buy bottles of wine individually. You will enjoy a 20% discount on bottles of wine because you have the Premium Package. It is important to note that the discount you receive from this package is MORE than the discount you will receive if you purchase the Build Your Own Wine Package.

 

2. You can buy the Premium Wine Package on top of your beverage package. The package starts at $149 ($175.82 with gratuity) for three bottles of wine, and you must choose from a list of available wines. If you're into truly good wine, I would maybe avoid this.

 

3. Please don't quote me on this, but I believe you can order wine through your butler by either the glass or the bottle to be delivered to your room, but this will not be covered under your beverage package in either case. It's possible you may receive the 20% discount on bottles of wine, but having never sailed in a suite or had any reason to ask about this I can't say for sure. I'd actually appreciate if you could give me an answer to this one when you return :)

 

4. You can help yourself out a little bit by bringing wine on board at embarkation. Each stateroom is entitled to bring two 750ml bottles of wine on board at embarkation. If you and your wife bring two, and your daughter and son-in-law bring two, that gets you an extra four bottles of wine that was purchased at non-inflated land prices to work with. Keep in mind, however, that while you won't pay a corkage fee to enjoy this wine in your own room and while you may leave your room and walk into a restaurant with a glass of this wine in hand, you will pay a $25 corkage fee per bottle to enjoy this wine poured from its bottle in a restaurant on board the ship.

 

I will take this time to admit that my husband and I (for science, I assure you) at one point put two bottles of wine in our luggage and carried another two bottles of wine on board by hand. This did work. I'll also add that this was way too much wine for us on our seven-night cruise, so we ended up giving most of it away and that this is technically against the rules so I don't strictly recommend trying your luck with it.

 

5. You can pre-select and pay for bottles of wine by sending them to yourself through Gifts By Celebrity. Doing this means you don't get your 20% discount since you've got to do it before the cruise, but it also means that you don't pay the 18% gratuity. I have no idea what quality of wine you can send yourself, though.

 

Can we order wines by the glass in our suite with our afternoon canapés?

 

I'm sure that you can. Just have a chat with your butler when you board.

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

@Ailetoile,

Unless I am missing something I still say that the OP post (as in the very first post on http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2167294 ) have the obsolete pricing. Look at the Premium alcohol Package: In OP it is at $59 while the PDF link I posted as the official one has that Package at $65.

?

Unfortunately, there is no way to update the original post in this thread after a certain time period (something like 30 minutes) has passed. Therefore, you need to look at the most updated version of the document that is available in comments to get the most accurate information available. I try to make the most updated comment available on every other page of the thread to keep it as easy as possible to find. There is nothing that I can do to change this, as much as I wish that I could :(

We are going on the solstice in December and we have the classic alcohol package as a perk. None of us drink alcohol though. What non alcoholic drinks can we choose from? What are the chances of changing to the premium non alcoholic drink package? Cheers

You may or may not be able to downgrade your package at Guest Relations on the ship, but even if you do manage to downgrade you will not receive a refund for the difference between the Classic Package price and the lower price of the non-alcoholic package.

You can choose from a variety of non-alcoholic beverages, including non-premium bottled (still) water, canned and fountain sodas, and non-premium coffees from Cafe Al Baccio. Without checking against the document (which you can feel free to do), I believe that your only non-alcoholic restrictions will be things like energy drinks and smoothies.

Thanks for thr clarification! I had assumed that the original poster to the query had checked the FAQ Page, so I on turn did not and went out and researched it further ... Doh!

 

Yes the forums make it hard to keep sight of updated documents. I think Google Docs/Sheets may be the way to go moving forward, as the link or reference stays static, but the document itself is dynamically updated by those with admin rights. Seen a few roll calls using this method now!

 

No disrespect to to OP however who has taken on a significant commitment for the benefit of many on the boards. Kudos!! [emoji3]

No worries. You've been an excellent source of information when I haven't been around to keep track of what's going on in here and you have no idea how much I appreciate that :)

Google Docs are a good idea in the sense that it's a collaborative workspace, but a poor idea in the sense that this is obviously a somewhat complicated topic that isn't done justice through a linear document like we're trying to do here. It's obvious from the repeated questions just in this one thread alone that people can't take in all the information from the document, are simply skimming it and then asking when the answer isn't obviously available to them, or aren't reading at all beyond seeing the wall of text. That's a problem I'd like to address, but which doesn't have an easy solution with Google Docs.

As I've said in other spots in this thread, I'm working on getting the information moved over to a website that I can update. In addition to providing a permanent URL that will always have the most up-to-date information that is available to me, this website will also include search functionality. This will help to resolve some of the problems that I've touched on above, and will also allow me to expand the information beyond beverages and beverage packages to include questions about other "hot topics" that are consistently popping up on these boards. I'm hoping to have a site that is ready for public consumption in the next month or two.

The first post has some very useful information but that info is dated! At least for the alcoholic drinks, please see this:

 

https://secure.celebritycruises.com/celebrity/media/celebrity/shared_assets/pdf/Classic-Premium-Bev-Pckgs.pdf

 

which is an official document.

 

Compared with the OP, the prices are higher.

 

The OP did direct me to ask Celebrity (by a phone call about half hour ago) as to how late they would allow one to book any of the alcoholic packages. The guy on the phone gave a vague (?) answer: It depends on how many beverage packages are already booked etc etc. I was hoping we would be allowed the beverage package after 3 or 4 nights. Now not sure.

 

BTW, we are going on a 13 day cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Rome on 2nd April.

The OP is still actively maintaining the document that was posted at the top of this thread :p The most updated version of the PDF also has the most updated version of the prices.

For your convenience I have once again attached the most updated PDF to this reply. I've been trying to do this once another page or two of comments comes in to keep it from being TOO difficult to find.

Thanks for all this wonderful information... I'm about to head off on my first cruise at the end of March on the Millennium. I know you can upgrade your beverage package up to two days prior to end of cruise, but can you start a beverage package part way through the cruise or does it have to start on the first day? TIA

Yes just had this confirmed per a query a few posts back, by NorbertsNiece who is blogging on the Solstice currently. A good clarification to add to the FAQs !

Yes, you can indeed purchase your beverage package up to two days prior to the end of the cruise. QE2_Fan, this is already addressed in the following question:

How long do I have to decide to purchase or upgrade a beverage package?

You can purchase or upgrade a beverage package at any time until you have two nights left in your cruise. At the time of your purchase or upgrade, you will pay a prorated price based on the number of nights that you have left.

I think the main problem is that there's so much information in the document that things like this become buried. I'm still working on pulling all of this stuff out into an actual website that can be updated without the PDF getting buried in the thread, and which can be searched for exactly situations like this :)

Bev Package FAQ.pdf

I've heard that Aqua Class no longer receives complimentary bubbly in their cabin, as the first page mentions. Is this true?

 

Also, instead of 2 bottles of wine per room - how about boxed wine with the same as 2 standard bottles? Most people think of this wine as cheap, but there are some decent brands...and they keep out oxygen better than the bottles while storing.

 

Will they fit in the refrigerator?

Yes, Aqua Class still receives a complimentary bottle of wine in their room as it receives ALL of the Concierge Class perks.

I will reaffirm that the two bottles of wine are for 750ml bottles, not for boxes. As it has been previously stated, your mileage may vary but do not be surprised to lose your wine.

The refrigerators in the cabins are very small and shallow, and not very warm. I don't think they would fit a bottle of wine unless there's room on the door.

Another question in the hope you can help again :confused:

 

On the Celebrity UK page, it says that if you purchase the packages once on board, then the prices will be higher than if you prereserve them. I have not read this on any of the drink package threads on here. Can anyone please advise me about this and share their experiences with me?

The only reason I could think that the price would be different would be that there's perhaps a more favorable currency conversion being used in the land-based offices than on the boat? There's no reason at all that it would be different, otherwise.

Okay - that is helpful! However, I know that I read somewhere that Aqua Class gets 2 free bottles of water a day. I'll see if I can find that. :confused:

 

We will be transferring to another TA, as we have a lot that we'd like to do in Sydney. Our TA told us that all the "perks" TA's or Celebrity offers are not offered on re-positioning cruises. I'm sad to say, that I don't know if I believe that. We are feeling a little sad that we were offered no beverage or OBC perks while booking with our original TA. Our friends first booked, so we quickly followed suit to be sure to get close cabins or at least a similar booking.

With regards to the Aqua Class bottled water, I think that the way Celebrity worded the perk it was always "supposed" to be just the two bottles of water (not per day), and that they have only recently started enforcing it as written. I may be mistaken about that, though.

Celebrity only rarely (if ever) offers perks on repositioning cruises, theoretically since there are so many sea days. You're not being lied to or mislead there.

I see that this thread was started in February 2015.

Can anyone tell me if the prices for the various drink packages are still the same as in post #1 here please?

 

I have not been able to find a more recent list, but perhaps the prices are still the same. :)

They are not the same any longer. The most recent PDF can be found in post 432.

I'm working on moving the information to a website so that I can just update a single FAQ that won't get buried in a thread like it is right now. I'll talk to the moderators of this board about linking out to that website as soon as it's in a presentable state.

Can anyone specify what is in the standard package? Are there any fruity cocktails? (Margarita, daiquiri etc) Also the beers? I see everything listed for classic and premium but nothing for standard. Also, I saw you post about sailings leaving out of Australia prices being more with the gratuity included. We are sailing out of Australia so would that change what's available for the 6 dollar beers, etc. ? Thank you in advance!!!

 

 

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The price limits for the Standard Package should be ~$7 ($7.08 to be exact) on sailings out of Australia. That would be the $6 + $1.08 (18% gratuity). ALL of the drink prices on board will be "higher" along with the higher beverage package limit to reflect the gratuity included in the purchase price.

There should be some beers included in the package, although I imagine it'll be a pretty limited selection. Cocktails and frozen drinks up to the $7.08 limit are included as well. I have never actually sailed on a cruise that offered the Standard package, so I am simply going off of the information that has been available on these message boards and through Celebrity's website.

This information is reflected in the most updated version of the PDF, which I am actually attaching here since it seems to be pretty thoroughly buried at this point.

Bev Package FAQ.pdf