On Board Decisions

Will be sailing on Celebrity Reflection Next May on their Best of the Western Mediterranean Crusie. Would like to know if anyone has an opinion about upgrading to the Premium Drink Package? Specialty Dining Package? and Internet Package? While we have been past Celebrity Cruisers it seems they are now nickel and diming you for everything.

Now that the rules have changed and the Classic Package only has to pay the difference in price for a drink out of Classic price point, not as many people are seeing the need to upgrade. I'd advise you wait until onboard and see how your drinking goes. You can always upgrade up to the last few days of the cruise, prorated. And there is no discount for upgrading before sailing versus onboard.

Specialty restaurant have always had a charged. Th packages give you a discount. Once you could only by drinks by the glass, now you can get unlimited. Not sure how this is nickel and diming the consumer

When it comes to drink packages, we think the best advice was once given to us by a Celebrity Bar Tender (who we had met on 2 previous cruises). One year as we boarded the Eclipse for a 14 day cruise, our favorite bar tender was staffing a table promoting drink packages. We had the Classic Package (as part of a routine promotion) and stopped at the table to inquire about upgrading to Premium. Our friend suggested we wait a day to see if the Classic Drink Package offerings satisfied our cravings. He pointed out that if we later decided to upgrade it was easy to do by simply asking any of the bar waiters or tenders. And that would be our advice. You have nothing to lose by waiting...and perhaps something to gain if you do not upgrade for a few days (you will save money). The new rules on only paying the difference

The dining packages are interesting. For 5 or our last 6 Celebrity cruises we booked in Aqua Class. We would have most of our meals in Blu and usually go to both Murano and Qsine once per cruise. We always negotiated deals for those two restaurants (sometimes 50% off). But the past two cruises in Aqua, we have been underwhelmed by the food (selection...and to a lesser degree quality) in Blu. So on our upcoming 21 day Reflection cruise we decided to book a regular balcony (which was upgraded to Concierge because a promotion got us that cabin for about the same price as a regular balcony) which saved us a substantial amount of money (when compared to Aqua). When Celebrity had a 20% Off sale...we decided to book a dining package so we could eat most of our meals in Murano (we will go to the other restaurants on a less frequent basis). Using the 20% off sale and the volume discount we were able to get the cost of the dining package down to about $25 per meal (which is cheaper then booking Aqua), Our plan is to dine in the MDR on the Chic nights (when they have the best menus) on in the alternative restaurants on every other night. Keep in mind that all this alternative dining will still cost us less then if we had booked in Aqua.

So for us it comes down to comparing the various alternative restaurants to the MDR or Blu. We do not think that the MDR or Blu comes even close to Murano. Qsine is unique (love it or hate it) but we do enjoy the place once or twice a cruise. The Lawn should be fun for a change...and the Tuscan (our least favorite restaurant) does offer a very expansive menu that is nice for an occasional change of pace. The MDR is OK, but these days it is a mere shadow of its prior self.....when the Celebrity MDR was the best regular dining venue on the 7 Seas. But this is all personal preference and many folks are more then satisfied in the MDR....just like many folks are very happy at McDonalds or Longhorn Steakhouse. Not everyone wants to spend 1 1/2- 2 hours dining in Murano...which is why there is a benefit to having choices.

Hank

Thanks Hank. Good advice. Being somewhat of an amateur chef and a foodie your advice is sound. Have heard many similar comments about Celebrity's MDR, I downgraded this week from AquaClass to Concierge in the hopes of saving a few buck in order to try the speciality restaurants. I think I also agree with you on dining in the MDR on chic nights. Good advice, thanks much.

Now that the rules have changed and the Classic Package only has to pay the difference in price for a drink out of Classic price point, not as many people are seeing the need to upgrade. I'd advise you wait until onboard and see how your drinking goes. You can always upgrade up to the last few days of the cruise, prorated. And there is no discount for upgrading before sailing versus onboard.

Thanks Helen, good advice.