TO Purchase or not to purchase

My wife and I are cruising may 2018 we are trying to decide if its better to buy our drinks while on board or to purchase a package . both of us are not real drinkers my wife especially. I will have a few beer and drinks but the wife sticks to none carb and coffee with occasional juice and water . Dose anyone know what the prices are on average for lets say a domestic beer and maybe a rum and coke . specialty coffee or a Shirley temple non alcohol:confused:.

One when booking with Celebrity, we always pick the beverage package as our perk. Then it is no issue

However, based on our experience with many cruises - if you buy 5-6 drinks a day - water/coffee/soda/alcohol or non-alcoholic, you have paid for the package. So for us it is a no brainer, we either pick the package as our perk or we pay for it.

Due to a mistake by our TA (long story) we didn't receive our free beverage packages for a 14-night cruise and had to buy all of our drinks. We kept our receipts and presented them to the TA post cruise and she reimbursed us in full. From your description, I believe that my wife and I probably consume more drinks/wine/coffee/water on a daily basis than you and your wife do, so our expenses would be higher, yet our total was less than the price of two beverage packages.

Something to factor in is the number of sea versus port days you will have. If you are on a port-intensive cruise and off the ship a good deal of you time, you are going to drink a lot less than you would with a lot of sea days.

Welcome to Cruise Critics. Since neither of you are big drinkers it might be better to pay as you go. You do not have to purchase a package before your cruise, in fact, you can wait until a few days into your sailing to see if it would benefit either or both of you.

Some Celebrity cruises don't include promos like beverage packages. If you are on one of those cruises, your fare should be low.

If you are not big drinkers of alcoholic drinks you probably will be better off without paying the big bucks for the package.

We never buy the packages and never spend more than about $300 on alcohol for a 14 day cruise. I usually by a 7 bottle wine package.

Of course, we are elite and have the free happy hour.

Also, we drink the tap water on the ship, don't drink soda or expensive coffee.

Keep in mind drink package includes waters and other drinks that are not alcohol.

Here is a sample wine prices by the class:

quote=kjwinston2019;54984092]Here is a sample wine prices by the class:

wow I did not realise the price for glass was that high is it the same for lets say rum and Beer

It seems that most people booking from the US or UK get the drinks package included. Not so here in Australia. We could have had the drinks package included in our forthcoming Solstice cruise, but the price then would have been more than what we paid for our cruise and buying the drinks package. We had a choice: pay a lot more for the cruise and get two perks or get a really good deal for the cruise and pay extra for whatever you want. The internet package is something we wouldn't bother with anyway, but the drink package is a great bargain and so we bought the Classic package. I will have no problem sticking to drinks that fall within the Classic's price range. And actually, selecting wine by the glass over dinner makes sense as I generally prefer a drier wine to what my husband likes, and it allows us to choose a wine to suit each course. Win/win situation.

I guess pricing is all relative to what you are used to paying. I did not find the drinks any more than what I would pay at home when we go out to eat.

I took many pictures of the menus while on the Equinox last September. I have attached some for reference.

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Keep in mind there are a number of different drink packages. I always buy at least a non-alcohol package, because the tea that is free is utter crappy but there are some nice teas in the coffee shop.

You can always pay as you go for a couple of days, then add a package if it makes sense.

Wanted to test my understanding on the 18% gratuity in beverages. If you purchase a drink package the 18% is included (prepaid) and if you like there is always a chance to tip additional. When you buy without a package I am assuming the same would apply. Can someone please confirm?

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Wanted to test my understanding on the 18% gratuity in beverages. If you purchase a drink package the 18% is included (prepaid) and if you like there is always a chance to tip additional. When you buy without a package I am assuming the same would apply. Can someone please confirm?

 

 

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Yes. If you buy a package the gratuity is included. You may tip additional if you so desire.

If you do not buy a package 18% is added to your bill and you are also welcome to add on an additional gratuity.

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One when booking with Celebrity, we always pick the beverage package as our perk. Then it is no issue.

Well, it's still an issue in that you have to decide. Say, would it save us more money by taking the beverage package or the free gratuities? A light drinker might be better off with the grats or onboard credit.

Well, it's still an issue in that you have to decide. Say, would it save us more money by taking the beverage package or the free gratuities? A light drinker might be better off with the grats or onboard credit.

You would need to be a really light drinker to not spend $15 a day (equal to grats) on beverages (including juices, coffee, water and any alcoholic drinks). I've usually hit that well before lunch with just a coffee or two, water and juice.

Prices for drinks are about the same as they are here in Southern California in most bars or clubs. Most beers are $5 to $7, Wine is $7 and up, most mixed drinks/cocktails are $8 to $14. Still way cheaper than at a ball game!