Celebrity Drink Package Calculator - 2014

Hi All

I have got a lot of great information from these forums. A lot of it was related to working out the drink packages - how they work, whats included and most important - were they for us? I did find a calculator somewhere and I hope the OP doesn't mind but I borrowed it and gave it a bit of a 'refurb' :D - making it more generic to allow input for any cruise length and also specify different quantities of drinks for Port vs Sea days.

Whilst it is modelled of the Celebrity Cruise offerings, it could just as easily be used as a guide for RCI or other cruise lines offering similar packages.

The calculator is quite simple to use where by you start by entering total SEA days and total PORT days for your cruise. This should then auto calculate the TOTAL DAYS of your cruise.

You can then complete the two columns of per SEA/per PORT day - where you can "guess"timate how many of each drink you would likely consume.

The calculator does the rest - it will work out the total drink cost (including the standard 15% service tax) and determine which of the drink packages offers value to you as a result.

Packages that offer value will be highlighted GREEN. Those that do not (meaning you are better to purchase drinks 'as you go') will be highlighted RED.

The base prices for drinks are as current as I could source and effective MAR 2014. You can alter these should you need to - but it should be more than enough to provide you with an idea.

And thats just it - this calculator is a guide only - its not telling you YES you MUST order a package. Whether you do or you don't is purely up to you. For some it sounds crazy and expensive - for others they couldn't dream without going on a cruise without the Premium package.

Ultimately there is no RIGHT or WRONG choice - only YOUR choice!

ENJOY. Hope you find this useful, and THANKS AGAIN to the Cruise Critic community for all your help!

Celebrity Drink PKG Selector 2014.xls

Hi All

 

 

Ultimately there is no RIGHT or WRONG choice - only YOUR choice!

 

ENJOY. Hope you find this useful, and THANKS AGAIN to the Cruise Critic community for all your help!

Fantastic job !!! something for all of us to use.

Maybe Host Andy could put this up as a sticky at the top of the forum !!!

Again, thanks so much for your effort !!

Steve

Great stuff QE2_Fan, according to that I would have spent more on booze, coffee and water than the cruise it's self :D

Excellent!

Nice work.

We do not select the drink packages, except for a small wine package.

Reasons

1. We don't buy bottled water, the ship's water is drinkable. We don't drink sodas.

2. We don't buy expensive coffee.

3. We are elite and enjoy 5-7pm happy hour.

4. Even prior to elite, I totaled up our alcohol spending on each of our cruises and never came near the daily drinks package total.

Thanks so much for posting this. We are cruising with a small group and since I check prices on everything from the cruise to airfare, transportation costs and hotels, I pass this info along.

We all got the beverage package during the pick your perk promotion (ours was upgraded to the premium package as I got my call for reservations early). I sent out all the info when the resident and senior rates came out.

One of our cruise mates had commented that we should all switch as it would save each couple $600 -- but we would lose the beverage package -- for an 11 night cruise. There was no way I would be willing to give that up for $600 -- especially with ours being the premium package. Well, they didn't switch either even with feeling like there was no way they could spend $600 on beverages. To each his own, though. I couldn't imagine keeping it if I didn't spend well over that amount on a cruise.

We had been offered this perk on a previous cruise -- and jumped on it. We got our bill -- all followed by zeros. I think we came out even if we would have purchased this separately. Nice to have no surprises at the end of the cruise.

Thank you. Very good information to have !!

Thanks for your work. great job. Very usefull

We do not come close to drinking enough (alcohol and non-alcohol drinks) to purchase a beverage package.

Your wonderful spreadsheet makes me see exactly how much a waste it would be for us to even consider getting one.

Thanks you did a great job.

It might be helpful to include (a pointer to) what's in the classic alcoholic drink package which can be found at:

http://www.celebritycruises.co.uk/images/classic-beverage-package_tcm20-58906.pdf

note: at the bottom of that page it says good for any drink up to 9.20 UKP (which may show up on your computer as $9.20 but it is UKP not USD's). The difference is that in the UK, prices are quoted with tips included so it's $8 US plus tip.

This is great! As suspected, I would benefit from the premium drink package. Since we will be in Alaska, and spending more time on our own balcony, I tried to only indicate the drinks that we would have while in common areas, for dinner, the shows and evening bar hopping! We didn't receive a drink promo for our cruise, but did receive OBC, so once on board, we will use the OBC to purchase our drink package. I also purchase additional OBC to stock up our fridge with water, beer and pop for the days we spend on balcony or order room service. Thanks for this great tool! :D

Thank you so much for your spreadsheet. Based on my drinking habits it wouldn't pay for me to purchase either of the classic or premium packages but it does help show me how much value there is when a "free" package is offered as part of a Promo. It allows me to compare the savings from choosing the package instead of a shipboard credit or gratuities.

And thank you for not having any colour coding to show when you drink too much on sea days :rolleyes:

Thank you for doing this! For myself, even though I calculated that I would be a bit under the threshold for the premium package, I appreciate the freedom of not worrying about whether what I order is covered under my package or not. I also really enjoy the Molecular bar drinks :D

Karen

It must not work on a IPad.

I get the sheet but everything is blank and can't do any entries.

Thanks for taking th Erie and posting.

🍸☕🍺🍻

Thank you so much for posting this, I'll be getting my mum to work hers out so we can determine whether it's worth upgrading her classic non-alcoholic package to the alcoholic package :)

Wow, thanks for all the feedback!! I found it useful when working it out for myself so just paying it forward!! We are on an Transpacific cruise in Oct and it was not applicable for the promo offer with included drinks packages.

The calculator is an excel spreadsheet so won't work to well on an Ipad. Also did it in US Prices and whilst do add on the 15% service tax it is broken out. UK or Aussies like me where the service tax is normally absorbed into the actual price do the drinks will just need to allow for this ...should work out the same as the packages are an inclusive cost.

Great to see it also proving it is not always best to get a package either, lol it had never done that for me....hiccup!!

Does anyone know the cutoff for buying a Classic Drink package after a cruise starts? I am going to be on a 15 day transatlantic Cruise on Nov 1st and the first 8 days are port intensive. Since the last 7 are at sea- I wonder if it possible to purchase package on board only covering the last 7 days.

Thanks

I have a question about buying the drink package. Do both people in a cabin have to buy it? It would not work for couples if one of the two does not drink any alcoholic beverages.

And, unless you really like the premium selections (or really drink a LOT :D), getting the package (or choosing it over OBC) would seldom be a good choice for Elite or Elite + Captain's Club members.

I was surprised to find out how quickly the classic package might be worth it for one person when you consider soft drinks and juice.

Do you include embarkation or disembarkation days in your port days? I am combining as 1 port day for my calculations. We probably drink more on embarkation day. :D

Also,,,

Fresh Squeezed juice is not listed.

We have always been able to get Specialty Coffee's in the Classic Package. Example: Coffee with Bailey's at dinner. When did it change to only being offered with a Premium Package? :confused:

I have a question about buying the drink package. Do both people in a cabin have to buy it? It would not work for couples if one of the two does not drink any alcoholic beverages.

 

And, unless you really like the premium selections (or really drink a LOT :D), getting the package (or choosing it over OBC) would seldom be a good choice for Elite or Elite + Captain's Club members.

 

I was surprised to find out how quickly the classic package might be worth it for one person when you consider soft drinks and juice.

There is no requirement for couples to BOTH purchase a package. One person can purchase a package and the other can purchase a different package, or none at all! This was confirmed last month when I purchased a package and my mother, in the same cabin, did not. I think she maybe consumed two specialty coffees and 2 glasses of wine over the course of the cruise. She didn't even spend enough for the package to be valuable for one day! lol

I found the spreadsheet very useful.

But my first step was to look at the other long lists of what is in each package i.e the exact wines by glass offered and their prices, which liquor is poured, etc. To make sure I knew what was covered by classic and what was covered by premium. Then use this very easy to use spreadsheet for cost. That info is probably in the older threads about package costs including a very detailed spreadsheet. This simple one is easier to use but I still had to do the first step of sorting out what was in the packages.

So it might be helpful to have another sheet/page on the spreadsheet that shows the details of the package offerings. Can you tell I too am a detail nut??

I do appreciate it just the way it is and it was very helpful.

Thank you very much.

Excellent work. Thanks!

I've always gotten the premium alcohol package for both of us. We've enjoyed the all-inclusive feel of not having to sign for every beverage. We also like having a non-existent beverage bill at the end of the cruise. It turns out it makes economic sense for us as well!

Thanks, again!

Spreadsheet is excellent. The biggest problem is there does not seem to be a comprehensive list of what each package contains. Classic allows the following (across the fleet, not based on what ship or what sailing.) This should not change daily, weekly, or even based on country.

This is a very big shortcoming with Celebrity. How does one really know what to order as it may differ on each ship, sailing, waiter, etc. Guests do not want to be charged for something they thought was within the package. JMHO

Spreadsheet is excellent. The biggest problem is there does not seem to be a comprehensive list of what each package contains. Classic allows the following (across the fleet, not based on what ship or what sailing.) This should not change daily, weekly, or even based on country.

This is a very big shortcoming with Celebrity. How does one really know what to order as it may differ on each ship, sailing, waiter, etc. Guests do not want to be charged for something they thought was within the package. JMHO

I plan to buy onboard and check that the main beverages I am interested in are on a particular package. I would not pay up front for the very point that you make.

I plan to buy onboard and check that the main beverages I am interested in are on a particular package. I would not pay up front for the very point that you make.

Why do businesses make it so hard for themselves and everyone else? It seems like no one knows anything anymore. LOL