Eclipse Reviews; negative comments on the cost of alcohol

[Sailfish]

I am going on the Eclipse in a couple of weeks, so I decided to check out a few reviews. Though the vast majority are positive as far as the ship is concerned, many (actually most) commented on how expensive the cost wine and drinks are. I realize the ship was in Europe all summer, so I am speculating that the reviews I am reading are from UK passengers (though I am not sure).

 

We are Elite passengers and cruise with Celebrity often; but have not since our Solstice cruise in June 2010; has Celebrity made some significant changes or is this simply a reflection of prices in Europe? I am not overly concerned but was wondering what was up. I have never seen so many passengers comment on onboard prices for drinks as this.

 

Thanks.

 

Suzi

[uktog]

I can answer that one - your assumption re UK passengers is absolutely correct. There were also issues on previous sailings out of Southampton in 2010 with guests insisting the service charge was removed from each drinks purchase so in the 2011 ex Southamptin sailings they have added in the 15% to the cost of the drinks

Is it any more expensive than 2010 - no if it is its minimal and in line with the changes in pricing you are seeing ashore

Unfortunately some of the passengers Celebrity have attracted on their ex Southampton trips are either new to cruising (and therefore used to holidays in Europe with cheap drinks) or sailed with a line (there are a couple, they are 3* at best) where drink prices are kept very low

I would relax, and I would ignore a significant % of the reviews- we found Eclipse in great shape

[Sailfish]

Thanks for the feedback. We have found Celebrity to be no more expensive than Princess or others when it comes to shipboard add-ons like drinks, tours, etc. per our 2010 cruise on the Solstice. However, noticing these reviews made me think something had changed.

 

Suzi

[Adammara]

Just back from Eclipse, and enjoyed the drinks in the Sky lounge during happy hour. I bought a glass of wine at dinner, and was paying around $9.25 for a glass off wine (which was a generous freepour) I think many UK passengers assuming a dollar equaled a £1, when in actual fact a $9.25 drink is around £5.81, a similar price charged in many better hotels and restaurants in the UK. A bottle of wine in a Hilton recently was £20.00 equalling around $32.00, more expensive than the cheapest wine on Celebrity.

 

Richard

[Goldiedog]

On British ships spirits are measured quantities, on US ships when I have a gin and tonic they just pour the gin in so much better value for money, we were on the Eclipse last year and found it no more expensive than any othe American ship. Recently did a HAL cruise, they also just poured the gin in !!

[dkjretired]

I can answer that one - your assumption re UK passengers is absolutely correct. There were also issues on previous sailings out of Southampton in 2010 with guests insisting the service charge was removed from each drinks purchase so in the 2011 ex Southamptin sailings they have added in the 15% to the cost of the drinks

Is it any more expensive than 2010 - no if it is its minimal and in line with the changes in pricing you are seeing ashore

Unfortunately some of the passengers Celebrity have attracted on their ex Southampton trips are either new to cruising (and therefore used to holidays in Europe with cheap drinks) or sailed with a line (there are a couple, they are 3* at best) where drink prices are kept very low

I would relax, and I would ignore a significant % of the reviews- we found Eclipse in great shape

 

Uktog is correct and this was an exception only for the Eclipse. Instead of adding the tip they just added the cost of the tip into the price of the drink due to the complaints about paying a tip. I would suspect your prices will be lower but then the service charge will be added thus creating the same price.

[Albert Ross]

... I think many UK passengers assuming a dollar equaled a £1, when in actual fact a $9.25 drink is around £5.81, a similar price charged in many better hotels and restaurants in the UK. A bottle of wine in a Hilton recently was £20.00 equalling around $32.00, more expensive than the cheapest wine on Celebrity.

 

Richard

 

Perhaps they should be given a Maths test before they board.....;):rolleyes:

I have just posted exactly the same over on the RCI boards, to someone (with a lot of Thomson cruises in her history....say no more...) said the drinks were 'extortionate'. I pointed out that a G&T in a 5* London hotel last week was £11 where as on board it is around $8/£5. Even a bottle of wine in Pizza Express is £18 these days.

[SAB017]

hi there

this is my first post on cruise Message boards and I find that the people of the USA do not know what the people of Europe pay for their food and drinks and services.There is enormos difference for what we pay in Europe for a cruise and what you pay in t he USA for a cruise.For instance we cannot benefit from your "special "prices or so called last minute prices.We pay the full amauont for everything.

[ghstudio]

This site has automatic blocking of anything that looks like a TA URL.....but I believe cruise fish dot net (they are not a TA, so I think it's a permissible site to mention) shows cruise prices offered in the US, Canada, Europe (euro) and Britain....and it shows a history of those prices by cabin category.

 

You get good deals in Europe, in some cases, deals that are better than we get here. You might want to look at that site and check some cruises. Hover over a current price and it will show you the history of that price.

[janelouiseb]

We're just back from a great cruise on the Equinox and would agree with other posters that the drink prices are reasonable, in addition we were happy to pay the service charge. The cocktails were great and the service excellent. Prices were equivalent to restaurant/hotel prices in Europe, in fact less than we paid pre-cruise in Rome. We live in the UK!

[uktog]

I think people also forget the martini bar is not their local sports and social club. I think the drink prices are very fair when you take into account what a drink mixed like that (i.e. that amount of alcohol in the glass), served like that and in surroundings like that would cost on land. In addition to their maths brain, folks leave their logic brain ashore sometimes

[missminnie]

We've only just done our first Celebrity Cruise and we're from the UK. We didn't find the drinks too expensive at all. In fact a glass of Rose was only $5.50 which is much cheaper than I pay here in a local bar or restaurant - I can pay £5.50 so it's a bargain to me. Martini's at $10 seemed reasonable too as were the frozen cocktails I had at $7.

 

My parents are currently on P&O's Azura and whilst the drink prices are much cheaper they say, the quality of the cruise is no where near as good.

 

But then I also tend to go to upmarket restuarants and don't tend to take cheap package holidays so suppose I don't know how cheap alcohol can be in these type of places. (I certainly wouldn't cruise Thomson after seeing the Showboaters TV Program recently - not my kind of cruise at all!)

[dkjretired]

hi there

this is my first post on cruise Message boards and I find that the people of the USA do not know what the people of Europe pay for their food and drinks and services.There is enormos difference for what we pay in Europe for a cruise and what you pay in t he USA for a cruise.For instance we cannot benefit from your "special "prices or so called last minute prices.We pay the full amauont for everything.

 

Yes, but you are paying for certain benfits that we do not have in the states having to do with performance by the cruise lines...

[Project_gal]

Yes, but you are paying for certain benfits that we do not have in the states having to do with performance by the cruise lines...

 

This is very true. What has been said about leaving logic at home is also so true.

 

I think that it would be useful if the reviews on Cruise Critic gave more information about the poster - nationality and previous cruise experience [number and who with] would really help to put each review into perspective.

 

Sue

[black forest]

The prices are similar to hotel prices here in Europe (e.g. Austria, Germany etc.) or prices in a good restaurant. So it is ok with me.

[excitedofharpenden]

Unfortunately some of the passengers Celebrity have attracted on their ex Southampton trips are either new to cruising (and therefore used to holidays in Europe with cheap drinks) or sailed with a line (there are a couple, they are 3* at best)

Also known as the NAGAPs or NAGATs (not as good as P & O/Thomson) aren't they Ann?;)

 

Phil

[Milo_27]

Brits in complaining about the price of drinks shocker ! Whatever next. It might sound harsh but if people are quibbling over a few pence / pounds on holiday maybe they should have chosen an all inclusive holiday or something a bit cheaper.

 

I don't think the drinks are that expensive all things considered. After having a week in Miami last November the prices when we boarded the Eclipse for the second week were a very pleasant surprise.

[Taxguy77]

It's been many years, but our DD lived in the UK for 5 years and we visited every year. The comment about Brits thinking the prices were in pounds, not dollars is very valid. UK prices at that time seemed about the same as the numbers were, but hard to remember that the dollar cost was 1.5 times as much.

When we in the US were paying $0.50 per gallon of gas, the best price in Europe was about six times that.

[Milo_27]

I don't think it's to do with the prices it's to do with us Brits being world leaders in complaining. Surely people don't book a cruise holiday without looking at the price of things like drinks, especially if money is tight. After all it's not like a land based holiday where you can go and find a cheaper place to eat or drink if one place looks expensive.

 

If complaining was an Olympic sport it wouldn't be worth any other nation turning up as us Brits would take the gold medal every time.

[helpthejuggler]

I don't think it's to do with the prices it's to do with us Brits being world leaders in complaining. Surely people don't book a cruise holiday without looking at the price of things like drinks, especially if money is tight. After all it's not like a land based holiday where you can go and find a cheaper place to eat or drink if one place looks expensive.

 

If complaining was an Olympic sport it wouldn't be worth any other nation turning up as us Brits would take the gold medal every time.

 

The medals podium is better on P&O

;)

[KirkNC]

I guess none of these passengers are from London where everything is insanely expensive.

 

Kirk

[shoreham01]

We have only travelled Princess so far, although we do have P&O and Celebrity cruises booked. Having looked at the prices listed here the prices do look more on Celebrity, for us it will be the cost of coffee as we don't really drink very much. I do think its a shame that Celebrity do not do a coffee card like Princess. Having said all this, we were completely aware of the costs involved before booking so are not complaining. The cost of the cruise was also less than the Princess equivalent so it's a case of you lose some, you gain some.

[uktog]

Whilst Celebrity do not have a coffee card, you might want to look at the non alcohol package which will cover sodas as well as nice coffees. There are two levels of package depending on your preferences. Many people find the base package is very good if they do not drink alcohol but want unlimited access to higher quality coffee and teas as well as water, lemonades etc

[Edinjean]

I have been with Cunard, PO, Celebrity and yes Thomson too (Why do people generalise, except people for who they are not what you think they are) and they all offer different things. Yes the drink prices are more expensive (We had a Premium drinks package. made good use of it ;)) but Celebrity were better in other areas. I spoke to a lot of fellow British passengers and nobody complained about the drink prices while I was around. There was a shortage of some of the low end priced bottles of wine. They did not arrive at Southampton in time for the sailing due to custom problems coming over from Miami; this info came to us from the Cellar Master. This could be the reason why you did not see many bottles on the tables.

I have two cruises booked for next year, one is with Cunard and the other is with Thomson and hope to travel with Celebrity again in the next couple of years the price of drinks is not something that determines which cruise line My husband and I travel with, it is the iternary and dates. :)