Pre Paid Beverage Packages - Worth it or not?

[Jane2357]

On Celebrity they offer a variety of pre-paid beverage packages. Some just for sodas, or water, or bar set-up in cabin, some are wine packages, some are wine and cocktails upto a certain limit of cost - like up to $8.00 per drink or $10.00 per drink. Is this worth it. It is charged by the day but seems like on Departure Day that is couldn't be worth it. I'd love to be able to have a vodka tonic in my room while getting ready for dinner, cocktails at the bar prior to dinner, maybe a glass of wine with dinner - you get the picture - lol. Who has experience with the packages and are they worth it?

[paul929207]

For some the packages are great and for others a huge waste of money. It all depends on what and how many you will drink. Get the prices from people on the cruise line section and then due the math.

[LHT28]

It is charged daily but once you sign up it is for the rest of the cruise ...you cannot just choose specific days

Only you you know if it is worth it to you ;)

 

I do not think they deliver drinks to your cabin so you would have to go to the bar them take it back to your cabin ;)

Edited July 27, 2012 by LHT28

[cb at sea]

That's true....room service is NOT included in the packages.

[westalan80]

Its useless for occassional drinkers, they can much rather avail the room service and order when they require drinks then paying excessive amounts for the whole cruise that they wont even be consuming

[packyourpixiedust]

It depends how much you drink. That is even true with the pop package on Celebrity. My husband drinks one coke with dinner, and one with lunch. It was not worth it to have the basic soda package with that amount of pop drinking. Def do the math and see how much you want to drink....

[johnb0529]

There are a ton of posts on the on the Celebrity forum about drink packages.

 

For very few people are they 'a value', but for some they are. It all depends on how much you drink (alcohol and non-alcohol).

 

I don't think we saved a dime with them, but they are very convenient, and we did drink things we normally would not have (especially non-alcohol). For example, they have great fresh-brewed iced tea at the Coffee Shop that is much better than the ships free iced tea. I would not normally go there and pay $5 for iced tea, but with it included in the package, i stopped almost every day after returning from port and enjoyed a fresh iced tea!

 

We also never drank the ships free coffee, but would always get espresso based coffees because they are included.

 

We also enjoyed not having to sign a slip after every drink! and getting a final bill that was one page long was nice...it is always so difficult to audit 5 pages when every drink is posted separate :eek:

 

It was also nice at dinner because all 4 at our table had the packages, so the Sommelier would just bring a bottle and keep our glasses full without us ever having to ask for another glass of wine.

 

So for us the decision is completely about convenience and not the 'value' of the package.

[Stennsan]

It all depends on what you drink, and how much. For myself, tap water and the iced tea from the machine are fine for me. No drink package necessary. For the wife, the soda package saves a ton of money. She gets through a lot of it. And she gets a souvenir cup to ad to her collection.

[Keith1010]

In the end, it does depend how much you drink.

 

Keith

[johnb0529]

In the end, it does depend how much you drink.

 

Keith

 

I would say that's 90% true. For many, it's the convenience.

 

- I don't have to sign any slips

- The Sommelier keeps my wine glass full at dinner without asking

- When i get off the ship, i can audit my bill in 60 seconds because there are only a handfull of rememberable purchases, vs. trying to remember every drink i purchased.

- ordering coffee and tea i would otherwise skip

- having bottles of water in the cabin and for tours without thinking about the cost

 

What's that premium worth? depends on the person and their disposable income, but for me, i cannot imagine going back to the old system.

[TeriW]

I had the Classic drinks package, $44 per day, but they will add nearly $80 in grats to this!

They will refuse to serve you more than one drink at a time.

Doesn't include minibar and room service.

 

It was convenient and great not to have to sign each time.

I did drink more wine and cocktails than I would have done otherwise.

Also used for smoothies, coffee, bottled water.

Think it also included the gelateria, but as dairy intolerant didn't have any:(

Thought the coffee out of the machines and in the restaurant was awful!

 

Next time will take my travel cafetiere and ground coffee with me and my Bobble water filter bottle to fill up from tap in cafe.

[bdpnatl]

Our last cruise was a short 4 night and we took the premium package to see if it was worth it to us. From a non-cash perspective, it was very nice not to have to sign slips everytime we got something. Our Sommelier kept our glasses full and remembered our preferences each evening. As was stated earlier, with very few on-board purchases, it was very asy to check our bill before leaving the ship.

 

From a cost perspective, we did take advatage of soem of the non-alcohol options which we had not in the past. I like Coke but normally do not buy it onboard, with the drink package I did. My partner thinks the coffee at the buffet and from room service is awful, so I want to Cafe Blanco to get him coffee each morning. We also were more likely to have a beer with lunch or a late cocktail while walking on deck. We never worried about it and that was very nice. When we got back I did check to see how we came out and we did come out slightly ahead (less than $30 per person). even if we came out a few dollars short, I thinkit was worth it to us.

 

On a normal day we probably had coffee and Coke in the mornings, beer with lunch if we were back onboard, drinks in the casino before or after dinner, a cocktail with friends before dinner at the martini bar, wine with dinner, and maybe an after dinner drink.

 

Ok maybe we do enjoy a cocktail a little too much

 

We did purchase the premium drink package for our upcoming December cruise. For our November TA, we may wait until we start the sea days to sign up and just pay for the last 7 nights of the cruise. We have not made a decision on that yet.

Edited September 27, 2012 by bdpnatl

[moswinner]

:confused: Maybe I'm missing something here. We are off on the Inde next week for 14 nights and if we take out the basic drinks package of $45 each per day, That will generate a whopping £779 ($1260) bill just for drinks! I just cant Imagine drinking that amount. Yes, I would have a beer at lunchtime, and a glass of wine with my evening meal and probably a cocktail before bed. But nearly £28 worth of booze a day? At £3.50 a pint (P&O Prices) thats 8 pints a day, way above the safe recommended alcohol intake. Maybe they could offer a free Liver transplant. lol.:D

[Soccer1986]

I find it strange that if you purchase the classic alcohol package, the premium non alcohol is not included. How does that make any sense? If I pay 52.92 per day for drinks, shouldn't that include smoothies and red bull as well? Those drinks cost the same as highballs and beer. Don't think I will be purchasing it.

[CruiseFanatic123]

We didn't find it worthwhile so we didn't get it. We like to have drinks in the room, and that isn't included so we knew we wouldn't get our money's worth.

[paul929207]

We didn't find it worthwhile so we didn't get it. We like to have drinks in the room, and that isn't included so we knew we wouldn't get our money's worth.

With the packages, you can go to a bar, get a drink and take it to your cabin

[CruiseFanatic123]

With the packages, you can go to a bar, get a drink and take it to your cabin

 

Yes, I know that. I'm just saying that at times we like to be lazy and have room service with drinks included :)

 

I should also say that we only spent about $70 on our whole cruise on alcohol. On our Royal Caribbean cruise, I think we would have had to drink probably 5 to 10 drinks a day (mix of beer and liquor) for it to be worthwhile, and I just knew we wouldn't do that for 7 days straight.

Edited August 1, 2014 by CruiseFanatic123

[cruzngrl]

Due to the cost of drinks on board we only have approx 3 drinks the whole cruise..We are not big drinkers anyway. We do take our 2 bottles of wine. However, our next two upcoming cruises we received a great price on the cruise, ppd gratuities, on board credit, and the drink package. So...we will be indulging in various cocktails, wines coffees etc. It will be interesting to see if we had to pay for it what it would have cost. This way its "free" so if we use it fine, if not fine...

[cruzilove]

We love the beverage package. The drinks are stronger, no signing, know what the cost is up front, and when you take into consideration the cost of top shelf drinks it is well worth it...........:D:p:)

[cruzilove]

:confused: Maybe I'm missing something here. We are off on the Inde next week for 14 nights and if we take out the basic drinks package of $45 each per day, That will generate a whopping £779 ($1260) bill just for drinks! I just cant Imagine drinking that amount. Yes, I would have a beer at lunchtime, and a glass of wine with my evening meal and probably a cocktail before bed. But nearly £28 worth of booze a day? At £3.50 a pint (P&O Prices) thats 8 pints a day, way above the safe recommended alcohol intake. Maybe they could offer a free Liver transplant. lol.:D

 

I think that your pricing is incorrect. A beer is at least $5.00 PLUS gratuities....