Beverages and Beverage Packages FAQ

[ailetoile]

I've heard that Aqua Class no longer receives complimentary bubbly in their cabin, as the first page mentions. Is this true?

 

Also, instead of 2 bottles of wine per room - how about boxed wine with the same as 2 standard bottles? Most people think of this wine as cheap, but there are some decent brands...and they keep out oxygen better than the bottles while storing.

 

Will they fit in the refrigerator?

 

Yes, Aqua Class still receives a complimentary bottle of wine in their room as it receives ALL of the Concierge Class perks.

 

I will reaffirm that the two bottles of wine are for 750ml bottles, not for boxes. As it has been previously stated, your mileage may vary but do not be surprised to lose your wine.

 

The refrigerators in the cabins are very small and shallow, and not very warm. I don't think they would fit a bottle of wine unless there's room on the door.

 

Another question in the hope you can help again :confused:

 

On the Celebrity UK page, it says that if you purchase the packages once on board, then the prices will be higher than if you prereserve them. I have not read this on any of the drink package threads on here. Can anyone please advise me about this and share their experiences with me?

 

The only reason I could think that the price would be different would be that there's perhaps a more favorable currency conversion being used in the land-based offices than on the boat? There's no reason at all that it would be different, otherwise.

 

Okay - that is helpful! However, I know that I read somewhere that Aqua Class gets 2 free bottles of water a day. I'll see if I can find that. :confused:

 

We will be transferring to another TA, as we have a lot that we'd like to do in Sydney. Our TA told us that all the "perks" TA's or Celebrity offers are not offered on re-positioning cruises. I'm sad to say, that I don't know if I believe that. We are feeling a little sad that we were offered no beverage or OBC perks while booking with our original TA. Our friends first booked, so we quickly followed suit to be sure to get close cabins or at least a similar booking.

 

With regards to the Aqua Class bottled water, I think that the way Celebrity worded the perk it was always "supposed" to be just the two bottles of water (not per day), and that they have only recently started enforcing it as written. I may be mistaken about that, though.

 

Celebrity only rarely (if ever) offers perks on repositioning cruises, theoretically since there are so many sea days. You're not being lied to or mislead there.

[chuey1997]

I just spoke to Scott in Celebrity Customer Service.

 

Apparently one does get a bottle of "sparking wine," in their stateroom on the day of embarkation.

 

And you were right that there are only the 2 bottles of water on embarkation day. There is no other bottled water delivered to the stateroom during the cruise, unless you purchase it with room service of course.

 

Thanks again!

 

I read somewhere that the bottle of "sparkling wine" can be returned in lieu of a small onboard credit. Every Celebrity cruise that i've been on that had this bottle, including last year on Concierge i've never used, but was unaware of the credit. Is this true? I forget where i read this.

[dustyroadrunner]

Yes, Aqua Class still receives a complimentary bottle of wine in their room as it receives ALL of the Concierge Class perks.

 

I will reaffirm that the two bottles of wine are for 750ml bottles, not for boxes. As it has been previously stated, your mileage may vary but do not be surprised to lose your wine.

 

 

The only reason I could think that the price would be different would be that there's perhaps a more favorable currency conversion being used in the land-based offices than on the boat? There's no reason at all that it would be different, otherwise.

 

 

 

With regards to the Aqua Class bottled water, I think that the way Celebrity worded the perk it was always "supposed" to be just the two bottles of water (not per day), and that they have only recently started enforcing it as written. I may be mistaken about that, though.

 

Celebrity only rarely (if ever) offers perks on repositioning cruises, theoretically since there are so many sea days. You're not being lied to or mislead there.

 

Thank you. You'd think with all those days at sea, they would offer a break now and then, as the cost for passengers can quickly get out of hand. I'd think they wouldn't want people watching their money that closely. ;)

[ghstudio]

I read somewhere that the bottle of "sparkling wine" can be returned in lieu of a small onboard credit. Every Celebrity cruise that i've been on that had this bottle, including last year on Concierge i've never used, but was unaware of the credit. Is this true? I forget where i read this.

 

Two things....I misposted earlier...the upgrade price is $11.80 per day, not 10.80. It's $10 plus 18% gratuity.

 

There are a couple of possible options with the bottle of sparkling wine.

 

1) you can ask your room steward if they could replace it with a bottle of red or white wine. They aren't supposed to do this, but sometimes....and it doesn't hurt to give them $10 or so for their help (consider it an extra gratuity paid in advance).

 

2) you can take it with you to dinner and ask the somelier if you could exchange it for a red/white or if you could get a credit towards a better wine. We have taken this approach and almost always get a $28 credit towards a more expensive bottle of wine. On one cruise, the somelier would only exchange it for a house red or white. Not sure if we've just been lucky but we're batting 100%. Your experience may differ, of course.

 

3) I think I've read about someone taking the bottle to guest services and having it replaced with a house red/white. Not sure I'd expect this to work but if all else fails....

[QE2_Fan]

Good information! Our cruise boards just minutes before midnight...wouldn't want to pay for that night! :eek:

 

We will likely "pay as we go."

 

Hey does your cruise board at midnight or actually depart at midnight (or just prior!)? We did the Hawaii to Syd repositioning cruise in 2014 and whilst ship left at midnight we could board from 11am! So we were on board and enjoying our (paid for!) drink package from the get go:p!

 

It was the reason i made the drink calculator spreadsheet actually - as a lot of people (ourselves included) are hesitant to outlay that sort of money for drinks over a 17 night cruise - until you can see the value it can offer. We have since luckily always got the drink package included as a perk (and upgraded to premium!) but will never forget that $1600 pp spend was money well spent for us - we came out well in front (and think most of it was from coffees from Cafe Al Bacio!!

 

But each to their own and YMMV - hence the calculator:D!

 

Cheers

Matt

Edited March 4, 2016 by QE2_Fan

[meengla]

The first post has some very useful information but that info is dated! At least for the alcoholic drinks, please see this:

 

https://secure.celebritycruises.com/celebrity/media/celebrity/shared_assets/pdf/Classic-Premium-Bev-Pckgs.pdf

 

which is an official document.

 

Compared with the OP, the prices are higher.

 

The OP did direct me to ask Celebrity (by a phone call about half hour ago) as to how late they would allow one to book any of the alcoholic packages. The guy on the phone gave a vague (?) answer: It depends on how many beverage packages are already booked etc etc. I was hoping we would be allowed the beverage package after 3 or 4 nights. Now not sure.

 

BTW, we are going on a 13 day cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Rome on 2nd April.

[QE2_Fan]

The first post has some very useful information but that info is dated! At least for the alcoholic drinks, please see this:

 

 

 

https://secure.celebritycruises.com/celebrity/media/celebrity/shared_assets/pdf/Classic-Premium-Bev-Pckgs.pdf

 

 

 

which is an official document.

 

 

 

Compared with the OP, the prices are higher.

 

 

 

The OP did direct me to ask Celebrity (by a phone call about half hour ago) as to how late they would allow one to book any of the alcoholic packages. The guy on the phone gave a vague (?) answer: It depends on how many beverage packages are already booked etc etc. I was hoping we would be allowed the beverage package after 3 or 4 nights. Now not sure.

 

 

 

BTW, we are going on a 13 day cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Rome on 2nd April.

 

 

Lol the guy you spoke to obviously had no clue! Add 5 to the power of 3 and subtract 18 before dividing by 1.8 and you should be able to buy the package still [emoji848][emoji1]

 

I've always understood you can purchase up until the final 4 days of a cruise. 4 days into a 13 day cruise should not be a problem - but you do have to purchase it for the full remaining duration of the cruise.

 

Cheers! [emoji483][emoji484][emoji483]

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[meengla]

I've always understood you can purchase up until the final 4 days of a cruise. 4 days into a 13 day cruise should not be a problem - but you do have to purchase it for the full remaining duration of the cruise.

 

Kind of a reassuring response from you! The Celebrity guy left a bad taste in my mouth--even my wife two yards from me heard the conversation. I merely (and very politely, I think) tried to say that I heard that we could buy beyond a couple of days but he said: "Sir!! You are not listening to me. It depends...".

 

Because cruises are such a fun environment--even in the anonymous online spaces--I decided to just agree with the guy. This is not a Fox News or Yahoo forum!

[QE2_Fan]

Kind of a reassuring response from you! The Celebrity guy left a bad taste ... he said: "Sir!! You are not listening to me. It depends...".

 

 

 

 

 

He would lose my respect, interest and likely my temper speaking like that [emoji35] !!

 

I'm following a live blog of Solstice travelling around NZ and Australia, a copy of the ships daily for Day 4 is actively promoting the drink packages! Tried to find similar in later dailies but not advertised, I don't think that means you cannot purchase just they need the print room for all those watch and sunglasses sales [emoji57]

 

Cheers [emoji484][emoji483][emoji484]

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[dustyroadrunner]

Hey does your cruise board at midnight or actually depart at midnight (or just prior!)? We did the Hawaii to Syd repositioning cruise in 2014 and whilst ship left at midnight we could board from 11am! So we were on board and enjoying our (paid for!) drink package from the get go:p!

 

It was the reason i made the drink calculator spreadsheet actually - as a lot of people (ourselves included) are hesitant to outlay that sort of money for drinks over a 17 night cruise - until you can see the value it can offer. We have since luckily always got the drink package included as a perk (and upgraded to premium!) but will never forget that $1600 pp spend was money well spent for us - we came out well in front (and think most of it was from coffees from Cafe Al Bacio!!

 

But each to their own and YMMV - hence the calculator:D!

 

Cheers

Matt

 

That's a good question - and point, Matt! Departure time is at 11:59 p.m. so hopefully we can also board that early.

 

Thank you for mentioning that. Back to the calculator! :)

[QE2_Fan]

That's a good question - and point, Matt! Departure time is at 11:59 p.m. so hopefully we can also board that early.

 

 

 

Thank you for mentioning that. Back to the calculator! :)

 

 

Here you go, this is from the AU website. The 'staggered' check in times were loosely if at all enforced in Hawaii so if you want to board in time for lunch and your first glass of bubbly....go for it!

 

http://www.celebritycruises.com.au/before-you-sail/staggered-check-in-times/

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Edited March 9, 2016 by QE2_Fan

[dustyroadrunner]

Here you go, this is from the AU website. The 'staggered' check in times were loosely if at all enforced in Hawaii so if you want to board in time for lunch and your first glass of bubbly....go for it!

 

http://www.celebritycruises.com.au/before-you-sail/staggered-check-in-times/

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Why, thank you Matt! We postponed our cruise until 2017, but if it follows what you just linked me with - we should be able to board at a great time.

 

Cheers!

[Sammyjodes]

Thanks for all this wonderful information... I'm about to head off on my first cruise at the end of March on the Millennium. I know you can upgrade your beverage package up to two days prior to end of cruise, but can you start a beverage package part way through the cruise or does it have to start on the first day? TIA

[reedprincess]

Thanks for all this wonderful information... I'm about to head off on my first cruise at the end of March on the Millennium. I know you can upgrade your beverage package up to two days prior to end of cruise, but can you start a beverage package part way through the cruise or does it have to start on the first day? TIA

 

You can buy or upgrade a pre-existing package at any point up until last two nights of sailing...you don't have to purchase on day one.

[QE2_Fan]

You can buy or upgrade a pre-existing package at any point up until last two nights of sailing...you don't have to purchase on day one.

 

 

Yes just had this confirmed per a query a few posts back, by NorbertsNiece who is blogging on the Solstice currently. A good clarification to add to the FAQs !

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[ailetoile]

The first post has some very useful information but that info is dated! At least for the alcoholic drinks, please see this:

 

https://secure.celebritycruises.com/celebrity/media/celebrity/shared_assets/pdf/Classic-Premium-Bev-Pckgs.pdf

 

which is an official document.

 

Compared with the OP, the prices are higher.

 

The OP did direct me to ask Celebrity (by a phone call about half hour ago) as to how late they would allow one to book any of the alcoholic packages. The guy on the phone gave a vague (?) answer: It depends on how many beverage packages are already booked etc etc. I was hoping we would be allowed the beverage package after 3 or 4 nights. Now not sure.

 

BTW, we are going on a 13 day cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Rome on 2nd April.

 

The OP is still actively maintaining the document that was posted at the top of this thread :p The most updated version of the PDF also has the most updated version of the prices.

 

For your convenience I have once again attached the most updated PDF to this reply. I've been trying to do this once another page or two of comments comes in to keep it from being TOO difficult to find.

 

Thanks for all this wonderful information... I'm about to head off on my first cruise at the end of March on the Millennium. I know you can upgrade your beverage package up to two days prior to end of cruise, but can you start a beverage package part way through the cruise or does it have to start on the first day? TIA

 

Yes just had this confirmed per a query a few posts back, by NorbertsNiece who is blogging on the Solstice currently. A good clarification to add to the FAQs !

 

Yes, you can indeed purchase your beverage package up to two days prior to the end of the cruise. QE2_Fan, this is already addressed in the following question:

 

How long do I have to decide to purchase or upgrade a beverage package?

 

You can purchase or upgrade a beverage package at any time until you have two nights left in your cruise. At the time of your purchase or upgrade, you will pay a prorated price based on the number of nights that you have left.

 

 

I think the main problem is that there's so much information in the document that things like this become buried. I'm still working on pulling all of this stuff out into an actual website that can be updated without the PDF getting buried in the thread, and which can be searched for exactly situations like this :)

Bev Package FAQ.pdf

Edited March 14, 2016 by ailetoile

[meengla]

@Ailetoile,

Unless I am missing something I still say that the OP post (as in the very first post on http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2167294 ) have the obsolete pricing. Look at the Premium alcohol Package: In OP it is at $59 while the PDF link I posted as the official one has that Package at $65.

?

[QE2_Fan]

The OP is still actively maintaining the document that was posted at the top of this thread :p The most updated version of the PDF also has the most updated version of the prices.

 

 

 

For your convenience I have once again attached the most updated PDF to this reply. I've been trying to do this once another page or two of comments comes in to keep it from being TOO difficult to find.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, you can indeed purchase your beverage package up to two days prior to the end of the cruise. QE2_Fan, this is already addressed in the following question:

 

 

 

How long do I have to decide to purchase or upgrade a beverage package?

 

 

 

You can purchase or upgrade a beverage package at any time until you have two nights left in your cruise. At the time of your purchase or upgrade, you will pay a prorated price based on the number of nights that you have left.

 

 

 

 

 

I think the main problem is that there's so much information in the document that things like this become buried. I'm still working on pulling all of this stuff out into an actual website that can be updated without the PDF getting buried in the thread, and which can be searched for exactly situations like this :)

 

 

Thanks for thr clarification! I had assumed that the original poster to the query had checked the FAQ Page, so I on turn did not and went out and researched it further ... Doh!

 

Yes the forums make it hard to keep sight of updated documents. I think Google Docs/Sheets may be the way to go moving forward, as the link or reference stays static, but the document itself is dynamically updated by those with admin rights. Seen a few roll calls using this method now!

 

No disrespect to to OP however who has taken on a significant commitment for the benefit of many on the boards. Kudos!! [emoji3]

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[qualifiedcruiseologist]

We are going on the solstice in December and we have the classic alcohol package as a perk. None of us drink alcohol though. What non alcoholic drinks can we choose from? What are the chances of changing to the premium non alcoholic drink package? Cheers

[ailetoile]

@Ailetoile,

Unless I am missing something I still say that the OP post (as in the very first post on http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2167294 ) have the obsolete pricing. Look at the Premium alcohol Package: In OP it is at $59 while the PDF link I posted as the official one has that Package at $65.

?

 

Unfortunately, there is no way to update the original post in this thread after a certain time period (something like 30 minutes) has passed. Therefore, you need to look at the most updated version of the document that is available in comments to get the most accurate information available. I try to make the most updated comment available on every other page of the thread to keep it as easy as possible to find. There is nothing that I can do to change this, as much as I wish that I could :(

 

We are going on the solstice in December and we have the classic alcohol package as a perk. None of us drink alcohol though. What non alcoholic drinks can we choose from? What are the chances of changing to the premium non alcoholic drink package? Cheers

 

You may or may not be able to downgrade your package at Guest Relations on the ship, but even if you do manage to downgrade you will not receive a refund for the difference between the Classic Package price and the lower price of the non-alcoholic package.

 

You can choose from a variety of non-alcoholic beverages, including non-premium bottled (still) water, canned and fountain sodas, and non-premium coffees from Cafe Al Baccio. Without checking against the document (which you can feel free to do), I believe that your only non-alcoholic restrictions will be things like energy drinks and smoothies.

 

Thanks for thr clarification! I had assumed that the original poster to the query had checked the FAQ Page, so I on turn did not and went out and researched it further ... Doh!

 

Yes the forums make it hard to keep sight of updated documents. I think Google Docs/Sheets may be the way to go moving forward, as the link or reference stays static, but the document itself is dynamically updated by those with admin rights. Seen a few roll calls using this method now!

 

No disrespect to to OP however who has taken on a significant commitment for the benefit of many on the boards. Kudos!! [emoji3]

 

No worries. You've been an excellent source of information when I haven't been around to keep track of what's going on in here and you have no idea how much I appreciate that :)

 

Google Docs are a good idea in the sense that it's a collaborative workspace, but a poor idea in the sense that this is obviously a somewhat complicated topic that isn't done justice through a linear document like we're trying to do here. It's obvious from the repeated questions just in this one thread alone that people can't take in all the information from the document, are simply skimming it and then asking when the answer isn't obviously available to them, or aren't reading at all beyond seeing the wall of text. That's a problem I'd like to address, but which doesn't have an easy solution with Google Docs.

 

As I've said in other spots in this thread, I'm working on getting the information moved over to a website that I can update. In addition to providing a permanent URL that will always have the most up-to-date information that is available to me, this website will also include search functionality. This will help to resolve some of the problems that I've touched on above, and will also allow me to expand the information beyond beverages and beverage packages to include questions about other "hot topics" that are consistently popping up on these boards. I'm hoping to have a site that is ready for public consumption in the next month or two.

[Jaydale]

Fantastic information. Answers loads of questions. Thanks :)

[QE2_Fan]

Wow, you are committed to the cause!! A website would be great and yes same key benefit that s link would be static, the data would not and offer much more efficient methods to search and highlight related or sub topics as they arise etc. You will need to ask for donations to subside your efforts! [emoji385][emoji388][emoji383][emoji38]

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[QE2_Fan]

We are going on the solstice in December and we have the classic alcohol package as a perk. None of us drink alcohol though. What non alcoholic drinks can we choose from? What are the chances of changing to the premium non alcoholic drink package? Cheers

 

 

You don't really need to downgrade, you will get all the non alcoholic drinks included as per the classic non alcoholic package.

 

If you wanted to benefit from the premium non alcoholic package you may need to pay the upgrade cost @$11 day) to the premium alcoholic package as sadly they won't refund you from the alcoholic to non alcoholic package given as a perk.

 

Guest services may be able to work something out once in onboard. I know we did the former when we sailed with 1 adult/1child in 2 cabins. Each child got the alcoholic package as the perk by default, but they just reissued their card onboard to reflect the non alcoholic version.

 

Cheers! [emoji484][emoji484]

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[meengla]

Unfortunately, there is no way to update the original post in this thread after a certain time period (something like 30 minutes) has passed. Therefore, you need to look at the most updated version of the document that is available in comments to get the most accurate information available. I try to make the most updated comment available on every other page of the thread to keep it as easy as possible to find. There is nothing that I can do to change this, as much as I wish that I could :(

 

 

Awe snap! That is indeed an annoying limitation of this board!

You are doing a fabulous job despite the limitation and all of us appreciate it.

 

Here is one drinks package I wish could make it to the very first post: The Standard Package. http://www.celebritycruises.com/onboard-celebrity/onboard-beverage-packages?pagename=onboard_beverage_packages_overview#onboard_beverage_packages_premium_classic_tab/onboard/asrPanel%3Fpagename=onboard_beverage_packages_premium_classic

 

"Choose select beers and wines, spirits, cocktails, liquors and frozen drinks up to $6 per serving. Brand availability varies by bar location, but includes a variety of well branded spirits, popular wines and beers, fountain sodas, and bottled water. Plus, with purchase of this Standard Package, you can enjoy a 10% discount on all wines by the bottle purchased on board, even our prized Reserve Wine list and Rare Wine list.*Starting from: 45.00 USD Per NIGHT "

[AuntieSasa]

Awesome post! That answers all of my questions! Thank you!:)