Beverages and Beverage Packages FAQ

[maggie.1008]

Is the Classic pkg. wine still up to $9. ?

[ailetoile]

Is the Classic pkg. wine still up to $9. ?

 

Yes.

[Mark2]

We are on an Infinity Alaska cruise this summer. First cruise with Celebrity, but have sailed with Royal Caribbean and other lines several times.

We have a Concierge cabin, and do not have a beverage package but were curious about a wine package. The Celebrity website for beverages/pricing does not seem to be functioning at the moment.

 

We understand we can bring on 2 wine bottles per stateroom at embarkation, but if we take them to DR we pay corkage.

Also that we get 1 bottle of sparkling wine in our stateroom on Day 1 that we may be able to exchange for red or white, which we could drink in DR without corkage.

We aren't sure if wine packages (bottles) are still possible for use in DR? We don't want a beverage package.

 

Appreciate some of the wine-related posts on earlier pages - 1 excerpt copied here.

The beverage FAQ was great also!

Hadn't considered ordering wine as a gift (#5 below):

Thank you for any updates / confirmation of wine policy.

 

This really kind of depends on how you approach the situation. You have a few different options here:

 

1. You can buy bottles of wine individually. You will enjoy a 20% discount on bottles of wine because you have the Premium Package. It is important to note that the discount you receive from this package is MORE than the discount you will receive if you purchase the Build Your Own Wine Package.

 

2. You can buy the Premium Wine Package on top of your beverage package. The package starts at $149 ($175.82 with gratuity) for three bottles of wine, and you must choose from a list of available wines. If you're into truly good wine, I would maybe avoid this.

 

3. Please don't quote me on this, but I believe you can order wine through your butler by either the glass or the bottle to be delivered to your room, but this will not be covered under your beverage package in either case. It's possible you may receive the 20% discount on bottles of wine, but having never sailed in a suite or had any reason to ask about this I can't say for sure. I'd actually appreciate if you could give me an answer to this one when you return

 

4. You can help yourself out a little bit by bringing wine on board at embarkation. Each stateroom is entitled to bring two 750ml bottles of wine on board at embarkation. If you and your wife bring two, and your daughter and son-in-law bring two, that gets you an extra four bottles of wine that was purchased at non-inflated land prices to work with. Keep in mind, however, that while you won't pay a corkage fee to enjoy this wine in your own room and while you may leave your room and walk into a restaurant with a glass of this wine in hand, you will pay a $25 corkage fee per bottle to enjoy this wine poured from its bottle in a restaurant on board the ship.

 

I will take this time to admit that my husband and I (for science, I assure you) at one point put two bottles of wine in our luggage and carried another two bottles of wine on board by hand. This did work. I'll also add that this was way too much wine for us on our seven-night cruise, so we ended up giving most of it away and that this is technically against the rules so I don't strictly recommend trying your luck with it.

 

5. You can pre-select and pay for bottles of wine by sending them to yourself through Gifts By Celebrity. Doing this means you don't get your 20% discount since you've got to do it before the cruise, but it also means that you don't pay the 18% gratuity. I have no idea what quality of wine you can send yourself, though.

[ailetoile]

We are on an Infinity Alaska cruise this summer. First cruise with Celebrity, but have sailed with Royal Caribbean and other lines several times.

We have a Concierge cabin, and do not have a beverage package but were curious about a wine package. The Celebrity website for beverages/pricing does not seem to be functioning at the moment.

 

We understand we can bring on 2 wine bottles per stateroom at embarkation, but if we take them to DR we pay corkage.

Also that we get 1 bottle of sparkling wine in our stateroom on Day 1 that we may be able to exchange for red or white, which we could drink in DR without corkage.

We aren't sure if wine packages (bottles) are still possible for use in DR? We don't want a beverage package.

 

Appreciate some of the wine-related posts on earlier pages - 1 excerpt copied here.

The beverage FAQ was great also!

Hadn't considered ordering wine as a gift (#5 below):

Thank you for any updates / confirmation of wine policy.

 

The wine package is basically a discount package when you commit to purchasing a certain volume of wine. It's absolutely available in any dining facility. If you don't finish the bottle on a particular night, it'll be kept by the sommelier and tagged with your name and room number. It'll be brought back to your table the following night if you're in the same dining facility, and you should be able to request it if you dine somewhere different.

Edited April 11, 2016 by ailetoile

[Mark2]

The wine package is basically a discount package when you commit to purchasing a certain volume of wine. It's absolutely available in any dining facility. If you don't finish the bottle on a particular night, it'll be kept by the sommelier and tagged with your name and room number. It'll be brought back to your table the following night if you're in the same dining facility, and you should be able to request it if you dine somewhere different.

 

Thanks for the advice on the wine package.

 

With regard to buying a Bon Voyage Gift of wine - do you know if the recipient can bring it with them to the DR - with or without a corkage fee? I suspect the price is about the same as a wine package, just curious.

[ailetoile]

Thanks for the advice on the wine package.

 

With regard to buying a Bon Voyage Gift of wine - do you know if the recipient can bring it with them to the DR - with or without a corkage fee? I suspect the price is about the same as a wine package, just curious.

 

One of the upsides of using gifts by Celebrity and purchasing wine in advance is that there's no corkage fees. You can even gift it to yourself so that it arrives in whichever dining room you're anticipating that you'll be in on a specific nigh if sending it to your room is too tame ;)

 

You're probably right about the price.

[diebroke]

ailetoile,

I really appreciate all your advice. Had I not read this in advance, I would have been required to spend a lot of time trying to figure it out once on-board & that would have delayed my wine drinking. (Some might say that's a good thing. I am not one of those.) I don't like for complex mathematical analysis of alternatives to come between me & my wine. It is especially challenging after the first couple of glasses.

[Mark2]

Ailetoile

Thanks again for your advice and tips.

Now I just have to figure out our port activities to see if we'll be back to dinner on time - we have Early Dining.

Even if we miss a dinner, I have no doubt that we can find sufficient food and drink while we are on the ship! :)

[CAL7]

Is there a price advantage to purchasing any package in advance vs. onboard? For instance, on a 7-day cruise, if I purchase on the second day, will it be approximately 6/7 of the pre-board price?

[sound_guy0918]

Is there a price advantage to purchasing any package in advance vs. onboard? For instance, on a 7-day cruise, if I purchase on the second day, will it be approximately 6/7 of the pre-board price?

 

I have read of discounts booking bev packages on the first day, but otherwise the package will be prorated by days remaining as you calculated above. Note that it will be 6/7th of the price at 8am or 8pm, so don't wait to buy it after paying for drinks a la carte all day!

 

The biggest advantage to "purchasing" in advance is booking the Classic package as your free Perk. It is the best value of any perk - if you plan to consume.

[ailetoile]

Is there a price advantage to purchasing any package in advance vs. onboard? For instance, on a 7-day cruise, if I purchase on the second day, will it be approximately 6/7 of the pre-board price?

 

Yes, it will be prorated if you purchase on the second day. You can also pay with onboard credit if you purchase on board (it's credit card only if you purchase in advance).

[DrivesLikeMario]

Host Andy or other Mods - Can't we make this a sticky? The board is inundated by drink package questions and this would make it so much easier to find.

[Jiminy1955]

Thank you so much for this detailed information!!! It has answered all my questions.

[LewesBeach]

Moderators, 81,000 views: can we PLEASE make this a Sticky???

Edited April 22, 2016 by LewesBeach

[meengla]

Hopefully, this info will be helpful, even if not all new.

We just came back from a 13 day Transatlantic cruise on Celebrity Constellation. Here are some observations:

1) The drinks prices are too high on Celebrity! So, for a long cruise like ours, either one has to be an almost teetotaler or smuggle something in or get some kind of a drinks package.

2) We are drinkers (though not total drunkards!) and made do with the allowed two wine bottles (one per person) and a bottle of complimentary champagne for the first day or two.

3) We also had a Stateroom Bar Setup for $80. That had a liter bottle of Absolut vodka and 6 soda cans--we didn't finish it all--see below.

4) After 3 days on the cruise, we got their Classic Beverage Package at $55/person/day. And it was well worth it!

5) Unlike other cruise companies, Celebrity does allow one to purchase Packages well into a cruise--reportedly, up to the last 2 days of a cruise. That is flexible for the passengers and smart business for Celebrity. Kudos!

6) While Classic Package was good enough I didn't like that the beer selection was so below par! I mean, they give you expensive liquors like Drambui, Kaluah, Absolut etc but don't include freaking Sam Adams and Blue Moon beers, unless one gets the Premium package?!

7) One more great thing about the Classic package is that it included fresh juices (OJ and grape fruit) AND bottled water. In case of Carnival they didn't include bottled water and we paid upwards of $50-60 on water on some of those cruises. Needless to say, in this cruise we drank plenty of water and took big water bottles (1 liter) to our room. Water is of course critical and so we had almost no hangovers!

8) Yet one more great thing about the Beverage Package was that we never had to sign any slips/receipts! Give the server/bartender your Card and they return it with your drinks--no pressure for any extra tips.

9) While 18% tips were added to every drink automatically we were never self-pressured into giving any extra--no receipts to sign. Consequently, there was not a SINGLE surprise charge despite lots of booze over so many days.

10) We still gave about 5 servers/bartenders some extra cash end of the cruise for putting up with us for so long.

11) It was strange that the Martini Bar had no martinis in Classic Package. Come on guys: You dont have to use the best liquor available to fix a "martini"; a simple dirty martini would do. They take the word 'martini' too seriously!

12) The Classic package did include Cafe El Bacio. Some great items from that place!

[SheriffJoe]

Hopefully, this info will be helpful, even if not all new.

We just came back from a 13 day Transatlantic cruise on Celebrity Constellation. Here are some observations:

1) The drinks prices are too high on Celebrity! So, for a long cruise like ours, either one has to be an almost teetotaler or smuggle something in or get some kind of a drinks package.

2) We are drinkers (though not total drunkards!) and made do with the allowed two wine bottles (one per person) and a bottle of complimentary champagne for the first day or two.

3) We also had a Stateroom Bar Setup for $80. That had a liter bottle of Absolut vodka and 6 soda cans--we didn't finish it all--see below.

4) After 3 days on the cruise, we got their Classic Beverage Package at $55/person/day. And it was well worth it!

5) Unlike other cruise companies, Celebrity does allow one to purchase Packages well into a cruise--reportedly, up to the last 2 days of a cruise. That is flexible for the passengers and smart business for Celebrity. Kudos!

6) While Classic Package was good enough I didn't like that the beer selection was so below par! I mean, they give you expensive liquors like Drambui, Kaluah, Absolut etc but don't include freaking Sam Adams and Blue Moon beers, unless one gets the Premium package?!

7) One more great thing about the Classic package is that it included fresh juices (OJ and grape fruit) AND bottled water. In case of Carnival they didn't include bottled water and we paid upwards of $50-60 on water on some of those cruises. Needless to say, in this cruise we drank plenty of water and took big water bottles (1 liter) to our room. Water is of course critical and so we had almost no hangovers!

8) Yet one more great thing about the Beverage Package was that we never had to sign any slips/receipts! Give the server/bartender your Card and they return it with your drinks--no pressure for any extra tips.

9) While 18% tips were added to every drink automatically we were never self-pressured into giving any extra--no receipts to sign. Consequently, there was not a SINGLE surprise charge despite lots of booze over so many days.

10) We still gave about 5 servers/bartenders some extra cash end of the cruise for putting up with us for so long.

11) It was strange that the Martini Bar had no martinis in Classic Package. Come on guys: You dont have to use the best liquor available to fix a "martini"; a simple dirty martini would do. They take the word 'martini' too seriously!

12) The Classic package did include Cafe El Bacio. Some great items from that place!

 

X's Martini bar has ALWAYS been designed to serve the very large sized Martini's long before bev packages were even sold so now that so many have the package I understand why they sometimes wont make classic package holders a small one as this was never the norm there from Day 1.....for example before Bev packages when you ordered a martini in the Martini Bar you got the large one so I don't see why they would change now...that is how on our very 1st cruise for 12 days we rung up a $1400 bar bill! :eek:

[Airportlimbo]

Maybe I'm a little slow or dense...

 

I thought they charged 18% on a package price so you didn't get dinged on every drink or is this incorrect?

 

so for my scenario...

 

Booked the "Go Best" package w/ the Premium drinks, I go to a bar order a $10 beer, is it "free" or is it $1.80?

 

Thanks!

[jagoffee]

Maybe I'm a little slow or dense...

 

I thought they charged 18% on a package price so you didn't get dinged on every drink or is this incorrect?

 

so for my scenario...

 

Booked the "Go Best" package w/ the Premium drinks, I go to a bar order a $10 beer, is it "free" or is it $1.80?

 

Thanks!

 

No extra charge on a per drink basis unless you order something that costs more than $13 then you will pay the difference plus an 18% of the difference.

Enjoy.

[meengla]

No extra charge on a per drink basis unless you order something that costs more than $13 then you will pay the difference plus an 18% of the difference.

Enjoy.

 

Here is how it worked for us for the Classic Package: Paid upfront the whole $1300 for 10 days for two people. Of these, about $1100 went for the base package price ($55/person/day) and $200 went for the gratuities at 18%.

 

The numbers are rounded. But, as you can see, no more calculations were required for us except in the scenario where we would want to drink something costing more than the Package would allow.

[Airportlimbo]

Thanks, are the drinks of the day covered (or large bottle beer specials in cellar masters) or excluded in the premium package? Also is there a special drink at sail away (this was the case on Princess) and is it covered? (It was not on Princess if I recall correctly)

 

Thanks again!

[QE2_Fan]

Thanks, are the drinks of the day covered (or large bottle beer specials in cellar masters) or excluded in the premium package? Also is there a special drink at sail away (this was the case on Princess) and is it covered? (It was not on Princess if I recall correctly)

 

Thanks again!

 

There is a drink of the day that is not ncluded in both the classic and premium packages. I don't recall Celebrity having a sailaway special drink other then the drink of the day, nor a speciality glass like RCI offer. May just have missed it on our sailaway so happy for anyone to prove me wrong on that one!

 

And not sure about large bottles of beer, most regular sized ones are but you may find the price of larger bottles (750ml?) will require you to pay the difference from the premium drink allowance and actual price of your ur selection.

[jagoffee]

There is a drink of the day that is not ncluded in both the classic and premium packages. I don't recall Celebrity having a sailaway special drink other then the drink of the day, nor a speciality glass like RCI offer. May just have missed it on our sailaway so happy for anyone to prove me wrong on that one!

 

And not sure about large bottles of beer, most regular sized ones are but you may find the price of larger bottles (750ml?) will require you to pay the difference from the premium drink allowance and actual price of your ur selection.

 

if the drink of the day is less than $13 it is included in the premium package and I am sure even without the special pricing it is also included. May be a different story on the Classic package if the drink is over $9 at the regular price.

 

Your experience on the premium and large bottles of speciality beers that cost over $13 are the same as mine. Just pay the difference. I do it every cruise.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Still wondering why this post can't be made a sticky! It has so much good information in it and people are constantly asking questions in new threads that could easily be answered by the first couple pages of this post.

[Got2Cruise]

if the drink of the day is less than $13 it is included in the premium package and I am sure even without the special pricing it is also included. May be a different story on the Classic package if the drink is over $9 at the regular price.

 

 

 

Your experience on the premium and large bottles of speciality beers that cost over $13 are the same as mine. Just pay the difference. I do it every cruise.

 

 

 

Lots of times the drink of the day is brought around in those souvenir glasses at sail away. It would be more than$9.00 and then wouldn't be included on the classic

[jagoffee]

Lots of times the drink of the day is brought around in those souvenir glasses at sail away. It would be more than$9.00 and then wouldn't be included on the classic

 

Celebrity usually has a drink of the day everyday that does not include a souvenir glass. I did not even realize that they still offered the souvenir glasses at sale away. I would doubt the free glasses are include in any package.