Beverage Package Pricing Increase

[billet]

I checked with Celebrity and the upgrade price for those who already have the package is, and will remain, at $10.

 

If you purchase a classic package in the future it will be $55 and the upgrade will be $10.

[ghstudio]

I'm annoyed too because I ran and upgraded this morning and now i find out that the stuff posted by cleberity Official is wrong.....

 

 

I would have liked to have waited and bought my upgrade with obc....

 

I believe you can cancel the upgrade at any time prior to the cruise if it turns out that $10 is right and the info on the $15 upgrade price turns out to be incorrect.

 

You probably took the safest path....

Edited April 2, 2015 by ghstudio

[chamima]

If you upgrade pre-cruise before April 20th, you’ll only be paying the current difference to upgrade to Premium ($10 per day + 18% gratuity).

 

If you upgrade pre-cruise as of April 20th or onboard as of April 6th, then you’ll be paying the new upgrade rate to Premium ($16 per day + 18% gratuity).

 

I checked with Celebrity and the upgrade price for those who already have the package is, and will remain, at $10.

 

If you purchase a classic package in the future it will be $55 and the upgrade will be $10.

 

 

 

The first post was from the "official" Celebrity spokesperson yesterday.

 

The second is one of several today re-stating the change in policy. Celebrity seems to be re-thinking their poor decision.

Edited April 2, 2015 by chamima

[woldridge]

We are sailing on the Equinox on Monday, April 6th, the first day of the change if upgraded on-board. I did not even see this thread until today, 12 hours after the initial posting by Celebrity. Called immediately to upgrade to the premium package, and guess what? We are 4 days from sailing and no changes can be made (could have been done yesterday), so have to upgrade on-board at the new price if I want to upgrade. Thanks for the lack of notice, Celebrity, and also for making it almost impossible to get in under the "old" price for our sailing. What a warm and fuzzy start to our vacation.:mad:

[susancelica]

Upgraded tonight to premium £184 thats pounds mind for 2 of us for 12 nights made our final payment for 9th June cruise too all done now with no worries

[DinaS]

Sorry, it was a typo. I meant to say existing perk. Celebrity Cruises' response specifically addressed someone who already had the perk, not someone who purchased it. Please go read post 14 again and you will see the question quoted that CC responded to.

 

Again, sorry for the typo.

 

You are missing something. All the person asked in Post 14 was:

 

"How does this affect upgrading a perk (Classic to Premium) if you wait to do so on the ship?"

 

The response was:

 

"If you upgrade pre-cruise before April 20th, you’ll only be paying the current difference to upgrade to Premium ($10 per day + 18% gratuity).

 

If you upgrade pre-cruise as of April 20th or onboard as of April 6th, then you’ll be paying the new upgrade rate to Premium ($16 per day + 18% gratuity). "

 

They didn't specify that they already had it, when they were going to buy it, or whether they had already purchased it, or received it as a perk.

 

There is now very different information on another website that I can't mention on here. They are also getting their information from someone on the phone at Celebrity. It seems that Celebrity really has no clue as to what will happen.

Edited April 2, 2015 by DinaS

[gsb]

I'm annoyed too because I ran and upgraded this morning and now i find out that the stuff posted by cleberity Official is wrong.....

 

 

I would have liked to have waited and bought my upgrade with obc....

 

 

 

I don't think it is wrong. I think you did the right thing.

[clojacks]

That change happened quite some time ago (just a few months after the May 2014 post). All you had to do to see the change was look at the Celebrity website for the official list of inclusions in the Classic and Premium packages.

And no one can tell you they won't change again, since the Celebrity website has disclaimers that almost everything is subject to change.

 

All you can do is hope it doesn't change before your sailing.

 

I realize that the packages are spelled out on the Celebrity website. It doesn't mean I don't think it is a BS move to move some drinks out of the Classic and into the higher priced category. So, if Celebrity decides that the pre-paid gratuities weren't scaled correctly, do they add $3 onto the bill IF you want your towels changed and bedding done each day?

Edited April 2, 2015 by clojacks

[Feelin' Nauti']

 

There is now very different information on another website that I can't mention on here. They are also getting their information from someone on the phone at Celebrity. It seems that Celebrity really has no clue as to what will happen.

Really?!?!?

I did a massive search, can't seem to find one. :rolleyes:

[Oville]

You are missing something. All the person asked in Post 14 was:

 

"How does this affect upgrading a perk (Classic to Premium) if you wait to do so on the ship?"

 

The response was:

 

"If you upgrade pre-cruise before April 20th, you’ll only be paying the current difference to upgrade to Premium ($10 per day + 18% gratuity).

 

If you upgrade pre-cruise as of April 20th or onboard as of April 6th, then you’ll be paying the new upgrade rate to Premium ($16 per day + 18% gratuity). "

 

They didn't specify that they already had it, when they were going to buy it, or whether they had already purchased it, or received it as a perk.

 

There is now very different information on another website that I can't mention on here. They are also getting their information from someone on the phone at Celebrity. It seems that Celebrity really has no clue as to what will happen.

 

Perk though is the keyword. It gets more clear in posts 17 and 19 that the perk Vulcan1971 was referring to is the 123 pkg.

Edited April 2, 2015 by Oville

[clojacks]

I'm just curious if anybody received any kind of notification about this beverage package change other than seeing it on here? I didn't receive any email or anything like that. I haven't checked my Celebrity account for my next cruise to see if there is a message in there. If I hadn't checked the Celebrity page on CC yesterday out of boredom, I don't know when I would have heard about this. Even though I have a SA cruise scheduled for Feb 2016 on Celebrity, the only thing I am really checking is our roll call and there hasn't been anything on there. I think Celebrity dropped the ball on this in more ways than one.

[Feelin' Nauti']

What surprises me about all this is

1. No mention on X's News page about the increase
   
2. Nothing said on FB or Twitter
   
3. No Other Cruise sight has info about the increase
   
4. No email was sent out to passengers with future cruises
   

[jelayne]

It's easier for some than others. We have 56 days of Celebrity cruising booked for 2016/2017....that's about $1200 that I have to pay now to guarantee the $10 upgrade rather than just waiting and using our OBC's to pay for the upgrades.....

 

I feel your pain! We have 105 nights booked between May and March, 2017; all with the a classic drink package & Prepaid Gratuties.

 

We have sufficient OBC on each cruise to upgrade both DH & my packages to the Premium at the $10 per day. If we upgrade now it will cost just under $2500 out of pocket😡 and we will have a lot of non-refundable OBC that we will have to spend on stuff we don't need or want.

 

If we wait till we get on the ship's the upgrade cost is $3964. which is more than the OBC we have.

 

Maybe we will upgrade DH's packages for each cruise now and then use OBC to upgrade mine when we get on each cruise. Sure wish it was just $10+ to upgrade.

[cruise redhead]

This is our first time on Celebrity also as we have always traveled on Royal Caribbean. At least on RC we only had to pay the difference in the cost of drinks. We did not hve to upgrade to next package. But to have to upgrade and pay more is being very greedy. We also wanted t use our OBC to do this but I guess not. Perhaps we made a mistake choosing Celebrity.

[ghstudio]

What surprises me about all this is

1. No mention on X's News page about the increase
   
2. Nothing said on FB or Twitter
   
3. No Other Cruise sight has info about the increase
   
4. No email was sent out to passengers with future cruises
   

 

I think Celebrity Cruises was really trying to help us. It's very possible that information on the price change was circulated in Celebrity HQ with implementation dates....and probably without anything about keeping it confidential. I suspect one of the reasons Celebrity Cruises hasn't returned is that he may have inadvertently and innocently released the information early.

 

However, since the information is out, Celebrity now has some input to consider before they make a more formal announcement (post anywhere else) of the change.

 

This is a case where finance may be saying we want more money; legal saying "we have limited or no legal exposure (probably without thinking about the UK/EU)" and marketing saying 'maybe this isn't the right thing to do from a customer satisfaction point of view." We aren't in the room....we all just need to wait until we find out more and work with the 4/20 date until we hear differently. There is a chance that they will not increase any of the drink package prices officially until they work it out a bit more. In the meantime, the $49/$59 prices are still on the web site.

 

Net...give Celebrity a chance. (sorry for those sailing on 4/6...if that info is true, that really sucks...).

Edited April 2, 2015 by ghstudio

[clojacks]

I think Celebrity Cruises was really trying to help us. It's very possible that information on the price change was circulated in Celebrity HQ with implementation dates....and probably without anything about keeping it confidential. I suspect one of the reasons Celebrity Cruises hasn't returned is that he may have inadvertently and innocently released the information early.

 

However, since the information is out, Celebrity now has some input to consider before they make any more formal (post anywhere else) of the change.

 

This is a case where finance saying we want more money; legal saying "we have limited or no legal exposure (probably without thinking about the UK/EU)" and marketing saying 'maybe this isn't the right thing to do from a customer satisfaction point of view." We aren't in the room....we all just need to wait until we find out more and work with the 4/20 date until we hear differently. There is a chance that they will not increase any of the drink package prices officially until they work it out a bit more. In the meantime, the $49/$59 prices are still on the web site.

 

Net...give Celebrity a chance. (sorry for those sailing on 4/6...if that info is true, that really sucks...).

 

I see your point, and appreciate your patience, but again, I am going to say, that when I booked my cruise, and received the Classic Beverage package as 1of my FREE PERKS, my own personal favorite beverages were available as part of my package, but I have since discovered that sometime after 5/28/2014, they no longer are. I don't know if it is due to price increases, or Celebrity selective reclassifying some beverages as more premium than before, but if I am going to enjoy the beverages that I routinely like to enjoy, I now am FORCED anyway to upgrade, at whatever the price ends up being. That pi$$es me off more than whether it is 10 or 16 bucks to upgrade!!

[riredsox]

I feel your pain! We have 105 nights booked between May and March, 2017; all with the a classic drink package & Prepaid Gratuties.

 

We have sufficient OBC on each cruise to upgrade both DH & my packages to the Premium at the $10 per day. If we upgrade now it will cost just under $2500 out of pocket😡 and we will have a lot of non-refundable OBC that we will have to spend on stuff we don't need or want.

 

If we wait till we get on the ship's the upgrade cost is $3964. which is more than the OBC we have.

 

Maybe we will upgrade DH's packages for each cruise now and then use OBC to upgrade mine when we get on each cruise. Sure wish it was just $10+ to upgrade.

 

You can always take the onboard credit out in the casino. It's a 5% charge but you can take it in cash. I called the Captains Club a few minutes ago and the guy had no idea about the increase. He finally got an email while I was talking with him and you will pay the $16 difference after April 20th. I now have to upgrade 5 cruises (52 days). My BF keeps the classic. Happy Cruising!!!

[Feelin' Nauti']

I think Celebrity Cruises was really trying to help us. It's very possible that information on the price change was circulated in Celebrity HQ with implementation dates....and probably without anything about keeping it confidential. I suspect one of the reasons Celebrity Cruises hasn't returned is that

 

he may have inadvertently and innocently released the information early.

However, since the information is out, Celebrity now has some input to consider before they make a more formal announcement (post anywhere else) of the change.

 

Net...give Celebrity a chance. (sorry for those sailing on 4/6...if that info is true, that really sucks...).

Giving 4 days notice isn't early. :cool:

[plimouth pilgrims]

We just updated our cruises just to play it safe. We would have done it sometime anyway and now we are locked it with no worries.

[vtcruising]

When I called to upgrade mine, the Celebrity rep said that she had just worked with a guy who had upgraded or purchased premium packages for 8 cruises in 2016. She said it seemed like he would be spending most of the year on a ship.

 

At first I felt sorry for the poor guy who upgraded or purchased 8 packages all at once and then I realized that this lucky guy would be cruising much of 2016 (with the premium beverage package!). If it was someone here on CC, congrats, you are living the dream! :)

[Olive1950]

Question: If you upgrade to the Premium package, and then cancel your cruise, do you get the upgrade fee back?? Or does Celebrity keep those funds??

[offnoncruiser]

There is now very different information on another website that I can't mention on here. They are also getting their information from someone on the phone at Celebrity. It seems that Celebrity really has no clue as to what will happen.

 

If Celebrity truly does not know what will happen and is indeed looking into it, to me that is nothing short of incompetence at some higher levels at Celebrity. How can they not have thought about this issue (again, if it's true they haven't).

 

I wouldn't have any heartburn with having to pay the $16 if the new pricing was a $16 difference (i.e. classic stayed at $49 and the premium increased to the $65).

 

If I book a nice resort somewhere and get "free" use of their spa facilities when I book it, whereas the normal fee is say $40/day, and between my booking and stay dates the normal fee goes up to $50/day, do you think the resort is now going to charge me the $10 increase in fees? I doubt it.

 

If the onboard gratuities for a normal room goes from $12/day to let's say $13/day between now and a 2016 or 2017 cruise, will all of the people that got free gratuities as one of their perks be forced to pay that extra $1/day for the increase from the time they booked? I doubt it. Especially since Celebrity will not care since theoretically that money is going to the staff. And BTW, we always tip extra to the staff for good service.

 

And the quick timing for the change is another concern. I wouldn't have even noticed the change had we not just booked last week and was curious to see what happened to fares on 1 Apr. I wouldn't normally start looking at the boards again until a couple of months before the cruise.

 

We'll see what happens.

 

Thx.

[Bru92]

hopefully with the price increase, really fresh squeezed orange juice will return....

 

Mike

[lightning bolt]

hopefully with the price increase, really fresh squeezed orange juice will return....

 

Mike

 

We can only hope Mike.:D

[CanadianDee]

hopefully with the price increase, really fresh squeezed orange juice will return....

 

Mike

 

LOL. Artfully done, Mike.