Pre purchased drinks packages

[travellingwoodies]

Hi All,

 

I know there is lots of info on drinks packages, but I thought I saw somewhere that it may cost more if you pay for your drink package when you get on board, opposed to pre paying before you go? Can anyone confirm this?

 

We are first time cruisers on the Celebrity Millennium in May 2015.

 

Thanks,

 

Debbie

[OzKiwiJJ]

Not sure about Celebrity, Debbie, as I have yet to sail with them.

 

However with our last cruise, with Royal Caribbean which is owned by the same parent company as Celebrity, this is what happened:

 

I booked a last minute cruise, about a month out, and at that time the Ultimate Drinks package (equivalent to Celebrity's Premium) was AU $84. I wasn't sure whether to buy it or not as there was no information as to what the drinks prices on board would be, whether the wines by the glass would be ones we liked etc.

 

Two weeks before the cruise departed the package price suddenly jumped to AU $99 so I thought, stuff that, I'll wait until we get on board so I can actually check out the drinks list and MDR wine list.

 

When we got on board the Ultimate package was US $67 including gratuity so about AU $85. We checked the cocktails list and they were all $14, we check the MDR wine list and the wines looked suitable so we bought the package.

 

We paid a dollar or so more than the first AU price, and saved $14 on the second price quoted. :)

 

All this happened around the time the drinks and package prices went up however other Aussies on this forum sailing after us still saw the $84 price not the $99 price so I'm not sure exactly what was going on there.

 

I have seen mention, elsewhere on this forum, that the Celebrity Premium package is US $65 including gratuity on board, and with a bit of luck this will be the price on your cruise. Online it is shown as "from AU $83.85" so fairly close give or take exchange rate fluctuations.

 

The Classic package will be somewhat cheaper of course.

 

Hope this helps.

[OzKiwiJJ]

BTW we did get value from the package even on port days. Since we were drinking premium wines with dinner, a couple of cocktails and three glasses of wine, plus freshly squeezed juice and espresso at breakfast was enough to break even on the cost of the Ultimate package.

 

On sea days we'd have wine or beer with lunch, and sneak in another cocktail round the pool. :D

[chester32]

Hi All,

 

I know there is lots of info on drinks packages, but I thought I saw somewhere that it may cost more if you pay for your drink package when you get on board, opposed to pre paying before you go? Can anyone confirm this?

 

We are first time cruisers on the Celebrity Millennium in May 2015.

 

Thanks,

 

Debbie

 

Personally we pay before we go just to have it paid for and out of the way but seen how you are cruising soon I would wait till you get on-board there is not a great deal of difference if any . Just wondering though didn't you get the drinks package included Celebrity having been running that offer for a while now?

[GUT2407]

The only benefit I can see to pre-paying is a saving [sometimes] because of exchange rate. I paid the same pre puchasing as they were charging on board, but they were non-alcoholic packs, the soda only one and the fancier one.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Personally we pay before we go just to have it paid for and out of the way but seen how you are cruising soon I would wait till you get on-board there is not a great deal of difference if any . Just wondering though didn't you get the drinks package included Celebrity having been running that offer for a while now?

 

They didn't make it very obvious as to how to claim it when I booked my cruise recently, on their website. I had to really search around to find the code to use for the PYP offer.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Often people who have On Board Credit wait until they are on board to buy their packages so that some of the cost is covered by the OBC.

[GUT2407]

A benefit of waiting till you are on board is X let you wait a day or two and then buy it at the daily rate x days left, so if you aren't sure that you'll get value you can try it and see.

[travellingwoodies]

BTW we did get value from the package even on port days. Since we were drinking premium wines with dinner, a couple of cocktails and three glasses of wine, plus freshly squeezed juice and espresso at breakfast was enough to break even on the cost of the Ultimate package.

 

On sea days we'd have wine or beer with lunch, and sneak in another cocktail round the pool. :D

 

Thanks for all that info. Our crowd will probably be the same as yours.

[travellingwoodies]

Personally we pay before we go just to have it paid for and out of the way but seen how you are cruising soon I would wait till you get on-board there is not a great deal of difference if any . Just wondering though didn't you get the drinks package included Celebrity having been running that offer for a while now?

 

Hi Chester32,

 

My dad had purchased the cruise last year, so must have missed any specials, bummer!

 

I am liking the idea of not having to worry about it, and paying at the moment when the exchange rate is relatively good.

 

Thanks.

[travellingwoodies]

Thanks everyone for the input. Much appreciated.