Upgrading Classic to Premium Drink Pkg on Board

[Janet524]

We have the Classic Drink package as part of our reservation, but the $ limit for wine also limits the choices we would want. Can we upgrade to the Premium Package once on board for the difference in the price of the two packages?

[lobster129]

We have the Classic Drink package as part of our reservation, but the $ limit for wine also limits the choices we would want. Can we upgrade to the Premium Package once on board for the difference in the price of the two packages?

 

Absolutely. :D That is the way we do it so payment comes from our OBC. As you walk onto the ship the first day there will be some Celebrity staff with temporary work stations set up (with computers). One will be for the drink pkgs and upgrades. It is $11.80/pp/day to upgrade from classic to premium pkg. ($10 + $1.80 for gratuities/day/person).

 

They will add a sticker to your sail card to indicate you have the Premium Pkg. Then select your first bar or dining venue and order. So many choices, so little time!

 

Becky

[swigso]

You can upgrade for $10 per person per day,

Great way to use any OBC

[Janet524]

That's great! I will have a good bit of OBC to use. Thanks to both of you for the information.

[wallie5446]

The $11.80 per person, per day, to upgrade to the Premium, was the best money we have spent on a cruise in the last 25+ years.

 

ps: we wait till on board and use our OBC to cover the cost.

Edited July 11, 2015 by wallie5446

[ORV]

In some ports you will charged a tax on top of the upgrade price. This happened to me in Fort Lauderdale. You might want to wait until you are a couple hours out of port before you upgrade.

[Loyal2Royal1995]

Thanks all for info was trying to figure out best way.I have another question do both parties in a cabin need to upgrade

[Lois R]

Thanks all for info was trying to figure out best way.I have another question do both parties in a cabin need to upgrade

 

Nope....not everyone in the cabin even needs to buy a package.

[Pushka]

This is the first thing we do when we get to the buffet as we order our lunchtime drink. Takes just a minute. And uses the OBC.

Edited July 11, 2015 by Pushka

[cgags47]

Does anybody know, if you upgrade to the premium package beforehand through calling Celebrity, do they charge tax as well?

[Lysingers]

In regard to sales tax being added on for shipboard purchases such as beverage packages: I know this happens on RCCL and Carnival ships out of Baltimore, as long as the ships are still off the coast of Maryland, and perhaps even Virginia, while in the Chesapeake Bay. Does anyone know for a fact if it also applies when leaving the ports of New York/New Jersey? I think just to be sure, I will be waiting until day #2 to buy the one additional beverage package we will need for the third party in one of our rooms who did not receive the free perk as part of the 123 Go promo, but I am still curious to know the answer to this .

[LuckiePuris]

We have the Classic Drink package as part of our reservation, but the $ limit for wine also limits the choices we would want. Can we upgrade to the Premium Package once on board for the difference in the price of the two packages?

 

We upgraded our package for our first Celebrity cruise and it was the best thing we did!

 

The Premium Package really opened up the included wine, cocktail, beer and water options, and if we did pick a wine over the included price, it was great that we only had to pay the few dollars difference.

 

From my understanding the only big difference between upgrading before the cruise or onboard is that if you upgrade before the cruise, you lock in the upgrade cost at the time of making the upgrade and your cruise card is printed with the Premium Package code.

 

Upgrading when onboard will have the Classic code printed, and they will just attach a sticker on top of the code when you upgrade. Also if there is an increase in upgrade cost, you will be subject to paying the upgrade cost current at the time.

 

Below is an extract from my review, regarding the drink packages and drink offerings we found on Solstice.

 

Please feel free to let me know if you have any queries!

 

 

PREMIUM ALCOHOL BEVERAGE PACKAGE

 

This seems to be one of the most talked about topics when it comes to Celebrity! And one of the most confusing ones, so I’ll just let you know about our experience. As a bit of background, my partner and I are not necessarily big drinkers, don’t drink most nights, just maybe some wine with a meal once or twice a week. However on holidays, we like to take advantage of extensive drinks menus to try different things and not needing to drive home, so we will indulge in a few drinks. When we booked our cruise, we received a complimentary Classic Alcohol Beverage Package, and we upgraded this to the Premium Alcohol Beverage Package prior to the cruise for approx. US$11-US12 per person per day. As we like to try different cocktails and new wines and enjoy sparkling water with meals and fresh juices for breakfast and were keen on the Molecular Bar, upgrading our package for us was a no brainer. The cost of our Molecular Bar cocktail a day was more expensive than just upgrading the package! We had no hassles at all with using our beverage package, and as we had upgraded prior to the cruise, when we embarked our cruise card already was printed with the code for the Premium Alcoholic Beverage Package. At any of the restaurants we dined at or even at Cellar Masters, we’d let them know which package we had and the sommeliers / bar staff would be more than happy to make recommendations within our package. One of the best things about the package as well was no need for signing dockets for each drink!

 

The following price limits are the prices based for our cruise 22 March 2015 which may be different to price limits for future cruises and/or for cruises that don’t depart from Australia. These are just a guide to show the higher limits for the premium package.

 

Premium Package – unlimited soft drinks, premium teas and coffees, all specialty coffees, smoothies, sparkling water, red bull, vitamin water, non alcoholic cocktails. Beers up to US$15, and wines, cocktails, frozen drinks, spirits up to US$15.50.

 

Classic Package - unlimited soft drinks, premium teas and coffees, specialty coffees, smoothies, non premium bottled water. Beers up to US$7.50, wines up to US$11.00, cocktails, frozen drinks and spirits up to US$9.50.

 

One of the great perks of the premium package was that if you decided to splurge on a wine over your limit, you would just pay the few dollars difference. Whereas on the classic package, you would need to pay the full drink costs.

 

MOLECULAR BAR

 

The Molecular Bar was one of our favourite features of Solstice. The cocktails were priced at US$15.50 and were amazing. This was fine dining in liquid form! There was a three page menu of cocktails on offer, with each cocktail featuring beautiful flavor combinations with garnishes ranging from liquid nitrogen to chipotle infused foams. Service tended to be slow, with just one bartender, or one bartender with an assistant. This was the only downfall to the bar however we still kept going back for the drinks. We really were looking forward to trying the avocado based cocktail however unfortunately they were out of ingredients for this for the full cruise. There was approx eight seats at the bar, in which case the waiting wasn’t too bad as you were kept busy watching them make the cocktails. Alternatively there were also 20 or so seats just behind.

 

MARTINI BAR

 

The Martini Bar was always busy and had a fantastic atmosphere! Busy before and after dinner, it had a fantastic vibe and the bartenders were friendly and efficient. The top of the bar was frozen ice, which was great to play a game of noughts and crosses, or just “doodle” on while having a drink. We had to try the famous Martini Flight one night. As my partner and I both decided to try this, the bartender had a huge flight of 12 drinks to pour! This was an amazing experience with dancing, whistling, and was fantastic to sample different martinis we wouldn’t have tried. Cost was US$22 per person (not included or compatible with the beverage package), and we each sampled six different martinins in slightly smaller glasses.

Later in the evening there would often be a DJ setup in front of the Martini Bar which made for a fun evening.

 

CELLARMASTERS

 

Cellarmasters felt like our secret place onboard. I don’t know why it never was busy, because it’s just amazing. We are fairly new to the wine scene. We are trying to learn more about wines all the time, and while we are happy with a $15 Brown Brothers, we also appreciate tasting new varieties and some higher priced ones.

 

We originally had planned to use the automatic wine dispensers to try different wines but completely forgot about these once we became regulars of Cellarmasters and got to know the sommelier who was a wealth of knowledge and took time each visit to explain each wine and teach us.

 

He knew we were on the premium alcohol beverage package so we would let him know what we felt like (red, white, medium body etc) and he would pour accordingly for us and give us a few different types to taste. He talked us through each glass teaching us what to smell for, what to look for when tasting, background of the variety etc.

 

You can even take some cheese and crackers with you from the buffet, to enjoy with your wine in Cellarmasters pre dinner.

 

There were 8 wine tasting events for our cruise, which we booked three. These three events were not combinable with our package.

 

The first was on a sea day afternoon where they had six countries representing at various stations throughout the room where we tasted a white and red from each country (twelve tastings in total). This combined with a large selection of breads and cheeses, made for a fun sea day afternoon. Approx price US$22 per person.

 

The second was a Wine Coinossieur dinner which was a Tuscan Grille dinner with a premium wine match. We began with bubbles and canapés in Cellarmasters before heading to Tuscan Grille for a 5 course dinner with a premium wine match. The dishes on offer were the same that could be ordered from the Tuscan Grille menu, and the sommelier explained each wine nicely and topped up our classes throughout! We were also able to order extras of the dessert port at the end. Approx price US$95 per person.

 

Our last wine event was the Riedel Wine Glass Tasting which was quite an eye opener. I didn’t know the value of a good wine glass before this event, and it was fantastic as you sampled four wines – once in a regular glass, once in a Riedel Glass. We also received four Riedel wine glasses to take home each (8 in total), which for us made this wine event well and truly worth the price of approx US$87 per person.

[Laurab23]

In regard to sales tax being added on for shipboard purchases such as beverage packages: I know this happens on RCCL and Carnival ships out of Baltimore, as long as the ships are still off the coast of Maryland, and perhaps even Virginia, while in the Chesapeake Bay. Does anyone know for a fact if it also applies when leaving the ports of New York/New Jersey? I think just to be sure, I will be waiting until day #2 to buy the one additional beverage package we will need for the third party in one of our rooms who did not receive the free perk as part of the 123 Go promo, but I am still curious to know the answer to this .

 

We had the classic package when we boarded at 10:30 at Bayonne on Summit. Started drinking right away using our classic package and there was no tax charged. Upgraded that evening to premium after dinner and no tax.

 

Laura

[helen haywood]

Just an FYI that will you can upgrade the minute you step aboard, you can also wait a day or so and see if you really need to and be charged the daily rate for the remaining days of your cruise. As long as there are 3 or 4 days left. So if you are starting off on a port intensive cruise, you might prefer to wait a few days.

[jagoffee]

Does anybody know, if you upgrade to the premium package beforehand through calling Celebrity, do they charge tax as well?

 

We have never been charged a tax either way including cruises out of Fort Lauderdale. I would say if you are charged a sales tax just stop by guest relations the next day and have the tax removed. (If in a U.S. Port).

[Grayce]

Right when we first boarded they had a table set up where we were able to upgrade our drink packages.