Please don't keep telling me.......

[Redtravel]

Every time that I ordered a drink, the wait staff responded, "but you don't have a drink package." Correct. Just bring me the drink and let me sign a slip. After a while, I was annoyed enough to stop ordering drinks. The hard sell of drink packages turns me off. It's my choice to buy or not buy a beverage package. Anyone else annoyed?

[Amishcountry]

I am still trying to decide if a drink package is worth while. We would probably only have 2 alcohol drinks daily, and maybe 1 specialty coffee each morning. We will bring 2 bottles of wine on board , if they still allow that. The rest of the time we will be happy with ice tea and water. Doubt we would get our monies worth

 

 

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[I&J Cruisers]

I think the drink packages have had an adverse effect on the whole cruise experience. You have to drink too much to "break" even on the package. We don't generally drink that much. The bar service has been miserable since the intro of drink packages. We used to spend our pre dinner cocktail time at the Martini Bar. Always an entertaining experience. Our last 2 X cruises we couldn't get near the Martini Bar. It was packed all evening long. Very disappointing. In addition the number of loud sloppy people during shows has increased. We stopped cruising Carnival in the late 80's for that reason. We have one more X cruise coming up in October. Hoping this experience will not be repeated but I'm not really expecting anything different based on what I've been reading on these boards.

[JahHaus]

The best thing about the drink package is that you don't constantly feel as if "the meter is running." I don't even keep track whether I'm breaking even...it's all about convenience for us.

 

 

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[ChucktownSteve]

I think the drink packages have had an adverse effect on the whole cruise experience. You have to drink too much to "break" even on the package. We don't generally drink that much. The bar service has been miserable since the intro of drink packages. We used to spend our pre dinner cocktail time at the Martini Bar. Always an entertaining experience. Our last 2 X cruises we couldn't get near the Martini Bar. It was packed all evening long. Very disappointing. In addition the number of loud sloppy people during shows has increased. We stopped cruising Carnival in the late 80's for that reason. We have one more X cruise coming up in October. Hoping this experience will not be repeated but I'm not really expecting anything different based on what I've been reading on these boards.

 

A senior Bartender explained to me what has happened due to the drink packages. The servers and bar tenders hustle you heavily when you first board to buy the package or upgrade because they get to keep the gratuity. After that they don't get any more compensation from the drink package people so why bother with great service. They just work harder without earning any more.

 

I don't have that problem with my regular bartenders because I tip extra along the way.

[davekathy]

...We will bring 2 bottles of wine on board , if they still allow that...

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Yes you are still allowed to bring two 750 ml bottles of wine per stateroom. With the BP you really wouldn't need to bring any wine on board with you. Another consideration when deciding on the BP (if your light drinkers) is your tier level. Elite and up get the three nightly drinks each evening. On our last Cruise the hours were if I remember correctly between 5:PM and 7:PM.

Edited February 12, 2017 by davekathy

[I&J Cruisers]

A senior Bartender explained to me what has happened due to the drink packages. The servers and bar tenders hustle you heavily when you first board to buy the package or upgrade because they get to keep the gratuity. After that they don't get any more compensation from the drink package people so why bother with great service. They just work harder without earning any more.

 

I don't have that problem with my regular bartenders because I tip extra along the way.

 

 

 

When you can't get near the bar it's kind of hard to find a favorite bartender let alone tip one. I don't think the package helps anyone let alone the servers. If you and your spouse each drink at least 5 drinks a day it pays for itself but the whole concept has an adverse effect on the whole cruise experience.

[Fish Lover]

Yes you are still allowed to bring two 750 ml bottles of wine per stateroom. With the BP you really wouldn't need to bring any wine on board with you. Another consideration when deciding on the BP is your tier level. Elite and up get the three nightly drinks each evening. On our last Cruise the hours were if I remember correctly between 5:PM and 7:PM.

 

Just wanted to make sure that the poster knows there is a $25/bottle corkage fee if you bring the bottle to the dining room.

[davekathy]

Just wanted to make sure that the poster knows there is a $25/bottle corkage fee if you bring the bottle to the dining room.

 

Good FYI.

[Mynki]

When you can't get near the bar it's kind of hard to find a favorite bartender let alone tip one. I don't think the package helps anyone let alone the servers. If you and your spouse each drink at least 5 drinks a day it pays for itself but the whole concept has an adverse effect on the whole cruise experience.

 

I like the BP. Take a look at how other mainstream cruise lines offer beverage packages, none of the competition appears to be as flexible from what I've seen.

 

I think if there is a weak link in the chain within the Celebrity product it is the bartender service though. That comment is based on my own first hand experience. There is much room for improvement in a couple of venues on board.

[CRZR58]

You don't have to have 5 drinks each a day to make the drink package pay. We have 3 double ($4.50 each) or triple shot ($6.50 each) Italian coffees a day plus drinks so it works for us, especially on sea days.

 

If you're thinking that having a drink package will stop them from bothering you about drink packages, you might be disappointed unless you get the Premium package in the first place.

 

If you enjoy good wine, take a couple of bottles on board with you and enjoy them in your cabin so you don't get charged a corkage fee (Screw tops would be a screwage fee, but I digress). You pay full price for wines over $9 on the classic package (No discount for having the package) and you get $13 off of the price of glasses of wine over $13 on the premium package.

[bEwAbG]

I think if there is a weak link in the chain within the Celebrity product it is the bartender service though. That comment is based on my own first hand experience. There is much room for improvement in a couple of venues on board.

 

Agree wholeheartedly. They may be nice (though not always), but there is a lot of inconsistency between drinks. If you order a Mai Tai in the casino, you should get the same drink made the same way at the pool bar. Even the individual Martini Bar bartenders make those specialized drinks differently. It really is odd that there isn't more quality control. It's this inconsistency that makes me gravitate towards the drink packages because you're never sure if you're going to get a well-made drink, and that's more annoying when you're paying for the individual drink.

 

As far as making sure the package is "worth it," there are lots of non-alcoholic drinks that can go into the equation, too. I've sailed with and without a package because I generally don't drink much booze, but even if I plan to only drink soda, it usually makes more economic sense to go with a package of some sort. I'm sure that's by design.

[Lois R]

I just returned from sailing REFLECTION and did not have a drink package.....I am on meds and just don't drink

enough anymore to spend the money on a package. And I had no issues with anyone trying to sell me one all

week. I get the coffee/tea perk for Elite+ at Al Bacio......and I did have quite a few teas and Latte's over the week.

I may have had 4 or 5 glasses of wine all week......that is less than 1 per day. Now, maybe it was because I was

never "sitting at a bar" but nobody tried to "hard sell me" anything.

[bEwAbG]

I meant to include that in my response as well. When I've traveled without a package, I've not been pressured to buy one. YMMV depending on who you talk to, I guess. I agree it would be annoying, but I've never seen it be widespread, personally.

[Beanb41]

TO buy the Classic drinks package on board is $US65 per day or $NZ100 give or take. If I was to buy the same drinks package as part of the go big, go better, go best promotion when making the booking it only costs me $NZ20 per day which equates to a beer and a coffee per day if purchased individually on board and converted from $US to $NZ. Would I drink $NZ100 per day on a cruise no I wouldn't but $NZ20 definitely. We tried one cruise to drink the equivalent of $US65 per day over 12 days and failed miserably. We were okay for the first few days but the quantity of alcohol and liquid beat us that by cruise end we couldn't take any more.

With the go big, go better go best promotions being available on almost every cruise apart from trans atlantic and trans pacific repositioning cruises I am amazed why the promotion is not taken up by more people.

We have an upcoming 10 day cruise which is very port intensive , only one sea day and being Elite with the daily cocktail party or vouchers in lieu we are forgoing the drinks package for extra OBC which we think will provide us with a better deal. Had there been more sea days we would probably taken up the drinks package at time of booking

[Pier290]

For us....it's not just the alcohol drinks....it's all the bottled waters, fresh juice, smoothies, specialty coffees for $3-8ea that also add up. We always get the Premium pkg....just upgraded our perk to that actually for our April sailing. ....figuring for $11.80 a day to upgrade absolutely worth it for us. We enjoy bloody marys or mimosas in the morning, beers during the day at the pool, nice wine with dinner, and a martini or 2 at night after dinner to cap the night off. X loses money on us! Haa!! ;)

 

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[macaroni]

I would never spend money on a drink package...would never drink enough to make it worthwhile, but as a perk, we take it...more for a convenience....I do drink more knowing I have it...or at least I try new drinks without worrying about wasting it if I don't like it...

[akowilm]

When you can't get near the bar it's kind of hard to find a favorite bartender let alone tip one. I don't think the package helps anyone let alone the servers. If you and your spouse each drink at least 5 drinks a day it pays for itself but the whole concept has an adverse effect on the whole cruise experience.

 

I am sorry this was your experience! We just left the Silhouette after 2 weeks onboard. Most people, it appeared, had the beverage package, and many, like myself and my group, upgraded to the premium package. We never had any issues getting drinks at any of the bars; we visited the Sunset, Martini and World Class bars, and ordered Evians all day at the pool bar. We dined at 8:30 each night, so maybe our cocktail hour of 7:30pm and after dinner drink at 10pm played a part in that, but we enjoyed the drinks, the service and the venues! Also, we were able to get seats at each bar, or at least the gals did!

[Lois R]

To clarify my previous post........I had a fairly good size OBC for the cruise.....it covered everything and I still had

about (50.00) leftover:D......and yes, they refunded it back to me in cash.....it was not part of the promotion offered----

it was my $ and I got it back from Guest Relations in full.

[WestLakeGirl]

As with anything else's, when someone isn't trying to sell us something we don't need or want to buy, from a drinks package to a piece of jewelry to a pashmina, we simply say no thank you. It seems to work especially as we go back to the same bar, the server knows we aren't interested

[Hawkstar33]

Again, good for some not for others. Believe it or not, many people are totally unaware of these packages till they get onboard. Not everybody researches like us on this site. Annoying? For the few times you are asked the first couple of days, not really. This is their job. Waiting your turn at the bar is really not a big deal. Getting a drink is faster if you can get out of your lounger and get it yourself. Get to the martini bar a bit before dinner and you can get a spot. It's always packed 3 deep right before and right after dinner. If this adversely affects your cruise, that is a shame. NOT ME

[I&J Cruisers]

Again, good for some not for others. Believe it or not, many people are totally unaware of these packages till they get onboard. Not everybody researches like us on this site. Annoying? For the few times you are asked the first couple of days, not really. This is their job. Waiting your turn at the bar is really not a big deal. Getting a drink is faster if you can get out of your lounger and get it yourself. Get to the martini bar a bit before dinner and you can get a spot. It's always packed 3 deep right before and right after dinner. If this adversely affects your cruise, that is a shame.

 

 

Our experience has been that the Martini Bar was 3 or 4 deep when we went for cocktails an hour to an hour and a half before dinner. Why should you have to get up from your lounger to get a drink from the bar. What happened to good service. Seems like that is no longer a part of the X experience.

[Lastdance]

As with anything else's, when someone isn't trying to sell us something we don't need or want to buy, from a drinks package to a piece of jewelry to a pashmina, we simply say no thank you. It seems to work especially as we go back to the same bar, the server knows we aren't interested

 

 

I agree; I just smile, say no thank you and go about my business. It works for me too, but I do understand that it could cause some frustration.

 

 

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[Hlitner]

Just an observation from one who has done a few cruises on X (we are Elite Plus) with and without drink packages. If you do not have a drink package you will be asked if you are interested....but this primarily only happens the first 2 or 3 days of a cruise. As to service, we have always had terrific service on Celebrity from all the bar tenders (with or without a package). However, we do find that table service (from bar waiters) is sometimes lacking....which does not seem to have anything to do with a package. Some of the lounge areas simply do not seem to have enough wait staff...for the number of passengers trying to get service. If we are really desperate for a drink, one of us will simply walk to the nearest bar....where there is seldom an issue.

 

Hank

[karena1]

We get the bev pkg on every cruise and we rarely, if ever have bad or slow service either from the bartenders or the pool,lounge servers.

 

We love having the pkg and don't feel it has had any adverse effect at all, we still get smiles and great service, so very happy