Upgrade Classic beverage to Premium beverage?

[Tourist1292]

15 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

Our cruise planner shows $55 CAD for Classic package and $65 CAD for Premium package.

 

How long is your cruise? The discounted price for longer cruise are cheaper per day.

[ak1004]

Just now, Tourist1292 said:

How long is your cruise? The discounted price for longer cruise are cheaper per day.

 

12 nights.

[Tourist1292]

6 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

12 nights.

No wonder. That would be in the mid level discounted price. I think the packages on a 13+ day cruise have the lowest per day cost. Classic and Premium package on a 8-12 nights are US$45 and US$50 per night with the pre cruise discount. It is $55 and $62 per day after discount per night for up to 7 night if purchased pre cruise.

Edited April 8, 2019 by Tourist1292

[ak1004]

I must admit that my question was mostly out of curiosity. My wife doesn't drink at all, I can have couple beers during the whole cruise, so there is no way we will ever buy any drink package.

 

However, unless you have a really nice discount, you need to drink at least 5-6 drinks every day to justify the price. 

 

I guess it's not surprising that so many people have obesity, diabetes and liver problems.. 

[Tourist1292]

For people who are willing to pay that much, for sure they will drink more to make it worth. Otherwise, you can pay for each drink without a package. You may see it as a volume discount. There is no reason to pay for a drinking package that you are not going to use it at least at the cost value amount. Again, most people get it as a perk.

[Beachlover1989]

Where I think the Premium Beverage package pays off (for an upgrade from Classic) is when you have the premium orange juice at breakfast, premium waters, smoothies, and if you prefer the Martini Bar and World Class Bar.  Also, on a prior thread, I noticed that Cafe al Bacio has started to add some specialty coffees that are only covered on the premium package.

[yorky]

18 minutes ago, Beachlover1989 said:

Where I think the Premium Beverage package pays off (for an upgrade from Classic) is when you have the premium orange juice at breakfast, premium waters, smoothies, and if you prefer the Martini Bar and World Class Bar.  Also, on a prior thread, I noticed that Cafe al Bacio has started to add some specialty coffees that are only covered on the premium package.

Exactly, I love premium orange juice, we both love smoothies, cocktails at the martini bar, and the World class bar, I also drink Guinness. It’s well worth it for us.

[sasset]

1 hour ago, ak1004 said:

 

Does it add up to $50-60/day (or whatever the premium package costs)?

Last time I did the math, about two years ago it was more than the premium package charge. I don't know if per drink prices have increased since then. We each usually go through more than two Evians a day so it pays off for us.

[ak1004]

So you have to pay for bottled water on Celebrity if you don't have a beverage package? And to include specialty coffees and teas, you need the premium package?

Edited April 8, 2019 by ak1004

[Tourist1292]

10 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

So you have to pay for bottled water on Celebrity if you don't have a beverage package? And to include specialty coffees and teas, you need the premium package?

Yes. 

No. You can have classic or non alcoholic package for specialty coffee and tea.

[PTC DAWG]

2 hours ago, ak1004 said:

I must admit that my question was mostly out of curiosity. My wife doesn't drink at all, I can have couple beers during the whole cruise, so there is no way we will ever buy any drink package.

 

However, unless you have a really nice discount, you need to drink at least 5-6 drinks every day to justify the price. 

 

I guess it's not surprising that so many people have obesity, diabetes and liver problems.. 

Classic Drink Package came as a no cost perk on my balcony cabin, 11 day southern Caribbean cruise...I'll be upgrading it to Premium without a second thought.  

 

And to your last comment,  I'll just let that slide on by...I'm going on a cruise.  

[Luvcrusn]

3 hours ago, ak1004 said:

So you have to pay for bottled water on Celebrity if you don't have a beverage package? And to include specialty coffees and teas, you need the premium package?

Bottled water is included in Classic as well as some of the non alcohol packages. Evian and Pellegrino are covered in the Premium. The tap water is perfectly drinkable and is free without any package, but isn't conveniently in a bottle. There are many (if not most) specialty coffees/teas in the Classic package as well. The cappuccinos and other specialty coffee drinks in the restaurants are covered by the Classic package and most of the specialty coffees at Café al Bacio are as well.

[ak1004]

12 minutes ago, Luvcrusn said:

Bottled water is included in Classic as well as some of the non alcohol packages. Evian and Pellegrino are covered in the Premium. The tap water is perfectly drinkable and is free without any package, but isn't conveniently in a bottle. There are many (if not most) specialty coffees/teas in the Classic package as well. The cappuccinos and other specialty coffee drinks in the restaurants are covered by the Classic package and most of the specialty coffees at Café al Bacio are as well.

 

Thank you. The description on their website is a bit misleading regarding specialty coffees:

 

 

This assumes that they are NOT included in the classic.

 

Also, when we sailed on Oceania and Azamara, every time we exited to the port and came back, they offered a cold bottle of water (in fact, you could take as many as you wanted) on gangway. What is the arrangement on Celebrity? If you want a bottle of water to take with you to the port, I assume you need to go and buy it in advance?

[Tourist1292]

See this PDF for the details on the standard, classic, and premium alcoholic beverage packages.

http://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/General_Info/Flyers/11026027_CEL_Beverage_Packages_Flyer.pdf

[Tourist1292]

12 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

Thank you. The description on their website is a bit misleading regarding specialty coffees:

 

 

This assumes that they are NOT included in the classic.

 

Also, when we sailed on Oceania and Azamara, every time we exited to the port and came back, they offered a cold bottle of water (in fact, you could take as many as you wanted) on gangway. What is the arrangement on Celebrity? If you want a bottle of water to take with you to the port, I assume you need to go and buy it in advance?

Why don't you click on the "Learn More" link under the Classic package if you want to check out what's included in the Classic Package?

https://www.celebritycruises.com/modal/classic-beverage-package-modal

Celebrity's website is pretty bad. That is the consensus about it.

Edited April 8, 2019 by Tourist1292

[Luvcrusn]

1 hour ago, ak1004 said:

 

Thank you. The description on their website is a bit misleading regarding specialty coffees:

 

 

This assumes that they are NOT included in the classic.

 

Also, when we sailed on Oceania and Azamara, every time we exited to the port and came back, they offered a cold bottle of water (in fact, you could take as many as you wanted) on gangway. What is the arrangement on Celebrity? If you want a bottle of water to take with you to the port, I assume you need to go and buy it in advance?

I have had Classic BP on many cruises and enjoyed specialty coffees and teas without any additional charge. The last cruise was in December.  As far as bottled water it will be available for sale at the gangway when you are leaving to visit each port. If you have a beverage package you just show your card and take a bottle.  When you return to the ship in warm weather ports X will have a canopy set up with iced towels and cold flavored water. 

[cruisingdeb1050]

I have upgraded to premium beverage package.  Where on the ship can you get a bottle of premium water?

[rotoal]

26 minutes ago, cruisingdeb1050 said:

I have upgraded to premium beverage package.  Where on the ship can you get a bottle of premium water?

Any bar,  Cafe Al Bacio, MDR

[helen haywood]

Buffet.

[Cruisin4ABruisen]

On 3/3/2019 at 3:41 AM, yorky said:

I wonder what percentage of cruisers upgrade to the premium package.

I asked one of the World Class bartenders a similar question on my last cruise -- how many people on board had the premium package. He knew the exact number, but I believe it was around 300. So, I don't think a lot of people upgrade.

[Luvcrusn]

2 hours ago, cruisingdeb1050 said:

I have upgraded to premium beverage package.  Where on the ship can you get a bottle of premium water?

Any restaurant or bar, pool or theater. You can't drink the bottle of premium water left in your room on embarkation day without being charged however.

[jagoffee]

22 minutes ago, Cruisin4ABruisen said:

I asked one of the World Class bartenders a similar question on my last cruise -- how many people on board had the premium package. He knew the exact number, but I believe it was around 300. So, I don't think a lot of people upgrade.

I looks like you were on a 14 day Caribbean cruise in March 2018. I mention it because it was not a repositioning cruise.

I would think a  high number of the Suite passengers would have the Best Package since it is included with most bookings.  300 total passengers with a Premium package seems low, but I am confident the bartenders at the WCB would have the exact number.  Perhaps they were saying how many passengers upgraded from the Classic package?  Or people booked at a lower fare without  the Best bundle included.

Edited April 12, 2019 by jagoffee

[Cruisin4ABruisen]

7 minutes ago, jagoffee said:

I looks like you were on a 14 day Caribbean cruise in March 2018. I mention it because it was not a repositioning cruise.

I would think a  high number of the Suite passengers would have the Best Package since it is included with most bookings.  300 total passengers with a Premium package seems low, but I am confident the bartenders at the WCB would have the exact number.  Perhaps they were saying how many passengers upgraded from the Classic package?  Or people booked at a lower fare without  the Best bundle included.

Yep -- correct cruise (apologies, I should have mentioned that). The bartender didn't mention too many details, and I didn't press. But I also found that number to be surprisingly low.

[misterkevin]

On 3/2/2019 at 7:20 PM, teamflames said:

we just got off the Eclipse, first time on X in 2 years. No discounts on upgrade once onboard. We upgraded and later downgraded, no premium water or beer in most of the outdoor bars (really only in passport bar). Regularly cheated and used cheaper versions, especially on wines and spirits so if you do upgrade make sure you watch the pour. I drank 2 Woodford Reserves and at another bar it was clearly an inferior product. Watched them use cheap wine and spirits on multiple occasions and then just lie to my face. They refunded me and downgraded back to classic. It was much better in the restaurants and indoor bars. We found bar service to be very mixed and overall a bit disappointing.

I had nearly the same experience on Equinox and Summit last year. Pool bars and sometimes even the Sunset Bar gave me grief if I asked for a mixed cocktail with call brand liquors. Technically, you can ask for a rum punch or a pina colada with top shelf brands on the premium package. If they were busy and I asked for a custom cocktail, the bartenders were visibly displeased with my orders at pool and Sunset Bar. Perhaps if I had indulgently overtipped at these venues, they'd have been more accommodating. Indoor at any bar, that wasn't the case. However, because of the juices, smoothies, premium waters, better quality wines, coffee drinks, and liqueurs, it's very much worth it to us. 

Edited April 12, 2019 by misterkevin
Typo

[yorky]

On 4/8/2019 at 5:46 PM, ak1004 said:

I must admit that my question was mostly out of curiosity. My wife doesn't drink at all, I can have couple beers during the whole cruise, so there is no way we will ever buy any drink package.

 

However, unless you have a really nice discount, you need to drink at least 5-6 drinks every day to justify the price. 

 

I guess it's not surprising that so many people have obesity, diabetes and liver problems.. 

I think you need to realise that many of the drinks consumed with a package are not alcoholic. Premium water, fresh orange juice, premium coffee, smoothies, soft drinks. At least half of the cost of our packages involve these drinks. You also need to remember people are on holiday and will consume more alcohol than they would the rest of the year. You are actually allowed to live a little for a short period of time and it won’t effect your overal health other than adding a few pound that most people then drop again when back at work.