Uograde to Premium Beverage Package not worth the money

[Dr. Pam]

18 hours ago, marieps said:

Very sorry for your experience.  We just did the Summit repositioning and there was plenty of Decoy, along with Foley and Cherry Tart Pinot Noir.

 

We found the food and service overall to be very good.  We only had 353 passengers, so it was hard not be be well served.

Just to tag along.....The Foley Pinot Noir is amazing.  I had the pleasure of meeting Bill Foley in the small resort town of Whitefish, MT.  We were drinking this wonderful pinot at one of his restaurants in town and he came over to chat with us ladies as he noticed our selection.  I was not aware that it was available on our last cruise.  (Feb/Mar 2020- Reflection).

 

Cheers,

 

Pam

[Seacrab]

Small rant incoming about Beyond...

We were on the Beyond maiden voyage and the gaps were quite noticeable on day one and throughout the ship.

 

On that sailing, there was no champagne at the premium package price ($15). Last year on Apex, this was Cattier But Icone. They are offering Domaine Ste. Michelle California sparkling at $12 as a premium choice, but think the "Celebrity Vintages" Cremant is nicer at $9.

 

I'm aware of a global shortage of Don Julio products, so not surprised to see it substituted. However instead of Cazadores which is in their classic package and 100% agave, they've substituted with Jose Cuervo "Tequila Especial", which is truly awful. What's worse is they're also using Sierra which is an even lower grade mix tequila as a "reposado" and another even worse than Sierra tequila as blanco, and they were using these in the premium drinks, even at the World Class Bar unless you specifically asked for Patron, which was available most days (but not always, and they did run out a few times).

 

On Apex last year, there was a great selection of Ciroc flavours, but didn't see any available on Beyond. They're also missing all the Grey Goose flavours apart from orange and plain, which means that all the usual martinis which use Grey Goose vanilla, black cherry, lemon and pear are off the menu.

 

There was also a noticeable wine shortage. We drink the Opulence chardonnay and the Grgich Hills Fume Blanc quite a lot, and are great value when bought with a premium package ($1 supplement). However they ran out of Opulence chardonnay midway through the cruise, and the fume blanc wasn't always available, though some remained through the cruise. It appears that a lot of premium wines are missing, and have been substituted with bottom shelf wines, like "Mateus Rosé" which is a $5 supermarket wine. They've put this in the premium package at $11.

 

I'm hopefully many of these were simply due to the ship sailing from a non-home port on a one-off itinerary, and they'll be quickly fixed, however it seems like there are genuine supplier shortages.

 

What bothers me the most is that instead of procuring products at a similar market level, they've substituted much lower products. I genuinely wouldn't mind which premium tequila was served or which California chardonnay was on offer if they were similar.

 

I'm hoping this isn't a change to Celebrity's offerings, and just a temporary issue.

Has anyone recently been on Edge or Apex? Do they still have the usual offerings?

[Algebralovr]

I had a long conversation with the beverage manager on one of my recent cruises.  They are simply struggling to get many supplies.  The supply chains are broken.  For example, on one of my cruises last fall, they didn't get a couple of the flavors of tea that is usually in Al Bacio.  They also ran out of Coke Zero and were subbing Diet Coke.  

 

The issue is that they are not allowed to simply take a van and go to Sam's Club when they get to port... they have to go through their supply contracts.  Meanwhile, suppliers are allocating to different purchasers.  So, while Celebrity may be ordering 25 cases of a wine per week, due to allocation, they may only receive 12 of that wine, because the supplier also needs to supply to many other sources.

We all simply need to be patient. 

For me, I upgrade to PALL because I want San Pelegrino and an occasional Martini Bar drink.  Still worth it.  

[Cruising89143]

We have cruised twice on RCI’s Navigator OTS over the last few months including last week. We dined at Jamie’s Italian two evenings on both cruises. The red wine selection was very limited. They simply cannot get the items ordered. We did end up choosing other red wines and it worked out. We still have problems at our local supermarket with certain brands/items. We have learned to make do with something else. 

[Silkroad]

14 minutes ago, Algebralovr said:

The issue is that they are not allowed to simply take a van and go to Sam's Club when they get to port... they have to go through their supply contracts.  Meanwhile, suppliers are allocating to different purchasers.  So, while Celebrity may be ordering 25 cases of a wine per week, due to allocation, they may only receive 12 of that wine, because the supplier also needs to supply to many other sources.

We all simply need to be patient. 

We’re patient when a couple of items on the Premium package aren’t available, but our last cruise had far too many unavailable items. I don’t care about their supply chain issues. They’re a business. They should have fallback plans. They shouldn’t market Premium packages if they can’t provide premium beverages. 

[drakes2]

2 hours ago, Pinboy said:

" sheer laziness " -- You got it.

To wait over 2 hrs  for your main course ---- totally unacceptable.

"Maître D was nowhere to be seen "--- Simple---He/she didn't want to " face the music " , so, stayed out of sight.

While we have not cruised since Covid , and are non-drinkers :

As you appear to be a " regular " Celebrity cruiser , did they do anything for you since the food service and your preferred wine(s) were unavailable ? 

 

 

 

@Pinboywhen the Maitre D arrived all he said was I'm sorry I was busy at another section. Poor excuse IMO.  Fortunately I had ordered a pasta dish that evening which was just lukewarm so they just zapped it and I had to eat quickly in order to make the 9  pm show. Service was better for the remainder of the cruise but still not great.  The MDR hostess was excellent as was my cabin attendant but it appeared they were not new to Celebrity I think most of the MDR wait staff were on their first contract.  No alternative wines were offered basically if they don't have much selection of premium wines you either downgrade or pay extra but God forbid they will do you no favors. Towards the end of the cruise they requested I give them a 10 star rating on the survey because if not they will take it from their paycheck.  No Kidding. I was actually told that. Shocked!!!

[paulh84]

Most of the by the glass selections on any of the wine lists are run of the mill $16 to $18 retail grocery store variety bottles. None of them are spectacular and there's no significant difference between the classic versus premium quality in my opinion. Most just assume that more expensive is synonymous with better. If you want to really dip into notable wines you need to purchase bottles. 

[Pinboy]

27 minutes ago, drakes2 said:

1---The Maitre'd was busy at another section

2---Towards the end of the cruise they requested I give them a 10 star rating on the survey because if not they will take it from their paycheck. 

1---" Busy at another section "---- Sure---The " other section"  was probably back in his cabin having a snooze for 2 hrs.

2----I do not believe for one minute that they would"  take it from their paycheck " if you post a poor survey.

I assume " action " would be taken if an employee continuously receives poor ratings--- as would happen in any other Company.

Bottom line--- Be " smart "--- Give her the more expensive wine---  and, don't mess with a nice lady from Mississauga. 

 

[Bo1953]

1 hour ago, Silkroad said:

We’re patient when a couple of items on the Premium package aren’t available, but our last cruise had far too many unavailable items. I don’t care about their supply chain issues. They’re a business. They should have fallback plans. They shouldn’t market Premium packages if they can’t provide premium beverages. 

Then convert back to CBP is an option as opposed to trusting that things will get better???

 

Cheers and bon voyage

[Bo1953]

21 hours ago, drakes2 said:

Just returned from an 11 night Hawaii cruise on the Ecliise. Included in cruise price was the basic drinks package covering all beverages up to $9 per drink. Since I'm mostly a cabernet wine drinker and enjoy better quality wines I decided to upgrade to the premium package which covers drinks up to $15.  The first few nights I found some decent but not great and certainly not much of a variety of cabernets up to the limit included.  By the fifth night I found the MDR had run out of the Decoy and was trying to substitute the cheaper wines such as Reservado from Chile.  While its not a bad wine I didn't understand why the sommelier would not offer one of their better wines since they had such a limited selection  to choose from. Wait tines in the MDR were long one evening we waited 2 hours and 15 minutes for our entree to appear. When we questioned the waiter he said they were short staffed and kitchen could not keep up.  Maitre D was nowhere to be seen. I gave this cruise a rating of 3 out of 10, the best service I received was from my cabin steward.  This was the first sailing for the Eclipse since March of 2020 and clearly they were nowhere near ready to sail. Food quality was mediocre and was served warm most evenings.  Have done more than  a dozen Celebrity cruises and this was the worst of them all. 

For us, it would be the last 2 1/4 hour wait for a meal, in fact at 45 minutes, I would be in the kitchen finding out what was or was not going on!!!

 

Yes, that means I might be banned from the MDR, but well worth the ban, then I would go up the food chain to the D&B Manager!!! LOL

 

Then they will know that the Mad Vegan is aboard, big time.

 

bon voyage

[saphir]

On 5/12/2022 at 4:15 PM, drakes2 said:

Just returned from an 11 night Hawaii cruise on the Ecliise. Included in cruise price was the basic drinks package covering all beverages up to $9 per drink. Since I'm mostly a cabernet wine drinker and enjoy better quality wines I decided to upgrade to the premium package which covers drinks up to $15.  The first few nights I found some decent but not great and certainly not much of a variety of cabernets up to the limit included.  By the fifth night I found the MDR had run out of the Decoy and was trying to substitute the cheaper wines such as Reservado from Chile.  While its not a bad wine I didn't understand why the sommelier would not offer one of their better wines since they had such a limited selection  to choose from. Wait tines in the MDR were long one evening we waited 2 hours and 15 minutes for our entree to appear. When we questioned the waiter he said they were short staffed and kitchen could not keep up.  Maitre D was nowhere to be seen. I gave this cruise a rating of 3 out of 10, the best service I received was from my cabin steward.  This was the first sailing for the Eclipse since March of 2020 and clearly they were nowhere near ready to sail. Food quality was mediocre and was served warm most evenings.  Have done more than  a dozen Celebrity cruises and this was the worst of them all. 

 

 

 

but the cruise was good? excursion? activities on the ship?  i will do the same in September

[drakes2]

1 hour ago, saphir said:

 

 

 

but the cruise was good? excursion? activities on the ship?  i will do the same in September

Yes the cruise was good. Our first stop was Hilo and should have been an overnight but due to barnacles on the hull we were at slower speed so added an extra sea day to the itinerary. In Hilo I did an independent excursion with a wonderful tour guide. It was a full day and saw many sights.  Next stop Kona was booked through ship very expensive was Cloud forest nothing to rave about IMO spent a lot of time in the van followed by a visit to a coffee plantation. Overnighted in Lahaina did some shopping in the am,  a catamaran cruise in the afternoon very well organized along the coastline with views of the Haleakala Volcano in the distance.  Evening was Feast at Lele Luau booked independently about a 15 minute walk from tender. All stops were tendered apart from Kona. Since you are sailing in September take time to do some research as now that Hawaii has opened up there will be more excursions to choose from. Enjoy your cruise. 

[alyssamma]

10 hours ago, D C said:

When is your sailing?  I have Nov and January, both out of the US and they're both at $16.80

I checked again and now they are higher 😞

 

 

 

Sucks. Carnival just did this but they gave everyone a warning. Would have been nice if X did that too...

[XuGator]

Upgrading to premium is one of the best values within celebrity. For a negligible amount you get top shelf liquor , higher end wines , all the fresh juices and smoothies at the juice bars , vitamin water and the good regular water like Evian. Classic gets you the crap in the aluminum cans.  All the martinis at the martini bar. We recoup the premium upgrade on day 1 of every cruise. Absolutely worth it 

[Silkroad]

7 hours ago, Bo1953 said:

Then convert back to CBP is an option as opposed to trusting that things will get better??

The cruise is over, and I doubt that I could have “converted” back to the CBP. Upgrading future CBPs is certainly in the balance. We each have our own tipping point when it comes to being frustrated with the value provided by a business. Mine is no less valid than anyone else’s. 

[D C]

30 minutes ago, alyssamma said:

I checked again and now they are higher 😞

 

 

 

Sucks. Carnival just did this but they gave everyone a warning. Would have been nice if X did that too...

Sucks. 

I called tonight and got someone who was clearly offshore as he thought it was already the 14th.  He said that the price change became effective on the 13th and essentially too f'n bad if you didn't call yesterday. 

[cdn_tbird]

22 hours ago, drakes2 said:

We are almost half way through 2022 now so don't believe this to be true. 

Perhaps you should take a stroll through your local LCBO in Mississauga. Take a look at the bare shelf space in the Bourbon & Scotch sections even some of the more popular wines sections in Vintages are bare.

 

FYI, the LCBO is one of the biggest purchasers globally and even they are struggling to get product.

 

The only stuff they aren't having a lot of problems keeping stock of is the mediocre wines in the front of the store.

[airhose]

Can you still upgrade later in the cruise at a pro-rated price?

[Basketball wife]

Drakes2, I totally agree with you. Just got off the Apex transatlantic this AM (currently at the airport). We were on the Apex also in March from Florida. Same issues as you describe both times.

 

Both cruises were lift/shifts and our first cruises since March 2020 when we were actually on the Eclipse’s last (extended) cruise. We had premium drinks/premium wifi on that cruise— generally we were given any wine we asked for and I was able to watch Netflix onboard. When the cruise was extended, Celebrity gave every passenger the classic package and basic wifi but allowed anyone who had premium packages to keep them. But, when drinks and wifi opened up to everyone on the ship, the wifi was painful and several premium package wines became “unavailable”. However, a super server who got to know us during the first, non Covid affected part of the cruise, was always able to get the wines we drank.

 

( I am convinced that Celebrity actuaries used the data from what was consumed on these last stranded cruises from 2020, saw it could be profitable and “created” the Always Included marketing strategy several months later. But, now, having dealt with complaints/disappointment by some passengers for about a year have introduced (reintroduced?) a No Perks option🤷🏻‍♀️)

 

In any case, fast forward two years, we again had premium drinks/wifi on the two six week apart same ship cruises. On a brand new, supposedly tech focused ship we had similar issues with wifi and embarked on a scavenger hunt to find our preferred wines every day (eventually the cellar master had the dining rooms and theatre keep some bottles on hand for us.) Once, exhausted after going through five or six by the glass choices on the menu, we asked if we could get a glass of wine not sold as by the glass . This wine by the bottle is about $20 less than some wines sold by the glass if you were to buy that wine by the bottle. We were told NO but, we could buy the bottle with a 20% discount (of course also with the gratuity added🤦🏻‍♀️). Seems silly to me.

 

Anyway, I think the reason we like the premium package is about choices so if supply issues are the biggest reason for not having wines on the menu, they should offer guests the opportunity to purchase any other wine by the glass as we requested. Just before these two Apex cruises, Celebrity sent us this message about drink packages and FWIW, there was also an issue finding what was available in the Beer Bar.

 

[drakes2]

9 hours ago, cdn_tbird said:

Perhaps you should take a stroll through your local LCBO in Mississauga

I purchase most of my wine in the vintage section but always wait for the markdowns at the end of the month usually between 20 to 30% off.  Never had issues finding anything. Some stores have overstock and need to make room for new product. Not a bourbon or scotch drinker.

[drakes2]

16 minutes ago, Basketball wife said:

Drakes2, I totally agree with you. Just got off the Apex transatlantic this AM (currently at the airport). We were on the Apex also in March from Florida. Same issues as you describe both times.

 

Both cruises were lift/shifts and our first cruises since March 2020 when we were actually on the Eclipse’s last (extended) cruise. We had premium drinks/premium wifi on that cruise— generally we were given any wine we asked for and I was able to watch Netflix onboard. When the cruise was extended, Celebrity gave every passenger the classic package and basic wifi but allowed anyone who had premium packages to keep them. But, when drinks and wifi opened up to everyone on the ship, the wifi was painful and several premium package wines became “unavailable”. However, a super server who got to know us during the first, non Covid affected part of the cruise, was always able to get the wines we drank.

 

( I am convinced that Celebrity actuaries used the data from what was consumed on these last stranded cruises from 2020, saw it could be profitable and “created” the Always Included marketing strategy several months later. But, now, having dealt with complaints/disappointment by some passengers for about a year have introduced (reintroduced?) a No Perks option🤷🏻‍♀️)

 

In any case, fast forward two years, we again had premium drinks/wifi on the two six week apart same ship cruises. On a brand new, supposedly tech focused ship we had similar issues with wifi and embarked on a scavenger hunt to find our preferred wines every day (eventually the cellar master had the dining rooms and theatre keep some bottles on hand for us.) Once, exhausted after going through five or six by the glass choices on the menu, we asked if we could get a glass of wine not sold as by the glass . This wine by the bottle is about $20 less than some wines sold by the glass if you were to buy that wine by the bottle. We were told NO but, we could buy the bottle with a 20% discount (of course also with the gratuity added🤦🏻‍♀️). Seems silly to me.

 

Anyway, I think the reason we like the premium package is about choices so if supply issues are the biggest reason for not having wines on the menu, they should offer guests the opportunity to purchase any other wine by the glass as we requested. Just before these two Apex cruises, Celebrity sent us this message about drink packages and FWIW, there was also an issue finding what was available in the Beer Bar.

 

A lady at my dining table on Eclipse last week wanted to purchase 2 bottles of Elegance cab to take home. Sommelier quoted $40 per bottle. (I knew no way was that wine listed at $40 but didn't say anything). Couple days later she received message in cabin to say the cost was $70 each plus 20% gratuity.  Some of these sommeliers are so ill informed its pathetic. 

[cdn_tbird]

1 hour ago, drakes2 said:

I purchase most of my wine in the vintage section but always wait for the markdowns at the end of the month usually between 20 to 30% off.  Never had issues finding anything. Some stores have overstock and need to make room for new product. Not a bourbon or scotch drinker.

My point was that the global shortages are still a reality. Just because it's 2 yrs and 2 months after the lockdowns started is irrelevant. Glad you aren't having issues finding stuff you like in the clearance bin, but I've never seen the wines DW & I drink on sale let alone on clearance.

Edited May 14, 2022 by cdn_tbird

[bruzin_for_a_cruizin]

For me and my wife, the premium upgrade is totally worth it. I just fold the expected cost into my budgeting for the cruise price.

 

I completely understand the supply chain issues. Running any business in 2022 is a challenge, as ingredient supplies and logistics capacities are strained to their limits. In the wine & spirit business, there have been challenges for some producers to get the glass required to make their bottles, causing product shortages! We often don't think of the complexity of modern supply chain. It's quite astounding when you drill right down to it.

 

All that said... I believe the cruise lines are doing their customers a disservice by not making accommodations, either by offering more-equitable substitutions or lowering the cost of the Premium upgrade. It is, IMO, disingenuous to cry "supply chain issues, sorry" and then increase the price of the upgrade. 

[saphir]

On 5/13/2022 at 6:32 PM, drakes2 said:

Yes the cruise was good. Our first stop was Hilo and should have been an overnight but due to barnacles on the hull we were at slower speed so added an extra sea day to the itinerary. In Hilo I did an independent excursion with a wonderful tour guide. It was a full day and saw many sights.  Next stop Kona was booked through ship very expensive was Cloud forest nothing to rave about IMO spent a lot of time in the van followed by a visit to a coffee plantation. Overnighted in Lahaina did some shopping in the am,  a catamaran cruise in the afternoon very well organized along the coastline with views of the Haleakala Volcano in the distance.  Evening was Feast at Lele Luau booked independently about a 15 minute walk from tender. All stops were tendered apart from Kona. Since you are sailing in September take time to do some research as now that Hawaii has opened up there will be more excursions to choose from. Enjoy your cruise. 

Thank you.

[Seacrab]

On 5/14/2022 at 3:49 PM, bruzin_for_a_cruizin said:

For me and my wife, the premium upgrade is totally worth it. I just fold the expected cost into my budgeting for the cruise price.

 

I completely understand the supply chain issues. Running any business in 2022 is a challenge, as ingredient supplies and logistics capacities are strained to their limits. In the wine & spirit business, there have been challenges for some producers to get the glass required to make their bottles, causing product shortages! We often don't think of the complexity of modern supply chain. It's quite astounding when you drill right down to it.

 

All that said... I believe the cruise lines are doing their customers a disservice by not making accommodations, either by offering more-equitable substitutions or lowering the cost of the Premium upgrade. It is, IMO, disingenuous to cry "supply chain issues, sorry" and then increase the price of the upgrade. 

Well said!

of course there are plenty of reasons why despite the shortages we keep the premium package. 
 

however they need to resolve their substitutions, they’re not on par with the product they’re substituting and that’s the primary problem.