Classic to premium upgrade: yet another question....

[Married90]

Sorry to beat a dead horse yet a gain but I am confused.   What is the price for the upgrade from Classic to Premium drink package.  Several posts have said the upgrade cost is now $20 ($16 something plus 20% gratuity)  not $12 (as it used to be) .   Berried in X's FAQ's I have found posted the upgrade cost is $18 (no discussion of 20% gratuity upcharge).   If I look at my "plan your cruise"  Aug 28 cruise I can purchase online for $17.10 and when I put in in my checkout cart there is no markup for gratuity.  If I look at my Sept 4 cruise (We are doing a B2B)  It says call to upgrade with no option to buy online.   SO....    Is the regular price $20/day or $18/day?  If I call do I get 10% off for captains club and where does this $17.10 online come from????   Totally confused at the moment with X and pricing....

[jelayne]

I think it is $18.  The cruise planner for our October cruise has the drink packages discounted so maybe the reason you are seeing $17.10 do to a sale in the Cruise Planner.

[ja2nowak]

Total cost for two for next week is showing at $239.40 for a 7 day. Breaking it down, it comes out to $17.10 per person per day. Still an increase but now I'm running numbers if on the few occasions I go over the max drink price it's cheaper for me to pay the $1 or $2 plus gratuities per drink. Even for a $3 up charge to go to a more premium liquor that's a total of nearly 40 total upgraded drinks vs paying the upgraded drink package price.

[Josie201]

My recent experience with calling to upgrade for a B2B got me two different prices for the two cruises, neither of which was anywhere near $17.10 per day.  You should call, and ask lots of questions .... In the end I was happy with the amount but I have no idea how it was derived. 

[jelayne]

I am seeing differences in the price of the drink packages between ship due to the different %off sale,

One cruise has the Premium at $76.44 & Classic at $62.79.  Another upcoming cruise has the Premium at $79.99 and the Classic at $61.99.

 

Just a FYI it looks like the price of specialty dining is increasing again.  One of our cruises now has Tuscan at $64.90.

[Arizona Wildcat]

The pricce changes as: in some countries gratuities are not added at the end, then you have "sales", Captain's Club discounts and various parts of the website that are not always updated - the mobile site often different from full site.

The prices are always within a few $$ and insignificant compared to the total.cost of taking a cruise until you live near FLL or MIA.

[Homosassa]

Just be aware if you are upgrading from Classic to Premium, that the brands and wines listed for Premium may not be available for the first few days of your cruise. 

 

They may not have unpacked the new shipment and distributed the bottles around the ship (it was day for of a seven night before a certain wine was available for us).

[Married90]

2 hours ago, Josie201 said:

My recent experience with calling to upgrade for a B2B got me two different prices for the two cruises, neither of which was anywhere near $17.10 per day.  You should call, and ask lots of questions .... In the end I was happy with the amount but I have no idea how it was derived. 

So I called...   Two B2B 7 day cruises, same ship.   First cruise I am told $113.40P/P  (which would be $18/day less the captains club 10%) .   Had the agent look up the second cruise I am told $90.93 P/P.   I said go ahead and proceed to upgrade the second cruise then I am told the cost is $109.12P/P (20% gratuity added on at checkout.   This whole thing is messed up...   

[Arizona Wildcat]

1 hour ago, Married90 said:

So I called...   Two B2B 7 day cruises, same ship.   First cruise I am told $113.40P/P  (which would be $18/day less the captains club 10%) .   Had the agent look up the second cruise I am told $90.93 P/P.   I said go ahead and proceed to upgrade the second cruise then I am told the cost is $109.12P/P (20% gratuity added on at checkout.   This whole thing is messed up...   

You sound upset about this.  I completely agree that whether prices include or do not include the gratuity is confusing and one can likely find it described both ways.

I also get the principle of don't mess around with my wallet.  I detest being quoted on price and then when I drive to pick up the item things have changed 

However, my wife has made me back off and accept the small stuff as not worth my time and energy if less that 10% of the total.

A cruise is say several thousand dollars?  Not worth messing with what is about $20.  If one wants an easy way to save that amount then simply upgrade on the 2nd day.  Saves a few $$ and certainly the hassle of calling for the upgrade.

[jelayne]

I just called to upgrade drinks and wi-fi .  I calculated the cost before I called.  The rep had a slightly lower price for the beverage upgrade than I calculated and he had a slightly higher price for the wi-fi than I calculated, but the total was $4 more than I thought.  I thanked him and gave him my credit card.

 

From initiating the call until we hung up after he made sure I had received the confirmation and everything was ok took a total of 24 minutes, including 11 on hold.

 

There was no way I was going to tie up this rep who sounded fairly new for $4.  

[Married90]

56 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

You sound upset about this. ...

Not so much upset as completely confused.   The agent couldn't explain why there were two different prices.   She also didn't mention the 20% gratuity until I already gave her my CC for purchase and she gave me a total which was different then what she quoted 2 minutes earlier.   Honestly, I don't know if it really is worth it to upgrade given our drinking patterns and am just trying to understand the upgrade cost so I can make an educated decision.      Given all the different costs to upgrade being tossed around who knows....   I will admit I like black and white not 50 shades of gray that X's pricing seems to be...   

[jelayne]

We have 8 cruises booked and some of the cruise planners have discounts on beverage packages,  since the price to upgrade is the difference between the cost of the 2  packages that will make the upgrade price vary. 

 

Regular price is Prem $84   Classic $69  Upgrade cost $15 + 20% some have a 10% Captains Club others have 15%.   The cruise I just upgraded our packages had a discounted price of $75.99 for Prem and 61.99 for Classic so $14 +20%.  Another cruise the Prem package is discounted to $76.44 and Classic is $62.79, difference $13.65 +20%.  

 

So between the various price discounts and the difference in Capt Club discounts you will see various prices to upgrade posted but it should be the difference in price between the  2 + 20% gratuity less and Captains Club discount.

 

[bigbenboys]

I plan on calling Celebrity or have our TA call to get my 10% elite plus discount.

 

This is from Celebrity website when upgrading drink package. The prom is $17.10 pp per day.

 

*All prices in USD are subject to change without notice. A 20% service charge will be added to Soda, Wine, Water, Classic and Premium Package prices at checkout. Package prices may reflect an additional tax for certain ports or itineraries. Packages are sold on a per cruise basis, are not sold on a per day or any other basis, and no refunds will be issued for unused amounts. Packages may not be shared, and do not include drinks sold in gift shops, mini-bar or room service. Ordered packages may be modified up to four days prior to sailing by canceling and reordering the package. Cancellations or refunds will not be issued onboard the vessel after embarkation day. Availability of drinks packages varies by ship. You must be at least 21 years of age to purchase any alcoholic package and to consume alcohol. Offers are non-transferable and not combinable with Captain Club discounts or any other offer or promotion. See the terms of our guest alcohol policy. Other terms and conditions apply.

Edited July 22, 2022 by bigbenboys
added info

[jelayne]

The prom??

[bigbenboys]

2 minutes ago, jelayne said:

The prom??

My understand was is that the $17.10 pp is a prom vers the normal $18 pp. Or is $17.10 pp the norm now. Plus 20% service charge at check out.

[LGW59]

14 minutes ago, bigbenboys said:

My understand was is that the $17.10 pp is a prom vers the normal $18 pp. Or is $17.10 pp the norm now. Plus 20% service charge at check out.

So the “prom” is a savings of $.90?

 

[bigbenboys]

23 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

So the “prom” is a savings of $.90?

 

LOL should be promotion. The saving is pp per day. From Celebrity "Offers are non-transferable and not combinable with Captain Club discounts or any other offer or promotion."

Is the $17.10 a discounts or any other offer or promotion. Will I be able to get my 10% for captain club discount off the $17.10? With the asterisk near the $17.10 seen in post 15 and the asterisk from post 13. 

[jelayne]

At regular price the difference between the 2 packages is $15 than add the 20% gratuity total $18.  Right now most of my booking have some % discount on the beverage packages the amount varies by sailing.  Just upgraded  from Classic to Premium on a sailing where the beverage packages were discounted and with Captains Club discount it ended up $12. 50 pd.

[chalmerp]

Where do you find the link on the Celebrity website to upgrade beverage package? I have searched and searched and can't find it anywhere!

[Virginia100]

I called to upgrade from classic to premium on my 10 day Sept 2023 cruise out of Rome. The total including the gratuity charge was $155 for me. 

[jelayne]

18 minutes ago, chalmerp said:

Where do you find the link on the Celebrity website to upgrade beverage package? I have searched and searched and can't find it anywhere!

If you qualify for a Captains Club Elite or E+ discount you have to call to upgrade

In my experience the Cruise Planner does not offer the option to upgrade on line until after final payment,

[MamaFej]

10 minutes ago, jelayne said:

If you qualify for a Captains Club Elite or E+ discount you have to call to upgrade

In my experience the Cruise Planner does not offer the option to upgrade on line until after final payment,

To me, this is absolutely silly. Customers should be able to make purchases online when logged in and have their discounts automatically applied. This is the case on countless websites, and I don't get why X doesn't do it that way. It seems that programming the site to apply the appropriate discount would be far more cost-efficient than having customer service agents do it. Those agents should be helping with things that don't make sense to have on the consumer end. Wait times would be shorter if the agents' time could be focused just on the more complicated stuff.

 

I'm obviously missing something, maybe the agents do additional upselling when customers call? I've never called.

[prmssk]

4 hours ago, chalmerp said:

Where do you find the link on the Celebrity website to upgrade beverage package? I have searched and searched and can't find it anywhere!

For my May cruise next year, it used to be in the cruise planner.  Within the last week or so, they seem to have changed how the cruise planner looks and now there is just a note to call to upgrade.  At a time when hold times are long because of not enough staff, it doesn't make sense to add one more reason people have to call in.

[jelayne]

6 hours ago, MamaFej said:

To me, this is absolutely silly. Customers should be able to make purchases online when logged in and have their discounts automatically applied. This is the case on countless websites, and I don't get why X doesn't do it that way. It seems that programming the site to apply the appropriate discount would be far more cost-efficient than having customer service agents do it. Those agents should be helping with things that don't make sense to have on the consumer end. Wait times would be shorter if the agents' time could be focused just on the more complicated stuff.

 

I'm obviously missing something, maybe the agents do additional upselling when customers call? I've never called.

Never had any upselling, it is just the limitations of the website.  It has only been recently that you could upgrade after final payment in the Cruise Planner.  So now if you don’t qualify for a discount or don’t want to call  you can upgrade on line.

[cheeseheads4ever]

Ok so just that I can confuse this more. I have a cruise scheduled for April 2023. I have the all included classic drink Pkg. I have not been able to find the upgrade from Classic to premium discount online?I think they confused this when they try to have you do the Indulge upgrade or Elevate upgrade for $30 and $60 each.

if I already have the classic pkg as part of all included it’s just the price difference between the 2 pkgs plus 20% gratuity plus any discount to go to premium? Correct?

Bad thing would be you don’t do it onboard then the bartender who signs you up doesn’t get credit. Maybe just tip the bartender you like extra?