Who pays for this kind of AI?

[Algebralovr]

So true.  I drink a couple of cups of tea, then water.  
But when I was young?  
 

Didn’t we all make different choices when we were younger?

[Ex-Airbalancer]

1 hour ago, micruiser2002 said:

Are you sure that is available on that cruise?  Not all cruises are on sale for 50% beverage package.  My cruise this October was during the May flash sale but is not during this past weeks flash sale.

It was yesterday when I check on the website in my reservation 

[dreamer321]

As a solo traveller the price difference for All Included on my 6 night cruise ranged from $679 to $981.  I bought the classic beverage package for $43.99 plus gratuities per day when it went on sale recently and the Premium WiFi when it went on sale for $17.99 per day.

 

Paying for All Included items separately:

Gratuities                                      $108.00 ($18 pppd)

Classic Beverage Package          $263.94 ($43.99 + 20% pppd)

Premium WiFi                              $107.94 ($17.99 pppd)

                                   total           $479.88

 

so Celebrity wanted to charge me $200 to $500 more to bundle than I was able to book on my own waiting for sales promos.  If X had not run a 50% off sale on the Classic Beverage package I would have just paid for my drink a la carte.  I originally planned to pass on WiFi and just use cellular data in Mexico and buy one day of WiFi for the last sea day if I needed to but decided the discounted WiFi was worth it.

 

I booked a 14 day Transatlantic crossing in the spring on Ascent but X wasn't offering the 50% off beverage packages for that cruise so I'll wait for a Black Friday sale of some other sale to book that stuff.

[C4HCG]

On 7/4/2023 at 12:25 PM, kywildcatfanone said:

People pay for these packages without any thought to what it is actually costing them.  They enjoy that they are not being "nickel and dimed", and are willing to pay for it.  It's good for the cruise line, and good for those of us who don't. 

We pay for the package knowing full well that we probably won’t drink as much as it costs, although my husband does his level best. The fact that we can relax and not worry about a big bill at the end makes it worth it for us. So despite your snarky comment, we do think what it costs us.

[micruiser2002]

On 7/4/2023 at 7:43 AM, Mark_K said:

Today the website is showing $699pp for cruise only and $1864pp for all included.  

Which makes it a great deal.  Before the OBC the difference is only $1165, even with the current 50% off beverage & wifi and tips they would be over $1400.  

[kywildcatfanone]

1 hour ago, C4HCG said:

We pay for the package knowing full well that we probably won’t drink as much as it costs, although my husband does his level best. The fact that we can relax and not worry about a big bill at the end makes it worth it for us. So despite your snarky comment, we do think what it costs us.

What was snarky?

[ECCruise]

1 hour ago, C4HCG said:

We pay for the package knowing full well that we probably won’t drink as much as it costs, although my husband does his level best. The fact that we can relax and not worry about a big bill at the end makes it worth it for us. So despite your snarky comment, we do think what it costs us.

This is where I get confused. 

If you say you know full well that you won't drink as much as it costs, then why do you pay a big bill upfront (for the package) to avoid a big (but obviously smaller) bill at the end?

[gfkcruiser]

On 7/3/2023 at 4:17 PM, Ellaleah said:

This is from an email offer I received today for a16 nightTransatlantic11/23.  It has an additional $400.  OBC.  Who might buy the AI?  It makes no sense to me, but I am very curious if anyone else find this appealing.

Error in pricing?

[Ellaleah]

1 hour ago, gfkcruiser said:

Error in pricing?

It makes no sense.  I have seen them makes other errors the other way and there are discussions on here about them not honoring the price that was initially booked.

[C4HCG]

7 hours ago, ECCruise said:

This is where I get confused. 

If you say you know full well that you won't drink as much as it costs, then why do you pay a big bill upfront (for the package) to avoid a big (but obviously smaller) bill at the end?

Peace of mind on the hols knowing everything is paid for up front. We may or may not break even, we’ve never added it up, but we know we get close if not exceed some times. I did say probably in my post so it’s not an obviously smaller bill at the end.

 

Edited July 6, 2023 by C4HCG

[C4HCG]

8 hours ago, kywildcatfanone said:

What was snarky?

Inferring people like us don’t think before we buy the package. We are not stupid.

[kywildcatfanone]

4 hours ago, C4HCG said:

Inferring people like us don’t think before we buy the package. We are not stupid.

Reread my post.  I said a lot of people just simply don't like the nickel and diming.,  You literally agreed with my post in your response.  

[kywildcatfanone]

11 hours ago, ECCruise said:

This is where I get confused. 

If you say you know full well that you won't drink as much as it costs, then why do you pay a big bill upfront (for the package) to avoid a big (but obviously smaller) bill at the end?

Whether or not it makes sense to me or anyone else, some people just like the convenience of being "paid in full" and not getting a bill for drinks,etc at the end of the cruise.  I don't really get it myself, but it helps the cruise line, and might also help keep cruise pricing down, so it benefits those of us who do not, so it's a win/win for everyone.

Edited July 6, 2023 by kywildcatfanone

[C4HCG]

3 hours ago, kywildcatfanone said:

Reread my post.  I said a lot of people just simply don't like the nickel and diming.,  You literally agreed with my post in your response.  

Your sentence “People pay for these packages without any thought to what it is actually costing them” .

 

Infers people buy the package without giving it any thought, which I found a little insulting. If that’s not what you meant then I apologise.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

21 hours ago, Algebralovr said:

So true.  I drink a couple of cups of tea, then water.  
But when I was young?  
 

Didn’t we all make different choices when we were younger?

nope, even when I was young. My mom, on the other hand, even at 70+ drinks about 5 cups of coffee a day. Regular, not decaf. I would probably die....

[kywildcatfanone]

1 hour ago, C4HCG said:

If that’s not what you meant then I apologise.

I did not, sorry for the confusion.  I thought maybe you were referring to how this is good for those who don't buy the packages.  What I meant by that was packages are a huge profit stream for the cruise lines right now, and they are marketing them like crazy, and it's obviously working and people are happy with them.  For me, as someone who does not pay for them, I think it's keeping the cruise only cost down a bit, so to me it's a win/win/win for all involved.

[Ellaleah]

4 minutes ago, kywildcatfanone said:

I did not, sorry for the confusion.  I thought maybe you were referring to how this is good for those who don't buy the packages.  What I meant by that was packages are a huge profit stream for the cruise lines right now, and they are marketing them like crazy, and it's obviously working and people are happy with them.  For me, as someone who does not pay for them, I think it's keeping the cruise only cost down a bit, so to me it's a win/win/win for all involved.

The conversation on here seems to assume that all these AI prices are the same.  They are not and some are so “out of whack” that it defies math and or logic why anyone would do them and I would not do them for the good of the cruise line as they are not adding some of these crazy AI’s for the good of the customers.  They need to be looked at individually.

[retired dude]

On 7/4/2023 at 7:25 AM, kywildcatfanone said:

People pay for these packages without any thought to what it is actually costing them.  They enjoy that they are not being "nickel and dimed", and are willing to pay for it.  It's good for the cruise line, and good for those of us who don't. 

go big blue

[kywildcatfanone]

40 minutes ago, Ellaleah said:

The conversation on here seems to assume that all these AI prices are the same.  They are not and some are so “out of whack” that it defies math and or logic why anyone would do them and I would not do them for the good of the cruise line as they are not adding some of these crazy AI’s for the good of the customers.  They need to be looked at individually.

Well, for me personally, I think they are all out of whack when I compare them to just the cost of tips/wifi (which are high in and of themselves - mostly wifi), and I choose to either buy drinks individually, or just bring what I want to drink onboard with me at embarkation or ports (non alcoholic I mean, not sure if they will let you take alcohol onboard if they are paying attention to it).  We cruise mostly with Princess, and their prices are cheaper than Celebrity, although not by a whole lot anymore, and I don't do it with them either. 

It is however, an individual choice, no different than buying a car at the current marked up prices.  People want them, and buy them and that is their choice.  

[retired dude]

my wife and i booked a 12 day  celebrity cruise using the cruise only plan and the cost was $3300 total  including charges and fees for a mid-ship balcony cabin..The rack price on the same cruise is now $5300 for the AI plan. In addition the company and the TA gave us $850 obc on top of the great price...With our elite status, two hour happy hour and  the other perks i don't think that it took a genius to do what we did..We dont need to drink all day and night, dont use the wifi at all and the obc will pay for the grats and still leave us with over $400 to use at our discretion....Just takes a little bit of homework to decide what is best for each individual....life is good, enjoy whatever you book....clearwater

[smtcan]

3 hours ago, retired dude said:

my wife and i booked a 12 day  celebrity cruise using the cruise only plan and the cost was $3300 total  including charges and fees for a mid-ship balcony cabin..The rack price on the same cruise is now $5300 for the AI plan. In addition the company and the TA gave us $850 obc on top of the great price...With our elite status, two hour happy hour and  the other perks i don't think that it took a genius to do what we did..We dont need to drink all day and night, dont use the wifi at all and the obc will pay for the grats and still leave us with over $400 to use at our discretion....Just takes a little bit of homework to decide what is best for each individual....life is good, enjoy whatever you book....clearwater

All inclusive never makes sense for us.  We have friends who would never cruise without a drink package and that is their choice.  We always factor gratuities into the cost of our cruise and pay them up front unless we have a lot of OBC.  On our last cruise we had $800 OBC which covered our gratuities and left us a bit extra.  With Happy Hour drinks and included lattes we had very little need for extra drinks.  At the end of the cruise we were trying to find ways to spend the last few dollars.  We have never disembarked with an unmanageable bill - we would not take a cruise if it took us to our financial limit.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

21 minutes ago, smtcan said:

All inclusive never makes sense for us.  We have friends who would never cruise without a drink package and that is their choice.  We always factor gratuities into the cost of our cruise and pay them up front unless we have a lot of OBC.  On our last cruise we had $800 OBC which covered our gratuities and left us a bit extra.  With Happy Hour drinks and included lattes we had very little need for extra drinks.  At the end of the cruise we were trying to find ways to spend the last few dollars.  We have never disembarked with an unmanageable bill - we would not take a cruise if it took us to our financial limit.

On our next cruise, our travel agent group price with All Inclusive was the same price as Celebrity’s cruise only price ,

At $100USD a day in a balcony with All inclusive is a good deal 

[Octavias]

We booked a suite so had no choice but to pay for the AI.  We want the suite experience so to us, it’s worth it.  Keep in mind, this is our first cruise and we are paying for it in chunks.  We will never be big time cruisers although we might take a few more.  
 

I’ve been exploring the idea of next time trying to win a suite using the bid up system.  It might work out better for us, as I’m not a big drinker so the drinks package isn’t required for me. 
 

we are concerned with the changes Celebrity is making however.  Vaping in the casino, upcharges in the dining room, etc.  seems they are headed in a less premium direction in general, which we don’t like. 

[kywildcatfanone]

7 hours ago, retired dude said:

go big blue

BBN Go Cats!

[the penguins]

On 7/6/2023 at 11:28 PM, Ex-Airbalancer said:

On our next cruise, our travel agent group price with All Inclusive was the same price as Celebrity’s cruise only price ,

At $100USD a day in a balcony with All inclusive is a good deal 

Am I reading this correctly?

$100 a day including AI?

I know you can't give the details of your agent but which ship and sailing date?