Need Help - Cost comparison between AI and A La Carte

[orville99]

Looking to book our first Celebrity cruise, and can’t find info on the differences in cost between booking cruise only and All included. I can find gratuity amounts, but nada on internet, dining, or drink package a la carte costs. Which is the best way to go/

[Bo1953]

In many instances AI is the most economical, yet to do a comparison, you need to go to X's website and pull up the a la carte daily pricing add it up and compare...

 

Good luck, welcome and bon voyage

[NorthStarStateCruiser]

13 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Looking to book our first Celebrity cruise, and can’t find info on the differences in cost between booking cruise only and All included. I can find gratuity amounts, but nada on internet, dining, or drink package a la carte costs. Which is the best way to go/

You can use my tool to access the cruise planner for your sailing prior to booking. Make sure to add the gratuities for the beverage package.

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ukT6gOPcu7coL92LuDcyDaWXQfO88u5kN9FEdHRj5bM/edit?usp=sharing

[bikerunner]

32 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Looking to book our first Celebrity cruise, and can’t find info on the differences in cost between booking cruise only and All included. I can find gratuity amounts, but nada on internet, dining, or drink package a la carte costs. Which is the best way to go/

I always default to AI, as I know I will use the drink package, tips thrown in and I do need wifi to do my 20 min of cleaning out the 100 a day work emails, or more I get a day.  It comes out by far much cheaper on the cruises I have done with Celebrity.  

[PTC DAWG]

29 minutes ago, bikerunner said:

I always default to AI, as I know I will use the drink package, tips thrown in and I do need wifi to do my 20 min of cleaning out the 100 a day work emails, or more I get a day.  It comes out by far much cheaper on the cruises I have done with Celebrity.  

This is good advice..if you will use the drink package, it’s almost always a good deal. It includes more than just alcohol drinks too…coffee, soda, waters etc..

 

That said, I have priced out balcony cabins with AI that come out to be slightly more than Aqua rooms, which include AI + Blu, .do your homework. 

[BettyCruiser]

The tricky part is this summer they put drink packages on sale at 50% off for sailings primarily until the end of the year. I don't remember seeing such a deep price cut in the past. Since I don't care about wifi it would likely be cheaper to book cruise only then buy the drink package on sale and pay the gratuities. 

 

But will they continue to put the drink packages on sale in the future only time will tell. 

[bikerunner]

1 hour ago, PTC DAWG said:

This is good advice..if you will use the drink package, it’s almost always a good deal. It includes more than just alcohol drinks too…coffee, soda, waters etc..

 

That said, I have priced out balcony cabins with AI that come out to be slightly more than Aqua rooms, which include AI + Blu, .do your homework. 

Im usually with a TA who has a really good group rates that include the Ai  and as much as I compare, I will do much better with a move up offer to AQ. I also do get the premium as many of my drinks thru out the day are the sparkling waters, which are not covered by the Classic drink package.  Yes do have to look and compare but I also know when I am getting a Concierge at 30-40% less than Celebrity's rate with AI included, pricing out the AQ, unless its under the group rate, which has happened many times Ill just do Concierge and bid to move up.  

[jelayne]

1 hour ago, BettyCruiser said:

The tricky part is this summer they put drink packages on sale at 50% off for sailings primarily until the end of the year. I don't remember seeing such a deep price cut in the past. Since I don't care about wifi it would likely be cheaper to book cruise only then buy the drink package on sale and pay the gratuities. 

 

But will they continue to put the drink packages on sale in the future only time will tell. 

A flash sale  this month  was for "selected' sailing   (2 of  7 bookings) and had the Classic  package at 30% off and with gratuity it was $73.19 pp per day.  The upgrade to Premium if you had the Classic package was 50% off.

 

[orville99]

20 hours ago, NorthStarStateCruiser said:

You can use my tool to access the cruise planner for your sailing prior to booking. Make sure to add the gratuities for the beverage package.

Thanks, that spreadsheet is outstanding😇

[NorthStarStateCruiser]

2 hours ago, orville99 said:

Thanks, that spreadsheet is outstanding😇

Thank you for the compliment ☺️ I'm glad it's user friendly.

[dreamer321]

I'm a solo traveller and pay 100% solo supplement for my room.  For solo passengers booking a double room the All Included price is ridiculous.

 

Celebrity wanted to charge me $679 to $981 (depending on when you book) more for All Included for my 6 night cruise.  By waiting for sales I was able to pay the following:

 

All Include alternative

Automatic Gratuities                               $108.00 ($18/day)

Classic Beverage Package w/gratuity   $316.68 ($43.99/day + 20% tip)(50% off sale)

Premium WiFi                                        $107.94 ($17.99/day)(50% off sale)

   All Included alternative subtotal          $532.62 ($88.77/day)

 

I saved $146 to almost $450 by booking à la carte and got faster WiFi as well.

[orville99]

26 minutes ago, NorthStarStateCruiser said:

Thank you for the compliment ☺️ I'm glad it's user friendly.

I wish I could code like that😇

[D. B.]

I’m one the guest that was Happy that X started offering Cruise Only rates.

we do not drink alcohol so the AI would be a colossal waste of money.

with Elite+ we get a discount on the WiFi and pay the tips precruise.