Aqua class cruise only fares - estimated prices for drinks and wifi?

[zitsky]

Now that Aqua class offers cruise only fares does anyone have numbers on what cost is for Classic/Premium drink package and Basic/Streaming wifi?  We would "save" $1500 on a 12 night cruise.  We have done Aqua before.  I get the feeling we'd be better off paying separately for drinks/wifi.

[gerelmx]

Precruise

Premium Package $86.99 PGPD + gratuities

Classic Package $70.99 PGPD + gratuities

Premium WiFi 1 device $19.99 PGPD

 

Need to call for Captain's Club Discount

Edited October 12, 2023 by gerelmx

[PTC DAWG]

9 minutes ago, zitsky said:

Now that Aqua class offers cruise only fares does anyone have numbers on what cost is for Classic/Premium drink package and Basic/Streaming wifi?  We would "save" $1500 on a 12 night cruise.  We have done Aqua before.  I get the feeling we'd be better off paying separately for drinks/wifi.

If you want a drinks package, AI is almost always a better deal. 

[Georgia_Peaches]

Looks like the Premium drink package alone would be over $2k for 2 people at 12 nights.  another $500 for WIFI.  I haven't priced Aqua in a while but seems like the AI is a better deal.

[zitsky]

Does AI (still) include the Premium drink package and Streaming wi-fi?  I don't know what has changed.  Was this the change after 10/4 or am I thinking of something else?

Edited October 12, 2023 by zitsky

[jelayne]

You can purchase the beverage package and wi-fi pre cruise in the Cruise Planner at a discounted price.  Normal pre cruise price is 70.99 plus gratuity, which is 20% the onboard price.  The Captains Club discount is less so it seems lately you can't get both Cruise Planner price and have the CC discount also.

 

In flash sales recently I have seen the Classic package at $53.99 plus gratuity.

 

[jelayne]

1 minute ago, jelayne said:

You can purchase the beverage package and wi-fi pre cruise in the Cruise Planner at a discounted price.  Normal pre cruise price is 70.99 plus gratuity, which is 20% the onboard price.  The Captains Club discount is less so it seems lately you can't get both Cruise Planner price and have the CC discount also.

 

In flash sales recently I have seen the Classic package at $53.99 plus gratuity.

 

AI is classic beverage and basic wi-fi.  Basic wi-fi is not available to purchase.  Premium beverage & stream wi-fi is for suite bookings.

Edited October 12, 2023 by jelayne

[mrgabriel]

We're looking at the exact same thing for future cruises, and for us at the moment, the AI program isn't a value. 

 

For wifi - we each get 240 minutes free. On our last cruise - 9 nights - my husband didn't even use all of those minutes. I blew through mine in about 4 days and if needed, I would likely buy a package mid-way through the cruise. (If we're on a port-heavy cruise then I could use my cellular minutes on shore or in the dock).

 

For drinks -  we get coffees and the CC happy hour every day which covers a fair percentage of our liquids. He drinks NA only, so maybe figure $20 a day for NA beers and soft drinks. I'm being generous with myself and calculating that I would buy 5 drinks a day @ $12 per drink = $60 per day + gratuity = $72 per day so a total of $US 504 for a week-long cruise for me, plus $US 168 for him = $672 for both of us or about a million dollars Canadian (only joking - about $Cdn 875). Someone check my math ... 

 

The AI math doesn't add up for us - but it may for you if you need premium wifi for the whole cruise and want to enjoy plenty of cocktails. 

[bikerunner]

58 minutes ago, zitsky said:

Does AI (still) include the Premium drink package and Streaming wi-fi?  I don't know what has changed.  Was this the change after 10/4 or am I thinking of something else?

Never did except for suites.  

[zitsky]

I'm not entirely sure that we really need premium beverage or wifi.  I drink a few drinks during the day but I might be better ala carte.  And I don't use wifi that much.  If I want to watch movies (on my phone) I download them before leaving home.  So not much need for streaming.  My husband does like to post on Facebook.

 

We're in the Retreat right now.  If we dropped to Aqua and did cruise only our cost would drop about 50%.  Quite a big difference.

 

Now we'd lose our OBC and we had more than $1000 with our Retreat booking.

[sanger727]

If you are comparing it to purchasing the drink package, you are better off with AI. The better comparison is how much you think your drink bill would be on the cruise if you pay a la carte. $1,000 for drinks gets you $41 in drinks per day. That's relatively easy to surpass if you have specialty coffee, bottled water, and drinks with dinner every day. Just depends on how much you like to drink of the extra cost drinks. 

[Georgia_Peaches]

Just now, zitsky said:

We're in the Retreat right now.  If we dropped to Aqua and did cruise only our cost would drop about 50%.  Quite a big difference.

Wow!  That's huge!  Before we ever sailed Celebrity we frequented RCL and never bought a drinks package.  I remember dreading the final bill but can honestly say it was never over the top.  Our first Celebrity cruise came with the Classic package and I thought...oh yeh...no end of cruise surprises with the bill.  I just got so used to having a drinks package that I forgot that unless one is a really heavy consumer of all that's offered in the package, you end up breaking even or quite possibly paying more for the package than you would a la carte.  Having said that, I still plan to upgrade our Classic package once on board next month 🙃.  (I have OBC to burn).

[Georgia_Peaches]

4 minutes ago, sanger727 said:

If you are comparing it to purchasing the drink package, you are better off with AI. The better comparison is how much you think your drink bill would be on the cruise if you pay a la carte. $1,000 for drinks gets you $41 in drinks per day. That's relatively easy to surpass if you have specialty coffee, bottled water, and drinks with dinner every day. Just depends on how much you like to drink of the extra cost drinks. 

You totally just blew my rationale for not getting a package out of the water...lol!  I KNOW we consume more than $41 pp/pd in drink package items!

[the penguins]

14 hours ago, sanger727 said:

If you are comparing it to purchasing the drink package, you are better off with AI. The better comparison is how much you think your drink bill would be on the cruise if you pay a la carte. $1,000 for drinks gets you $41 in drinks per day. That's relatively easy to surpass if you have specialty coffee, bottled water, and drinks with dinner every day. Just depends on how much you like to drink of the extra cost drinks. 

 

[the penguins]

14 hours ago, sanger727 said:

If you are comparing it to purchasing the drink package, you are better off with AI. The better comparison is how much you think your drink bill would be on the cruise if you pay a la carte. $1,000 for drinks gets you $41 in drinks per day. That's relatively easy to surpass if you have specialty coffee, bottled water, and drinks with dinner every day. Just depends on how much you like to drink of the extra cost drinks. 

There are more variations to consider:

1) if 1 person buys a drinks package you both have to do so.

2) your CC status - 

Elite gives you water in unopened bottles/cans between 5 and 7 - enough to last the next day. 

Elite+ gives you the water and unlimited speciality teas/coffees/ hot chocolate. 

Both gives free drinks from 5 to 7 from a limited range. Also free sparkling wine, bloody Mary's and mimosas at the Elite Breakfast 

3) Elite status also gives free premium WiFi (90 or 240 minutes). Share one package once it's gone decide if your remaining minutes will last or you can buy a full package for the remaining days "trading" your Free minutes as a discount. We have never used our 90 x 2  free minutes. Free WiFi is available in every port - follow the crew for the best deals.

For us, Elite+ who don't drink any alcohol, there was never any value in AI. 

No right or wrong just choose what suits you.

 

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Wait for Black Friday sale, 

there been a couple of 50% off sales for drink package and WIFI which would bring classic drink package to $72CAD a day with 20% tips 

[RedIguana]

21 hours ago, bikerunner said:

Never did except for suites.  

The promotions in summer 2022 had the all AI with premium wifi, grats, premium beverage, and $400 OBC (may have been $300 with $100 from TA). . And no solo supplement in some cases. Wife and I grabbed connecting C2's (concierge class) for a week sailing on Infinity last September with Prem beverage, Prem wifi, grats, and $400 OBC each at a cost of $1500 pp (total cost including port charges, give or take a few bucks). Aqua was only running a hundred or so more with same perks. Hurricane Ian caused a few port cancelations, but at least we had power on the ship vs the outages at home in Florida. I don't recall if they were offering a cheaper version of the AI with just the classic stuff. Granted they were trying to fill ships then, but the AI has been offered with premium for below suite level in the past.

Edited October 13, 2023 by RedIguana
total cost including port charges, give or take a few bucks added

[zitsky]

51 minutes ago, RedIguana said:

The promotions in summer 2022 had the all AI with premium wifi, grats, premium beverage, and $400 OBC (may have been $300 with $100 from TA). . And no solo supplement in some cases. Wife and I grabbed connecting C2's (concierge class) for a week sailing on Infinity last September with Prem beverage, Prem wifi, grats, and $400 OBC each at a cost of $1500 pp (total cost including port charges, give or take a few bucks). Aqua was only running a hundred or so more with same perks. Hurricane Ian caused a few port cancelations, but at least we had power on the ship vs the outages at home in Florida. I don't recall if they were offering a cheaper version of the AI with just the classic stuff. Granted they were trying to fill ships then, but the AI has been offered with premium for below suite level in the past.

Why connecting rooms?

[Arizona Wildcat]

1 hour ago, RedIguana said:

The promotions in summer 2022 had the all AI with premium wifi, grats, premium beverage, and $400 OBC (may have been $300 with $100 from TA). . And no solo supplement in some cases. Wife and I grabbed connecting C2's (concierge class) for a week sailing on Infinity last September with Prem beverage, Prem wifi, grats, and $400 OBC each at a cost of $1500 pp (total cost including port charges, give or take a few bucks). Aqua was only running a hundred or so more with same perks. Hurricane Ian caused a few port cancelations, but at least we had power on the ship vs the outages at home in Florida. I don't recall if they were offering a cheaper version of the AI with just the classic stuff. Granted they were trying to fill ships then, but the AI has been offered with premium for below suite level in the past.

The offers today are completely different 

[zitsky]

5 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

The offers today are completely different 

How are they different?  What is different?  For which sailings?

[RedIguana]

28 minutes ago, zitsky said:

Why connecting rooms?

Well for some reason my wife still loves me, so having the extra space through the connecting door without going into the hall was nice. They were not booked as connecting cabins, we just booked two C2's that you could tell were connecting on the deck plans. With no solo supplement, the cost for two rooms was the same as for 1, and with the OBC situation we ended up with more of it by booking 2 rooms. She thought it was weird when I told her I was booking 2 cabins for us, but after a few days realized the benefit for us. She can sleep in, I'm always up early, so I had a separate cabin to go to while she slept in. Same with if one of us wanted an afternoon nap. 2 desks with plugs for charging electronics. With the connecting door it just felt like a two room cabin.

[Arizona Wildcat]

22 minutes ago, zitsky said:

How are they different?  What is different?  For which sailings?

AI doesn't include gratuities,  you can get Aqua without AI, OBC varies with every offer.

The offers also do not include all sailings.

Your third question I choose not to address.

[marieps]

We booked AQ on Eclipse just before the Ala Carte fare was available.  Even though we are Elite Plus and will rely on free premium wifi minutes, the gratis and the drink pkg make the AI a better deal for us.  We also get the E+ discount on the premium drink upgrade should we choose to go that route.   

[RedIguana]

25 minutes ago, zitsky said:

How are they different?  What is different?  For which sailings?

The AI inclusions at the current time are for the classic beverage package and basic wifi for below the suite level, vs offerings in the promotion I described from last summer that were available for all cabin classes. AI bookings after 10/4 2023 dropped the included grats.

[dreamer321]

I was able to purchase Premium WiFi for $17.99 pppd and Classic Beverage Package for $43.99 + 20% gratuity pppd during a 50% off flash sale.  I'm a solo sailor and X wants to charge me $981 for All Included on a six night cruise (that also included $18 pppd Crew Appreciation at the time), so waiting for a flash sail I was able to get Drinks, Premium WiFi and Gratuities for $532.62 (about ~$89 pppd) That saved me $450.