Reds in premium package?

[39august]

Evidently, every red that we enjoy is now  priced over the premium package, including Decoy, Conundrum, and Elegance cab. What is available at no upcharge please? I can't believe Elegance is over the premium price! 

[cruisestitch]

From Reflection MDR December 2023

[patty1955]

On the Celebrity website, the Premium Package is described as follows:

Highlights

• Includes all drinks up to $17 price on menu ($20 for sailings from UK and AUS ports). 
• 20% discount on wines by the bottle

[Dolebludger]

Is this the same in Luminae and Blu?

[39august]

I'm guessing that Luminae will have some better cabs available that are not on the menu. 

[jelayne]

22 minutes ago, 39august said:

I'm guessing that Luminae will have some better cabs available that are not on the menu. 

they will but they will also be over the package limits, just like Decoy is now.  Sommeliers will love generating all the tickets for the upcharges.

[cruisestitch]

1 hour ago, Dolebludger said:

Is this the same in Luminae and Blu?

I don’t know, I wasn’t in either of those restaurants. Perhaps someone who was can post their wine list

[cruisestitch]

58 minutes ago, jelayne said:

they will but they will also be over the package limits, just like Decoy is now.  Sommeliers will love generating all the tickets for the upcharges.

Or not😀

[phoenix_dream]

1 hour ago, 39august said:

I'm guessing that Luminae will have some better cabs available that are not on the menu. 

Why? They never have before!

[markeb]

4 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

Why? They never have before!

Yeah. I’ve always been offered things that weren’t in the app. The printed wine list has been pretty unreliable, if it’s even offered. 
 

And looking at the App for Equinox Luminae, there are other offerings. Nothing spectacular. 

[jelayne]

2 minutes ago, markeb said:

Yeah. I’ve always been offered things that weren’t in the app. The printed wine list has been pretty unreliable, if it’s even offered. 
 

And looking at the App for Equinox Luminae, there are other offerings. Nothing spectacular. 

We have also, but they are not necessarily any better than the Decoy, Cherry Pie, Condundrum and are in the same $14-18 bottle range.  In a few cases they substituted with a wine from theClassic package that we had tried at lunch in the Oceanview.

[markeb]

1 hour ago, jelayne said:

We have also, but they are not necessarily any better than the Decoy, Cherry Pie, Condundrum and are in the same $14-18 bottle range.  In a few cases they substituted with a wine from theClassic package that we had tried at lunch in the Oceanview.

I’m seeing a mixed bag. Most decent reds are above the package limit. For EQ they’re now offering the Kiowa Red Mountain merlot for $19; in November that was only available by the bottle. Still an upcharge, but not a full bottle. The Grgich Hills cab is still an $8 upcharge, but it was worth it the time I did it. I don’t expect a truly good California Cab in the packages, but the “other reds” seem to have vanished as well. 
 

It would be interesting to run the by the glass prices by a good NYC/Chicago/Miami etc. restaurant price (if they carry the same wines). My gut says Celebrity is high, but I have no frame of reference. They’re high compared to bottle prices, but so are almost all restaurants. 

[jelayne]

8 minutes ago, markeb said:

I’m seeing a mixed bag. Most decent reds are above the package limit. For EQ they’re now offering the Kiowa Red Mountain merlot for $19; in November that was only available by the bottle. Still an upcharge, but not a full bottle. The Grgich Hills cab is still an $8 upcharge, but it was worth it the time I did it. I don’t expect a truly good California Cab in the packages, but the “other reds” seem to have vanished as well. 
 

It would be interesting to run the by the glass prices by a good NYC/Chicago/Miami etc. restaurant price (if they carry the same wines). My gut says Celebrity is high, but I have no frame of reference. They’re high compared to bottle prices, but so are almost all restaurants. 

We have a friend who owns 2 restaurants,  although not in a major city, he can buy Decoy at $12/13 and sells it $9.50.  Prisoner, which is a popular choice in his higher end restaurant, he pays $36 and sells it for $18.   
 

[NMTraveller]

It is yet another X/Royal revenue enhancement.

 

I am not seeing any Reds in the premium package limit that interest me...

I do see some that are above the limit...

[DaKahuna]

2 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

It is yet another X/Royal revenue enhancement.

 

I am not seeing any Reds in the premium package limit that interest me...

I do see some that are above the limit...

 

 Based on my notes from our Millie cruise in April - May, I'd say 75% of what we had is now above the Premium package limit.  

 

[phoenix_dream]

58 minutes ago, markeb said:

I’m seeing a mixed bag. Most decent reds are above the package limit. For EQ they’re now offering the Kiowa Red Mountain merlot for $19; in November that was only available by the bottle. Still an upcharge, but not a full bottle. The Grgich Hills cab is still an $8 upcharge, but it was worth it the time I did it. I don’t expect a truly good California Cab in the packages, but the “other reds” seem to have vanished as well. 
 

It would be interesting to run the by the glass prices by a good NYC/Chicago/Miami etc. restaurant price (if they carry the same wines). My gut says Celebrity is high, but I have no frame of reference. They’re high compared to bottle prices, but so are almost all restaurants. 

Gibson's in downtown Chicago - Decoy Cab is $15 a glass.  Celebrity now $19 a glass.  26% higher on Celebrity.  And the big thing, to me, is that the premium package is very expensive and many people (me included) would purchase it primarily to have a bit higher quality wine with dinner.  And we are not even talking really high quality wines - we are talking wines we can buy retail for less than $20 a bottle.  To offer wines on the premium package which sell for around $10 a bottle at home is insulting to say the least.

Edited December 18, 2023 by phoenix_dream

[81Zoomie]

We drank the Emmolo Merlot on the Reflection last month and paid the up charge.  Filled our glasses in Cellar Masters.  
 

Chateau Sovereign and Excelsior are barely drinkable regardless of the charge.  Both are available under $10 a bottle locally.  We will be passing for Bourbon and Tequila.

[DaKahuna]

2 minutes ago, 81Zoomie said:

Chateau Sovereign and Excelsior are barely drinkable regardless of the charge.  Both are available under $10 a bottle locally.  We will be passing for Bourbon and Tequila.

 

 I can buy a bottle of Decoy CS for what Celebrity charges for a glass. 

 

  Add rum to my bourbon and tequila list.  Love me some rum old fashioned's made with aged dark rum.

 

[jelayne]

24 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 I can buy a bottle of Decoy CS for what Celebrity charges for a glass. 

 

  Add rum to my bourbon and tequila list.  Love me some rum old fashioned's made with aged dark rum.

 

I buy it for $14.21 a bottle.

[tfred]

1 hour ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 I can buy a bottle of Decoy CS for what Celebrity charges for a glass. 

 

  Add rum to my bourbon and tequila list.  Love me some rum old fashioned's made with aged dark rum.

 

the bottle to glass markup cost is fairly standard in the restaurant business 

[markeb]

2 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

Gibson's in downtown Chicago - Decoy Cab is $15 a glass.  Celebrity now $19 a glass.  26% higher on Celebrity.  And the big thing, to me, is that the premium package is very expensive and many people (me included) would purchase it primarily to have a bit higher quality wine with dinner.  And we are not even talking really high quality wines - we are talking wines we can buy retail for less than $20 a bottle.  To offer wines on the premium package which sell for around $10 a bottle at home is insulting to say the least.

 

1 hour ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 I can buy a bottle of Decoy CS for what Celebrity charges for a glass. 

 

  Add rum to my bourbon and tequila list.  Love me some rum old fashioned's made with aged dark rum.

 

 

1 hour ago, jelayne said:

I buy it for $14.21 a bottle.

So, a Chicago steakhouse is lower than Celebrity (by quite a bit) but also charges about bottle retail for a glass. I’d love prices to be lower, but I’m not seeing Celebrity’s prices that out of line with the norm. I personally think Decoy cab is a $9.99/glass MAX wine, which would put it in the classic package. But @phoenix_dream example is about one glass price = one retail bottle price. It’s high (and higher than the Chicago restaurant price) but not significantly different than land prices. 
 

I’d gladly buy wine at @jelayne’s friend’s restaurant. That seems well below normal markups. 

[BobbM81]

2 hours ago, 81Zoomie said:

We drank the Emmolo Merlot on the Reflection last month and paid the up charge.  Filled our glasses in Cellar Masters.  
 

What was the up charge for Emmolo for premium package? It’s a great wine 

[NMTraveller]

Doing the math for a bottle of Caymus,  the upcharges for 4 glasses (with premium)  are about the same as if you purchased the bottle on land and brought it on board.  If you purchase it on land you can enjoy it on your balcony.

Edited December 19, 2023 by NMTraveller

[jelayne]

10 hours ago, BobbM81 said:

What was the up charge for Emmolo for premium package? It’s a great wine 

Emmolo is $25 a glass so with gratuity upcharge is $9.60 a glass so $38.40 a bottle.  For this one better to pay the upcharge than buy a bottle.  Here a bottle is $48 and by the port in Fort Lauderdale it is $54.

[MNSails]

2 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

Doing the math for a bottle of Caymus, the upcharges for 4 glasses (with premium)  are about the same as if you purchased the bottle on land and brought it on board. 

I was surprised to see the pricing on it for that reason - higher than usual markups on the lower end reds, less than usual markup on Caymus.  Certainly worth the $8/glass upcharge with the premium package IMO.