Surcharges for drinks in Retreat Lounge

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, jelayne said:

 

I just wonder if I can order Red Condundrum in the Lounge and pay the upcharge or drink just drink Grey Goose.  
We board the Ascent in 3 weeks, so I will report on the Lounge but won’t be reporting  on Luminae or the Sundeck. 

 

Don't know about Conundrum but The whole month of December Iain was drinking Grey Goose and Tonic in Retreat every night at no upcharge.

[DaKahuna]

6 hours ago, jelayne said:

I did.  Discount of 20% and gratuity of 20% on the discounted price. 

My apologies. I missed that statement. 
 

[richczarnecki]

Can anyone post the current Retreat lounge menu on Ascent?

[wrk2cruise]

I've never seen a drink menu in the Retreat/Michaels lounge.

[jelayne]

Our recent cruise there was a menu but as I recall it only had a few specialty cocktails listed.  

[tfred]

18 hours ago, markeb said:

 

I'd qualify that buying a bottle of a wine that's available by the glass only makes sense if you do not have a drink package.

 

With a premium drink package and the 20% bottle discount, there are wines on the wine list that can be had close to retail. You're going to have to go to $75-80 and up a bottle for that to work, but you may get a much better wine than is available by the glass. That's not a change. The better wines were always by the bottle. And that's pretty much the case in any restaurant around the world. What is a change is that in the past Celebrity had a nice selection of "other" wines that were in the package. You could have for instance a nice Spanish Tempranillo that paired well with food instead of an OK at best California cab. A lot of those don't seem to be there today.

 

Our last three cruises came with a PDP. I'd watch the math a lot closer today on whether soda, water, coffee, cocktails, etc. came close to paying for the package. But in November I would have been hard pressed to justify the package for better wine.

 

EDITED: Oops. These threads are running together. This one was at least originally specifically about the Retreat Lounge. Not sure that bottle pricing really applies there...

The "nice selection of other wines" has disappeared according to the wine lists on the app.  That is the problem for anyone with a PDP and especially in a suite.  In Luminae they always had something around that was pretty good - super tuscans, pinot noirs or just some interesting whites, rose.  Now its house Chardonnays   It was easy to ask for an appropriate wine for the course since there were some decent selections with no up charge 

 

If you wanted something special then the bottle list had a good selection.  Now it appears that X is pushing you towards the bottle list since the math on by the glass selections doesnt make buying a bottle of that work out.  This also puts the Somms in a bad spot since they dont have many selections to offer without a dumb up charge in a suite or some high priced bottle 

[tnm6217]

I'll be on Summit in under two weeks and will report back on my findings. This wine nonsense is unfortunately par for the course for Celebrity these days. I am not confident in what will be available, but I'm praying they do not run out of the Haslinger champagne as they did on my last two cruises (June and September). 

 

I'm grateful this will be my final Celebrity sailing. Paying nearly $1k a night and never knowing what I'll get when I board will soon be a thing of the past for me. I don't expect Celebrity to care that I'm done, but it still makes me sad to see how much changed in my one year of sailing with them. 

[terrydtx]

2 minutes ago, tnm6217 said:

I'll be on Summit in under two weeks and will report back on my findings. This wine nonsense is unfortunately par for the course for Celebrity these days. I am not confident in what will be available, but I'm praying they do not run out of the Haslinger champagne as they did on my last two cruises (June and September). 

 

I'm grateful this will be my final Celebrity sailing. Paying nearly $1k a night and never knowing what I'll get when I board will soon be a thing of the past for me. I don't expect Celebrity to care that I'm done, but it still makes me sad to see how much changed in my one year of sailing with them. 

They don't care if any of us jump ship. I got that from a phone call from Celebrity after I sent emails about losing butlers in SS. 

[buncosquad]

51 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

They don't care if any of us jump ship. I got that from a phone call from Celebrity after I sent emails about losing butlers in SS. 

Agreed. They don't care.

 

Post-pandemic, everyone is revising to whom they will cater, often with a shift toward a new demographic. 

 

They (all of them) know this will ultimately come to pass, and the new demographic to which they seek is probably going to complain less and come to love whatever is their new normal.

 

I already love it. The crowd I hang with loves Celebrity. 

[HMR74]

16 hours ago, terrydtx said:

I agree this will be the reality.

they now have 3 reislings, perhapsmore on the Premium.

Once of them The Chateau St Michele, apparently is off the classic and on the premium. That as I have said before is a bottle I can buy at 4.99 if I buy the case.

 

They probably would sell it for about $35. for the bottle. which if the per glass of 12 is used is 60  a bottle. 

The J&H Selbach is in the mid teens per bottle, at retail, but not easily found, prob 45 per bottle on ship. I will see in 2 weeks.

 

I was afraid that with the cheap reisling in premium,  the other 2 wodl be upcharged by first the $2 then 5 or 6 for the other.

 

As I keep saying is that none of this makes busines sense that would be connected with an overall strategy-because its all over the place.

 

The "let's throw it up on the wall to see if it works " strategy.  I think they really believe they are doing a great job and are puzzled by the input of their customers. Ya know, the people paying for the product.

 

I am becoming fascinated by all this from a management perspective. How could a group of people make so many mistakes that irritate customers is beyond me. They are killing their critical success factors, and the irritated ends up being a different group of say 30-40% of the customers for each issue. .

 

And then the "fix" is like jumping from the frying pan into teh fire.

 

 

[terrydtx]

2 hours ago, HMR74 said:

they now have 3 reislings, perhapsmore on the Premium.

Once of them The Chateau St Michele, apparently is off the classic and on the premium. That as I have said before is a bottle I can buy at 4.99 if I buy the case.

 

They probably would sell it for about $35. for the bottle. which if the per glass of 12 is used is 60  a bottle. 

The J&H Selbach is in the mid teens per bottle, at retail, but not easily found, prob 45 per bottle on ship. I will see in 2 weeks.

 

I was afraid that with the cheap reisling in premium,  the other 2 wodl be upcharged by first the $2 then 5 or 6 for the other.

 

As I keep saying is that none of this makes busines sense that would be connected with an overall strategy-because its all over the place.

 

The "let's throw it up on the wall to see if it works " strategy.  I think they really believe they are doing a great job and are puzzled by the input of their customers. Ya know, the people paying for the product.

 

I am becoming fascinated by all this from a management perspective. How could a group of people make so many mistakes that irritate customers is beyond me. They are killing their critical success factors, and the irritated ends up being a different group of say 30-40% of the customers for each issue. .

 

And then the "fix" is like jumping from the frying pan into teh fire.

 

 

We were on the HAL Koningsdam in November and I looked back at drink pricing for comparison to the new Celebrity prices. We had the Standard Bev package with a $11 price cap.  I found the Chateau St Michele Riesling on the Standard Bev package for HAL at $9 a glass.  There was also a decent Italian Prosecco for $9 a glass. I was able to get Buffalo Trace Bourbon on the rocks in the same package and it was listed in the bars for $8.50. I read that Buffalo Trace is now $18 on Celebrity. 

[tfred]

2 hours ago, buncosquad said:

Agreed. They don't care.

 

Post-pandemic, everyone is revising to whom they will cater, often with a shift toward a new demographic. 

 

They (all of them) know this will ultimately come to pass, and the new demographic to which they seek is probably going to complain less and come to love whatever is their new normal.

 

I already love it. The crowd I hang with loves Celebrity. 

there certainly is a new crowd and many of them are from land based vacations /resorts

 

I am not so sure that those same land customer spending $1k/night (or more) would be thrilled with the wine/spirit selection with the PDP   They may have eaten in some better restaurants along the way that offer a good selection of booze. Dropping $200/day (as a duel occupancy room) and drinking the included Mouton cadet red blend isnt a plus in Luminae.  

[terrydtx]

Just for comparisons, here is a copy of a menu from the HAL Rotterdam from their CC forum. They are com[aling because many drinks are now a dollar or two over their standard drink package cap of $11.  I think the prices here are still much cheaper than on Celebriity.

[NMTraveller]

The future cruises desk is almost empty every night.  Only zero or one set of guests.  How long can this last?  Christmas Ascent bookings were soft.

[NMTraveller]

7 hours ago, tnm6217 said:

I'll be on Summit in under two weeks and will report back on my findings. This wine nonsense is unfortunately par for the course for Celebrity these days. I am not confident in what will be available, but I'm praying they do not run out of the Haslinger champagne as they did on my last two cruises (June and September). 

 

I'm grateful this will be my final Celebrity sailing. Paying nearly $1k a night and never knowing what I'll get when I board will soon be a thing of the past for me. I don't expect Celebrity to care that I'm done, but it still makes me sad to see how much changed in my one year of sailing with them. 

They ran out on our cruise mid way.  Drink up early.

[jagoffee]

On 12/31/2023 at 9:31 AM, DaKahuna said:

 I still think they are talking around the issue.  If someone orders a glass of Decoy Cabernet  or Conundrum Blend  in Luminae is there going to be an up charge or not?  I still don't see an answer to this in their communications.  There was no upcharge for either on our last cruise but now both appear to be $19 vs $17. 

 

Why wouldn’t there be an up charge in Luminae if a wine priced above the limit.  Hasn’t that always been the policy.

 

The Retreat lounge has historically has not include an up charge.

 

This has been my experience for many years.

[George C]

5 minutes ago, jagoffee said:

Why wouldn’t there be an up charge in Luminae if a wine priced above the limit.  Hasn’t that always been the policy.

 

The Retreat lounge has historically has not include an up charge.

 

This has been my experience for many years.

A few years ago when Luminae ran out of decoy wine steward gave us caymus at no charge. You never know, I see for myself in 73 days.

[DaKahuna]

11 hours ago, jagoffee said:

Why wouldn’t there be an up charge in Luminae if a wine priced above the limit.  Hasn’t that always been the policy.

 

 Yes, it has.  

 

 I made that comment in response to the comment about no "up charges in the Retreat."  I consider Luminae a part of the Retreat experience which is why I was questioning the response from the Celebrity executive. 

 

[terrydtx]

10 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 Yes, it has.  

 

 I made that comment in response to the comment about no "up charges in the Retreat."  I consider Luminae a part of the Retreat experience which is why I was questioning the response from the Celebrity executive. 

 

In our 5 previous Retreat cruises we have never been charged for any drinks that may have exceeded the PDP cap or been told by the bartender that any requested drink was not available because it exceeded the cap.

 

A couple of recent examples:

Mccallan 12-year-old scotch, available on 2022 Reflection cruise in Retreat Lounge but $18 in other bars, this was when the cap was $15 too.

Hennessy VSOP Cognac available in Retreat Loung on Apex in September but was priced over the $17 cap in other bars.

Edited January 2 by terrydtx

[riredsox]

I find it funny that the Azteca drink in the WC bar jumped $2 but most others stayed at $17.  It’s the same drink that use to cost the same as the others.  It makes no sense to me unless they are upping all the drinks one drink at a time.  I bet they up the prices based on how popular they are and not the cost of making it.  Celebrity has certainly fallen far.  Sad, very sad.  

Edited January 2 by riredsox
Typing error

[High on the Seas]

8 minutes ago, riredsox said:

I find it funny that the Azteca drink in the WC bar jumped $2 but most others stayed at $17.  It’s the same drink that use to cost the same as the others.  It makes no sense to me unless they are upping all the drinks one drink at a time.  I bet they up the prices based on how popular they are and not the cost of making it.  Celebrity has certainly fallen far.  Sad, very sad.  

Not making sense and making strange decisions seems to be the new normal at Celebrity. 

[Diav]

Hi all, we are on the Apex now. The wine list in Luminae is very poor, imho, and the wine stewards say we shouldn’t tell them but send an email to HQ. 

 

if you’d like me to check out something in the bars or otherwise, let me know.

 

 

 

[39august]

Are Azteca and the two Zacapa drinks  the only drinks in World Class Bar that are over the $17 limit, please?. Of course these are my favs there but I can get by on some of the others. 

[Julma]

27 minutes ago, riredsox said:

I find it funny that the Azteca drink in the WC bar jumped $2 but most others stayed at $17.  It’s the same drink that use to cost the same as the others.  It makes no sense to me unless they are upping all the drinks one drink at a time.  I bet they up the prices based on how popular they are and not the cost of making it.  Celebrity has certainly fallen far.  Sad, very sad.  

Maybe they are the ones most ordered.  I figured it was the case with the wines as well.

[Diav]

21 minutes ago, 39august said:

Are Azteca and the two Zacapa drinks  the only drinks in World Class Bar that are over the $17 limit, please?. Of course these are my favs there but I can get by on some of the others. 

I’ll check later today 😁