Premium Drink Package Question

[cruisetonowhere10]

Sailing on Edge in August and have the premium drink package.  From what I’m reading, the upper limit for drinks covered in total by the package is $17.  So, I decided to go on the app and browse he menus…the vast majority of martinis and mixed drinks at many locations are more.  I understand I can pay the difference plus gratuity on that difference, but I’m beginning to wonder whether it even makes sense…pay to upgrade but then still pay more or just have the classic and pay to upgrade each drink?  If I have two martinis before dinner (if I have more I won’t be at dinner) it’s going to take a lot to eat up the cost of the premium package plus the additional up charge.  Please let me know if I’m missing something….

[bikerunner]

1 hour ago, cruisetonowhere10 said:

Sailing on Edge in August and have the premium drink package.  From what I’m reading, the upper limit for drinks covered in total by the package is $17.  So, I decided to go on the app and browse he menus…the vast majority of martinis and mixed drinks at many locations are more.  I understand I can pay the difference plus gratuity on that difference, but I’m beginning to wonder whether it even makes sense…pay to upgrade but then still pay more or just have the classic and pay to upgrade each drink?  If I have two martinis before dinner (if I have more I won’t be at dinner) it’s going to take a lot to eat up the cost of the premium package plus the additional up charge.  Please let me know if I’m missing something….

Be careful of the pricing I believe if you're looking at Edge current menus the ship is in Australia or South Pacific which with the pricing for there the tips are built into the price.  So for example the martinis which are 20 currently would be fully covered by the premium package. No additional cost to having premium package.  The 17 is when it is sailing for say Ft Lauderdale.  It does get confusing but when Celebrity sails from England and or Australia it throws everyone off when looking at drink prices.  

Edited February 19 by bikerunner

[cruisetonowhere10]

7 minutes ago, bikerunner said:

Be careful of the pricing I believe if you're looking at Edge current menus the ship is in Australia or South Pacific which with the pricing for there the tips are built into the price.  So for example the martinis which are 20 currently would be fully covered by the premium package. No additional cost to having premium package.  The 17 is when it is sailing for say Ft Lauderdale.  It does get confusing but when Celebrity sails from England and or Australia it throws everyone off when looking at drink prices.  

Thank you.  That makes sense.  I was starting to wonder what the heck 

[ggo85]

As a general rule, you need to look at what drinks are included in the Premium package vs. Classic vs. what you drink.  IOW, are you able to get certain types of drinks with Premium that aren't part of Classic, such as specialty coffees, sparking water, etc.?  (I confess I don't know the answer to this one).   If so -- and you like those drinks -- that might be a reason to upgrade, as they're free with Premium and you'll pay by the drink with Classic.

 

If the drinks themselves are the same (e.g., wine, martini) -- the only difference is price of the type you prefer -- then you do the math in terms of how many drinks per day and the added cost per drink.  For example, if you like $16 wine and you expect to drink 5 glasses per day, you'll pay an $36 per day (including gratuity) for Classic, whereas it would be "free" with the Premium.  So how much extra is Premium per day -- if <$36, you're better off by the glass.  [Hope my math is correct!]

 

Only you know your tastes and how many of whatever you think you'll consume.  

[cruisetonowhere10]

38 minutes ago, ggo85 said:

As a general rule, you need to look at what drinks are included in the Premium package vs. Classic vs. what you drink.  IOW, are you able to get certain types of drinks with Premium that aren't part of Classic, such as specialty coffees, sparking water, etc.?  (I confess I don't know the answer to this one).   If so -- and you like those drinks -- that might be a reason to upgrade, as they're free with Premium and you'll pay by the drink with Classic.

 

If the drinks themselves are the same (e.g., wine, martini) -- the only difference is price of the type you prefer -- then you do the math in terms of how many drinks per day and the added cost per drink.  For example, if you like $16 wine and you expect to drink 5 glasses per day, you'll pay an $36 per day (including gratuity) for Classic, whereas it would be "free" with the Premium.  So how much extra is Premium per day -- if <$36, you're better off by the glass.  [Hope my math is correct!]

 

Only you know your tastes and how many of whatever you think you'll consume.  

That’s essentially what I did before I upgraded, knowing I may not get my full money’s worth.  I don’t like spending $ so for me not having to think about it during vacation makes me happy.  My husband likes certain spirits better than others so this gets him what he wants.  I like wine with dinner so this gets me more flexibility.  I was seconding guessing it based on the prices on the app but that all makes more sense now. 
 

 

[bikerunner]

34 minutes ago, cruisetonowhere10 said:

That’s essentially what I did before I upgraded, knowing I may not get my full money’s worth.  I don’t like spending $ so for me not having to think about it during vacation makes me happy.  My husband likes certain spirits better than others so this gets him what he wants.  I like wine with dinner so this gets me more flexibility.  I was seconding guessing it based on the prices on the app but that all makes more sense now. 
 

 

Also a big thing with me on upgrading to premium is I drink 3-4 San Pelligrinos a day, especially in the Caribbean.  Those are not included in classic.  Also the daily juice from Spa cafe.  I was able to upgrade when they had a sale on it for like 6.99, had a sale Black Friday range so it was definitely a no brainer.  Watch for sales, they are not always across the board on every sailing.  

[cruisetonowhere10]

5 minutes ago, bikerunner said:

Also a big thing with me on upgrading to premium is I drink 3-4 San Pelligrinos a day, especially in the Caribbean.  Those are not included in classic.  Also the daily juice from Spa cafe.  I was able to upgrade when they had a sale on it for like 6.99, had a sale Black Friday range so it was definitely a no brainer.  Watch for sales, they are not always across the board on every sailing.  

I got it on sale as well but I don’t recall for what price.  It used up a little bit of leftover onboard credit after booking a specialty restaurant so it didn’t cost me much out of pocket (aside from the $$$ price of the cruise so the obc wasn’t really free.)

[terrydtx]

4 hours ago, bikerunner said:

Be careful of the pricing I believe if you're looking at Edge current menus the ship is in Australia or South Pacific which with the pricing for there the tips are built into the price.  So for example the martinis which are 20 currently would be fully covered by the premium package. No additional cost to having premium package.  The 17 is when it is sailing for say Ft Lauderdale.  It does get confusing but when Celebrity sails from England and or Australia it throws everyone off when looking at drink prices.  

You are 100% correct, we just returned from 22 days on the Edge in Australia. All posted drink prices have to include all taxes and gratuities and the drink menus for the Australian season were changed to reflect these changes. At the same time the PDP cap was raised to $20 and we not once had to pay more than $20, we were in the retreat and that also covered the Retreat lounge and deck bars.  We also have a nice selection of local Aussie and NZ wines available that never showed up on any menu but were included in PDP cap of $20 per glass. We just asked our sommelier in Luminae for the local wines at meals.

[cachouonacruise]

We had the Premium Package on Edge, February 4-15, 2024. Australia-New-Zealand

 

My observations:

 

All drinks and cocktails $20 and below were included. 
 

Most martinis at the Martini bar were included.

 

We had to pay extra, for cocktails at the Eden bar, priced between  $22-24.

 

The wine list by the glass was quite limited.

My wife likes white Chardonnay and the only options were La Crema and Elegance. A glass of Mer Soleil cost extra.

 

Similarly for the red wine, only one option for a red from either Spain, Portugal or Italy. ...

 

In short, it's not the end of the world, but we had significantly fewer wine options on Edge in 2024, than on Millenium (2023) or Silhouette ( 2022).

[jelayne]

12 hours ago, cachouonacruise said:

We had the Premium Package on Edge, February 4-15, 2024. Australia-New-Zealand

 

My observations:

 

All drinks and cocktails $20 and below were included. 
 

Most martinis at the Martini bar were included.

 

We had to pay extra, for cocktails at the Eden bar, priced between  $22-24.

 

The wine list by the glass was quite limited.

My wife likes white Chardonnay and the only options were La Crema and Elegance. A glass of Mer Soleil cost extra.

 

Similarly for the red wine, only one option for a red from either Spain, Portugal or Italy. ...

 

In short, it's not the end of the world, but we had significantly fewer wine options on Edge in 2024, than on Millenium (2023) or Silhouette ( 2022).

Those reductions to the wine list are fleet wide and are recent.  

[daydreamer16]

We also have a nice selection of local Aussie and NZ wines available that never showed up on any menu but were included in PDP cap of $20 per glass. We just asked our sommelier in Luminae for the local wines at meals.

 

This info is making me very happy! We'll be on the Edge starting 3/13 in a SV so regular dining, will ask if any local wines are available with Premium.