Celebrity Cruises/Cruise Critic on MSN

[samplecd02]

Some of the long time posters in this article!
https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/tripideas/celebrity-cruises-makes-a-bold-move-to-improve-its-drink-packages/ar-AA1oznko?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=9fd6f6ad72d24886b4ddf0af7f4850e9&ei=26

[Charles4515]

5 minutes ago, samplecd02 said:

Some of the long time posters in this article!
https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/tripideas/celebrity-cruises-makes-a-bold-move-to-improve-its-drink-packages/ar-AA1oznko?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=9fd6f6ad72d24886b4ddf0af7f4850e9&ei=26

What is the bold move? 🤔

[samplecd02]

Just now, Charles4515 said:

What is the bold move? 🤔

No clue, but figured at least the posters would want to know they made a MSN article 😄

[Liao]

11 minutes ago, samplecd02 said:

Some of the long time posters in this article!
https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/tripideas/celebrity-cruises-makes-a-bold-move-to-improve-its-drink-packages/ar-AA1oznko?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=9fd6f6ad72d24886b4ddf0af7f4850e9&ei=26

Thanks for sharing this!  Basically, it's just a reiteration of her non&semi answers to the Q&A here on CC.  So they have classic, premium and the "it's a secret and we don't tell you cost until you are on board package".

[Georgia_Peaches]

37 minutes ago, samplecd02 said:

Some of the long time posters in this article!

I didn't see any long time posters but appreciate the article!

[samplecd02]

6 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

I didn't see any long time posters but appreciate the article!

DaKahuna  and D1000 are mentioned with their responses/questions.

 

[Georgia_Peaches]

1 minute ago, samplecd02 said:

DaKahuna  and D1000 are mentioned with their responses/questions.

 

Ahh thanks!  Somehow I missed it...I won't blame the wine though 😎.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Nothing to see here. Time to move on.

[samplecd02]

Just now, CHEZMARYLOU said:

Nothing to see here. Time to move on.

Feel free!

[dabear]

Same old bs answers. Still overpriced packages & over priced drinks! Other lines offer far better offerings.

[Liao]

5 minutes ago, dabear said:

Same old bs answers. Still overpriced packages & over priced drinks! Other lines offer far better offerings.

Short of having ALL drinks included in a cruise, i.e. paid up front, no hidden/additional costs, VV seems to have the best options.

[NutsAboutGolf]

The author/contributor also posted on the street.  Most likely other has or will post the same article elsewhere

 

https://www.thestreet.com/travel/celebrity-cruises-makes-a-bold-move-to-improve-its-drink-packages

[NutsAboutGolf]

13 minutes ago, Liao said:

Short of having ALL drinks included in a cruise, i.e. paid up front, no hidden/additional costs, VV seems to have the best options.

 

VV drinks and wines were reasonably priced as well, no idea if that's still the case but would guess they're cheaper than the major cruise lines

[OysterD]

9 minutes ago, Liao said:

Short of having ALL drinks included in a cruise, i.e. paid up front, no hidden/additional costs, VV seems to have the best options.

How does Virgin have the best options? It's just a pay as you go system (which you can do with all cruise lines) with no option to get a drink package isn't it? I don't count the 'bar tab' as a drink package, you literally just pay money into your onboard account to be used for drinks. Included for free isn't the only difference between VV and X the inclusion of soda with VV? 

[Liao]

20 minutes ago, OysterD said:

How does Virgin have the best options? It's just a pay as you go system (which you can do with all cruise lines) with no option to get a drink package isn't it? I don't count the 'bar tab' as a drink package, you literally just pay money into your onboard account to be used for drinks. Included for free isn't the only difference between VV and X the inclusion of soda with VV? 

Well you start by purchasing a bar tab, in the $ amount of your choosing, and VV adds $ to in on a sliding scale.  Once on the cruise, you buy ANY drink you want (soda is already included) and you don't have to think about the cost because any drink you purchse comes from your tab.  Most of us have a rough idea of how much and what we will drink, so we can most likely buy the bar tab that best suits us.  On Celebrity, you have a choice, Classic or Premium and now apparently the mystery package at an amount to be determined once on board.  With Celebrity it is just far more involved than it should be to simply get a drink.  IMO VV takes the guess work out and makes the process far more customer friendly.

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

The author/contributor also posted on the street.  Most likely other has or will post the same article elsewhere

 

https://www.thestreet.com/travel/celebrity-cruises-makes-a-bold-move-to-improve-its-drink-packages

The author is with The Street. I would guess MSN and other news sites have or will republish the article.  

[Jeremiah1212]

2 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

VV drinks and wines were reasonably priced as well, no idea if that's still the case but would guess they're cheaper than the major cruise lines

Not by much. I was on VV in the past 3 weeks. Some drinks are marginally cheaper. Maybe a dollar or two. Wine is slightly cheaper but you’re getting what you pay for. The infamous CC favorite Decoy is $15 a glass. Plenty of cocktails in the $13 to $17 range. A double espresso is $5. Celebrity still has one of the better drink packages all around IMO. 

[as3369]

My husband doesn't drink any alcoholic beverages and since both parties in a cabin must purchase a drink package, I'm certainly not buying one. 

[PTC DAWG]

4 hours ago, dabear said:

Same old bs answers. Still overpriced packages & over priced drinks! Other lines offer far better offerings.

Opinions vary..

[PTC DAWG]

3 hours ago, Liao said:

Well you start by purchasing a bar tab, in the $ amount of your choosing, and VV adds $ to in on a sliding scale.  Once on the cruise, you buy ANY drink you want (soda is already included) and you don't have to think about the cost because any drink you purchse comes from your tab.  Most of us have a rough idea of how much and what we will drink, so we can most likely buy the bar tab that best suits us.  On Celebrity, you have a choice, Classic or Premium and now apparently the mystery package at an amount to be determined once on board.  With Celebrity it is just far more involved than it should be to simply get a drink.  IMO VV takes the guess work out and makes the process far more customer friendly.

Glad that works for you, wouldn’t work for me..

[NMTraveller]

I always thought that Celebrity's biggest problem with the drink package was the availability of the wines.  While I could find a nice cabernet with dinner or a nice champagne at the sunset bar,  it was difficult if not impossible to find these premium wines at some of the other bars.  Why get the premium package if the wines are not premium?

Edited August 14 by NMTraveller

[NMTraveller]

9 hours ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

Not by much. I was on VV in the past 3 weeks. Some drinks are marginally cheaper. Maybe a dollar or two. Wine is slightly cheaper but you’re getting what you pay for. The infamous CC favorite Decoy is $15 a glass. Plenty of cocktails in the $13 to $17 range. A double espresso is $5. Celebrity still has one of the better drink packages all around IMO. 

I would argue that Decoy is a CC favorite by default as it is the only premium Cabernet.  There are much better cabernets out there at the same price point.  It would be nice if Celebrity put more on the menu.

Edited August 14 by NMTraveller

[NutsAboutGolf]

18 hours ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

Not by much. I was on VV in the past 3 weeks. Some drinks are marginally cheaper. Maybe a dollar or two. Wine is slightly cheaper but you’re getting what you pay for. The infamous CC favorite Decoy is $15 a glass. Plenty of cocktails in the $13 to $17 range. A double espresso is $5. Celebrity still has one of the better drink packages all around IMO. 

 

Good to know, thanks.  They used to have deals where you prepaid your alcohol bill, they contributed towards it, I seem to recall paying $150 get $200