Craft Social?

[Tom and Ingrid]

Some ships have it, some don't, but how does it work with a drink plan? 

 

I generally am more a beer drinker than a wine or mixed drinks drinker, and the "normal" beer options - Heineken or Bud or Amstel Light - don't really appeal to me.  

 

I do, however, like Belgian and other beers, and this snippet of the CS list makes me happy:

• Chimay Grand Reserve Blue
• Delirium Nocturnum
• Chimay Premiere Rouge
• Ommegang Abbey Ale
• Delirium Tremens
• Duval

 

So, is CS purely a "add-on" specialty type bar, or is there a drink plan - standard or premium - that includes any and every beer/alcohol option on their menu?  It seems like a neat spot (sadly not on the Solstice where we sail next), and I think it would be nice to tag team the Bacio and CS for my morning, midday, and evening drinking fun.

[Liao]

12 minutes ago, Tom and Ingrid said:

Some ships have it, some don't, but how does it work with a drink plan? 

 

I generally am more a beer drinker than a wine or mixed drinks drinker, and the "normal" beer options - Heineken or Bud or Amstel Light - don't really appeal to me.  

 

I do, however, like Belgian and other beers, and this snippet of the CS list makes me happy:

• Chimay Grand Reserve Blue
• Delirium Nocturnum
• Chimay Premiere Rouge
• Ommegang Abbey Ale
• Delirium Tremens
• Duval

 

So, is CS purely a "add-on" specialty type bar, or is there a drink plan - standard or premium - that includes any and every beer/alcohol option on their menu?  It seems like a neat spot (sadly not on the Solstice where we sail next), and I think it would be nice to tag team the Bacio and CS for my morning, midday, and evening drinking fun.

Regular bar, get a drink, within your package price, all good.  Over the package price, pay the difference plus grat.

[Tom and Ingrid]

5 minutes ago, Liao said:

Regular bar, get a drink, within your package price, all good.  Over the package price, pay the difference plus grat.

I don't see - on their site - any specific prices for the beers I like (bulleted above).  Does that pretty much mean "assume Premium" for the beers I would normally select, or, even "worse", assume paying a difference every time over any package?

[PTC DAWG]

10 minutes ago, Tom and Ingrid said:

I don't see - on their site - any specific prices for the beers I like (bulleted above).  Does that pretty much mean "assume Premium" for the beers I would normally select, or, even "worse", assume paying a difference every time over any package?

IF they have any of the beers you listed, they would surely be in the premium package...not a huge beer drinker..so not sure of prices..think $15 or less...again, if they have them.  IF you had classic drinks, you would pay the difference over $10 plus 20% gratuity.  

[Tom and Ingrid]

1 minute ago, PTC DAWG said:

IF they have any of the beers you listed, they would surely be in the premium package...not a huge beer drinker..so not sure of prices..think $15 or less...again, if they have them.  IF you had classic drinks, you would pay the difference over $10 plus 20% gratuity.  

Yeah, the ones I listed would surely be considered more "expensive" or premium beers.  In which case, assuming an upgrade from Classic to Premium drink plan, would that cover it? Or is it likely that it would require paying extra on top of the Premium package?

 

I generally try to simplify my cruise (or travel) experience - sometimes end up paying more to not have a "do the math" situation every time I want to eat or drink on board.  I'm hoping, if I chose the Premium package, it would make Craft Social (and Bacio) an easy option for almost all my drinks (water, coffee, wine and beer) on board.  But, darn it, if I buy the Premium and am STILL paying extra every time in CS, I might as well not bother.

[awhfy]

If the beer you like is above the premium limit ($17) it would likely be $1-2 +20% gratuity on the $1-2. If you have classic & want the pricier beer , say $15 then each beer then you’d pay $5 +20% on each beer. Personally I’d upgrade my beverage package 

[jelayne]

Just checked the app for the CS  menu for  current sailing of the Beyond and none of your favorites were listed. 

[Tierun]

Most beers are covered under the premium package.

[Liao]

1 hour ago, Tom and Ingrid said:

Yeah, the ones I listed would surely be considered more "expensive" or premium beers.  In which case, assuming an upgrade from Classic to Premium drink plan, would that cover it? Or is it likely that it would require paying extra on top of the Premium package?

 

I generally try to simplify my cruise (or travel) experience - sometimes end up paying more to not have a "do the math" situation every time I want to eat or drink on board.  I'm hoping, if I chose the Premium package, it would make Craft Social (and Bacio) an easy option for almost all my drinks (water, coffee, wine and beer) on board.  But, darn it, if I buy the Premium and am STILL paying extra every time in CS, I might as well not bother.

I’m with you, although I don’t drink alcohol any longer, when I did, always had the premium package just for the convenience.  I think the beers you like would fall in the premium pricing.

[markeb]

Just looked at the CS menu on the app and don't see any of those, although I'm reasonably sure they were on Equinox last fall.

 

As long as those are the 350-375ml bottles, I'd expect them to be covered in the premium package. I wouldn't be surprised if they did the truly tacky thing and only have the 750ml bottles, which I wouldn't expect to be covered. I just don't remember. Chimay in particular tends to have better availability in the US in 750ml bottles. And since my wife doesn't drink beer (and definitely not Trappist Ales!), I have to seek out the baby bottles, usually at Christmas!

[PTC DAWG]

As others have said, most all beer is covered by the premium package...I always upgrade, I don't like signing slips and I don't care for well liquor.  

 

 

[bikerunner]

Beer like wine is supply issues, I know when I was on Silhouette in Jan this year vs what what was in April had changed.  Some new ones, some taken out.   The list you see on line is a guideline and would not expect all of them there 

[JHUNTGOLF]

3 hours ago, Tom and Ingrid said:

Some ships have it, some don't, but how does it work with a drink plan? 

 

I generally am more a beer drinker than a wine or mixed drinks drinker, and the "normal" beer options - Heineken or Bud or Amstel Light - don't really appeal to me.  

 

I do, however, like Belgian and other beers, and this snippet of the CS list makes me happy:

• Chimay Grand Reserve Blue
• Delirium Nocturnum
• Chimay Premiere Rouge
• Ommegang Abbey Ale
• Delirium Tremens
• Duval

 

So, is CS purely a "add-on" specialty type bar, or is there a drink plan - standard or premium - that includes any and every beer/alcohol option on their menu?  It seems like a neat spot (sadly not on the Solstice where we sail next), and I think it would be nice to tag team the Bacio and CS for my morning, midday, and evening drinking fun.

I’m on the upcoming 12 night Ascent cruise leaving Barcelona on Labor Day.  For this sailing, I just copied the beers listed below in the Celebrity app for the Craft Social Bar:

 

 

[Tom and Ingrid]

31 minutes ago, JHUNTGOLF said:

’m on the upcoming 12 night Ascent cruise leaving Barcelona on Labor Day.  For this sailing, I just copied the beers listed below in the Celebrity app for the Craft Social Bar

Last time (no drink package) my wife was happy they had the Affligem Blond available. I was okay with Heineken ("free" during HH).  I do like Dogfish (relatively local for me) and have some 90 Min in the fridge right now.  So, I could be happy with that list (thanks for posting) but probably not "upgrade to Premium" happy 😄. 

If nothing else, we were in Rotterdam, so a Dutch beer made sense! And her Belgian fell under the "close enough" category.

Edited August 28 by Tom and Ingrid

[Tom and Ingrid]

A related question - when there is NO Craft Social (I don't see it on Solstice for our next cruise), is the wider variety likely still available, just at the other bars?  Probably still not going with a drink package, but if I did, I wonder the same sort of thing about which package "wins" for convenience of the beer I like and if that beer is even likely available.  Makes me regret not paying more attention on prior cruises.

[CruiseCrew123]

All the drink menus are available on the latest sailings on the app - with prices 

[JHUNTGOLF]

10 minutes ago, Tom and Ingrid said:

Last time (no drink package) my wife was happy they had the Affligem Blond available. I was okay with Heineken ("free" during HH).  I do like Dogfish (relatively local for me) and have some 90 Min in the fridge right now.  So, I could be happy with that list (thanks for posting) but probably not "upgrade to Premium" happy 😄. 

If nothing else, we were in Rotterdam, so a Dutch beer made sense! And her Belgian fell under the "close enough" category.

I really like the Dutch beer—Grolsch.  I’ve found it very difficult to find at most of the Celebrity bars, but I did find it at one bar on our January 2024 Ascent cruise.  It was ridiculously priced at $17 a bottle, which is at the Premium package’s maximum price limit.  We have the Premium package for our Barcelona cruise so I’ll be looking for Grolsch once again.

 

 

 

[CNSfromHI]

Celebrity used to provide a very helpful PDF of the specific booze included under Classic and Premium, @Tom and Ingrid, but I can't locate it now. (If anyone can, please post the URL here.) All I can find is a very general description that doesn't use brand names.

 

The PDF I've attached is the helpful menu, as of May 23, when I downloaded it. Hopefully the packages haven't changed too much when we head out on our next cruise in a few weeks.

 

Hope this helps,

 

cjr

DRINK_PACKAGES_2024MAY23.pdf

[Lena11033]

8 minutes ago, CNSfromHI said:

(If anyone can, please post the URL here.)

 

I've been looking recently and the one I found is really generic with 'drinks up to $17' but doesn't say what it includes exactly as to brands

[canderson]

Took a look at Equinox current CS list just for some variety, and it shows the same selection as the @JHUNTGOLF list for Ascent above, only ordered slightly differently, so looks like it's a 'fleet-wide' list.

[markeb]

24 minutes ago, Tom and Ingrid said:

A related question - when there is NO Craft Social (I don't see it on Solstice for our next cruise), is the wider variety likely still available, just at the other bars?  Probably still not going with a drink package, but if I did, I wonder the same sort of thing about which package "wins" for convenience of the beer I like and if that beer is even likely available.  Makes me regret not paying more attention on prior cruises.

 

It's a little hard to say. The Dogfish Head 90 seems pretty standard. The Belgians are probably more hit and miss (usually do wine or whisk(e)y when cruising). Summit (M Class) didn't have Craft Social but does have Cellar Masters. Cellar Masters had a good selection of bourbon and Scotch (not as good as Craft Social on previous cruises), but not better beers. Rendezvous lists a Dogfish Head 90 and Duvel, but not Chimay. Availability has been something of a crap shoot, and Craft Social is kind of their craft beer/whisk(e)y venue. Harder to find with no Craft Social.

[canderson]

6 minutes ago, Lena11033 said:

 

I've been looking recently and the one I found is really generic with 'drinks up to $17' but doesn't say what it includes exactly as to brands

I think you are looking for this (2024 edition)

 

2024+Celebrity+Cruises+Drinks+by+Package.pdf

[CNSfromHI]

6 minutes ago, Lena11033 said:

I've been looking recently and the one I found is really generic with 'drinks up to $17' but doesn't say what it includes exactly as to brands

Yeah, I suspect you're referring to this one. It's all I can find on the Celebrity site now but it's very poor, imo.

 

cjr

Drink-Packge-Comparison-Flyer.pdf

[canderson]

16 minutes ago, CNSfromHI said:

Yeah, I suspect you're referring to this one. It's all I can find on the Celebrity site now but it's very poor, imo.

 

cjr

Drink-Packge-Comparison-Flyer.pdf 897.51 kB · 2 downloads

See post above.

[Lena11033]

28 minutes ago, CNSfromHI said:

Yeah, I suspect you're referring to this one. It's all I can find on the Celebrity site now but it's very poor, imo.

 

cjr

Drink-Packge-Comparison-Flyer.pdf 897.51 kB · 3 downloads

 

Yep that's the only one on the site now and it's terrible - its not going to help anyone figure out what package to get. Or maybe that's the plan.