Wine Included with Meals?

[Blues51]

Trying to decide whether to get a drink package during the Labor Day sale.  Wife and I are not big drinkers, but enjoy a glass of wine with meals.

 

Hence my question - if I don't get the drink package, does the basic cruise fare include wine with meals?  We're travelling Aqua Class, if that makes a difference.  Thanks.

 

[Blues51]

More information - we'll be on Celebrity Beyond for the 10 day Ultimate Caribbean cruise March 7-17, travelling Aqua Class

[Brews'n'Cruise]

The basic fare does not include any alcoholic drinks at any time. If you're only going to have a couple of glasses of wine with your meal then it would probably be cheapest to just pay as you go by the glass.

 

Andy.

[CruisersTimesThree]

4 minutes ago, Blues51 said:

Trying to decide whether to get a drink package during the Labor Day sale.  Wife and I are not big drinkers, but enjoy a glass of wine with meals.

 

Hence my question - if I don't get the drink package, does the basic cruise fare include wine with meals?  We're travelling Aqua Class, if that makes a difference.  Thanks.

 

To have wine or any other alcoholic drinks you’ll need to have a beverage package or just pay as you go for each drink that is ordered and it gets charged to your onboard account.  

[Travel-and-See]

You can buy a bottle of wine and share for dinner - if you get the drink package you both have to purchase it. 

 

I would highly recommend you just pay as you go if you just want wine for dinner.  

Edited September 1 by Travel-and-See

[bEwAbG]

The drink packages do cover other things that you might pay for (non-alcoholic) so study them and see if the math works for you.  I used to primarily drink soda and a few cocktails per day, and it was never cost effective to get a package based on that.  Even less so now that I don't drink soda.  Celebrity raised their prices pretty significantly on these packages in the recent past, and they're no longer the deal they once were IMO.

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/blog/cruise-drink-packages

[chemmo]

You can also bring on board two bottles of wine. There is a corkage fee if you open it in the dining room.

[Andy_P]

If it's just wine with dinner I can't imagine a better way to go than to buy a bottle every dinner or every second dinner.  There's far more choice by the bottle than for wines offered by the glass.

Edited September 1 by Andy_P

[DaKahuna]

2 hours ago, Brews'n'Cruise said:

If you're only going to have a couple of glasses of wine with your meal then it would probably be cheapest to just pay as you go by the glass.

 

 @Blues51 Or buy a bottle to share over multiple meals.  You can usually get 5 regular pours out of a bottle of wine and that is the number that I usually when determining if it is more cost effective to get a glass or to get a bottle. 

 

 

[leaveitallbehind]

Bringing two bottles of wine at original embarkation is permitted and probably a good idea for your circumstances.  You only would encounter the corkage fee if you brought the bottles to a venue that serves alcohol.  But you can carry in a glass without an issue and also can drink it anywhere else on the ship without the corkage fee.

 

Otherwise purchasing it by the glass would probably be your most economical option.

Edited September 1 by leaveitallbehind

[mahasamatman]

10 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

Bringing two bottles of wine at original embarkation is permitted and probably a good idea for your circumstances.

It really depends on where you're coming from and how much weight you want to put in your suitcases.

[leaveitallbehind]

22 minutes ago, mahasamatman said:

It really depends on where you're coming from and how much weight you want to put in your suitcases.

Very true and you likely would not want to fly with it in your suitcase.  They prefer it in your carry on boarding the ship as well.  So I will qualify my statement to read "if flying to the port, wine which you obtain locally prior to boarding the ship can be brough on board"....LOL

Edited September 1 by leaveitallbehind

[jelayne]

From the info the OP provided re their sailing they will be departing from Fort Lauderdale.  If arriving the night before they can easily pick up some wine once there. 
If they are flying in that morning Uber will stop at Total Wine on the way to the port. 

[Travel-and-See]

Maybe it's just me but part of the experience is ordering wine at dinner. Having the Uber stop at the Liquor store doesn't have the same amount of class to me haha. 

[1Virgo]

You may not be big wine/beer/alcoholic beverages drinkers, so as others have suggested weigh the costs. Not all coffee or tea at Cafe Bacio is free. That alone can add up.  And good fresh coffee (free) at Ocean View cafe is wishful thinking. If you want a soda, $ unless you have the appropriate package.     Ditto with sparkling water.  It s their carbonated water or $$

[luv2cruisemore]

If you happen to be elite or higher, you can take advantage of the ELITE happy hour and you can carry the wine (or any drink) into dinner.

[Blues51]

Thank you everyone for your replies.  When I say we're not big drinkers, I didn't mean to imply we're teetotalers.  We love to have a Pina Colada by the pool, though perhaps not every day.  But we'd probably order wine by the glass for both of us, definitely at dinner, and sometimes also at lunch.  And sometimes the single poolside drink may become two.

 

The comment(s) about coffee, sparkling water, regular water are well taken.  We like all the above.  Still, it sounds like we wouldn't get value from a package, even at the current promo price.  The one saving grace there is that we don't want to constantly think about what we're charging.  Still, even with several beverage-related charges per person per day, it sounds like we're still better off going a la carte.

 

Someone commented on bringing wine.  Yes, we're traveling 3000 miles to get there.  So a bit unwieldy to pack it.  But knowing there's a Total Wine nearby sounds great.  We're fans of that store; and we love to buy a few medium-to-high-end wines to enjoy.  Still, we'd probably enjoy those wines in the room or on deck, and still need to pay for wine by the glass at dinner.

 

Thanks again, everyone.  We're not veteran (ocean) cruisers.  It's been quite a while since our last ocean cruise, and the modern paradigm of extra cost for everything is kinda new to us.

 

[chemmo]

6 hours ago, Blues51 said:

 It's been quite a while since our last ocean cruise, and the modern paradigm of extra cost for everything is kinda new to us.

 

I think one of the reasons the drinks packages are so popular is that many guests (me included) like to feel that we board with ‘nothing to pay for’. We can drink what we want when we want without a bill at the end…

 

Next cruise I have a premium drinks package that comes with the room. I will enjoy the (slightly) better wines that come with premium but otherwise the classic would probably do me fine as I tend to drown all mixer drinks so better brands are lost on me…

 

One thing I do like about the drinks package is that I do enjoy trying new drinks…If I was paying for a cocktail one at a time I would ‘play safe’ and only choose drinks I know I would like, with the package I can experiment!!!

 

Remember you can get a drinks package after boarding so you can always change your mind.

[Georgia_Peaches]

I believe Oceania includes wine with lunch and dinner.  Doesn't help you now but my point being, some cruise lines do offer this.  You pay for it either way though.

[MississippiMom]

@Blues51, gone are the days of free alcohol on the major cruiselines’ ships.  Depending on where you book your cruise from or what added packages are being discounted, you might wind up with a beverage package with wine included.  
 

We booked our first Celebrity cruise for 2025 with a well-established online TA, because they were offering refundable deposits, some on-board credit, basic WiFi and the Classic Beverage Package.  For medical reasons, I no longer drink alcohol, but will be able to have all of the mocktails/virgin drinks, teas, sodas, coffees, bottled waters, etc. that I want without worrying about an added cost.  My husband can order from the Classic Package cocktails or pay the difference to a higher tiered liquor brand, if interested.  

[PTC DAWG]

16 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 @Blues51 Or buy a bottle to share over multiple meals.  You can usually get 5 regular pours out of a bottle of wine and that is the number that I usually when determining if it is more cost effective to get a glass or to get a bottle. 

 

 

My wine bottles must be smaller than yours.. 🙂

[DaKahuna]

2 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

My wine bottles must be smaller than yours.. 🙂

 

Depends on who is pouring.  At home, I am about four glasses to a bottle, on the ship they usually have a lighter hand so it's about 5. 

 

[cruisetonowhere10]

24 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

My wine bottles must be smaller than yours.. 🙂

Ha ha…I was thinking that too…4 glasses is a more reasonable pour (now I am quite sure by ounce 5 is the correction choice, but why keep refilling?) 😂

[Tigermad]

46 minutes ago, MississippiMom said:

@Blues51, gone are the days of free alcohol on the major cruiselines’ ships.  Depending on where you book your cruise from or what added packages are being discounted, you might wind up with a beverage package with wine included.  
 

We booked our first Celebrity cruise for 2025 with a well-established online TA, because they were offering refundable deposits, some on-board credit, basic WiFi and the Classic Beverage Package.  For medical reasons, I no longer drink alcohol, but will be able to have all of the mocktails/virgin drinks, teas, sodas, coffees, bottled waters, etc. that I want without worrying about an added cost.  My husband can order from the Classic Package cocktails or pay the difference to a higher tiered liquor brand, if interested.  

Hi. I am afraid you can't get soda on the classic according to this leaflet. Classic is the light grey section on the left. You can get it on the non alcoholic package though. 😞

Edit: Scrap that, looks like they just missed it off the leaflet according to this thread.

Edited September 2 by Tigermad

[MississippiMom]

15 minutes ago, Tigermad said:

Hi. I am afraid you can't get soda on the classic according to this leaflet. Classic is the light grey section on the left. You can get it on the non alcoholic package though. 😞

Edit: Scrap that, looks like they just missed it off the leaflet according to this thread.

I was fully prepared to order a rum & coke and ask the bartender to hold the rum.  😉. It would be a nightmare for the poor bartenders to have Classic Beverage Package holders ordering covered sodas with alcohol but for it to not be covered without the alcohol.