On Board: purchasing the Bon Voyage Liquor Packages

[gracecarmo]

If we want to have a cocktail party in our stateroom, is there a possibility that we can purchase a couple of the Bon Voyage packages once we get on board? Like the vodkas and bourbons, with the sodas and nuts?

[spearmint]

Somewhere, recently, on this board, it was said that you can do exactly that, by going to guest relations. Good luck. :)

[Ships R Great]

Grace, what time should we plan to be there?

[Leela]

Somewhere, recently, on this board, it was said that you can do exactly that, by going to guest relations. Good luck. :)

Thanks for the tip, because mom & I were thinking of maybe doing something like that on our next cruise.

[motherchic]

Hi,

you can go on the Celebrity site.

-click on Bon Voyage gifts

-click on wine and champagne

under that catagory will be the vodka, rums, gin etc...

We would also like to do this. I wish they would offer, vermouth, roses lime juice etc...

?? wonder if i would get kicked off the ship for trying to smuggle that on ??

 

Nadine

[Brucemcdou]

Grace - you can order the same packages (bottle of liquor, sodas of your choice, package of nuts) onboard by calling the guest relations desk. Give them a bit of notice - we called the day before several times on a long cruise last fall and they were delivered at the requested time by our cabin attendant, who also helped us with glasses, ice, extra nibbles, etc. (yes, we took really good care of her!). The guest relations desk also called us each time to check that we had received the items and that they were OK.

 

If you're in a suite you could just ask your Butler for these arrangements.

[m steve]

I would expect the Captain or at least the president of Celebrity to deliver the liquor packages, not just a lowly steward!

[Jarronwood]

I have been looking at the price to buy a bottle of gin with 6 mixers and a few nuts. $60. They are joking right? That is downright robbery. What is the mark up on that - about 500% surely.

 

DH is a strongbow cider man and since we cant get it anywhere outside of the UK he likes a few gins with tonic water during the course of the afternoon. At the price per bottle I am sure we will be totally broke at the end of the cruise.

 

:mad:

[gracecarmo]

I agree that the $60 is a bit steep. In the UK, what would be the price of a good bottle of vodka?

[Jarronwood]

In one of the big supermarkets for a litre bottle about £11 english pounds. Thats a good vodka.

 

For a rougher one about £6.00 for a bottle.

 

Different places have different prices. But the big supermarkets are probably the most competitive.

 

We were thinking of buying a coupld of bottles of gin in Duty Free at Heathrow on our way to Miami but since they will confiscate them we are not sure now.

[gracecarmo]

I plan to purchase a good bottle of vodka (like Grey Goose) when we are in London pre cruise.

I hope there is a grocery store near our hotel. When we were in London last October, I never saw any grocery stores! We are staying in Westminster.

Would there be stores in the Gatwick airport to purchase liquor? (as we arrive in the UK)

[m steve]

If they sell a bottle of vodka for $10us in the duty free shop you can bet that they are making a profit. Why then charge $50 in your cabin for the same thing with a bucks worth of soda and a can of nuts. Unless this is X saying "Nuts to you!"

[cechase]

We do not necessarily agree with some of the comments concerning the bon voyage liquor packages posted above.

 

On our last three X cruises we have purchased two liquor packages for our suite [beefeaters Gin for me, Absolute for DW] each of which cost $50.00. The bottles are litre sized, not the American fifth, each comes with 6 cans of soda of your choice, and the nut package is not a can, but rather a very generous selection of three nut packages, including one with whole cashews, cocktail peanuts, and one other. The nut packages are generous enough, that we have four or five in our pantry at home unopened.

 

On our last two cruises, we ran out [our consumption and guest's consumption], and asked our butler for another liquor package. Each time, he had it in our suite in a relatively short time. Our charge acount indicated that the liquor packages purchased on board came from the Cova Cafe.

 

Just ordered our bon voyage liquor packages for our cruise on Infinity next month and they were $60.00 per package. The increase in price is a little "cheesey" on the part of X, however you can't beat the convenience. But for a cruise costing over $12,000 with insurance, who is going to complain about $20.00? :D

[Jarronwood]

Charlie

 

You are absolutely right. For an extra $20 as against paying $12,000 it does put it into persepctive.

 

Guess I will purchase a bon voyage for hubby cos it has to be paid up front doesn't it?

 

Grace

 

You will not find a good supermarket in Westminster. They will all be well above normal prices. Actually I am sure there is a Sainsbury - where in Westminster are you staying.

 

In Victoria Street, thats where the local Sainsbury store is and it will still be a good price.

 

Let me know where you are staying and what your plans are (sites you are going to see) cos I can tell you where the supermarkets are.

 

I used to live behind Harrods in Knightsbridge and work in the City of London so know London very well.

[Captain Cosmo]

What's the logic in comparing an unreasonable price for liquor to the cost of the cruise? If a cruise costs $12,000 then $100 a bottle for liquor would be a small amount by comparison - would that justify Celebrity raising the price to $100? People have a right to roll over for just about anything, or maybe they're trying to show that they have a lot of money and don't mind being overcharged. But please don't go around saying that everyone else should be okay with this sort of treatment. Some of us think of ourselves as paying passengers on vacation - not sheep trapped on a ship ready to accept everything on X's terms.

[j&ps]

We've not sailed Celebrity before (but will next May), but on other cruise lines we've always been able to purchase a bottle of liquor in the duty-free shop on board. Does Celebrity have liquor for sale on board?

 

Thanks, Pam

[gracecarmo]

We will be staying at the Westminster City Inn, on John Islip Street. This is the hotel that X uses.

We plan to do a walking type of tour, or the HOHO bus. I especially want to see the Templar Church, and Covent Garden markets. We arrive on a Thursday and leave on Saturday for Dover.

 

J&ps: On all the X ships there is a liquor store, however, this is just for taking off the ship at departure. No taking to the room.

[m steve]

Cechase and other suite cruisers should pay $100 a bottle, Inside cabins should only pa $20. Others should be adjusted according to the cost of the cabin. Now isn't that fair that the rich should support the less fortunate?

[j&ps]

Thanks Grace - - That's a real surprise as the three other lines we've cruised sold booze that we could take to our room. It was more expensive than on shore but easier than stashing something in our luggage and the cruise line still made money on what was sold. Oh Well!

 

Pam

[cechase]

m steve, I am not here to render to the "poor", I do that through our very progressive taxes, where almost half of the people in the United States do not pay any income taxes, and the really less fortunate actually get thousands of dollars back from the IRS through something called the "earned income credit".

 

j&ps, if we can get back to topic and ignore the negative posts from several posters who post their negativitiy about Celebrity on many threads, Celebrity will not allow you to take your purchase from the ship's duty free store to your cabin. They hold it, and provide it to you on your last evening of the cruise.

[mmp13]

the way I calculate it, yes the liter of booze is way over priced but when you calculate the cost of the package versus the costs of drinks in the bars I still think the package is less drink per drink than in the bars. it also is cheaper in total than taking the airline bottles out of the minibar.. We enjoy making drinks and hanging out on our balcony.

[motherchic]

i guess per glass it would still be cheaper purchasing the bottle rather then buying it at the bar. But that is still costly. And, though for me that is expensive, my biggest influence is just wanting to pour a drink, sit on our balcony and enjoy the moment.

Nadine

[patrice1]

m steve, I am not here to render to the "poor", I do that through our very progressive taxes, where almost half of the people in the United States do not pay any income taxes, and the really less fortunate actually get thousands of dollars back from the IRS through something called the "earned income credit".

 

"Thousands"??? Methinks you exaggerate.

[cechase]

m steve, I am not here to render to the "poor", I do that through our very progressive taxes, where almost half of the people in the United States do not pay any income taxes, and the really less fortunate actually get thousands of dollars back from the IRS through something called the "earned income credit".

 

"Thousands"??? Methinks you exaggerate.

 

Not at all, just look at the Internal Revenue Code. These provisions actually were enacted during the Nixon Presidency in the early 1970s. And the amounts returned can amount to two, three or more thousand dollars.

[Jarronwood]

Lets compromise then.

 

Smuggle a litre of gin in the suitcase (or how about pouring the gin into a bottle of water and carry it on in full view)??? AND buy the bon vogage package.

 

My reckoning is they will look at the manifest to see who has bought alcohol and will not scan their case. With the others they will randomly scan their cases. Surely they cannot scan every case. Lets see, suppose there is at least one case per passenger, how many passengers are there on the boat? It would take for ever surely?

 

I think the bottle of water substitute is a good idea and as you walk on you pretend to take a swig of water out of it.

 

I hope they dont look at these boards especially these thread and "mark my card" so that when I board, they grab my bottle.......