OneKZCarp

For the OCD in all of us.... many thanks!!!!!!!

 

I'm still torn on which package to get for myself, personally. DH is probably solid with the Classic package since he's a man of simple pleasures. But I personally love trying anything and everything since that's part of the fun in vacations! I will definitely have to investigate further and try to put into tangible terms how much I ACTUALLY drink while on vacation ;) My last cruise on Disney... it's safe to say I don't remember a whole lot :rolleyes:

 

I'm sailing on Connie in April of this year... is the Molecular bar still only on S-class ships? because that sounds out of this world!!!!! I'll be disappointed if I miss out on that :(

 

Thanks again for this awesome spreadsheet!

 

Nicole

Nicole,

I just finished a 14 day cruise in the Southern Caribbean on Celebrity. I think the Classic drink package would be a good deal if, you drink specialty coffees, bottled water and soda in addition to alcoholic beverages. We only drank the basic drinks we our drink bill was only $700 for the two of us for the 14 days. Make sure you research and understand the differences between Classic and Premium. As an example on Celebrity, a $8 martini is included in the Classic package, but if you buy a $10 martini you have gone over the $8 allowance and must pay the full $10. On the Premium you only pay the amount over the allowance. Also don't to forget to include 15% on top of all alcoholic beverages in your calculations.

Does this beach have umbrellas available?

Yes. The island has lounges (sunbeds) and umbrellas. They all show the effects of sitting in the sun all day, but no issues. The sunbeds and umbrellas were fine. Honestly, I spent most of my time in the water or exploring the tiny island.

I get off the ship just to walk around the pier if we are not doing a land excursion-- (especially if going for 14 days)

I want to keep my land legs when i get back home.

 

(with our first cruise we stayed on the ship almost all week and it took forever to get rid of the sway I felt when I got back home)

We had 5 excursions of the 8 ports we visited. I can't imagine staying on board. I live in a warm climate and have a pool in my backyard and beer in the refrigerator at home. If I'm sailing to see the Caribbean, I'm not staying on board just becuase it's quiet. I suppose after a few cruises the novelty will wear off. However, if that's the case I'll just stay at an all inclusive resort on one of the islands. Perhaps, it's just my ignorance talking. :D

$700 for drinks? I don't think I've paid that much for all my drinks on all my cruises. I've been on 26 cruises. However, it is your money and if you had a great time then that is all that counts, or matters. :)

Really?

Did I fail to mention that was for 2 people on a 14 day cruise? That is $25 a day including 15% gratuity. You don't drink soda, bottled water or specialty coffee? Not to mentioned alcohol. Not even 1 beer by the pool or a glass of wine with dinner? Well heck, it's your vacation. Water and brewed coffee for you. lol

The photos on the link you provided are dated. Looks like from 2005. I believe the island was hit by a large storm since then and the buildings are worse for the wear. No offers of a message. I attempted to attach a few photos, but no sure how they will appear.

I was there for the water. As long as I felt safe, and I did, I didn't care about the rest. Very nice staff. Friendly and helpful. I would say a bit of a sense of adventure would be helpful, but not necessary. The water is warm and shallow. The coral reef is very close and easy to reach.

Kitchen Conditions.

A representative from the Celebrity Excursions Department joined us on the excursion. Apparently some passengers had complained about the "rustic" atmosphere of the island. She inspected the cooking area, which was really a shack with a butane burner, and found it lacking. It did not meet the "Celebrity standards". So, the Celebrity passengers were not permitted to eat the food. The other cruiseline passengers did, but we did not. So it was a day of drinking at an open bar with no food. No complaints here. :D

I did not personally inspect the cooking conditions, but I'm sure it would have met my standard. It's hard to believe that people complained about this location. The beauty and rugged surroundings made it unique.

I say bring a snack as a just in case measure. However, even with this mishap, I'd do it all over again.

We just did this on December 17th, 2014.

I don't think you can book this one independant of your cruise line. The island is very small (200m x 300m). We booked with Celebrity and two other cruise line groups showed up too. Maybe 20 people. Not crowded when we were there. It is a bus ride from the port then a boat ride to the island. We did not encounter anyone that was doing it on thier own.

It was worth the $109/each we spent. Celebrity may drop it due to sanitary issues. It is very rustic. If you're looking for the Ritz, this is not your tour. So, please don't complain to Celebrity. It would be a real shame if they dropped it.

This excursion was the highlight of our 14 day cruise. Celebrity may drop it due to the kitchen conditions, but the beach, water and snorkeling are not to be missed. True we spend about $100 each to go and, didn't get to eat the food, but we didn't care becuase of the beauty of the spot. Celebrity did refund half the price which we nice. I say "go" and bring a few snacks and water shoes.

We went on 5 ship excursions. I tried to get brave in Aruba and take the city bus to Eagle Beach, but got propositioned at the bus terminal and ran back to the ship and hid. I forgot the first rule, "Never go out alone". We did take a taxi to a beach in Curacoa, but felt like the price was too high and he let us off at the wrong beach. We argued that we were at the wrong beach, but after awhile he got a bit menacing and we decided to drop it. So, for me, I will always use the ship excursions.

Antigua Prickly Pear Island was by far the best excursion.

The results are in. Our Cruise is has completed and we had a great time. We did not get the drink package and I'm happy we didn't. The cost for all drinks for the both of us was about $700. That is less than 1 drink package. I'd be kicking had we purchased a package at $780 each. However, I suppose, if I had a drink package I would purchased more bottled water, soda and coffee. However, I doubt even then it would add more than $200 to our total.

Wow, thanks for all the information. We will be fine if we simply find people like you on board. Being a newb, I just don't want to miss anything. I just need to remember that the first things are to enjoy the time with my wife, the ship, the scenery and let the rest take care of it's self. The guides books are a great idea. I've used those before and it made all the difference.

You will be glad to know that I've switch my vernacular to calling it a "ship" instead of a "boat". :rolleyes:

Thanks everyone. All the information is very helpful. Sounds like it might be time to check in with my fellow cruiser via Roll Call.

Cruiserking, thanks for the port updates. We are beach people and are looking forward to snorkeling, swimming and simply relaxing on the beach. We like the ability to wade out to snorkel. Not keen on being dumped overboard in deep water.

Marie51, I think my wife will be in your camp. Bring as much as possible.

trish1c, thanks and remembering to breathe is good advice. Pretty soon here I'm going to make a few decisions then just cruise and enjoy.

Let me start by saying that, "no", I've not read all the thousands of posts and I'm sure somewhere in there are all my answers. :o

This is our first cruise and we booked a 14 night Southern Caribbean. To add to the anxiety we are celebrating my wife's 50th and our 30th wedding anniversary.

I think I've already decided on getting a Classic beverage package. My one concern is what percentage of drinks are going to be outside the package "not over" for beer, cocktails, wine. $6,$8,$9

Clothing. Bring less cloths and more money. 2 bathing suits at least one dinner formal outfit.

Excursions booked through the cruiseline are usually not the best way to go. Too expensive and can be over crowded. Find a local tour company in the port. Visit Port of Call forum for info. I am anxious about this one. Finding my way around a totally unknown place looking for the best beach seems a bit...dangerous.

What do people suggest?

We are a solitude couple. We usually rent a vacation home and go it alone. We do have friends and know how to get along, but what are the cruise do's and don'ts to meeting people on board?

It seems to me that you would want to get off the ship as often as possible. What are the pros and cons of this? Why would anyone want to do something they could do at home of a dry land hotel?

Ok, that's enough for now. As you can I'm starting to freak out a bit.

Thanks. :rolleyes:

Hi All

 

I have got a lot of great information from these forums. A lot of it was related to working out the drink packages - how they work, whats included and most important - were they for us? I did find a calculator somewhere and I hope the OP doesn't mind but I borrowed it and gave it a bit of a 'refurb' :D - making it more generic to allow input for any cruise length and also specify different quantities of drinks for Port vs Sea days.

 

Whilst it is modelled of the Celebrity Cruise offerings, it could just as easily be used as a guide for RCI or other cruise lines offering similar packages.

 

The calculator is quite simple to use where by you start by entering total SEA days and total PORT days for your cruise. This should then auto calculate the TOTAL DAYS of your cruise.

 

You can then complete the two columns of per SEA/per PORT day - where you can "guess"timate how many of each drink you would likely consume.

 

The calculator does the rest - it will work out the total drink cost (including the standard 15% service tax) and determine which of the drink packages offers value to you as a result.

 

Packages that offer value will be highlighted GREEN. Those that do not (meaning you are better to purchase drinks 'as you go') will be highlighted RED.

 

The base prices for drinks are as current as I could source and effective MAR 2014. You can alter these should you need to - but it should be more than enough to provide you with an idea.

 

And thats just it - this calculator is a guide only - its not telling you YES you MUST order a package. Whether you do or you don't is purely up to you. For some it sounds crazy and expensive - for others they couldn't dream without going on a cruise without the Premium package.

 

Ultimately there is no RIGHT or WRONG choice - only YOUR choice!

 

ENJOY. Hope you find this useful, and THANKS AGAIN to the Cruise Critic community for all your help!

Great stuff. Thanks. Here is my concern. Based on your pricing it doesn't look like an issue, but with the Classic beverage package anything over 6,8,9 Beer, Cocktail, Wine respectively isn't covered at all. Are there Beers, Cocktails and Wines offered at that price that are worth drinking? More importantly, Do you ever find yourself at a show or some "she she" bar and have nothing on the drink menu in your price range? Seems easy to get some exotic frozen drink over $8.