cardinals218

I just booked a cruise using the 2nd guest flies free.  We moved our flights to the day before and the day after the cruise, ended up getting a $25 CREDIT for each deviation, so instead of $199 for the flight it was $149.

1 hour ago, Sthrngary said:

If any bar would have this it would be the Haven Bar if you are in the Haven.  You would be surprised at the wine selection.  I wish I could give you better information.  Good luck.

Unfortunately, the Haven isn't quite in our budget.   Luckily, we have had good luck finding excellent bartenders on board that will try to track down anything on the boat for us in the past.  Former bar owners/bartenders tend to tip very well and magic sometime happens.  

Going to book the package regardless because of the bottled water, higher end whiskey, and hopefully some bottles of Chimay, not to mentioned bottles of decent champagne at dinner.   My wife and I just feel in love with port after a trip to Porto and now seek it out.  Haven't cruised on NCL since that trip so never was looking for it before.     

Thank you for the informative post!  NCL should really give you this package for free next time, they are going to have 4 more people on the plus plan thanks to you.   

Thanks for the very quick reply!  I did find that list and the terms in the fine print make it sound like if they serve it by the glass, you can get it with the plus package.  I just can't seem to find a bar menu with ports listed and prices.  I know we won't be able to get a bottle of a say a 2011 vintage but would like to know if say a glass of a 20 or 30-year tawny or a 2016 vintage may be available by the glass.  I doubt if available, those will be under $15/glass based on how NCL is pricing red wines I know.   

Quick question that I can't seem to find any information on after a few searches, are there any port wines available with the premium plus package, tawny or vintage?

Thanks! - Ed

My family for our upcoming cruise all took the UBP as one of our perks. In fact, before drink packages became available, we stopped cruising due to the cost of drinking while on board. Starting with Celebrity offering a package that we purchased back in 2010, we started cruising every other year again.

We always bring plenty of cash on board for tip money. I was raised by bar owners in the US and all of us have been bartenders for a living at least at one point in our lives here so we tend to overtip in most people eyes. It's not a function of wanting better or more preferential service, just remembering as a bartender how I lived off tips once and now am paying it forward.

Where do they sell the fresh squeezed OJ? Is it in the buffet like on RC ships?

They do sell it in the buffet area.

Drink your favorites early. My group drank every drop of Blanton's on the boat in the first 4 days of our 7 day cruise.

My favorite thing to do with the package was in the morning to grab a glass of the fresh squeezed OJ and then head to the bar to get a shot of Ketel One added to it. Delicious way to start each day!

Enjoy!

Been on two celebrity cruises with the premium package and a group of 6. Coming from a family that owns bars, we are very particular about service and besides a few issues of bars running out of supplies, we have been very happy with the bar service. Gareth from Honduras on our last cruise this past Nov on the Silouette was the best bar waiter we have ever seen on a cruise. Once he got to know us, he was everywhere, pool area, dining room, always ready to grab us a round. We also befriended a top waiter in the Martini bar and never had a problem getting drinks in the before dinner busy time.

Yes, the balcony is much bigger than the average balcony. About 2.5 times I would say. Great room. 2 in our group on staying in it starting this Sunday!

I will be on the Silhouette leaving this Sunday and am very curious to see what the bar service will be like after seeing this review. My family is in the bar business and was on the Eclipse in 2010 with the premimum package. Loved it and only saw a few small hiccups and waits over the entire week, nothing major besides the Casino bar running out of Crown. If the bars are not staffed enough for this trip, I know that will effect our cruise pretty negatively. Drives my mom and I crazy when we are anywhere when bar management is not up to the task of handling busy times. Crossing my fingers that the Silhouette is ready for the first Carib cruise of the season and the more party atmosphere that comes with it.

Hi @Cardinals218, can you please send us an email to concerns@celebrity.com. Please make sure to include your name, and reservation number. Thanks!

Message sent. Thanks!

Not only wouldn't I chance taking it aboard, I probably wouldn't leave it at home unattended, either. I suggest you send it to me and I'll keep an eye on it. I can be trusted. I still have 4 bottles left out of my 2013 case of Hopslam. :D

 

Just picked up a 4-pack of BCS myself. Can't justify buying bombers, as I rarely have more than one friend over at a time that can tolerate it, and I can't do much more than 12oz. at a time, myself.

 

While Michael's doesn't have the end-all beer list, it's pretty decent, and I'm the second biggest beer snob I know.

Ha! This made me laugh. Very lucky I grabbed a bottle of the coconut BCS from my Binny's. The coffee BCS this year is tasting very good (my wife's new favorite beer).

Thanks to everyone that understood my intent. Was just curious if this has came up before, not trying to get into a discussion on sneaking booze on a ship.

I will send a message to Celebrity about this as well, but based on what I have read on here, a confirmation from Celebrity corporate has very little to do from what is actually practiced at the pier/on the boat, so it will still be a crapshoot.

The test to determine if a product is wine or not isn't technical at all. It is whether a security guard who knows nothing about wine will look at the bottle and instantly think it is wine in an original bottle that has not been tampered with. If it is something that requires explanation and convincing then you're probably out of luck. The security guard is unlikely to make a determination in your favor about a questionable item and risk being disciplined.

 

I once read a post that someone was not allowed to bring champagne on as a guard didn't think it was wine. That's an extreme example, and one I would argue with and protest, but it shows what you'll be up against trying to bring on what you believe is a "beer" equivalent of wine.

That's what I assumed but wanted to see if anyone else had experience. My only Celebrity cruise we didn't bring on any wine so I didn't really know the process at the pier. Wow about the Champagne story though, that person had to be unhappy, hopefully not too expensive of a bottle.

Cruisestich nailed it.

The only alcoholic beverage that you can clearly take on is wine and then only two 750ML bottles per cabin at initial embarkation.

 

Anything else (beer or liquor) or different (large bottles, more bottles, boxes, etc) is subject to the luck of them not detecting the item for one reason or another. So if you try it don't be disappointed if your product is confiscated and if you have to go the naughty room to collect your luggage if you put it in checked baggage.

 

 

 

While this is usually the case we have been on cruises where all items confiscated at initial embarkation were destroyed and not returned. On those cruises there were signs to that effect and we talked to other passengers who had liquor confiscated and destroyed.

Thanks for the reply. Not worth the hassle I guess, I'll just leave it at home. You would think with Celebrity's move towards craft beer they may want to revisit this policy.

Curious, what is the definition of wine? Fortified wine okay? Champagne okay? I have a "beer" that is 50% made with fermented grapes with pinot added at the end. Is that a wine?

Deleted. Double post.

The main reason I'm asking is that while Celebrity has amazing wines available on board the beer selection on the high end (even considering Michael's change to a craft beer bar) is not very good. I only want to bring one or two high alcohol beers on board in lieu of wine. Oh, and everyone in our group already has the premium beverage package booked.

It does look similar to wine bottle and if you get it back at the end of the cruise, might just be worth the risk.

Hello,

A question. We are sailing on the Silhouette leaving on December 15 to celebrate two birthdays and a law school graduation. I was wondering if anyone has had sucess bringing in two large format beers in place of wine?

Most of the people in our group enjoy bourbon barrel aged beers and I was lucky enough to pick up a Goose Island Proprietor's Bourbon County Brand Stout (14.1% ABV) which would we would love to have on board to celebrate with one night.

Thanks

I have sailed in 2105, exact same cabin, on the Port side. I agree with everything you said about the room. The balcony is amazing. We had breakfest every morning out there. Also did a sailway from the balcony with 2 others and did not feel crowded at all.

On our next cruise in December we have 2105 and 2106 booked in our group. Looking foward to those rooms again!

Thank you for your pictures.

Just curious as to why being under a public restroom would be a problem? Doesnt seem like a big deal.

We were in 2105 on the Eclipse and loved it. The balcony is huge and you can see both forward and aft from the balcony. Perfect for breakfast room service each day and you are steps away from the pool area. There was zero noise issues for us with the bathroom above. Hope this helps.

At the Martini bar the drink prices are all $10 and that includes premium liquor. Not so for some of the drinks discussed at other bars. For example, if you go another bar and ask for a gin and tonic I think it will be under $8 and will not be poured with Sapphire but Sapphire is available at a higher cost. At least that is how I think it works.

That is exactly how it works. With either package as long as the liquor is under the various threshold, you just order a Absolute and OJ instead of a screwdriver to receive your choice of vodka.

I will provide a very detailed premium alcholic beverage package review when I have the time later this week, just off the Eclipse. Anyway, just wanted to post that yes, Jager is included in the classic package although I heard through other people onboard it wasn't always stocked at all bars.

I would think that Jager would fall under the classic package and the premium package. I can't imagine Celebrity charging over $8 for Jager when more expensive liquors such as Ketel One vodka are below that level. I will be on the Eclipse on Nov 20 with the premium package and will try to answer as many questions as I can including the price of Jager.

In the MDR or speciality restaurants, can you get a glass of nice bourbon/cognac/rum for an after dinner drink (i.e. Blanton's, or Cles des Ducs Armagnac with the premium package?

I know the more premium liquors are available at some bars on board but I am not sure about the restaurants.

Thanks!

Does anybody know how the bar staff receives gratuities from these alcohol packages? I understand there is a standard 15% gratuity that is added to any package that is purchased. Does the entire bar staff split the 15% from all the drink packages? Do the bartenders who serve the most drinks to people with beverage packages receive a bigger piece of the 15%? I wonder if at the end of the day the bartenders are making more or less money off of these packages.

I started a thread with a similar question asking if you wait to buy the package on board does the bartender you buy it from get any bonus. I was wondering if it would be better to wait to get on board and buy our packages from the bartender we would most frequent to give them a little bonus. No one has been able to find out this info either. My family usually becomes very familar with bar staff on vacations/cruises so I hope to be able to provide a better breakdown of how tips work after our trip in November.

For our Cruise, C2 and AQ were about the same price, we went with C2 for the locations of the cabins (hump, resort deck, and near elevators). If you are like us and plan to try all the speciality resturants at least once, then Blu isn't as important. The other things attached to AQ don't really do anything for any of us either. You are also allowed only 2 people per room in AQ. We are traveling at Thanksgiving, so more families use rooms for 3 and 4 people.

I also think there are some people who see the description of Blu and don't like the "lighter, healthier fare". Although from what I read this isn't true, I know plenty of people book cruises without checking sites like this. All in all, this leads to C1 and C2 cabins being sold quicker than AQ on some Cruises and therefore their prices go up.