Choosing perks

I automatically chose the OBC and gratuities, but looking at the Classic bev pkg, it seems better than grat because 1 glass of wine and water will equal the grats.

We have never done the bev.pkg before. Are drink tips included or extra?

Thanks

Tips are included. We always do the pkg and OBC. Pkg not only includes drinks, but water, soda, specialty coffees. So well worth it.

If you drink any amount of alcohol the drink package is the best bang for our buck.

The beverage package is a much better deal if you drink any alcohol. The gratuities are already included and the package includes specialty coffees and teas as well as water, wine, beer or cocktails up to $9. If you order something over the limit, you just pay the difference + 18% gratuity. So, if you order a glass of wine that is listed at $10, you will pay $1.18.

Depending on the length of your cruise, you would choose the gratuities or $300 onboard credit. I think the gratuities for a regular balcony cabin (non-aqua, non-concierge) are approx $13.50 per day per person. So, for a 11 day cruise, you could pick either one ... anything shorter, you'd be better off picking the OBC. You can always use the onboard credit to pay for your gratuities. Anything longer or cabins in a higher category where the tips are higher, you'd probably be better off choosing the free gratuities.

I would have chosen the beverage package over gratuities. My consumption even for non-alcoholic drinks may probably exceed the grats amount

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I can't imagine anyone not choosing the beverage package, unless they didn't drink alcohol at all.

If Celebrity ever stops offering the beverage package as a perk, that's when it would be very easy to sail a different line.

I would have chosen the beverage package over gratuities. My consumption even for non-alcoholic drinks may probably exceed the grats amount

 

 

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Agreed - 2 specialty coffees and a coke per day exceed the daily auto-gratuity cost.

Thank you all for your good advice. Actually, the cabin is for my son, DIL & little grandkids.

Even if they have one glass of wine, a cappuccino and bottle of water, they will be ahead.

What is the average price for a beer? (You can see I am a big drinker!)

Thank you all for your good advice. Actually' date=' the cabin is for my son, DIL & little grandkids.

Even if they have one glass of wine, a cappuccino and bottle of water, they will be ahead.

What is the average price for a beer? (You can see I am a big drinker!)[/quote']

I think the cheapest is $6 or $7 and the micro-brews are mostly $12 to $15.

A few years ago, we had the same situation and we chose the beverage package. My husband does not drink any alcohol, I may have a glass of wine or two. It was a great decision!

We would have a glass or two of orange juice and cappuccino at breakfast. DH loved getting an Iglu at Cafe al Bacio. ( a frappe that comes in vanilla or chocolate ) I enjoyed their wonderful iced teas.

When you are leaving the ship at ports, a table is set up with bottled water.

At the pool, we would get a can of coke or a pina colada for me.

Dinner meant wine, soda and perhaps a specialty coffee.

Probably one of the best features of the package is not having to sign for any drinks.

You don’t have to drink a lot of alcohol to get good value from this perk.

Off the Equinox on Monday and had the drinks package. D doesn't drink, but we got our money's worth in water, soda and slushy/non-alco drinks. I upgraded to the Premium package (up to $13 plus branded waters, etc) and had San Pelegrino every night as well as the better cocktails (branded liquor instead of well drinks - I like my Grey Goose and it turns out, Bombay Sapphire!). Not sure I totally got the value of the upgrade, but it was worth it not to have to sign every time!

Agree with all of these posters. Do not underestimate that you can have as much bottled water as you want - stay hydrated! If you don't have the package, you pay between $2-$3 per bottle, as I recall. I routinely ordered a bottled water along with my glass of wine or margarita. It's also great to get a bottle to take with you as you leave the ship on an excursion. We got the Classic as a perk, so didn't have to think about how much we paid for it, which was even better! :)

We always select the CBP and OBC. If our TA doesn't cover the gratuities then we use some of the OBC to cover the gratuities.

I don't drink alcohol and my wife does but not much so I'm not entirely sure we get full value from the beverage package but we still get it. I do know we get more value than if we picked the gratuities.

All it takes is getting a few cups of coffee, a soda, etc. and we'd be ahead of the gratuities.

So that's how we look at it. As long as I get more value than the next perk we are OK. I'd never buy the drink package as we usually don't hit the per day rate for the package. But I always drink more that the gratuities :)

Another reason we get it is my wife is cheap. She would go without a drink because she doesn't want to spend the money (yes, she has it), but that's the way she is. With the package she doesn't need to think about it. Mudslides abound.... ha ha ha

Have a blast.

Loooove your response- sounds like you know your wife....(:

I went with the classic beverage package and the OBC. My TA is covering the gratuities. From a post on another thread, you can upgrade to the premium package at a discount when you are onboard. Has anyone found this on a recent cruise?

:)

We are content with drinks at the Elite cocktail hour, exchange our bottled of sparkling wine for a nice white, and maybe one drink during the day. We go with the gratuities and the OBC.

I find the a la carte price for any beverage on Celebrity is high even before the 18% gratuity is added. If you drink anything other than what's offered without a charge you are ahead of the game with the beverage package.

We are booked on Celebrity Silouette and took the on board credit and gratuities, but now thinking we should have taken the drink package. Has anyone been able to switch before the cruise but after paying in full?

Since you haven't done a drink package before, take a look back at what you spent on drinks on those cruises. If you have to drink more than you normally would to break even on a drink package, it's not a deal. Also, when booking a cabin that includes perks, take the base price of the cabin, add your perks of choice from the standard price menu and compare that to the price of the booking to see what you're really saving by booking the cabin with perks over booking the base cabin and purchasing packages separately.

We are booked on Celebrity Silouette and took the on board credit and gratuities, but now thinking we should have taken the drink package. Has anyone been able to switch before the cruise but after paying in full?

I did change it just yesterday.

As I wrote previously, the grats are 13.50pp. If they have 1 glass of fresh oj, one or two bottles of water, one cappuccino and one glass of wine per day, they will be ahead of the game with the beverage pkg.

With the package she doesn't need to think about it. Mudslides abound.... ha ha ha

 

Have a blast.

You make me laugh. We always skip the traditional dinner deserts. I opt for a desert coffee from Cafe al Bacio and then we go to the Sunset Bar so my DH can get a mudslide. That's just how we roll.