POLL: New Celebrity Beverage Packages

[felixdacat]

For the most part, the new Celebrity Beverage Packages became available for purchase on 11/15/2009. In the first paragraph on the website’s Beverage Package page (http://www.celebritycruises.com/beverage/packages/summary.do;jsessionid=0000u2irCyX5ng7CNSgM_a5vn-N:12hdebdrn?categoryId=18&pagename=beverage_packages&cS=SIDENAV ), it says “Celebrity Cruises is proud to offer you, our guest, the ultimate in value and convenience.”

After reviewing what Celebrity has to offer as well as the threads on Cruise Critic, you have decided that the Beverage Packages are:

[Wine-O]

Not for me. I like a Bloody Mary in the morning, a couple of beers in the afternoon by the pool, a martini in the early evening, and wine with dinner.

 

Won't work for me.

[CruisingChick]

I have to agree with Wine-O. I like to have a beer or mixed drink early on, then always go to the Martini Bar before dinner, then wine with dinner and usually mixed drinks again after dinner (like a sea breeze). So it won't work for us either.

[cruise kitty]

I have to agree with Wine-O. I like to have a beer or mixed drink early on, then always go to the Martini Bar before dinner, then wine with dinner and usually mixed drinks again after dinner (like a sea breeze). So it won't work for us either.

 

Wine-O is correct, unless X would like to pax pounding through 7 or more beers a day, the beer pkg isn't worth it. Too bad they didn't come up with a prepaid drink card that gives a little discount, maybe 15%. A punch hole type card you could prebuy a certain number of drinks a day(any kind) and it would be non refundable.

[Gonzo70]

Wine-O is correct, unless X would like to pax pounding through 7 or more beers a day, the beer pkg isn't worth it. Too bad they didn't come up with a prepaid drink card that gives a little discount, maybe 15%. A punch hole type card you could prebuy a certain number of drinks a day(any kind) and it would be non refundable.

 

I agree. I would be up for buying a card that provides 10 drinks for the price of 9 (or something like that). HAL has some packages like that and seem to work well for both the cruise line and the passengers. The new X packages require people to drink far beyond what is healthy in order to just break even. These packages are unlikely to be useful to most people, and it will likely cause many of the people who do use them to drink to excess. Hopefully X comes to their senses and realizes that more harm than good can come out of these packages.

[Max2003]

Plus the description is confusing in the wine packages. Sommelier package at $114 for what. Are these for multiple bottles to be used throughout the cruise?? How many?? Same with Captain's package. Or is this all you can drink in a day??:p I doubt there will be many takers without more explanation.

 

I like the HAL offering of a wine card good for 10 or 20 glasses of house wine anywhere on the ship. Clean and simple. Their wine packages are for a certain number of bottles (3 ,5 or 7) to be used anywhere. They store the unused portion for later. The other Celebrity packages don't look like that much of a bargain unless you are a lush!:D And as pointed out by others, are limited to one type of drink. Only good if that is your style.

[Skovgaard]

The 2 men in our party think the Beer Package is great and hope it is offered on our cruise next year,

 

My husband only drinks beer

 

A big thank you Celebrity

[bambam2972]

I voted poor & poor mostly because it doesn't fit my needs. Like others, I drink different types of drinks throughout the day.

 

At first I thought I would want the frozen drink package, but at $22/day I'd have to drink 3 or maybe even 4 to make it up! But I mostly drink mixed drinks (someone mentioned my favorite, the sea breeze but also rum punch, mojitos, etc) so this package doesn't work for me.

[drakes2]

Won't work for me either. I drink water or tea in the a.m., glass of wine or a martini in the afternoon, wine with dinner, followed by an after dinner aperitif on the balcony before retiring for the evening.

Not for me. I like a Bloody Mary in the morning, a couple of beers in the afternoon by the pool, a martini in the early evening, and wine with dinner.

 

Won't work for me.

[alicam]

The frozen drink package would suit me fine...I could easily pour back 1/2 dozen of these in an afternoon ...not too mention at night also

[swigso]

Not for me. I like a Bloody Mary in the morning, a couple of beers in the afternoon by the pool, a martini in the early evening, and wine with dinner.

 

Won't work for me.

I don't think it will work for me either, I wish they would have mixed the packages up, say Bronze,Silver , gold and Platinum or such so that

you could mix and match to suite.

Also I think they should have done a couples package.

It amy be that I get a Beer package and a Spirit one, but I'll wait and see,

it is a great idea though.

[Texaswinediva]

The packages really wouldn't work for me either. I don't drink beer

but I love wine and the DOTD.

[GreenDragon]

I don't think the pricing is too outrageous, but I do wish you had the option to mix & match your drinks more easily. Also I agree that this doesn't make sense on a port heavy itinerary, but if you have a significant number of sea days and like drinks by the pool it might be a good benefit. I do love the idea of knowing exactly what we would spend for drinks up front, budgeting is the hardest part of the cruise for me, heh.

So, long story short, I won't be ordering a package for our upcoming cruise as we have 8 ports in ten days and the value just isn't there. I do think I will order a bar set up in the cabin tho so the hubby can have his beloved glass of Chivas before dinner ;)

[Denny01]

What? You8 like to mix your choices: a Bloody Mary, then maybe a frozen drink, followed by a beer/wine in the afternoon/evening and one for dinner? Well, why not just get three or four of the packages!

 

That's what I'm doing! Boy, 3 Bloodies with breakfast, 2-4 beers mid-morning, a couple of Mojitos near the pool when it gets hot, followed by a few glasses of wine into lunch. Then an afternoon of switching between frozens and Martinis, then 3 or more whiskies while I dress for dinner, then 3 glasses of wine at dinner and a little liquor for dessert. That night of course, I'll mix the wine, Mojitos, whiskies, a few beers.... Wow, sounds great.

 

Then they can replace the 'stick me like a pincussion' accupuncture thingee with a liver transplant option.

 

OK, no, I won't go for any of the packages. I think I could handle one package for one day - maybe I'd like a discount card of some type I guess, but boy, it was fun typing all that!

 

Denny

[VTSKIandCRUISEGUY]

So they're basically saying that unless you plan on getting blotto EVERY DAY of the cruise, don't bother.

And remember, you have to purchase this for every day. If you drink a little less on 1 or 2 days, you need to make it up on the other days to get your money's worth.

 

I could see this going over well on some of the other lines, but Celebrity doesn't get as many drunks as the others. Also, most people will change up what they're drinking from day to night, or one day to the next, but with the package, you need to stick with the same category.

.

[txsloth]

It almost seems to me that the packages are priced with the understanding that it won't really be 1 package per customer.

[neilrr]

Plus the description is confusing in the wine packages. Sommelier package at $114 for what. Are these for multiple bottles to be used throughout the cruise?? How many?? Same with Captain's package. Or is this all you can drink in a day??:p I doubt there will be many takers without more explanation.

 

I like the HAL offering of a wine card good for 10 or 20 glasses of house wine anywhere on the ship. Clean and simple. Their wine packages are for a certain number of bottles (3 ,5 or 7) to be used anywhere. They store the unused portion for later. The other Celebrity packages don't look like that much of a bargain unless you are a lush!:D And as pointed out by others, are limited to one type of drink. Only good if that is your style.

 

Max2003 - I agree with you. When we were on HAL the first time this summer; it was our first encounter with "drink packages" and we loved the way HAL had it set up. We also noticed that HAL was far less expensive on their drinks in general. We really do like Celebrity, but their prices are getting out of control while service and food quality seems to be lagging (that is also the reason we have not been on Solstice yet -- if you eat in the MDR the food is average - you must go to the Blu level or specialty restaurant to get a quality meal). We are going on Mille in March --we will see what it's like (4th trip on Mille) since all of the changes. As always, I try to write what I believe to be a fair and accurate review, after my return.

 

I mentioned in an earlier post that on HAL, people would put their leftover wine and alcohol cards in the Bible. It was the first place I went to when I enetered the stateroom.:p Unfortunately No Card left.. :( The cards on HAL can be used for most mixed drinks, though we used it for the Martini's etc... If you wanted a premium alcohol they might charge you a small upcharge ($.50 -$1.00), but most times they did not even do that. The reality is you may want different types of drinks during the course of day and as was pointed out, you would have to have a "wooden leg" to break even. I applaud Celebrity for trying, but I do not think this will be huge seller for most people --- great idea :)/poor value :(

 

Let's hope they re-evaluate the program in the future...

Neil

[Mabers]

My good heavens! $80 for a litre of liquor! I only drink wine, so it is not a problem for me, but seriosly, who would think that was a good idea?

 

The cost of spirits has been beaten to death on these boards, and anybody who suggests that the prices are way out of line i.e. exorbitant, usually gets flamed. Taking that chance, I just wish they would lower the cost per drink/bottle of wine to a reasonable mark-up, period.

 

And also.......oh, never mind....it won't do any good anyway!

 

M.

[neilrr]

It almost seems to me that the packages are priced with the understanding that it won't really be 1 package per customer.

 

TXSloth - You are very wise. I was thinking the same thing -- that is why the punch system is better for the cruiseline, but for the pasenger they are pricing it as if more than one will be drinking off the card... They are not going to follow you around the pool to see who is drinking -- are they???... Maybe they will -- :eek: I hope they are goodlooking --whoever follows me, that is..:)

 

Neil

[CruisingChick]

-- :eek: I hope they are goodlooking --whoever follows me, that is..:)

 

I'll drink to that.:D

 

Still even if my husband and I "shared" the beer package we would not drink enough beer in a day to make it worth while. Like I stated earlier - we like a variety of different drinks throughout the day.

 

M. - I'm afraid if there wasn't such a huge mark up on alcohol then cruise prices across the board would have be increased. The alcohol mark up is one of their biggest money makers.

[A Sixth?]

My good heavens! $80 for a litre of liquor! I only drink wine, so it is not a problem for me, but seriosly, who would think that was a good idea?

 

The cost of spirits has been beaten to death on these boards, and anybody who suggests that the prices are way out of line i.e. exorbitant, usually gets flamed. Taking that chance, I just wish they would lower the cost per drink/bottle of wine to a reasonable mark-up, period.

 

And also.......oh, never mind....it won't do any good anyway!

 

M.

 

It's not just a litre of booze, it's a litre of booze on a cruise ship.

 

If "X" serves a one ounce shot in it's bars, that's 33 drinks for $ 80.00. That's less than $ 2.50 a drink (ignoring mix cost if there is any beyond the ones they provide with the set-up.)

 

I'd like to see cheaper too, but it is still less to sip from the bar set-up on your balcony than belly-up to the pool bar.

 

I'll probably do a bar set up, and skip the packages, I like mixed drink and beer and that seems not to be offered....s

[neilrr]

I'll drink to that.:D

 

Still even if my husband and I "shared" the beer package we would not drink enough beer in a day to make it worth while. Like I stated earlier - we like a variety of different drinks throughout the day.

 

M. - I'm afraid if there wasn't such a huge mark up on alcohol then cruise prices across the board would have be increased. The alcohol mark up is one of their biggest money makers.

 

Crusingchick - You and your husband must try harder and consume more alcohol :p to make that beer package work for you.

 

Seriously - I totally agree - we also like different drinks at different times of the day. True -- big markup on alcohol on cruise ships; this is where they make much of the onboard revenue on Caribbean cruises. As a cruise company shareholder, I love all of that onboard revenue $$caching$$ $$caching$$ - Drink and be merry!!!

 

The newly hired (to follow us around) are paid well, so we don't go over the limit for the day/week... That must be why those packages are so expensive.. Salary, benefits, cruise vacations :), etc.. That is why we need National Health Care - to bring down the cost of these liquor packages!!! That would be a great way for Obama to garner support!!!:p

 

Neil

[Hawkman]

Happy to wade in on this SORE topic. It never ceases to amaze and confuse how companies continually dream up methods of ingenious ways to detach customer from their hard earned cash. Why do the cruise co's alienate their customer base this way? I got am email from my airline yesterday announcing a great new way to get extra leg room on a flight (yes, buy an exit ailse or bulkhead seat!). I would think that a true discount program (i.e. $2.50 drinks) would go over much better, or "come on guys, if crappy AI resorts can offer alcohol, so can you"!

[geojobes]

None of the packages will work for us. I, as many others,drink different things at different times of day. My DW only drinks the fruity frozen drinks, but only 2 a day. She'll drink 1 in the afternoon & 1 at the show. If she drinks more, she falls asleep! Sometimes the 1 at the show does her in! If they had a package that included beer, rum & cokes & frozen drinks at a fair price then, that would work for me. I like a beer in the afternoon, a rum & coke for dinner & a frozen drink at the show.