Evaluating a beverage package? Here is a beverage list with prices, as of mid-2010.

[AEGBRG]

Excellent response Crazy Cruizer. Sooner or later stealing comes back to get you. I assume that AEGBRG thinks that downloading movies from sites that stole them at the screening, buying obviously fake merchandise, paying for one buffet and sneaking food to take home to someone else, tapping into the neighbor's cable are all fine too. Someone a couple of towns over even went so far as it illegally tap into the gas line and bypass his meter (he obvisouly got caught).

 

Sooner or later when no one pays for movies or music, we will all suffer by not having music and movies available or have them not be of the same quality. When "insert fancy brand here" goes out of business due to counterfitters what brand will the counterfiters go after next. Buffets will raise the prices. This is no differnt that shoplifting in my book, although on B2B 14 days cruises it could amount to grand theft.

 

In the end I believe that most people are honest. Those that are not delude themselves into thinking that everyone does it so that it will be OK in thier minds. However, I am sure that on every Celebrity cruise there are multiple families / couples that are sharing a package. This certainly doesn't make it right, nor do I believe they are anywhere close to a majority.

 

LOL. Looks like the cruise critic police is out in full force tonight. I really do not care for the crazy assumptions you guys are making about me. Do you guys work for Celebrity cruises or something? -- because you are all getting really sensitive about this. If not, I really do not understand all the animosity. The fact of the matter is people DO SHARE DRINKS -- and for good reason. Have any of you been on a Celebrity cruise lately and seen the prices? It's criminal what they charge for drinks, especially when you can't bring your own alcohol on board.

 

I am sure many people who are on this forum have done it, but I guess I am the only one willing to admit it. If that is worst crime I commit in my life I think I will be OK.

[2blueyam]

LOL. Looks like the cruise critic police is out in full force tonight. I really do not care for the crazy assumptions you guys are making about me. Do you guys work for Celebrity cruises or something? -- because you are all getting really sensitive about this. If not, I really do not understand all the animosity. The fact of the matter is people DO SHARE DRINKS -- and for good reason. Have any of you been on a Celebrity cruise lately and seen the prices? It's criminal what they charge for drinks, especially when you can't bring your own alcohol on board.

 

I am sure many people who are on this forum have done it, but I guess I am the only one willing to admit it. If that is worst crime I commit in my life I think I will be OK.

 

You are correct. I should not have made assumptions about you.

 

Lets look at this a little differently. I persoanlly think Neiman Marcus completely overcharges for their merchandise. I have the choice of not shopping there, or I could just switch the tag from a cheaper piece of clothing in thier store onto the more expensive one just because the prices they are asking would like stealing from me. Alternatively I could buy one pair of pants and then when no one is looking I could slip another pair into the bag with the first pair. Instead I just choose to shop elsewhere.

 

You can pay the asking price for your drinks / packages, you can not drink pay drinks while on your cruise or you can not cruise Celebrity because you feel the drink prices are too high. All of those options do not involve theft. Your option is theft just as buying one piece of clothing from NM and shoplifting another becuase of the high price is theft.

[JetCruister]

LOL. Looks like the cruise critic police is out in full force tonight. I really do not care for the crazy assumptions you guys are making about me. Do you guys work for Celebrity cruises or something? -- because you are all getting really sensitive about this. If not, I really do not understand all the animosity. The fact of the matter is people DO SHARE DRINKS -- and for good reason. Have any of you been on a Celebrity cruise lately and seen the prices? It's criminal what they charge for drinks, especially when you can't bring your own alcohol on board.

 

I am sure many people who are on this forum have done it, but I guess I am the only one willing to admit it. If that is worst crime I commit in my life I think I will be OK.

 

I will admit that I have smuggled alcohol on board before (when I was younger and really stupid).

Let me ask you this...if Celebrity did not offer these beverage packages, would you and your family have consumed you 30 drinks a day??

Their drinks are no more expensive than that of most bars.

When we bought our beverage package, it was 49.95 per day and we figured it was worth it for us.

I really hope Celebrity does not stop the beverage program because of people sharing their packages. I really like that Regents includes everything in their crusie price, but I can't afford to cruise them as often as I like to cruise.

[AEGBRG]

You are correct. I should not have made assumptions about you.

 

Lets look at this a little differently. I persoanlly think Neiman Marcus completely overcharges for their merchandise. I have the choice of not shopping there, or I could just switch the tag from a cheaper piece of clothing in thier store onto the more expensive one just because the prices they are asking would like stealing from me. Alternatively I could buy one pair of pants and then when no one is looking I could slip another pair into the bag with the first pair. Instead I just choose to shop elsewhere.

 

You can pay the asking price for your drinks / packages, you can not drink pay drinks while on your cruise or you can not cruise Celebrity because you feel the drink prices are too high. All of those options do not involve theft. Your option is theft just as buying one piece of clothing from NM and shoplifting another becuase of the high price is theft.

 

There is one problem with your analogy -- you can shop elsewhere. You do not have buy Neiman Marcus merchandise. As you pointed out.

 

With cruising, you cannot shop elsewhere -- or in other words, you cannot bring your own alcohol on board. So you do not have a choice. It's either there alcohol -- at their prices -- or nothing. If they are going to completely monopolize alcoholic drink sales on their ships, then some people -- like my family -- will try to save money, even it involves sharing drink cards.

 

If you have a problem with this then you should complain to Celebrity cruises about changing their drink policy. They need to either lower their drink prices or give people the choice to bring their own alcohol on board.

 

Everybody does need to lighten up a bit though. I am not endorsing going to rob a bank or anything. If you have a family and you chooses to buy each person a drink package then that's fine. If my family chooses to share a couple then we will do that, too. We can both still have great time, right?

[jimzgoldfinch]

I am not endorsing going to rob a bank or anything.

 

Only cheating Celebrity!!!:(

[kitkat9438]

There is one problem with your analogy -- you can shop elsewhere. You do not have buy Neiman Marcus merchandise. As you pointed out.

 

With cruising, you cannot shop elsewhere -- or in other words, you cannot bring your own alcohol on board. So you do not have a choice. It's either there alcohol -- at their prices -- or nothing. If they are going to completely monopolize alcoholic drink sales on their ships, then some people -- like my family -- will try to save money, even it involves sharing drink cards.

 

If you have a problem with this then you should complain to Celebrity cruises about changing their drink policy. They need to either lower their drink prices or give people the choice to bring their own alcohol on board.

 

Everybody does need to lighten up a bit though. I am not endorsing going to rob a bank or anything. If you have a family and you chooses to buy each person a drink package then that's fine. If my family chooses to share a couple then we will do that, too. We can both still have great time, right?

 

Okay... so what happens when you take your family into a bar or a restaurant and order drinks? Do you each pay for your drinks or do you tell the bartender that you paid for yours, so you want a round for everyone for the one price??? Most bars and restaurants have comparable prices. You cannot "shop elsewhere" as you put it. It's your only option, so what do you do?

 

It's one thing to order a drink and let someone have a sip of it. What you are doing is completely different and then you come on here and brag about what you did and advise other people to do the same. You know you are going to get comments from everyone who doesn't agree with you and follows the rules. You can't sit back and complain about that.

 

I am not the cruise critic police, but I don't want to lose the option of being able to purchase the packages because of people like you that want to share and not pay.

 

I agree it would probably be better to make it a per cabin purchase deal instead of per person and then they wouldn't have to worry about this problem.

 

You still have the option to pay by the drink if the package is too much for you.

[jimzgoldfinch]

I agree it would probably be better to make it a per cabin purchase deal instead of per person and then they wouldn't have to worry about this problem.

 

Hi,

This would not solve this problem when there are four adults & 1 kid in the party!!

 

Jim

[grayjay]

I can't understand people who say drink prices are too high for them and as a result use the free choices in the buffet. Compared to some European cruise lines where you even have to pay for water :( these choices are not bad - so it is not necessary for anybody to cheat by not buying a drink package for all those who want to participate and by sharing. Use the free drinks, there is enough of a choice!

I wouldn't be happy if Celebrity changed its policy by forcing people to buy drink packages on a per-cabin-basis either , because people's choices are different sometimes. Let me give an example for that: my husband is content with the regular coffee (:confused: :eek: ) and drinks gallons of that, or he drinks ice tea and water. I lean more towards the non-alcoholic packages, because I love juices, lattes, the occasional soda. I buy wine by the glass or we order a bottle in the evening . That works best. If we were forced to buy two packages, it wouldn't be worth it.

[JetCruister]

Hi,

This would not solve this problem when there are four adults & 1 kid in the party!!

 

Jim

 

So true...Maybe everyone that is traveling together would need to purchase one?? Or Celebrity should just add it into their price and make everyone pay?? At least with that, no one could share and everyone is paying their fair share! Hope they don't stop the beverage program because of this type of activity!

[AEGBRG]

No worries guys. Celebrity starting the drink packages around, what, two years ago?? It is still very profitable for them or else they would not still be offering it. None of you will lose it because of me.

 

Also, I apologize for endorsing the sharing of drinks. I should not have done that. For those of you I have offended, I am sorry.

[sczcardfan]

Our family was not the only one doing this. Every family we came across purchased one or two drink packages and passed along drinks to other family members. Do you really think a family of 4 or 5 are really going to get 5 beverage packages?

 

And by reading some of the posts about Celebrity on this board and how they can treat customers, do you really care if Celebrity gets cheated out of a few drinks?

 

If I were to give anyone advice on the beverage packages, I would say share them -- or you can give Celebrity another few hundred bucks, unnecessarily.

 

You rationalize it however you want. Other people doing it doesn't make it right. If you want to game the system, I can't stop you but I do disagree with you.

 

And yes, if I was cruising with my family, everyone would buy a separate beverage package.

[JetCruister]

No worries guys. Celebrity starting the drink packages around, what, two years ago?? It is still very profitable for them or else they would not still be offering it. None of you will lose it because of me.

 

Also, I apologize for endorsing the sharing of drinks. I should not have done that. For those of you I have offended, I am sorry.

 

 

Still wondering, if your family would have consumed 30 drinks a day if you were paying for each drink??

[AEGBRG]

Still wondering, if your family would have consumed 30 drinks a day if you were paying for each drink??

 

Obviously no. Again, I said I apologize for mentioning and endorsing the sharing of drink cards. What more do you want me to say?

Edited June 10, 2011 by AEGBRG

[kitkat9438]

I can't understand people who say drink prices are too high for them and as a result use the free choices in the buffet. Compared to some European cruise lines where you even have to pay for water :( these choices are not bad - so it is not necessary for anybody to cheat by not buying a drink package for all those who want to participate and by sharing. Use the free drinks, there is enough of a choice!

I wouldn't be happy if Celebrity changed its policy by forcing people to buy drink packages on a per-cabin-basis either , because people's choices are different sometimes. Let me give an example for that: my husband is content with the regular coffee (:confused: :eek: ) and drinks gallons of that, or he drinks ice tea and water. I lean more towards the non-alcoholic packages, because I love juices, lattes, the occasional soda. I buy wine by the glass or we order a bottle in the evening . That works best. If we were forced to buy two packages, it wouldn't be worth it.

 

Oh I definitely agree. I was just throwing that out there because it would solve the problem of "sharing". I know each person has different tastes and some drink and some don't. You can't really do something like that anyway unless you make the cruise price in general cover all packages (like an all inclusive resort) and that's not really fair to those who just drink the free stuff or pay as you go.

 

The answer is really simple. Follow the rules, don't share and keep the costs down and the packages in place.

[JetCruister]

Obviously no. Again, I said I apologize for mentioning and endorsing the sharing of drink cards. What more do you want me to say?

 

I was just wondering...that's all. Between my husband and myself, we usually drink about 10 drinks per day each (water, coffee's, teas, juice, martini, wine with dinner, after dinner drink and sometimes more :D). We found the drink package would save us some money!

[branchwater]

Does anyone have a "new" list for the Millennium? Heading North July 1. Planning to take my own water and diet coke aboard for use in room. I just don't know if a "package" deal would benefit us, but I do like the sound of having Bloody Marys in the A.M. DH is a Tito's Vodka and Wild Turkey drinker and we both like wine with dinner, but we are traveling with 6 non-drinkers. Thinking maybe just a glass with dinner. The stateroom bar set-up sounds great, just not sure. We have an inside stateroom, so there wouldn't be any balcony relaxing in the evening.

 

Thanks for the help. I did read a lot in this thread starting with 2011. Maybe I missed the new price lists.

[cafediem]

I have bought a premium alcohol package for me, and a premium non-alcohol package for each of my boys. DH will pay as he drinks, so to speak. (Without wishing to stir up more argument, I tend to stick to the rules). My question is this - if I want a drink to take back to my cabin, do I have to go to the bar, or can I give my card to my husband to get one for me? Similarly, if I want a speciality coffee in the morning, can I give my card to one of the boys to go fetch it?

Edited June 11, 2011 by cafediem
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[crowemommy]

We bought the package too and loved it!

 

You can send one of your children or your hubby to fetch your beverage from the bar or cova cafe.

[Tonyrefail1]

Real simple newbie question-what package does a cappichino come under.

[jimzgoldfinch]

Real simple newbie question-what package does a cappichino come under.

 

Cappuccino is included in the Classic & Premium packages. However, the following is the basic option

 

Classic Non-Alcoholic Package

In addition to enjoying your favorite Coca Cola® can and fountain sodas selections such as Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Fanta Orange and Coke Zero, you may also enjoy fresh squeezed and bottled juices, Premium Coffees and Teas and Non-Premium Bottled Water.

 

Jim

[mzk90]

I believe that Royal introduced some packages on 3 ships recently, one of which was Independence and very soon after this they made it a rule that if you wanted a package, everyone eligible in the stateroom had to buy one! That was to stop the sharing.

[FortuneTeller]

IM with AEGBRG.

 

Are all of you Saints?

 

I Think not.

[jimzgoldfinch]

IM with AEGBRG.

 

Are all of you Saints?

 

I Think not.

 

So you think that it is OK to steal from Celebrity or any other company if you think that the prices are too much?

 

Jim

[FortuneTeller]

Jim,

 

I believe a 25 dollar "Corkage Fee" Is stealing.

 

 

Sometimes I sneak a chocolate bar in to the movies...

[jimzgoldfinch]

Jim,

 

I believe a 25 dollar "Corkage Fee" Is stealing.

 

 

Sometimes I sneak a chocolate bar in to the movies...

 

Sorry, we were not talking about the corkage fee (which I agree is expensive, you have option to not to bring your wine to MDR) but about sharing drinks package bought for two between five people!! You think that this is fair game!