Classic drink pkg - premium upgrade

[scdreamer]

We have the classic drink package as our choice in the "pick your perk" or "123 go" or whatever the promotion was called.

 

Wondering if we can upgrade it to premium, as the Molecular Bar and others sound like fun. Should we call our TA and do it now, or can we upgrade when we get on board?

[miched]

You can do it either way. You can upgrade up to 4 days before you cruise thru you TA or Celebrity and save $5/pp/day

 

If you do it on board it will cost you an extra $5/pp/day but you can use SBC if you have some and want to do that.

 

Not all ships have the Molecular bar. The bar is only on the S class. If that bar is the only reason that you want to upgrade and are sailing on a M class ship save your money.

 

 

.

Edited November 8, 2013 by miched

[Lsimon]

...If you do it on board it will cost you an extra $5/pp/day but you can use SBC if you have some and want to do that....

 

There has been some conflicting and contradictory information from different sources at Celebrity as to whether the upgrade will cost more on board or not. I have not read any actual reports of an actual on board experience that reported the higher price. In the following thread an official Celebrity representative posted here on Cruise Critic that the upgrade price is the same on board as it is in advance: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=40243642#post40243642

Edited November 8, 2013 by Lsimon

[Cruise Raider]

We have the classic drink package as our choice in the "pick your perk" or "123 go" or whatever the promotion was called.

 

Wondering if we can upgrade it to premium, as the Molecular Bar and others sound like fun. Should we call our TA and do it now, or can we upgrade when we get on board?

 

I think the upgrades are available up until the last 4 days of your cruise -- once you hit that date, no upgrades possible. We thought we wanted the premium package and once we were onboard, we got a flier in our room offering the upgrade for a fee. We were going to do it but were very happy with the classic package, never got around to doing it.

The only reason in which I would have considered an upgrade is to have a little more variety with my wines. Otherwise, we were still able to enjoy drinks at the martini bar and have heard not all drinks at the molecular bar were included even in the premium package. Might be wrong -- because never tested it -- but you may want to try out the classic package to start with an upgrade if it doesn't fit the bill.

[brady19]

There has been some conflicting and contradictory information from different sources at Celebrity as to whether the upgrade will cost more on board or not. I have not read any actual reports of an actual on board experience that reported the higher price. In the following thread an official Celebrity representative posted here on Cruise Critic that the upgrade price is the same on board as it is in advance: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=40243642#post40243642

 

Actually this is confirmed. If you look at the prices on Celebrity there are two prices fro prior and onboard:

http://media.celebritycruises.com/celebrity/content/en_US/pdf/celebrity-cruises-beverage-packages-price-flyer.pdf

 

I booked with the perk and upgraded to the premium, just for myself, the total was $115. It is a 10 day cruise, so it was $100 +$15 gratuity for the upgrade.

[Pobman]

Actually this is confirmed. If you look at the prices on Celebrity there are two prices fro prior and onboard:

http://media.celebritycruises.com/celebrity/content/en_US/pdf/celebrity-cruises-beverage-packages-price-flyer.pdf

 

I booked with the perk and upgraded to the premium, just for myself, the total was $115. It is a 10 day cruise, so it was $100 +$15 gratuity for the upgrade.

 

Those are the confirmed prices to purchase, not upgrade. Initially Celebrity stated the on ship upgrades would incur the $5 premium, then as Lsimon posted they back tracked on that and said it would not. Reality seems to have been a mixture of the two from reading reports, so as always what the 'truth' is who knows.

[DWhit]

I upgraded a bev package last week. The Celebrity phone lady I called told me it was cheaper to do before the cruise than during the cruise.

[scdreamer]

Hmmm ... part of the reason to upgrade from classic to premium was that we had read some great reviews of the Molecular Bar and its innovative drinks. But the drinks there are not included in the premium package?

 

I know with the classic, if you want a drink that costs more than the "classic" price, you have to pay full price for it (you can't just pay the difference). Is that true for the premium package as well?

[sawyer_boy]

Hmmm ... part of the reason to upgrade from classic to premium was that we had read some great reviews of the Molecular Bar and its innovative drinks. But the drinks there are not included in the premium package?

 

I know with the classic, if you want a drink that costs more than the "classic" price, you have to pay full price for it (you can't just pay the difference). Is that true for the premium package as well?

 

 

All drinks are $13.75 at the molecular bar and they are all covered by the premium package. I'm am 110% positive on this as it's the only night time bar we drink at.

[Daneboy]

Does anyone know if smoothies in the Aqua Spa cafe are included in either of the drink packages? Thank you

[Lsimon]

Hmmm ... part of the reason to upgrade from classic to premium was that we had read some great reviews of the Molecular Bar and its innovative drinks. But the drinks there are not included in the premium package?

 

I know with the classic, if you want a drink that costs more than the "classic" price, you have to pay full price for it (you can't just pay the difference). Is that true for the premium package as well?

 

When we've sailed all the drinks at the Molecular bar were $12 so they'd be included in the Premium Package. With the premium package if the price of a drink is over $12 you pay only the excess over $12 as opposed to the classic package where you pay the entire price if it is over $8.

 

 

All drinks are $13.75 at the molecular bar and they are all covered by the premium package. I'm am 110% positive on this as it's the only night time bar we drink at.

Just so this won't confuse others: Your trip was on an Eclipse sailing out of the the UK. On those sailing all the menu prices are adjusted to include gratuity which is why the Molecular bar prices were $13.75 vs. $12 on all other recent Celebrity sailings. This is due to tipping customs and practices in the UK. My understanding is that since the prices were adjusted up to include the gratuity the beverage package limits were as well.

[Islander500]

Actually this is confirmed. If you look at the prices on Celebrity there are two prices fro prior and onboard:

http://media.celebritycruises.com/celebrity/content/en_US/pdf/celebrity-cruises-beverage-packages-price-flyer.pdf

 

I booked with the perk and upgraded to the premium, just for myself, the total was $115. It is a 10 day cruise, so it was $100 +$15 gratuity for the upgrade.

 

So has the price to upgrade from the Classic to the Premium package increased from $10 per day to $14 per day (if prepaid)?

[Lsimon]

So has the price to upgrade from the Classic to the Premium package increased from $10 per day to $14 per day (if prepaid)?

 

It is not clear if the upgrade price has increased. As I reported in my post above there have been reports of very different responses on this from different people at Celebrity and the last "official" cruise critic posting indicated there is no price increase for the upgrade. See my first post above - the third post in this thread.

 

The flyer that brady19 felt was confirmation of an increase is not. It does not address the upgrade price and it was distributed and seen here on Cruise Critic before the official post by Celebrity Cruises saying that the upgrade price will remain at $10.

 

However, I've not seen any reports here on Cruise Critic from anyone who was reporting an actual on board experience with upgrading on board. Until we see consistent reports of actual experience we will not know for certain despite what anyone from Celebrity says or posts. Unfortunately the information supplied by land based Celebrity customer service is not always accurate when it comes to actual on board policies and procedures.

Edited November 10, 2013 by Lsimon

[brady19]

Does anyone have a price list of drinks on the Equinox or other S Class. Im curious to see this.

[Islander500]

It is not clear if the upgrade price has increased. As I reported in my post above there have been reports of very different responses on this from different people at Celebrity and the last "official" cruise critic posting indicated there is no price increase for the upgrade. See my first post above - the third post in this thread.

 

The flyer that brady19 felt was confirmation of an increase is not. It does not address the upgrade price and it was distributed and seen here on Cruise Critic before the official post by Celebrity Cruises saying that the upgrade price will remain at $10.

 

However, I've not seen any reports here on Cruise Critic from anyone who was reporting an actual on board experience with upgrading on board. Until we see consistent reports of actual experience we will not know for certain despite what anyone from Celebrity says or posts. Unfortunately the information supplied by land based Celebrity customer service is not always accurate when it comes to actual on board policies and procedures.

 

Thanks Larry-

 

I did not click on all the links; just saw the Celebrity flyer. Maybe I'll just try to upgrade now to see if I can get the lower price while Celebrity sorts this all out! :)

[brady19]

@Islander500 I think I mentioned earlier in the post, I upgraded my package to the premium and the cost was $10 per day + 15% gratuity.

 

The way I see it, the Classic package was included as my pick a perk, so it only cost me $115 for the entire premium package.

[Islander500]

@Islander500 I think I mentioned earlier in the post, I upgraded my package to the premium and the cost was $10 per day + 15% gratuity.

 

The way I see it, the Classic package was included as my pick a perk, so it only cost me $115 for the entire premium package.

 

I got confused with the Celebrity flyer in your post, and not reading the entire thread & links. I thought the cost had inceased since you upgraded, but apparently the flyer is incorrect.

[brady19]

I got confused with the Celebrity flyer in your post, and not reading the entire thread & links. I thought the cost had inceased since you upgraded, but apparently the flyer is incorrect.

 

Im not sure why you say the flyer is incorrect?

[Tiggertastic]

we did it on our fjords cruise in september at guest relations - it was $11 a day inclusive of the 15% gratuity and we both did not have to upgrade they it was ok for only 1 to do it

 

We rang captains club before we went and were told that in the UK, we could only do it onboard and that TAs and celebrity UK could not do it

[Lsimon]

I got confused with the Celebrity flyer in your post, and not reading the entire thread & links. I thought the cost had inceased since you upgraded, but apparently the flyer is incorrect.

 

I don't think there is anything incorrect with the flyer. Perhaps you missed the point of it.

 

Celebrity has now increased the on-board prices of the packages with the cost of the premium package going up $5/day if purchased on board. The advance purchase prices are the same and have not been increased. This is the new price structure presented in the flyer and as far as I know it is correct.

 

But the flyer does not address the upgrade price. In the past the Classic package could be upgraded in advance or on board by paying the $10/day (pus 15% service charge) difference in price. The confusion is whether you will have to pay the $15 difference between the advance purchase price of the classic package and the on-board price of the premium package if you upgrade on board or if the upgrade fee will just be the $10 since that is still the cost difference between the packages when you compare the on-board price of the packages or the advance price of the packages. This is particularly relevant these days as there are many cruisers who have received the classic package as part of a promotion and are considering upgrading to the premium package.

 

Those who know they want to upgrade can definitely do so in advance at $10 - we are in that category as we know that we want a few items not included in the classic package. The people really impacted are those who planned to wait until they were on board and had a chance to check things out before deciding whether to upgrade or not.

 

Time will tell if the on board cost will be $15/day or $10/day for the upgrade.

Edited November 10, 2013 by Lsimon

[Islander500]

Im not sure why you say the flyer is incorrect?

 

Because I misread it. I thought the first price listed was the price to upgrade. Senior moment, I guess. :o

[barking16]

Hmmm ... part of the reason to upgrade from classic to premium was that we had read some great reviews of the Molecular Bar and its innovative drinks. But the drinks there are not included in the premium package?

 

I know with the classic, if you want a drink that costs more than the "classic" price, you have to pay full price for it (you can't just pay the difference). Is that true for the premium package as well?

 

We were just on the Celebrity Equinox with the premium package and really enjoyed the Molecular bar (included!)

[SA71]

We upgraded before sailing for $11.50 usd per day. If you upgrade"onboard" then you should expect to pay the "onboard" price ie a $15 difference. If you could upgrade onboard for the same price as beforehand then Celebrity is losing money. Early bird gets the deals...its all marketing.

 

Sent from my SGH-I727R using Forums mobile app

[SNJCruisers]

However, I've not seen any reports here on Cruise Critic from anyone who was reporting an actual on board experience with upgrading on board.

We were on the Summit a few weeks ago and we had chosen the Classic package as part of the 1-2-3 Go Promotion. On board, we upgraded to the Premium package and were charged 11.50 per day. We drank at the Martini Bar all 7 days and thoroughly enjoyed it. I can also report that the price of martini's at the Martini have gone up from 10 to 11.

[gw2fll]

If you request the upgrade to Premium prior to boarding do you have to pay the upgrade charge or can you wait and have it billed to your onboard account?

 

The reason for the question is reading several of the posts it sounds like folks are saying they paid at time of request to upgrade. I recall reading the fine print on the original 1-2-3 Promotion (I wish I kept a copy) and it read that you can request an upgrade at anytime by calling Celebrity (did not have to call your TA) - if I remember correctly, you did not have to pay the upgrade charge immediately, it would be added to your account onboard.

 

I wish someone had a copy of the original offer and could post a copy or exact quote from the flyer / website. (Of course, I am sure somewhere on the page there is a disclaimer about withdrawal or changes, but it would be nice to see.)