Free Classic Beverage Package Question

[Lsimon]

...Can anyone confirm the following:....

 

...2. Specialty coffee drinks are not included with Classic but they are with Premium.

 

Thanks

 

There is a lot of confusion and inconsistency about exactly what is a "Specialty" coffee and what is not, and what is covered by what package. Here is a link to an older thread on the subject which might still be the case on the ships: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=39322013&postcount=14

[gimletgal]

We are doing an Alaskan cruise and selected the "free" Classic Bev Pkg. On our last Celebrity cruise we chose the premium package and really enjoyed it.

 

Can anyone confirm the following:

 

1. You can upgrade from Classic to Premium, even if the Classic was a "freebie". Correct

 

2. Specialty coffee drinks are not included with Classic but they are with Premium. Not true. They are included.

 

Thanks

 

Please see above comments.

[Sandy1975]

packages have some changes--

Some of the liquors that were on the Classic package are now on the Premium

package.

 

And there it goes my Ketel One martinis :mad:

 

I guess I will be OK with Stoli:( Still can't justify upgrading since what I drink the most is still included.

[Sloop-JohnB]

Agree with LSIMON (Reply # 51)

 

The confusion lies in terminology...

 

Premium Coffees (better quality coffee in the form of Espresso, Cafe Americano, Lattes, Capucinnos etc) ARE INCLUDED

 

Specialty Coffees (a BAR Term for Coffees with Alcohol, usually served with Whip Cream) MAY OR MAY NOT BE INCLUDED... It all comes down to:

 

(a) Which Pkg you have... Non Alcohol vs Alcohol

 

And

 

(b) What Alcohol (and how much) will be going into your Specialty Coffee. Some alcohol spirits are found on the Classic List and others on the Premium List

 

If you want to order a Specialty Coffee, ask the Bartender for more info on your preferences, and what Bevvy Pkg would cover it

 

Cheers!

[tootalltrucker]

Thank you for the responses and apologies for not being more specific on my definition of specialty coffees. I was asking about the non alcoholic ones. We sailed on Reflection a couple of months after it launched and I enjoyed having lattes or mochas in the afternoon along with some gelato.

[berryberry]

 

Veranda price is up about $800 per person for our cruise. I have watched the price go up as the beverage package promotion comes and goes. So some people have paid higher price than I did without the beverage package. I have been cruising for 20 years and I sold cruises for a few years. There is no way price is higher by $50 per day with the beverage package. Hell, I had a price of $649 pp for an ocean view to Bermuda (7 day) with the beverage package and prepaid gratuities. If they were adding the beverage package to the price, the price without the beverage package should be $300 pp. Let me know when you see that price!

 

You clearly do not get it. As numerous people have pointed out, including myself, that "free" beverage package is indeed built into the cost people pay. Can you find an isolated exception to the rule based on specific timing / itinerary - sure, but that is just that - a very isolated incident

[blindrid]

You clearly do not get it. As numerous people have pointed out, including myself, that "free" beverage package is indeed built into the cost people pay. Can you find an isolated exception to the rule based on specific timing / itinerary - sure, but that is just that - a very isolated incident

 

She also drinks the kook-aid as we all know, it's not dollar for dollar. I don't think the retail price is added. Obviously knows nothing about marketing. I'll guarantee the cruise lines knows the true cost of the package on average. In my world, my average alcohol expenditures is probably $70-$80 a day. Thus we never buy the package. The house would come out ahead on us, day in and day out.

[llarsen]

This will be our first time on Celebrity. We chose the Classic Beverage Package as a perk for our upcoming cruise.

 

I see on their website that the difference in price for Classic verses Premium is 10.00 day.

 

If we upgrade to Premium, I assume the charge would be 10.00 day x the length of the cruise.

 

My question is:

If we upgrade midway through our cruise, do we only pay the difference in price for the remaining days or is the upgrade charge still calculated for the entire length of cruise?

 

Thanks!

[adirondak camper]

If we get the 123Go Classic Alcohol Package with our cabin, does it include the things on the non alcohol package too? Like the specialty coffees and water, smoothies and the soda's?

[gsb]

This will be our first time on Celebrity. We chose the Classic Beverage Package as a perk for our upcoming cruise.

 

I see on their website that the difference in price for Classic verses Premium is 10.00 day.

 

If we upgrade to Premium, I assume the charge would be 10.00 day x the length of the cruise.

 

My question is:

If we upgrade midway through our cruise, do we only pay the difference in price for the remaining days or is the upgrade charge still calculated for the entire length of cruise?

 

Thanks!

 

You pay for the days remaining. You can't wait until the last two days to do it.

Three day minimum.

[gsb]

If we get the 123Go Classic Alcohol Package with our cabin, does it include the things on the non alcohol package too? Like the specialty coffees and water, smoothies and the soda's?

 

All these are included.

[Sloop-JohnB]

If we get the 123Go Classic Alcohol Package with our cabin, does it include the things on the non alcohol package too? Like the specialty coffees and water, smoothies and the soda's?

 

Yes. See the complete list of inclusions here that was posted by CC Member CELEBRITY CRUISES Official Rep at the end of May 2014 (last time there was a revision)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2048745

 

BTW... Specialty Coffee is a Bartending Term (meaning Coffee with Alcohol... Such as an Irish Coffee). For more info on this see my post above in Reply # 54. Fancy Coffees (such as Cafe Americano, Capucinno, Latte etc) are properly called Premium Coffees. They are covered on both the Classic Non-Alcohol & Classic Alchol Pkgs. Specialty Coffees being covered depends both on what alcohols you wish in them and how much... You need to discuss your preferences & coverage with the Bartender at Cafe al Bacio

 

 

This will be our first time on Celebrity. We chose the Classic Beverage Package as a perk for our upcoming cruise.

 

I see on their website that the difference in price for Classic verses Premium is 10.00 day.

 

If we upgrade to Premium, I assume the charge would be 10.00 day x the length of the cruise.

 

My question is:

If we upgrade midway through our cruise, do we only pay the difference in price for the remaining days or is the upgrade charge still calculated for the entire length of cruise?

 

Thanks!

 

Cost to upgrade is $ 10.00 PLUS 15% Grat = $ 11.50 US per day (but actually charged per night remaining on your cruise)

 

You can upgrade now by phone (charged now) or when you are on the ship

 

Cost goes into effect immediately when you upgrade for however many remaining nights on your cruise. You are covered thru to when you disembark (including D-Day)

 

Once you upgrade pkg is not retroactive... So anything reviously charged at full price on your SeaPass Account will remain there.

 

And as stated by GSB (Reply # 60) the Upgrade Option does not last thru the entire cruise... At a point they cut it off

 

If you have the Classic Pkg under a Celebrity Booking Promo (ie Pick Your Perk - 123Go - All Incluive) and wish to upgrade, tell Celebrity which Promo Relates so they get the coding right and you just get charged for the Upgrade (ie 123Go Classic Alcohol to Premium Alcohol Upgrade)

 

Hope this helps,

 

Cheers!

Edited November 20, 2014 by Sloop-JohnB

[llarsen]

Sounds perfect! Thanks for all the information!

[Moksha22]

Confused about how they deal with gratuity . Should the classic beverage package drink, plus 15% gratuity, be within the specified price limit?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Moksha22

[SNJCruisers]

No the gratuity is not involved regarding the price limit of the classic package. If you have the classic package factored into your cruise such as the 123 promotion, then the 15% gratuity is already taken care of by Celebrity. If you are buying the package on your own, then the 15% is added to the daily charge

[Moksha22]

No the gratuity is not involved regarding the price limit of the classic package. If you have the classic package factored into your cruise such as the 123 promotion, then the 15% gratuity is already taken care of by Celebrity. If you are buying the package on your own, then the 15% is added to the daily charge

 

Thanks a heap, this is most helpful

[Lsimon]

Confused about how they deal with gratuity . Should the classic beverage package drink, plus 15% gratuity, be within the specified price limit?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Moksha22

 

No the gratuity is not involved regarding the price limit of the classic package. If you have the classic package factored into your cruise such as the 123 promotion, then the 15% gratuity is already taken care of by Celebrity. If you are buying the package on your own, then the 15% is added to the daily charge

 

There are a couple of exceptions to SNJ's comment. On cruises that are round trip from the UK they do increase the menu prices to include the gratuity due to differing tipping customs in the UK. On those cruises I understand the package drink limits are also increased accordingly. So you'll find both the drink prices and the package limits on those cruises higher than a cruise in the USA or other European ports. I believe that I recently read they do the same thing on cruises in Australia but I'm not certain of that.

Edited December 1, 2014 by Lsimon

[SeaTurt1e]

Hi all,

 

I'm going on Reflection this coming Saturday, and we have the promotional beverage package, but I'm seeing a lot of reviews saying bar service is TERRIBLE... what's the point of "free" drinks if there's nobody at the bar to serve them? Is this common with Celebrity, or only because of this promotion?

 

My wife and I are not heavy drinkers, maybe a glass or two of wine with dinner is about it, maybe a beer or two while watching a football game, but it's concerning to think that it will be more of a chore to get served because we got this supposedly unlimited package.

 

Comments?

[lborne]

Hi all,

 

I'm going on Reflection this coming Saturday, and we have the promotional beverage package, but I'm seeing a lot of reviews saying bar service is TERRIBLE... what's the point of "free" drinks if there's nobody at the bar to serve them? Is this common with Celebrity, or only because of this promotion?

 

My wife and I are not heavy drinkers, maybe a glass or two of wine with dinner is about it, maybe a beer or two while watching a football game, but it's concerning to think that it will be more of a chore to get served because we got this supposedly unlimited package.

 

Comments?

 

Just got off the Connie and yes, the bar service was slow. It was most frustrating at the pool bar. They set up a temporary bar by the grill that served beer, soda and limited wines which helped, but sometimes there was no one behind it and you'd have to find someone to ask to get the bar tender. Wine with dinner was not a problem at the main dining room.

[gsb]

Hi all,

 

I'm going on Reflection this coming Saturday, and we have the promotional beverage package, but I'm seeing a lot of reviews saying bar service is TERRIBLE... what's the point of "free" drinks if there's nobody at the bar to serve them? Is this common with Celebrity, or only because of this promotion?

 

My wife and I are not heavy drinkers, maybe a glass or two of wine with dinner is about it, maybe a beer or two while watching a football game, but it's concerning to think that it will be more of a chore to get served because we got this supposedly unlimited package.

 

Comments?

 

I don't think you'll have much of a problem on the Reflection.

Make sure to get a seat at the Martini Bar--you can get any drink there, not just martinis. And don't forget the sunset bar on aft 15--some cruisers never make it back there--it's a treat.

[cruisestitch]

We never found "terrible" bar service at any time on the Eclipse TA. Once in a while it took a little longer than we might have liked to get a refill, but terrible? Far from it.

[twoflyers]

Hi all,

 

I'm going on Reflection this coming Saturday, and we have the promotional beverage package, but I'm seeing a lot of reviews saying bar service is TERRIBLE... what's the point of "free" drinks if there's nobody at the bar to serve them? Is this common with Celebrity, or only because of this promotion?

 

My wife and I are not heavy drinkers, maybe a glass or two of wine with dinner is about it, maybe a beer or two while watching a football game, but it's concerning to think that it will be more of a chore to get served because we got this supposedly unlimited package.

 

Comments?

My DH and I got off the Reflection on 11/22 and we found the bar service onboard to be very disorganized. The popular bars, The Sunset Bar and the Passport Bar, were understaffed and underprovisioned at peak times like port departures. A constant rotation of bartenders and wait staff who seemed to respond to the person yelling the loudest. Bartenders leaving the bar untended to get a bottle of vodka or gin at the busiest time, right before the 6:00 and 8:30 dinner times. Why wasn't the bar properly provisioned at the start of the shift? Mystifying!!

Never saw a bar manager or someone who appeared to be in charge. The other factor, they are not staffing to the number of passengers who have "drink packages". Not surprisingly, these folks may have a few more drinks than those who are paying per drink, yet the bar staffing is not adjusted to handle the passenger volume.

We did not run into a problem at the pool areas, but chose to get our own drinks, not wait for waitstaff. Overall, not a good experience. We are glad we did not pay "out of pocket" for the perk, but paid to receive it as part of our cruisefare. In the end, you always pay, one way or another.

On the plus side, as another post mentions, the wine service in the dining room was professional and responsive. No complaints at either lunch or dinner.

[ghstudio]

Yes. See the complete list of inclusions here that was posted by CC Member CELEBRITY CRUISES Official Rep at the end of May 2014 (last time there was a revision)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2048745

 

 

However since that post in May, a new list has appeared on the celebrity web site, significantly reducing the options. Items that were listed by Celebrity cruises as being in the classic package, now only show in the premium package.

 

Truth is, no one knows what the bartender on the ship believes is in the package, so it is actually foolish to believe any of the lists. Wait until you get on board if you are thinking of upgrading to premium...it doesn't cost any more. Oh..I should mention that if you ask different bartenders about a specific liquor, some may say it's included in classic and others may say it's not. There is no consistency....and having a list, be it from celebrity cruises or from the celebrity web site isn't going to help because no one knows which, if either, is the official celebrity list.

[Northern Aurora]

There are a couple of exceptions to SNJ's comment. On cruises that are round trip from the UK they do increase the menu prices to include the gratuity due to differing tipping customs in the UK. On those cruises I understand the package drink limits are also increased accordingly. So you'll find both the drink prices and the package limits on those cruises higher than a cruise in the USA or other European ports. I believe that I recently read they do the same thing on cruises in Australia but I'm not certain of that.

 

We were recently on the Century for thirty-five nights. On the San Francisco to Sydney TP drink prices were what we expected, with a 15% gratuity included. On the second leg of that B2B, a South Pacific cruise in and out of Sydney on which 1500 of the passengers were Australian, drink prices were increased to reflect (include) the 15% gratuity.

[cruisestitch]

I was wondering if/when Celebrity would start to do this on Australian cruises the same way they change prices to include gratuity on cruises that leave from Britain. Thanks for noticing and posting this information.