Room bar setup

[Luckynana]

Can I wait until I'm on the ship to order a bar setup for my room, or do I have to order prior to the cruise? I was hoping to use my onboard credit to pay for it if possible. :rolleyes:

[cle-guy]

I just looked in my in-cabin amenities guide I scanned on my last cruise.

 

You can purchase on board, $79 or $99 depending on the brand of liquor.

 

18% gratuity will be added if bought on board, if you do it in advance, there is no gratuity.

 

On board it includes 1 bottle, 6 cans soda mixers, fruit and nut tray and choice of Vodka, Gin, Rum, Scotch and Bourbon.

[maggie.1008]

$100. for a bottle of Bacardi Rum seems way out of line. We can buy a half gallon for $15. in California. No wonder people want to sneak booze on board. I have bought Bacardi for in room bar on other lines and not near as much. Seems a bit greedy on X `s part.

[cb at sea]

I agree...they really push the profit margin on booze! And CANS of mixer???? I couldn't use an entire can at one sitting....they would go flat in a jiffy!

[Lsimon]

$100. for a bottle of Bacardi Rum seems way out of line. We can buy a half gallon for $15. in California. No wonder people want to sneak booze on board. I have bought Bacardi for in room bar on other lines and not near as much. Seems a bit greedy on X `s part.

 

Unfortunately, Celebrity does not run a retail package liquor store for on board consumption. You should expect to pay bar/restaurant/resort/cruise type prices for all extra cost beverages purchased on board from Water to Wine to Whisky. So if sailing Celebrity leave those thoughts of retail prices behind and you'll enjoy yourself a lot more.

[cruisestitch]

Figure out how many drinks you pour from a bottle.

Then figure what those drinks would cost you at a bar on board.

Looked at it that way, what they charge for a bottle is not out of line.

[cle-guy]

Figure out how many drinks you pour from a bottle.

Then figure what those drinks would cost you at a bar on board.

Looked at it that way, what they charge for a bottle is not out of line.

 

I did this a while back, assuming 2 oz pours of liquor in a rocks glass. The package price comes out to be a bit ahead for sure, but also limits consumption to 1 drink!

 

It ends up being fairly close.

[dkjretired]

You can order it before you get on the ship. If you go to your my Celebrity you will find it under the drink package area. Generally you will get a bottle, 6 pack of soda and a jar of nuts.

[Olive1950]

$100. for a bottle of Bacardi Rum seems way out of line. We can buy a half gallon for $15. in California. No wonder people want to sneak booze on board. I have bought Bacardi for in room bar on other lines and not near as much. Seems a bit greedy on X `s part.

 

Be sure that you include this point on your post-cruise survey. Many folks forget to mention this travesty.

[maggie.1008]

So how much do you think X pays for a bottle of Bacardi ? Still a huge mark up . We always stay in Aq or suites and are Blue Chip members in the casino. We don`t mind spending money just don`t like being ripped off. Yes I know Casino can be a rip off too. Nice to have a drink in your room without going to the bar. I doubt X pays more than the $15. for a half gallon that we pay in California.

[disneyneighbor]

The bottles are 1-liter not 750 ml

[cle-guy]

The bottle pricing is clearly meant to be commensurate with individual drink prices.

 

Bottle service for a bottle of vodka at the hotel I live at is $350 per bottle. $75, a bargain!

[jabrown40]

The difference is that the bar drinks have to be made and served by someone other than myself. I'm making my own drinks. Its a ridiculous mark-up, and the mistake Celebrity makes is that it discourages buying the bar package. If the price was reasonable, I'd go for it.

[maggie.1008]

I guess we are spoiled in California. Hard Liquor is cheap. A half gallon is less that a nice bottle of wine.

[cruisestitch]

An 8 X 10 photo at my local Walgreens costs about $2. On board, it costs about $20. There are many examples like this. Cruise ships aren't your local store. You really can't make comparisons to what you might pay in your hometown.

[Luckynana]

Thank you everyone! As Curt mentioned, I can order my bar setup once onboard, albeit with an 18% gratuity; but at least I can use my onboard credit to purchase it! :) I do enjoy my cocktail in the room while getting ready for dinner!:D

[gergles]

An 8 X 10 photo at my local Walgreens costs about $2. On board, it costs about $20. There are many examples like this. Cruise ships aren't your local store. You really can't make comparisons to what you might pay in your hometown.

This is true but completely irrelevant; the cost of a professional photo taken on board is unrelated to the cost of you printing your own photo at a kiosk. A bottle of booze is a bottle of booze, there's nothing different about it being on the ship other than "you're a captive audience, time to pay up."

 

None of this means that X shouldn't be berated for charging extortionate prices for their drinks to make alcohol packages look like a better value. The drinks have to be expensive to make the package price look competitive.

Edited August 29, 2015 by gergles

[springfire]

I have noticed some deals are better than others on the bar setup. Most prices are high but on some bottles the deal is not as bad. I will take advantage of this deal so we can enjoy drinks on our balcony.

[chemmo]

As someone else said, if you want a drink in your room you pay....You know it is not a bargain, but you are happy with the freedom it gives you.

 

One of the things that really used to annoy us on RCCL was the lack of ability to purchase a bar set up. You could book a higher end suite room with a bar area and then not be able to buy bottles to stock it!

[Flatbush Flyer]

I guess we are spoiled in California. Hard Liquor is cheap. A half gallon is less that a nice bottle of wine.

 

 

Clearly, you're missing the point. The key is that, in California (or anywhere else), YOU drive to the store or otherwise do the labor of acquiring, storing, setting up and disposing of that bottle.

 

The ship's cost for the actual bottle is certainly less than what you pay. But, there is a cost for everything else that goes with it ending up in your room.

 

And, then, you are correct that there is profit, which is marked up to roughly equate to the ship's bar prices. But, it is a business and the cruise line will charge what its market will bear. In addition, if you have chosen your TA wisely, you can always use their added OBC to pay for some (or all) of your bar bill.

 

I always chuckle when CC posters praise a mass market cruise line and then bemoan it's nickel/dime add-ons.

 

If you are doing international cruising, which includes air travel, you (as a Celebrity cruiser) should really consider a more inclusive premium or luxury cruise line where airfare, specialty restaurants, beverages, etc are part of the "higher" cabin price (not to mention better food, service etcal.). When looked at as a daily rate for the total cost of the trip, you may find that Celebrity no longer "floats your boat."

 

Finally, as a Californian, shouldn't you be drinking a little better quality rum like Appleton V/X or, at least, Mount Gay Eclipse?

Edited August 29, 2015 by Flatbush Flyer

[maggie.1008]

I have been on 45 cruises on 10 different lines. Have been on all the luxury lines except Seabourn. I am a loyal fan of Celebrity with 23 cruises. I will continue to enjoy my cruises with them and leave next month in a suite to Honolulu. Still think their price on bar set up is too much. If they lowered the price even a bit more people would buy it and they would still make a large profit.

[cruisestitch]

And keep in mind that there are costs to the ship --

 

inventory costs (ordering, counting, storing, security, etc)

delivery to your room (manpower)

clean up of your used glassware (manpower)

delivery of your ice

 

etc. etc.

 

It just doesn't work to compare what you pay for a bottle of liquor at your local store to what you pay on the ship. Other than the actual bottle itself, the other costs aren't the same.

[WisRiver]

We used some of our OBC to order the room bar set up on the April, 2015 transatlantic crossing on the Constellation. We like a tall evening gin and tonic while getting ready for dinner. Before we boarded in Fort Lauderdale when went to Winn Dixie near our hotel and bought bottles of tonic water, coke zero (not to mix with gin), cans of mixed nuts and 8 limes. The room bar set up came with a liter of gin, 6 cans of tonic and a box of snacks. We ordered them when we were in our cabin before muster drill, and they were delivered before 5 PM. The mixers and limes held out to Funchal.

[gergles]

And keep in mind that there are costs to the ship --

 

inventory costs (ordering, counting, storing, security, etc)

delivery to your room (manpower)

clean up of your used glassware (manpower)

delivery of your ice

 

etc. etc.

 

It just doesn't work to compare what you pay for a bottle of liquor at your local store to what you pay on the ship. Other than the actual bottle itself, the other costs aren't the same.

 

Retail stores have inventory costs too, which are accounted for in the retail price.

Delivery is already included thanks to the gigantic fleet of room stewards and room service personnel - or sure, double the price then for the delivery service. I don't think anybody would complain about a 2x or hell, even a 3x markup. But 6.5x is unconscionable.

Glassware and ice are already provided in the rooms.

 

Of course it works to compare equivalent products. The logic of defending 6.5x markups over retail for alcohol that exist simply because they know you have to pay it is what I don't understand.

 

Nevermind the fact that X buys alcohol from places with low or nonexistent alcohol taxes so they actually get it even cheaper!

 

As I said before, the non-package alcohol prices are ludicrous, regardless of people making up costs to try to justify them, and they are ludicrous solely to make the (equally ludicrous) alcohol package prices look like a good deal.

Edited August 29, 2015 by gergles

[bEwAbG]

As I said before, the non-package alcohol prices are ludicrous, regardless of people making up costs to try to justify them, and they are ludicrous solely to make the (equally ludicrous) alcohol package prices look like a good deal.

 

Everything (individual bottles and beverage packages) is priced based on the cost of individual drinks. If they sold bottles of booze for retail, everyone would just be mixing their own drinks. They want people paying bar prices because that's how they make money. Same reason why Disney charges so much for food you buy in their parks or Marriott charges $18 for a room service hamburger. It's part of the business model.