Perks question

[ajee622]

So as you can see by my posts I'm about to book a celebrity cruise and want to make sure I cover all my bases.

 

I intend on booking the upgrade where it's premium drinks, $300 obc per room, free wifi 2 people, and tips included for 2.

 

A few questions around this.

 

1) so you are saying I can drink as much as I want that's on the premium list?? I mean it has Red Bull's, premium water, top shelf liquors. How can this be??

 

2) obc I've read can be used for most things on the cruise but casino. So I'll get $300 obc??

 

3) wifi is self explanatory

 

4) tips. So this includes the tip I would normally include for the room. Does it also include drink tips??

 

I don't know how the cruise line can do this and make money. I honestly plan to drink probably 15 drinks a day. So what is the catch??

 

Also I play in the casino. I don't want to carry thousands of $$ on my onto the ship. When I cruise carnival I can just show them my room key and they will charge me like 3% of what I buy in with. Is celebrity the same??

 

 

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[grandgeezer]

So as you can see by my posts I'm about to book a celebrity cruise and want to make sure I cover all my bases.

 

I intend on booking the upgrade where it's premium drinks, $300 obc per room, free wifi 2 people, and tips included for 2.

 

A few questions around this.

 

1) so you are saying I can drink as much as I want that's on the premium list?? I mean it has Red Bull's, premium water, top shelf liquors. How can this be??

 

2) obc I've read can be used for most things on the cruise but casino. So I'll get $300 obc??

 

3) wifi is self explanatory

 

4) tips. So this includes the tip I would normally include for the room. Does it also include drink tips??

 

I don't know how the cruise line can do this and make money. I honestly plan to drink probably 15 drinks a day. So what is the catch??

 

Also I play in the casino. I don't want to carry thousands of $$ on my onto the ship. When I cruise carnival I can just show them my room key and they will charge me like 3% of what I buy in with. Is celebrity the same??

 

 

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The tips for the drinks are included with the drink package.

You can have as many drinks as you want unless you get out of control and they'll cut you off. You can only get one drink at a time.

How do they make money? What they charge for the drink and what they actually pay are entirely different. Easy math: They charge $7.08 for a domestic beer, with tip. If someone drinks 15 of them, without the drink package, they pay $106.20 including tip. I buy it on sale for $.60 per can, with tax, so 15 cost $8. That's a profit of $98. At their volume they probably pay $.50 per can. I'm sure liquor and wine are similar. I'm sure a lot of people don't drink that much so I'm guessing alcohol is their biggest profit item on the whole ship.

The obc is nonrefundable which means use it or lose it. If any of it is left at the end of the cruise you lose it. You can spend it on such things as specialty restaraunts, spa treatments, tours and things from the gift shop.

[vatofla2009]

Can you use The $300 on board credit for gratuities or casino?

[Bo1953]

The $300 can be used towards gratuities or any anything other you may credit to your cabin.

 

To the OP, do not worry about how X is making money as it is obvious they are at least breaking even or this would change to some or great degree so they would be making money... take advantage of the perks and have fun.

 

bon voyage

[Chunky2219]

They can afford to do it because they buy booze in volume a lot cheaper than you or I could get it. They also don't expect the majority of passengers on the deal to stick their snouts so deep in the trough that they risk serious liver damage before the end of the cruise. Mr Average Cruiser will be enjoying a drink but not getting off his face.

 

By all means, get your money's worth and more. A deal is a deal and you've paid for it.

 

 

.

[ajee622]

Yeah I mean I know they are making money but when you compare this to what I've paid on carnival this is a huge deal.

 

It basically cost me $600 more for this upgrade. I get $300 back on obc and at least $250 if you factor in tips for the room and $1 a drink. Wifi is negligible. I've bought it before and would probably again but then the drinks. Man I'm going to drink this ship under the table.

 

 

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[ajee622]

Oh also on carnival it's about $55 per person per day and anyone that's 21 or over has to get it so $110 a day. 4 day cruise it's $440. I think all the alcoholics are going to be cruising celebrity. Haha

 

 

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[Bo1953]

Yeah I mean I know they are making money but when you compare this to what I've paid on carnival this is a huge deal.

 

It basically cost me $600 more for this upgrade. I get $300 back on obc and at least $250 if you factor in tips for the room and $1 a drink. Wifi is negligible. I've bought it before and would probably again but then the drinks. Man I'm going to drink this ship under the table.

 

 

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Ohhh, I do wish to be on your sailing to witness...

 

bon voyage

[Jim_Iain]

I think the way that they can offer the perks is rather simple. If you look at cruise prices over the years they have increased the base price of the cruise to include the incremental cost of the perks. Somme call it a shell game.

 

On a cruise I have booked they recently dropped the prices of the cabins by about 800 but reduced the perks from 4 perks to 1.

 

They also use the perks as a way of inducing bookings instead of dropping the price. I do also believe that they figure that many on the cruise will drink less than the average cost of the package. I am sure there are many like myself who always travel in Suites but do not drink.

[Russterus]

Whatever the math is, hard and fast rule for any business is what they promote leads to them making the most money. In this case, Celebrity promotes the drink packages because they are wonderful revenue and profit generators. Most people won't drink the ship under the table and for those that do, I am pretty sure they still will make a profit.

 

I do get the drink packages for a lot of reasons, personally. Fine with me if Celebrity makes a nice coin, I am satisfied on my side.

 

 

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Edited December 21, 2016 by Russterus

[Charles4515]

They can afford to do it because they buy booze in volume a lot cheaper than you or I could get it. They also don't expect the majority of passengers on the deal to stick their snouts so deep in the trough that they risk serious liver damage before the end of the cruise. Mr Average Cruiser will be enjoying a drink but not getting off his face.

 

By all means, get your money's worth and more. A deal is a deal and you've paid for it.

 

 

.

 

 

 

Exactly. I had the premium package but that didn't cause me to go crazy and have 15 drinks a day. I had my normal number on a cruise which is two with alcohol and two specialty coffees and a water every day. I did the premium package because I wanted a single malt or Martini bar as one beverage every day. Friends in my group had a few more drinks than I did but they were mild drinks like Pina Coladas and Mud Slides. I am sure Celebrity comes out way ahead on both the Classic and Premium packages. Plus they buy in volume get the bottles duty free.

 

 

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Edited December 21, 2016 by Charles4515

[Braveheart11]

There are NO free lunches. You pay one way or another on these perks.

[Bo1953]

Whatever the math is, hard and fast rule for any business is what they promote leads to them making the most money. In this case, Celebrity promotes the drink packages because they are wonderful revenue and profit generators. Most people won't drink the ship under the table and for those that do, I am pretty sure they still will make a profit.

 

I do get the drink packages for a lot of reasons, personally. Fine with me if Celebrity makes a nice coin, I am satisfied on my side.

 

 

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ibid - thank you

[sanger727]

I think celebrity has been offering a good value lately. Many of their longer and more unique itineraries are ridiculously priced, but they still do 7 day caribbeans for a good price. Anymore I'm booking cruises primarily with NCL and celebrity due to the free drink package they give at booking so sure they find it profitable in the long run. Feel like drink prices on the cruise have gone ridiculously high due to so many people having the packages, but no way am I paying an extra $50 a day for them.

 

Now the go best rate you are quoting varies on how good a deal it is based on the length of your cruise. They want an extra $45 a day for it. You will already pay $25 extra per day for grats and upgrading the classic drink package to premium. So it just comes down to how much OBC you get per day (since it's a straight $300) For a 7 day cruise it's a good deal. For 10-15, it's debatable, over 15, not that great a deal at all.

 

 

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Edited December 21, 2016 by sanger727

[Mr&MrsBee]

Just off the Silhouette with a Go Best Package. Had premium drinks. Two other cruises I have booked the same with the premium package. Now booked another cruise and inquired on the computer and Go Best does not include premium but the classic package. Can't get an answer. Does anyone have an answer? Has policy changed? Thank you for your comments.

[Jeremiah1212]

Just off the Silhouette with a Go Best Package. Had premium drinks. Two other cruises I have booked the same with the premium package. Now booked another cruise and inquired on the computer and Go Best does not include premium but the classic package. Can't get an answer. Does anyone have an answer? Has policy changed? Thank you for your comments.

 

 

I think there are changes coming. Someone mentioned earlier about calling in and getting perks quoted on cruises that show none available online. You are correct though. It is showing Classic Beverages not Premium under Go Best.

 

 

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[galensgrl]

I think celebrity has been offering a good value lately. Many of their longer and more unique itineraries are ridiculously priced, but they still do 7 day caribbeans for a good price. Anymore I'm booking cruises primarily with NCL and celebrity due to the free drink package they give at booking so sure they find it profitable in the long run. Feel like drink prices on the cruise have gone ridiculously high due to so many people having the packages, but no way am I paying an extra $50 a day for them.

 

Now the go best rate you are quoting varies on how good a deal it is based on the length of your cruise. They want an extra $45 a day for it. You will already pay $25 extra per day for grats and upgrading the classic drink package to premium. So it just comes down to how much OBC you get per day (since it's a straight $300) For a 7 day cruise it's a good deal. For 10-15, it's debatable, over 15, not that great a deal at all.

 

 

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We just booked for May, and we feel Celebrity offered us a very good value. We take one cruise per year. We have cruised with NCL, and Holland America, we have cruised with each several times. Decided we'd like to see what Celebrity has to offer but we were expecting prohibitively high prices. Much to our surprise, we were able to book a Sky Suite and get all 4 perks - premium drink package, gratuities, internet and OBC - for under $5000 for both of us for a one week cruise to Bermuda. I am still in awe of the deal we got. A similar set up on Holland would have cost us several thousand more than that, which is too bad because we like Holland America. I really was surprised to get such a great deal, and we can hardly wait to set foot onboard to see what it's like with Celebrity. Looking forward to trying that thalassotherapy pool. Can hardly wait until May! Cheers.

Edited December 21, 2016 by galensgrl
Correct a mistake

[galensgrl]

Just off the Silhouette with a Go Best Package. Had premium drinks. Two other cruises I have booked the same with the premium package. Now booked another cruise and inquired on the computer and Go Best does not include premium but the classic package. Can't get an answer. Does anyone have an answer? Has policy changed? Thank you for your comments.

 

I just went and looked on the celebrity site. For the Go Best package when booking a Suite, the first two guests get a Premium beverage package, and if you have more than 2 people in the cabin, anyone else (3rd, 4th, 5th guests etc.) in your suite cabin receives the non-alcoholic Classic beverage package. At least that's what the X site says about the Go Best perks for suites. Not sure about the other cabin categories. It also states that the extra guests receive a 40 minute internet package. And $800 off your cruise fare, site states that this deal ends December 27th, 2016.

Edited December 21, 2016 by galensgrl

[ajee622]

Well it's booked. Lady who we spoke with at celebrity told us it's the premium package. We ended up getting the 2 rooms balcony and my moms going too.

 

Im hoping this is the nice blend of party/luxury I'm looking for.

 

If not I'm sure it will be relaxing

 

 

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[cruiseri]

So as you can see by my posts I'm about to book a celebrity cruise and want to make sure I cover all my bases.

 

I intend on booking the upgrade where it's premium drinks, $300 obc per room, free wifi 2 people, and tips included for 2.

 

A few questions around this.

 

 

2) obc I've read can be used for most things on the cruise but casino. So I'll get $300 obc??

 

 

Let's say I have $300 in OBC (which I assume appear as a credit against my ship account) If I go to the casino and put $200 on my casino account, which will result in a $200 charge on my cruise account, then I gamble, as a result of that night's action in the casino I have a loss of $150. Can I then ask the casino cashier to cash me out, i.e. hand me the resultant $50 remaining on my casino account in cash?

 

TIA

SAS

[globevest]

We just booked for May, and we feel Celebrity offered us a very good value. We take one cruise per year. We have cruised with NCL, and Holland America, we have cruised with each several times. Decided we'd like to see what Celebrity has to offer but we were expecting prohibitively high prices. Much to our surprise, we were able to book a Sky Suite and get all 4 perks - premium drink package, gratuities, internet and OBC - for under $5000 for both of us for a one week cruise to Bermuda. I am still in awe of the deal we got. A similar set up on Holland would have cost us several thousand more than that, which is too bad because we like Holland America. I really was surprised to get such a great deal, and we can hardly wait to set foot onboard to see what it's like with Celebrity. Looking forward to trying that thalassotherapy pool. Can hardly wait until May! Cheers.

d

 

We have just returned from a 7 day cruise on Summit Aqua Class for less than $4000 for both of us including the 4 perks premium drinks, gratuities. internet and $300 OBC. I don't drink alcohol, my DW does even so I thought it was a very good deal. I drank plenty of soft drinks and alcohol free concoctions and I was very satisfied.

[ajee622]

I'm going to probably find that out because I usually don't take all my gambling money with me because I don't want to carry a few thousand on me. I'm just going to pay the 5% fee and take it off the sea pass card. In the end the credit card company views it as a purchase and not a cash advance even though the casino is giving you chips that you can then cash in. I'm assuming that on board credit would go to any charges. Unless celebrity has something in their system that will recognize it's from the casino. It wouldn't be bad though to start the vacation with $300 of celebrities cash

 

 

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[Tedferg]

Interesting - we are booked on Eastern Caribbean, Reflection Mar 4 2017. I chose Go Better, Drinks and 300 OBC. Figuring to pay for tips and Premium upgrade with OBC. Go Best would have preserved OBC but was not sure we would use it. And it cost $410 more than Go Better.

 

I was just thinking of using OBC to pay for excursions and wondering if we are allowed to upgrade after final payment. No need to do the math since Go Best is now Classic package. :mad:

 

I wonder if this is a website error - Go Best is now definitely not worth the extra $$$

[ajee622]

Yeah I wouldn't probably book go best on a 7-15 day cruise. I'm doing a 4 day cruise so I can drink my money worth in 3 noghts

 

 

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[Jeremiah1212]

They may be taking a NCL approach. If you were to pay the $150ish for two people on a 7 day to upgrade to premium, that extra money would more than cover their cost for your alcohol even if you're a heavy drinker. It definitely diminishes the value of Go Best.

 

 

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