Price rise on the Premium Drinks Package effective 15th May 2018

[dutchclogs]

I would be surprised if you would be charged tax pre cruise but you would have to check with Celebrity to be certain.

[chamima]

I've read on previous posts that when upgrading or just purchasing the drink packages onboard, you may be charged the tax of the current port you are in if they process the charge before the ship leaves port. Does anyone know if I'll be charged tax on the upgrade if I do it now rather than wait until I board the ship?

 

Thanks.

Tracey

 

No tax.

Before I called I calculated what I thought the up-charge would be ($11.80 x 2 x number of days of cruise) and it came out to exactly that.

[Purplsmurf]

I am also thankful for whoever found Out this info. I contacted my TA this morning and she knew nothing about it. She quickly did some digging and confirmed the change. When I called Celebrity she said that she wasn’t even aware of it. She only knew because I was about the 10th person she talked to today that was up grading.

[Peggy Sue]

I upgraded our 2019 cruises last night .. then we decided we were silly not to go ahead and upgrade our 2020 cruises as well ---so called again this evening and completed our upgrades. I asked if this was the last night at the current prices, and the representative confirmed that they have now been made aware of the price change, and the changes will be effective tomorrow. So glad we made the changes now. Thanks again to the original poster for bringing this change to our attention!

[RICCruisers]

I've read on previous posts that when upgrading or just purchasing the drink packages onboard, you may be charged the tax of the current port you are in if they process the charge before the ship leaves port. Does anyone know if I'll be charged tax on the upgrade if I do it now rather than wait until I board the ship?

 

 

 

Thanks.

 

Tracey

 

 

 

We upgraded in the Med 2 years ago and yes they charged the VAT. Upgrade now and there is No tax.

 

 

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[iambumbo]

We took the classic drink package as a perk for our March 2019 cruise and because I couldn't find the upgrade option through our cruise planner, I'm going to call Celebrity tonight to upgrade to premium thanks to your helpful tips.

 

Last cruise we loved getting the smoothies at the Aqua Spa Cafe with the premium package. I don't see anything in the current drink package comparison sheets to suggest that's still included with the premium-- anyone have any feedback on whether smoothies are still included with premium drink packages?

[dresterj]

Ugh! Without knowing about the upcoming price increase I tried to upgrade from Classic to Premium package this evening to take advantage of the 25% off sale. When I tried online it would only offer the full sale price (48.75/night) for the Premium package, not the difference between the two packages. I called Captain's Club and the representative was not willing to do the upgrade because I made the reservation through a TA (those who got it done otherwise, lucky you!). The only thing she suggested was having my TA try first thing in the morning...I have very little confidence that that will work.

 

And now, that I have read that the price difference will increase, I am really disappointed that I was not able to get upgraded!

[andrek]

They were very happy to do it for us and we booked through a online travel agency. I always hang up and try to get another person. The agent was just being lazy.

Andrea

[dutchclogs]

Not checked if the premium price increase is already showing, you may be lucky first thing?

I was given explanation yesterday by Captains club rep that no perks were showing up on my reservation so I had to call my TA. I phoned later to speak to customer services who also said this but then delved deeper and was able to adjust / update reservation so I could upgrade directly. In my case, a special procedure was required for a group booking.

ETA If you had the classic package as a perk you cannot take advantage of the flash sale. Frustrating if you cannot get in before price increase though!

[John182]

The price rise on the premium package only just doesn't make much sense to me. Without a corresponding increase in the classic package price then less people who were wavering about whether to upgrade or just pay the small difference on each premium priced drink will now upgrade I think. I have confirmed that the flash sale did not apply to upgrades so the only choices I had with my 'free' classic package were to 1) stay with it come what may, 2) upgrade before the price rise or 3) see what drinks were included in the classic package on board and maybe upgrade then.

 

Of course the deeply suspicious side of me is thinking that the drinks on board will increase in price soon and take many drinks out of the classic package thus making it more attractive to purchase an upgrade to the now more expensive premium package.

 

It's option 3 for me.For now I will plan to pay a little extra for a better glass of wine or two. I don't drink many spirits and I am happy with the plain old still water they serve up for the classic package. The convenience of the premium package is a very compelling feature and I can see also why all you good folk who love your premium brand spirits and the wonderful looking martinis will be upgrading.

 

My conclusion is based on the facts as I see them. Having said all that does anybody know whether smoothies are on the classic package and if not I presume you have to pay in full for them. This could have a severe impact on the decision for DW's package!

[chamima]

Ugh! Without knowing about the upcoming price increase I tried to upgrade from Classic to Premium package this evening to take advantage of the 25% off sale. When I tried online it would only offer the full sale price (48.75/night) for the Premium package, not the difference between the two packages. I called Captain's Club and the representative was not willing to do the upgrade because I made the reservation through a TA (those who got it done otherwise, lucky you!). The only thing she suggested was having my TA try first thing in the morning...I have very little confidence that that will work.

 

And now, that I have read that the price difference will increase, I am really disappointed that I was not able to get upgraded!

 

 

We booked through a TA (but it was an individual TA, NOT a large agency) and I was able to call Captains Club twice for two different reservations to upgrade yesterday.

[dresterj]

This morning the flash sale prices are/were still showing, as well as an option to upgrade (this was not there yesterday), on line. But the price for the upgrade was equivalent to a $10/night difference ($65-$55 + 18% tax) and not the difference between the flash sale prices ($48.75-41.25) or the difference between the new price ($69-55).

 

I called and the agent was very nice. She offered the $11.80/night upgrade price. When I pointed out that that difference did not match the difference in the shown flash sale prices, she said she would research and call me back. When she called back, she said that I could not take advantage of the flash price difference because I had the Classic package as a free perk. She explained that the flash prices should have been taken down by now, but would honor the flash price if I wanted to pay for the full package (i.e., not upgrade from a perk). Furthermore, she highly encouraged that if I did not want to pay for a full package to take the $11.80/night price because the price difference should be greater due to the new Premium package price. She was not sure why it was still offering me the difference with the old Premium package price, but thinks it will update sometime today to the higher difference. I wonder if the new vs old Premium package price depends on when your cruise is booked.

 

So, when others called to upgrade their perk Classis package were you able to get the flash sale price difference or the $11.80/night difference? I see ducthclogs "ETA" that says s/he was not, but it seemed that others were.

[John182]

I was told categorically that the upgrade was not part of the flash sale and I would have to pay the UK equivalent of the $11.80 per day to upgrade.

[miched]

Can you get the 10% Elite Plus discount on the upgrade cost for the premium package?

 

I have never asked or tried as I always forget about it.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[rlmorrow13]

I upgraded yesterday from classic beverage packge (received as free perk) to premium on two upcoming cruises for the $11.80 per day. I used the Captains Club telephone number.

 

One cruise was booked directly with Celebrity very recently and included classic package as one of the perks. The other one was booked onboard during a cruise last year. The future cruise booked onboard was automatically tranferred to the agency we had used for that cruise we were on when we booked. The drink package perk was not yet showing on the cruise I had booked onboard but she quickly added it and then applied the upgrade.

 

I used funds from our onboard credit to pay for the upgrades. Incidentally, I had no problem only upgrading one of us to premium as my husband would not use it enough to justify upgrading his beverage package.

[Esprit]

I was told categorically that the upgrade was not part of the flash sale and I would have to pay the UK equivalent of the $11.80 per day to upgrade.

 

 

That was the case for me too yesterday. The sterling equivalent was £8.50 per day for the upgrade, which I'm very happy with.

[RickT]

 

So, when others called to upgrade their perk Classis package were you able to get the flash sale price difference or the $11.80/night difference? I see ducthclogs "ETA" that says s/he was not, but it seemed that others were.

 

The flash sale was for purchasing the package. I was told it did not apply to those upgrading from classic to premium when the classic package was a perk. I gladly paid the $11.80 to upgrade as it will be more expensive if I do it on board with the price increase.

[jody75]

I've just upgraded my cruise included Classic package to Premium paying an additional £8.50 per day (inc grat). That equates to a $ to £ exchange rate of £1.388, so I'm very happy.

Our cruise planner states Classic package costs £30.53 and Premium Package costs £36.08.

Thats a uplift of £5.55pp/pn - with 18% add on should be £6.55. Maybe I am missing something ?

[rakes5]

I just called the captains club and was able to upgrade at the $10 +18% or $11.80 per day, for three of my upcoming cruises.

The representative had told me it was going to be $14 a day, but when she checked, they still all came in at $10. She told me that they’ve been told it was going to go up today, but I must’ve been lucky and got in before IT entered the price increase. For once, a good thing from their IT department.

 

 

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[UKPete71]

Our cruise planner states Classic package costs £30.53 and Premium Package costs £36.08.

 

Thats a uplift of £5.55pp/pn - with 18% add on should be £6.55. Maybe I am missing something ?

 

The packages are on sale in the planner. The upgrade itself isn’t reduced as part of the sale.

 

 

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[John182]

Our cruise planner states Classic package costs £30.53 and Premium Package costs £36.08.

Thats a uplift of £5.55pp/pn - with 18% add on should be £6.55. Maybe I am missing something ?

 

Those prices have changed since the flash sale but are still well below what they were before that sale. It is almost as if they have adjusted the flash sale prices for an exchange rate change but have not yet reinstated the 'full' prices

 

In any case the difference between the two package rates is only ever going to be the difference between the full rates which was $10 plus gratuities but will become, if it hasn't done already, $14 plus gratuities.

[Esprit]

Our cruise planner states Classic package costs £30.53 and Premium Package costs £36.08.

Thats a uplift of £5.55pp/pn - with 18% add on should be £6.55. Maybe I am missing something ?

 

That's what I saw today. It seems we Brits are getting the Alcohol Drinks packages at a cheaper price compared to those across the pond!

 

Whilst I already had a free Classic package the price increases today were not a big as I thought they were going to be.

[jody75]

The packages are on sale in the planner. The upgrade itself isn’t reduced as part of the sale.

The sale has ended. The prices I quote are current non- sale prices !!

[brighton seagulls]

Fortunately we get the classic thrown in and that seems to cover all our drinks that we like. Result we are on the reflection again on 30th July

[John182]

I am now officially dazed and confused by this. I just went in to cruise planner for my upcoming 8 day cruise and put the upgrade in for the two of us and was given a price of £139.72 which works out at £8.73 each per day including gratuities. AT the weekend when the sale was on it was £135 something so it has gone up but only by a fraction. Nuts.