Drinks Package Upgrade

[Paul S]

If I purchase an Experience More package which includes the premium beverages, can I upgrade to the ultimate beverages by paying the difference?

 

 

[jelayne]

Never tried, but I thought I read that it couldn’t be upgraded.  You may want to call and check.

[laurieb]

No you cannot, at least that’s the experience of friends who wanted to do that in September.  

[hiccups]

I asked about it last year and was told no.

[didi7]

I was able to do it, using OBC, last June on Journey

[Cool Fool]

14 hours ago, didi7 said:

I was able to do it, using OBC, last June on Journey

Did you do it on the ship or before?  When we signed up for our cruise it was a promotion that included, among other things, the premium beverage package.  We would very much like to upgrade that portion of it to the ultimate beverage package. I can’t imagine being in Scotland on an upscale cruise line and being unable to sip a wee dram of single malt Scotch-only available on the Ultimate package-after a day of links golf. 

[hiccups]

15 hours ago, didi7 said:

I was able to do it, using OBC, last June on Journey

 

That's very interesting, because Bonnie is the one that posted here it couldn't be done when I asked.

 

As for the wee dram of Scotch, you can also purchase drinks separately... my husband did that to get his fix  :)

[BBMacLaird]

3 minutes ago, hiccups said:

 

That's very interesting, because Bonnie is the one that posted here it couldn't be done when I asked.

 

As for the wee dram of Scotch, you can also purchase drinks separately... my husband did that to get his fix  🙂

 

I stand by what I posted. It is not allowed to pay the difference from what was included in the Experience More promotion (which has now expired) to a higher level of package.

It is a bit confusing because we do have Experience More add-on packages. These can be pre-purchased by calling our Customer Service, or easily purchased onboard. 

[Cool Fool]

10 minutes ago, hiccups said:

 

That's very interesting, because Bonnie is the one that posted here it couldn't be done when I asked.

 

As for the wee dram of Scotch, you can also purchase drinks separately... my husband did that to get his fix  🙂

That will be a sure way to make me feel like I’m getting nickel and dimed after spending a fortune on the trip. Even on the nights when we didn’t have cocktails on my former luxury cruise line, we loved the fact that the only decision we had to make is whether we wanted something or not. The fact that we can actually afford to pay out of pocket is immaterial to the process of actually looking at prices and making a decision each time. I’m just hoping we can move up to Ultimate and leave the decision making to after we debark. 

[Cool Fool]

25 minutes ago, BBMacLaird said:

 

I stand by what I posted. It is not allowed to pay the difference from what was included in the Experience More promotion (which has now expired) to a higher level of package.

It is a bit confusing because we do have Experience More add-on packages. These can be pre-purchased by calling our Customer Service, or easily purchased onboard. 

Based on when we signed up, our cruise includes the “Enjoyment” package which, in turn, contains the premium beverage package. The ultimate beverage package costs an additional $6 per day per person over the premium beverage package.  To move up to the “indulgence” package, which includes the ultimate beverage package, is an extra $400 per person. It’s not a viable alternative. 

[didi7]

1 hour ago, Cool Fool said:

Based on when we signed up, our cruise includes the “Enjoyment” package which, in turn, contains the premium beverage package. The ultimate beverage package costs an additional $6 per day per person over the premium beverage package.  To move up to the “indulgence” package, which includes the ultimate beverage package, is an extra $400 per person. It’s not a viable alternative. 

I wasn't clear when I said I upgraded.  Our cruise package included two Premium drink packages.  I chose to "purchase" the Ultimate Package and was able to do that.  In other words, I didn't use the Premium package that was included, choosing instead to use OBC to purchase the Ultimate.

[Cool Fool]

1 hour ago, didi7 said:

I wasn't clear when I said I upgraded.  Our cruise package included two Premium drink packages.  I chose to "purchase" the Ultimate Package and was able to do that.  In other words, I didn't use the Premium package that was included, choosing instead to use OBC to purchase the Ultimate.

didi7, thanks for the clarification. So even though we have the Enjoyment package that includes the premium beverage package, it appears I could separately buy an ultimate beverage package for an additional $21 per day using OBC (only one, DW is perfectly satisfied by the choices in the premium beverage package). This would cost me an additional $250 on a 12 night cruise, far different from a $72 price difference between the premium and ultimate beverage packages. 

 

Too much accounting for a vacation, maybe I’ll just take an analgesic instead. This makes my head hurt. 

[excitedofharpenden]

To Bonnie, can you perhaps pass this up the line.  I’m scratching my head as to why one can’t upgrade from an included Premium to Ultimate Package by paying the difference in the two.  It is something that is easily done on Celebrity with their 'free' Classic package or one bought through the "Big, better, best" promos to the Premium Package.  It’s all the same Royal Caribbean family.  I’d even suggest that those Experience More packages would sell better with this option.  It needs a rethink. 

 

Phil

Edited December 1, 2018 by excitedofharpenden

[marinaro44]

19 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

To Bonnie, can you perhaps pass this up the line.  I’m scratching my head as to why one can’t upgrade from an included Premium to Ultimate Package by paying the difference in the two.  It is something that is easily done on Celebrity with their 'free' Classic package or one bought through the "Big, better, best" promos to the Premium Package.  It’s all the same Royal Caribbean family.  I’d even suggest that those Experience More packages would sell better with this option.  It needs a rethink. 

 

Phil

Agree.  Makes perfect sense.  Signe would get this fixed, at least the upgrade situation.

[prim8keeper]

8 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

To Bonnie, can you perhaps pass this up the line.  I’m scratching my head as to why one can’t upgrade from an included Premium to Ultimate Package by paying the difference in the two.  It is something that is easily done on Celebrity with their 'free' Classic package or one bought through the "Big, better, best" promos to the Premium Package.  It’s all the same Royal Caribbean family.  I’d even suggest that those Experience More packages would sell better with this option.  It needs a rethink. 

 

Phil

 

I also agree with this. As we have been planning our cruise I looked at these packages and thought they were great options initially, but once I saw that we couldn't upgrade our beverage packages to the UBP I had to rethink everything.

[Grandma Cruising]

7 hours ago, prim8keeper said:

 

I also agree with this. As we have been planning our cruise I looked at these packages and thought they were great options initially, but once I saw that we couldn't upgrade our beverage packages to the UBP I had to rethink everything.

I still think they are a good deal on a cruise of a couple of weeks or more, less so on a shorter cruise, even tho’ you can’t upgrade the drinks package. For example on a 14 day cruise you pay $600 and get $300 shore excursion OBC plus a WiFi package worth $279 as well as the drinks package - so the premium drinks package is effectively costing you $20 for 14 days for 2 people.

[prim8keeper]

7 hours ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

I still think they are a good deal on a cruise of a couple of weeks or more, less so on a shorter cruise, even tho’ you can’t upgrade the drinks package. For example on a 14 day cruise you pay $600 and get $300 shore excursion OBC plus a WiFi package worth $279 as well as the drinks package - so the premium drinks package is effectively costing you $20 for 14 days for 2 people.

 

I agree they are a good deal, but that is part of what makes it so frustrating! Our cruise is 15 nights so the packages are very appealing, however we really want to UBP. So we are either stuck buying the top package or buying one of the other two and then essentially buying a second BP if we can't upgrade the included one. Maybe it wont be necessary, but based on what we like to drink I suspect it will. I'll admit though we have been very spoiled as long time X cruises since when you have their premium drink package you can drink 90% of what is offered on the ship.

[hiccups]

On 12/1/2018 at 10:38 AM, excitedofharpenden said:

To Bonnie, can you perhaps pass this up the line.  I’m scratching my head as to why one can’t upgrade from an included Premium to Ultimate Package by paying the difference in the two.  It is something that is easily done on Celebrity with their 'free' Classic package or one bought through the "Big, better, best" promos to the Premium Package.  It’s all the same Royal Caribbean family.  I’d even suggest that those Experience More packages would sell better with this option.  It needs a rethink. 

 

Phil

 

 

I agree, we would have purchased a package had we been able to upgrade the drinks package, at least on the 13-night British Open cruise.  I would have needed to do the math to see if it was worth it for our 7 and 8 night cruises.

[SteveH2508]

On 11/30/2018 at 1:09 PM, Cool Fool said:

Did you do it on the ship or before?  When we signed up for our cruise it was a promotion that included, among other things, the premium beverage package.  We would very much like to upgrade that portion of it to the ultimate beverage package. I can’t imagine being in Scotland on an upscale cruise line and being unable to sip a wee dram of single malt Scotch-only available on the Ultimate package-after a day of links golf. 

 

Why not just buy a bottle of your favourite wee dram and take it with you? OK, you can only drink it in your stateroom according to the rules - (you could always bring a hip-flask as well).

[Grandma Cruising]

16 hours ago, prim8keeper said:

 

I agree they are a good deal, but that is part of what makes it so frustrating! Our cruise is 15 nights so the packages are very appealing, however we really want to UBP. So we are either stuck buying the top package or buying one of the other two and then essentially buying a second BP if we can't upgrade the included one. Maybe it wont be necessary, but based on what we like to drink I suspect it will. I'll admit though we have been very spoiled as long time X cruises since when you have their premium drink package you can drink 90% of what is offered on the ship.

You may find it works out better value to use the premium drink upgrade you have and then just buy the drinks that are not included, although this might not work if it’s the upgraded wines that interest you, rather than spirits/cocktails.

[excitedofharpenden]

Buying individual drinks on an as need basis is all very well, but it's a pain in the neck to keep signing for them. If you do the maths then yes, it might be financially better, but part of the appeal of buying the package for me is not having all those slips of paper to deal with. 

 

Phil 

[uktog]

1 hour ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Buying individual drinks on an as need basis is all very well, but it's a pain in the neck to keep signing for them. If you do the maths then yes, it might be financially better, but part of the appeal of buying the package for me is not having all those slips of paper to deal with. 

 

Phil 

I agree and you will find particularly in the main dining room that waiters do not like getting second drinks if it has to be signed for. 

Maths is important but holiday ambience is more so. 

I agree the upgrade option is something that should be looked into or a rational explanation given as to why it cannot be considered