Comparing perks - monetary value of tips and wifi

[cangelmd]

Oh so brilliant CC members, I tried to find this on the Celebrity website, and searching on CC board, but it is much faster to ask.

Looking at a cruise for some friends - we are already booked and are hoping they can join us.

They qualify for a resident discount, so I'm comparing prices on Sky Suites with the $25 deposit and 4 perks vs resident discount on the Sky Suite.

Prepaid tips - $15/person/day? or $14.50?

Internet - $199?

Premium beverage - $75/person/day?

OBC - self explanatory

The other thing I cannot find on the website is would they qualify for a Classic Pkg in a suite with the resident discount? If the suite with the resident discount doesn't get any beverage package, it is almost a no- brainer, the price difference is almost taken care of by the Classic Pkg, and is less than the cost of a Premium pkg.

 

Thanks ahead, I know some of you know the values of the perks by heart.

[jelayne]

The daily gratutity for those in Suites is $18pp per day.  The Premium beverage package is $69 pp per day plus 18% gratutity so $81.42 total pp per day. Internet prices vary depending upon length of the cruise.  

[wrk2cruise]

Resident discount does not include any perks.  No bev package.  But wait it's not that cut and dry.  Sky Suites have access to Michaels Club where there is complementary beverages from 7:30 am to Midnight.

 

Also if you read terms and conditions of the $25 deposit promo it excludes suites.

 

Isn't easy to buy a Celebrity Cruise these days!

[Tourist1292]

I think the internet package perks should be for 2 devices. That is a ~$360 value for a 7 night cruise to Alaska for your reference.

Edited January 20, 2019 by Tourist1292

[Want2Cruise 701]

My suggestion or atleast how we calculate the beverage package is to "value" it at an amount we feel we would drink and not what X values it at.  That value to us is only $250 total.  We are not big drinkers.  You might be different.

 

Now that we are Elite, we no longer choose the beverage package since we receive drinks in the evening, and I can get a mimosa in the morning in Tuscan Grille.  That leaves a drink or two during the day on sea days.  On a port day, we might not even purchase a drink at all except for maybe a water to take off the ship.  

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

Lot's of variables in the equation but the most important is how many days and how many passengers.  Also weather you wish to discount some perks like internet where you can easily live with one device but this is what I use for Calculation.

 

Here's my calculation for a Suite with 2 PAX cost per day -

 

Classic Beverage      139.24

Premium Bev             162.84

Tips for Suite              36.00

Internet 1 Device        22.00   

OBC (for Cruise)       -300.00

 

You also need to calculate in Discounts for CC Level 

 

Internet Discount -

Classic   10%

Select     25%

Elite        30%

Elite+     35%

 

Drink Package  Discount 

 

Often have a 25% off sale 

Elite+        10% discount not combinable with sale

 

  

 

[cruiserchuck]

49 minutes ago, Want2Cruise 701 said:

My suggestion or atleast how we calculate the beverage package is to "value" it at an amount we feel we would drink and not what X values it at.  That value to us is only $250 total.  We are not big drinkers.  You might be different.

 

Now that we are Elite, we no longer choose the beverage package since we receive drinks in the evening, and I can get a mimosa in the morning in Tuscan Grille.  That leaves a drink or two during the day on sea days.  On a port day, we might not even purchase a drink at all except for maybe a water to take off the ship.  

 

 

 

Same thing with the internet.  We are now Elite plus, so we each get 250 free minutes per cruise.  Plus, if you purchase an unlimited internet package for one, you can both use it, but only on one device at a time.  So to us, the value is less than what it might be to others.

[varoo]

11 hours ago, cangelmd said:

Oh so brilliant CC members, I tried to find this on the Celebrity website, and searching on CC board, but it is much faster to ask.

.............Thanks ahead, I know some of you know the values of the perks by heart.

 

Unfortunately, it is hard for anyone to give you a valid answer because the true value of the perks will be different for each person.

 

The only perk that is consistently the same for everyone in the same stateroom category is gratuities, so there it is easy to know how much that perk is actually worth.

 

But the true value of a beverage package will vary for each person depending on what you drink, how much you drink, and what beverages are already available to you onboard from other sources.

 

The actual value of an internet package will vary for each person depending on how you use the internet and how much internet time (if any) is already available to you.

 

The true value of onboard credit depends on how much money you would spend onboard if you did not have any onboard credit at all. 

It is easy to think of it as "free" money but in reality it is just an incentive for us to buy lots of stuff we didn't really want or need and that we would never have bought at all if we had needed to pay for it with "real" money.

If I could have a choice of $300 off the cruise price or $350 of onboard credit, I would take the discounted price anytime  (unless there is something for sale on the ship I really want that I would buy anyway).

 

Edited January 20, 2019 by varoo

[grandgeezer]

2 hours ago, varoo said:

 

Unfortunately, it is hard for anyone to give you a valid answer because the true value of the perks will be different for each person.

 

The only perk that is consistently the same for everyone in the same stateroom category is gratuities, so there it is easy to know how much that perk is actually worth.

 

But the true value of a beverage package will vary for each person depending on what you drink, how much you drink, and what beverages are already available to you onboard from other sources.

 

The actual value of an internet package will vary for each person depending on how you use the internet and how much internet time (if any) is already available to you.

 

The true value of onboard credit depends on how much money you would spend onboard if you did not have any onboard credit at all. 

It is easy to think of it as "free" money but in reality it is just an incentive for us to buy lots of stuff we didn't really want or need and that we would never have bought at all if we had needed to pay for it with "real" money.

If I could have a choice of $300 off the cruise price or $350 of onboard credit, I would take the discounted price anytime  (unless there is something for sale on the ship I really want that I would buy anyway).

 

 The drink package has 0 value to us. The drinks we get every day between 4-6, plus a bloody mary or mimoso at the elite breakfast is enough.

Internet has 0 value to us. Being elite plus, we each get 250 minutes per cruise and don't use all of them most of the time.

 I would even take $150 off the price of a cruise rather than the $350 obc. The $350 obc probably actually cost them $50, or less, for the cost of whatever you buy.

[BOLOCRUISE]

The OBC is a great Perk for excursion purchase, specialty restaurants or in the shops. It's also available to upgrade a classic beverage package to premium. And although the shops do have their $10 deals, they also have very high end jewelry, watches, accessories and clothing. The OBC is nice to use. 

 

Beverage Package is definitely worth the $55 or $69.  Not just the alcoholic drinks, but premium waters (Pellegrino and Evian) as well as premium coffee drinks. Add in wine and cocktails at dinner and the cost is easily met. Addional afternoon "top shelf" cold adult drink or after dinner cocktail not having to count the cost is wonderful. 

 

Internet is a Perk I'd never pay for or choose over any other Perk. Ports have internet as well as texting and data, so on ship internet isn't needed. 

 

Prepaid Gratuity is definitely a valuable Perk, as noted above (18% and $14.50/day). 

 

 

[cangelmd]

20 hours ago, wrk2cruise said:

Resident discount does not include any perks.  No bev package.  But wait it's not that cut and dry.  Sky Suites have access to Michaels Club where there is complementary beverages from 7:30 am to Midnight.

 

Also if you read terms and conditions of the $25 deposit promo it excludes suites.

 

Isn't easy to buy a Celebrity Cruise these days!

That’s interesting, because I was in the booking engine when I got the prices, and it showed side by side pricing for the SS, resident discount on the left, $25 deposit and 4 perks on the right! I do not at all dispute that you read that the $25 deposit doesn’t apply to suites, that makes sense, much more likely that the booking engine is programmed wrong!

[cangelmd]

I appreciate everyone’s responses, especially Jim_Iain and Wk2crusise.

These folks are not Captain Club members, they cruise about once every 5-10 years. I hear what you are saying about being Elite, but none of those strategies apply to them. We will be Elite after this trip, and we are going for Elite status to cruise the way you are describing - particularly related to drink pkgs.

 

There was about $70/person per day difference in the bare bones price and the “all inclusive” price, so now I can give them an idea of what it will cost to replace the portions of that $70 they want to replace.

 

This is our first suite trip - the alcohol in Michaels is free? Is it a selection similar to the menu for Elite Happy Hour? I spent some time in Ensembke at the bar watching waitstaff coming in and out of Michaels with orders that were poured at Ensemble, but not nearly enough trips to cover everyone in there - so I thought those might be the more complicated orders?

[wrk2cruise]

Yes alcohol in MC is complimentary.  They have a full bar setup.  There are some drinks they don't have the equipment to make like frozen drinks so they  may go out to Ensemble for those or some ingredient they don't have.

 

The drink menu is not limited like the Captains Club Elite drink menu.  You can pretty much order anything within reason.  Definitely anything available with the premium beverage package should be available.

 

They also have a Nespresso coffee machine so they can make most coffee.