New Drinks Package - Premium +

[yorky]

Well that is a massive drop in minibar offerings for sure. However with the old minibar fully stocked there is no doubt they would have taken a massive hit from some passengers so hardly surprising. You would hope the majority of cruisers would not just clear it every day just because they could and be sensible  but we probably all know a percentage would ( because they could). We would have upgraded if it had been possible just to be able to have two or three drinks on our balcony plus snacks. I wouldn’t if it’s still a full mini bar for those that have not upgraded to the top package.

Edited August 25, 2019 by yorky

[yorky]

26 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

Well, I for one (1) would not expect (naively) that the full offerings of 'beverages' in the mini bar would be the full compliment.. I can imagine a full wipe out of the mini bar and then some daily...

 

As for the number of 'beverages' available at the restaurants, bars and other places aboard, I took it mean the number which can be available not the total number available on any one sailing...

 

Which begs the question for those looking for a 'real' deal by taking this package, will you be happy with what you know now to be the offerings shown as being available in the 'daily limited' mini-bar and the offerings you know that are usually available (or not) on-board in other venues where beverages can be had.

 

As for being 'sneaky' they are telling us up front what will be available in the mini-bar and not waiting until boarding to find out... and then being told NO by the room attendant when asking for more or other.. since we have yet to have reports back on how this is working, we do not know if items are exchangeable for our particular tastes and desires or not.

 

I will be interested in learning further how this shakes out for our future sailings to purchase.

 

Cheers and bon voyage

Personally I would be more than happy with only beer, wine, and snacks.

[jptoz]

On 8/10/2019 at 6:15 PM, Lisamarie18 said:

I just called Captain’s Club and was told that it included the premium beverage package and two free bottles of wine if you upgraded from an existing package. If you purchase the package outright, it includes 2 bottles of wine, $50 casino obc, wine tasting, maccallan tasting.  Right now, the premium plus is priced at $10/day in my cruise planner, $2 less than the regular premium upgrade from classic so I upgraded. Didn’t sound like they really knew what was in the package for sure

You can upgrade right from the cruise planner?  I have the classic package as a perk and I was wonder how to upgrade and how much.

[yorky]

16 minutes ago, jptoz said:

You can upgrade right from the cruise planner?  I have the classic package as a perk and I was wonder how to upgrade and how much.

You can’t upgrade if classic was a perk.

[Lisamarie18]

56 minutes ago, jptoz said:

You can upgrade right from the cruise planner?  I have the classic package as a perk and I was wonder how to upgrade and how much.

@jptozand @yorky, That was the information I was given on my first call. I called back again and was told that the premium plus package is not available as an upgrade if you were given a classic beverage package as a perk

[yorky]

34 minutes ago, Lisamarie18 said:

@jptozand @yorky, That was the information I was given on my first call. I called back again and was told that the premium plus package is not available as an upgrade if you were given a classic beverage package as a perk

I’m certainly only going on the feedback from posters on here, i’ve not phoned myself. We received the classic as a perk then upgraded to premium, we would certainly upgrade again if possible to pay the difference.

[YYC F/A]

I hardly think that a passenger reporting informally from onboard is the same as Celebrity being open and up front about the recent significant reduction in mini bar offering.

 

Now if Celebrity had posted that, I'd agree. But they haven't and there is still a ton of misinformation posted as to what's included (164 vintage wines??).

[Gambler458]

I'm on the Equinox now. I asked for light beer in the mini fridge and was told they can't exchange anything. They are refilling the mini bar for us.  We have our wine tasting today at 2pm compliment of the package.

Great ship!

[YYC F/A]

 

Day one on Millennium and this package has had it's share of hiccups.  Refused anything alcoholic from any bar onboard until we finally got it resolved at 6pm, it showed we had the Classic Non Alcoholic Package on our seapass cards and in the onboard system - so we had to wait for Guest Relations to check into it and get it finally corrected. 

 

No one knows how the bottles of wine works but guest relations told us we'd get the wine from Cellarmasters delivered (no choice, not even if you want red or white) - so we're going to go to Cellarmasters and see if we can't just make a selection of some kind.  

 

Housekeeping insist the minibar isn't included but finally the Captain's Club hostess (of all people) confirmed 100% it's included for us and won't be charged.  The minibar is the limited new menu as previously posted, just vodka minis and coke, 2 beers and 2 wines- no juices, sodas, mixers, other spirits. 

 

Will see how we get on with the Casino credit later :D

[YYC F/A]

To provide a quick update: 

 

The issues apparently impacted all the guests that bought the package on this cruise, I believe this is only the first cruise with this new package.  The Asst Bar Manager called all guests and he gave a very comprehensive overview of the package, the 2 x bottle of wines are apparently at discretion of the Cellarmaster Sommelier up to a value of $60/bottle.  The wine tasting event will be held later in the week in the MDR.

 

Overall, the package is a good value if you'd normally by the Premium package.  There is however no way to upgrade from a complimentary package at this time.

[G2G]

On 8/25/2019 at 3:46 PM, yorky said:

I’m certainly only going on the feedback from posters on here, i’ve not phoned myself. We received the classic as a perk then upgraded to premium, we would certainly upgrade again if possible to pay the difference.

I had the classic package as part of my booking and I rang Celebrity UK last week and was able to upgrade to Premium for just under £10 per day. For me that is so worth it as I like premium gins and also NZ Sauvignon's which aren't available on the Classic pkg

[Tcb0123]

[snichols23]

Here is what the web site says about Premium Plus:

Save time and money when you purchase our new Premium Plus beverage package, available for a limited time only. Enjoy all the benefits of the Premium beverage package, which includes all the top-shelf spirits (89 options), vintage wine (161 options), liqueurs & cognacs (24 options), beer (44 options) and champagne, plus the following:

• Two bottles of wine
• $50 in casino free play
• Wine tasting experience
• If more than one adult in the room purchases the Premium Plus beverage package, the stateroom mini-bar will be included and replenished once a day for your entire vacation.
• This is a limited availability item and not eligible for upgrades.

 

Only real perk is the mini bar. If you break it down as to what you would pay, it isn't a great deal.

2 bottles of wine $60 ?

$50 for casino

Wine tasting experience $20 pp

Gratuities to be added to mini bar too

[AlbertaCruisers]

15 hours ago, snichols23 said:

Only real perk is the mini bar. If you break it down as to what you would pay, it isn't a great deal.

2 bottles of wine $60 ?

$50 for casino

Wine tasting experience $20 pp

Gratuities to be added to mini bar too

 

It includes everything from Premium plus the above.  Right now for my next cruise the Premium Plus package is cheaper than the Premium, so there would be no reason not to get it versus getting the Premium package.

[Fogfog]

Wanted to post an update

 

Prior to our B2B in Sept, I contacted Captains Club as we were upgrading from Classic to Premium

At that time the Captains Club rep..shared with me that the Prem + was only available on like 4 sailings and we couldn't upgrade.

 

Fast fwd and when we get on the ship our room steward asked if we had the Prem + package as just that day (Sept 7_ corporate had announced that the Prem + package was available for that sailing. The steward said they had little information as to how it worked except that he needed to know because of the mini bar (included in Prem +) The steward indicated there was lots of confusion about the package as no one on the ship knew much about it

 

Point being that Celebrity continues to change things and the Captains Club rep had the printed sheet of information available and read it to me-- and within weeks Celebrity changed things again.

 

Don't know which other ships have phased it in (or if it is sailing dependent). 

Given the $14 pp pd increase in the "perk" for taking the Classic package, one has to wonder how the pricing for these other packages will roll. 

 

[mikkelhansen]

Saw this in my Cruise Planner for our December 1 Edge sailing:

 

There is NO info at all when I click the "Drinks & More" package, but the short "hype text" shown above vaguely resembles the description of the Premium + package. In other words, it would seem that it's now possible to UPGRADE to the Premium Plus package.

 

 

Interestingly, the price of the "standalone" Premium Plus package has now increased to 76,50$ - which is definitely not the same price as the normal Premium package, as mentioned below!

 

 

[Work2cruz!]

2 hours ago, mikkelhansen said:

Saw this in my Cruise Planner for our December 1 Edge sailing:

 

There is NO info at all when I click the "Drinks & More" package, but the short "hype text" shown above vaguely resembles the description of the Premium + package. In other words, it would seem that it's now possible to UPGRADE to the Premium Plus package.

 

 

Interestingly, the price of the "standalone" Premium Plus package has now increased to 76,50$ - which is definitely not the same price as the normal Premium package, as mentioned below!

 

 

 

2 hours ago, mikkelhansen said:

Saw this in my Cruise Planner for our December 1 Edge sailing:

 

There is NO info at all when I click the "Drinks & More" package, but the short "hype text" shown above vaguely resembles the description of the Premium + package. In other words, it would seem that it's now possible to UPGRADE to the Premium Plus package.

 

 

Interestingly, the price of the "standalone" Premium Plus package has now increased to 76,50$ - which is definitely not the same price as the normal Premium package, as mentioned below!

 

 

I’m sailing on February 14th Silhouette and this is not showing as an option.  Still only shows premium for 12.00 I hope it not just being offered on The Edge.   

[AlbertaCruisers]

The Drinks and More upgrade is showing for my October 26 sailing on the Summit, but as noted above, there is no information.  I already have premium, so mine is showing an upgrade to Drinks and More for $9 a day plus 20%.  I don't think it will be the premium plus package or why would they not have said an upgrade to premium plus?  Maybe it is something slightly different.

[vtcruising]

 

If you have the Classic pkg as a perk, it looks like it would be $147 for a 7 night cruise to upgrade to the Premium Plus (if grats included in $21 - $176.40 if grats not included) or $294 ($352.80, if grats not included) for two or $168 for two for the Premium upgrade. For us, the Premium Plus isn't enticing - we would be happy getting our own water, soda, sparkling water, beer, etc and stock our own fridge with the regular Premium pkg, we are a bit snobby about wine and it sounds like there may not be much choice for the two bottles included (has to be palatable or we won't drink it), we have done a gazillion wine tastings (and it will probably only be worth about $25) and the $50 casino credit would last about 5 minutes for me. 🙂

 

I'm sure it will be worth it for others, but we will stick with the Premium upgrade and put the $126 for two for 7 night cruise difference (or $184.80, if grats not included in $21 upgrade) toward buying bottles of wine of our choice with the 20% discount.

Edited October 15, 2019 by vtcruising

[mikkelhansen]

1 hour ago, vtcruising said:

If you have the Classic pkg as a perk, it looks like it would be $147 for a 7 night cruise to upgrade to the Premium Plus (if grats included in $21 - $176.40 if grats not included)

I tried adding the "Drinks & More" to my CP basket. The 21$ are including 20% gratuities, ie. the upgrade itself is 17,50$, with 3,50$ gratuities added, totalling 21,00$ pppd. Just like the Classic->Premium upgrade, which is 10,00$ + 2,00$ grats, ie. 12,00$ pppd.

 

[AlbertaCruisers]

I just called in and spoke to a lady, she said that the Premium Plus package is in the process of being renamed to Drinks & More.  She said that upgrade showing the system would get you all of the perks of the Premium Plus package.  I would still like to see something showing that, that I can print and take with me, so I don't get on the ship and they have no idea. 

[vtcruising]

25 minutes ago, AlbertaCruisers said:

I just called in and spoke to a lady, she said that the Premium Plus package is in the process of being renamed to Drinks & More.  She said that upgrade showing the system would get you all of the perks of the Premium Plus package.  I would still like to see something showing that, that I can print and take with me, so I don't get on the ship and they have no idea. 

That makes sense since the blurb above underneath Says " enjoy wine, top shelf spirits, a casino experience and more...".  I was hoping they didn't add yet another option to confuse us. Thanks for verifying!

[AlbertaCruisers]

There is now some information with the Drinks & More upgrade.  The description could use a few commas.

[vtcruising]

12 minutes ago, AlbertaCruisers said:

There is now some information with the Drinks & More upgrade.  The description could use a few commas.

Thanks! I agree - commas would be good.

[Work2cruz!]

Mystery Solved

 

I just called Celebrity.  I love you Celebrity but it’s amazing how uninformed your customer service people are.  At first she told me it was called Beverage Plus package and only available if no drink package.  I said I believe your uninformed because I know it’s now called Drinks and more and is available as an upgrade for $21.00 USD ppd.  I asked her to check further.  She put me on hold and came back on the line.  So yes it’s all the above per the screen shot but only available as an upgrade on 2019 sailings.  
 

This now makes sense that  it shows nothing for my 2020 or 2021 sailings.  Hopefully this is a trial and will be opened up to 2020 sailings.  How can a cruise line the size of Celebrity not inform their customer service people of this? I love Celebrity and only sail with them but I always find out more information on cruise blogs than from Celebrity- crazy.