Drinks & More, patience please

[kayehall]

OK.  I am totally confused with this option.  On my sailing, they are offering Drinks & More for $76.50pp/per day.  We booked last February and already have the Classic package as a perk.  And we are exempt from the new charge of $14.00pp/per day.  Can I upgrade the package I already have?  What would be the price?  I don't seem to be able to do it online.  Can I call them or does my TA have to do it for me?  Is the upgrade worth it? Thanks, Kaye

[stah1mr]

We got the classic as a perk.  I called X and they allowed me to upgrade to premium.  When drinks and more became available I called again and they upgraded me.  Is it worth it?  I don't know but I wanted the mini fridge, so yes for me.  🙂 

[jelayne]

If you want to upgrade to the Premium beverage package the cost is $10 pp per day + 20% gratuity.  If you want to go from the Classic package to the Drinks and More package the cost would be $17.50 pp per day plus 20% gratuity.  You can call X and upgrade or ask your TA to handle it. 

Edited December 6, 2019 by jelayne

[Spif Barwunkel]

10 minutes ago, jelayne said:

If you want to upgrade to the Premium beverage package the cost is $10 pp per day + 20% gratuity.  If you want to go from the Classic package to the Drinks and More package the cost would be $17.50 pp per day plus 20% gratuity.  You can call X and upgrade or ask your TA to handle it. 

I was under the impression that the $10.00pp per day upgrade to Premium beverage package could only be done on the ship. Is that the wrong impression?

[killsport]

Just as a point of reference... I had the classic as a perk. I upgraded to the Drinks & More package (had to call in, which was a royal pain). It cost $21/pp/pd to do the upgrade ($17.50 + 20% gratuity). These amounts are USD.

 

If you want to upgrade to the premium package INSTEAD of the Drinks & More, then it is $12/pp/pd ($10 + 20% gratuity). You also have to call in for that. You *could* also do this upgrade on board (not the Drinks & More). If they process it on the ship, in port, you may have additional taxes, depending on the ship's location. I've found it easier to do ahead of time.

 

And I used OBC to cover the cost of the upgrade... Hope that helps.

[hiccups]

29 minutes ago, Spif Barwunkel said:

I was under the impression that the $10.00pp per day upgrade to Premium beverage package could only be done on the ship. Is that the wrong impression?

 

That is incorrect--you can upgrade in the planner as long as your planner indicates you have the classic package.  That might require a call to X to have it added if it doesn't currently show up in your planner.

[sdnich]

I cannot upgrade my classic package to the premium till today it just came up at a cost of $12 per person per day and the Drink some more package came up at $21 per day so thank you for clarifying that that is with gratuity included I was curious about that .But I checked last night and it was not available so they just added the ability for me to do that online today just can’t decide on which one to upgrade to?

[jelayne]

2 minutes ago, sdnich said:

I cannot upgrade my classic package to the premium till today it just came up at a cost of $12 per person per day and the Drink some more package came up at $21 per day so thank you for clarifying that that is with gratuity included I was curious about that .But I checked last night and it was not available so they just added the ability for me to do that online today just can’t decide on which one to upgrade to?

How long is your cruise?  For 7 nights it would $63 pp extra over just the Prem pkg Upgrade so the $50. Casino free play makes it a reasonable deal if you want the bottles of low end wine & the wine tasting.  On a 14 night cruise ($126) not such a good deal- same $50 casino play, same 2 bottles of wine & same wine tasting for 2x cost.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

9 minutes ago, sdnich said:

I cannot upgrade my classic package to the premium till today it just came up at a cost of $12 per person per day and the Drink some more package came up at $21 per day so thank you for clarifying that that is with gratuity included I was curious about that .But I checked last night and it was not available so they just added the ability for me to do that online today just can’t decide on which one to upgrade to?

 

For anyone reading this later, you CAN upgrade by calling them before it appears online. It's very simple to do. And they can even use OBC if your planner is showing it.

[sdnich]

4 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

For anyone reading this later, you CAN upgrade by calling them before it appears online. It's very simple to do. And they can even use OBC if your planner is showing it.

And sorry I meant to say I could not upgrade the package till today. Last night it would not let me upgrade and today the options were there for both!

[sdnich]

6 minutes ago, jelayne said:

How long is your cruise?  For 7 nights it would $63 pp extra over just the Prem pkg Upgrade so the $50. Casino free play makes it a reasonable deal if you want the bottles of low end wine & the wine tasting.  On a 14 night cruise ($126) not such a good deal- same $50 casino play, same 2 bottles of wine & same wine tasting for 2x cost.

Our cruise is a 12  Canada day cruise at $21 pp for the drink some more seems a little bit much! Will probably just go with upgrading to the premium package ! Plus were staying at 1140 on the summit so we’re one flight above the Sunset bar LOL!

[Firepath]

We booked through a TA and got the free Classic pkg. I called to upgrade to Premium directly with Celebrity, and now the drink package is showing on my account whereas it didn't before, even though I knew it was on there.

[TFLG]

3 hours ago, kayehall said:

OK.  I am totally confused with this option.  On my sailing, they are offering Drinks & More for $76.50pp/per day.  We booked last February and already have the Classic package as a perk.  And we are exempt from the new charge of $14.00pp/per day.  Can I upgrade the package I already have?  What would be the price?  I don't seem to be able to do it online.  Can I call them or does my TA have to do it for me?  Is the upgrade worth it? Thanks, Kaye

 

I've upgraded thru my TA in the past but the last few times I upgrade on board at the bar I intend to hang out at. Usually the World Class or Martini bars.  That way the bartender get the gratuity and I have noticed slightly better service from them.  Just spend a few minutes yapping with them so they get to know you.  Lets face it, it doesn't hurt to have even a small advantage at the Martini Bar when ordering a drink.   I've never done the drinks and more thing and probably wont since I don't see it being of much value to me.  I always have them empty our fridge and then put a few drinks in to it that I get from the Bar. On our next cruise we changed our booking when they were running the 4 perk sail which got us the premium package (and saved us a few bucks too 😁).

Edited December 6, 2019 by TFLG

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

6 hours ago, sdnich said:

And sorry I meant to say I could not upgrade the package till today. Last night it would not let me upgrade and today the options were there for both!

Online I get it. But I upgraded earlier than it appears online by calling. It was simple!

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

3 hours ago, TFLG said:

 

I've upgraded thru my TA in the past but the last few times I upgrade on board at the bar I intend to hang out at. Usually the World Class or Martini bars.  That way the bartender get the gratuity and I have noticed slightly better service from them.  Just spend a few minutes yapping with them so they get to know you.  Lets face it, it doesn't hurt to have even a small advantage at the Martini Bar when ordering a drink.   I've never done the drinks and more thing and probably wont since I don't see it being of much value to me.  I always have them empty our fridge and then put a few drinks in to it that I get from the Bar. On our next cruise we changed our booking when they were running the 4 perk sail which got us the premium package (and saved us a few bucks too 😁).

The issue with that is new cruisers don’t know which bar they are going to want to hang out at. Especially if we find martinis gross (olives are NASTY), so that will not be the bar of choice!

[TFLG]

1 hour ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

The issue with that is new cruisers don’t know which bar they are going to want to hang out at. Especially if we find martinis gross (olives are NASTY), so that will not be the bar of choice!

 

The Martini Bar is the hoppin spot on the ship most evenings because it's in the grand foyer.  Probably 5% of the drinks served at the Martini Bar are the traditional ones with olives (not a big fan of olives myself).  The other 95% are sweet cocktails that are martini's only in name because they serve them in a martini glass.  Appletinis, chocolate raspberry, sunset etc. They have about 20 to choose from plus all the regular cocktails, wine, beer etc.  You also don't have to upgrade right away. So you can spend the first night exploring the bar scene and find "your" favorite spot. It's certainly handy to do it thru the TA ahead of time but there could be advantages to doing it onboard.

[poffles]

The ability to upgrade online seems to be a timing thing and the option will often only appear closer to your actual sale date, otherwise the Premium  package will show only the full cost to purchase (not upgrade).  I have done the upgrade before early by calling Celebrity (I did not book with TA), also by seeing the offer when it appeared online, and also did it it once on board. 

 

All ways were the exact same cost and no advantage in any of the ways for me.  That said, you may get a sale before hand on the upgrade but my experience sales were more often on full purchases so I never lucked out.

 

I find the upgrade worth it to me as I not only like the bigger selection of alcoholic drinks (beers and cocktails) but also the Perrier and Evian so don't only think about the alcohol. Enjoy your trip!

[RNCheryl]

I believe that the Martini Bar will be Kaye Hall's favorite!

 

(Hi, Kaye)

[kayehall]

On 12/7/2019 at 10:05 AM, RNCheryl said:

I believe that the Martini Bar will be Kaye Hall's favorite!

 

(Hi, Kaye)

Hi Cheryl!!!!