Included Wine Quality & Selection

[Grandma Cruising]

5 hours ago, MamaFej said:

Okay, I've done my due diligence, and have come up with a partial answer, so I'm going to ask here.

 

I've determined that there is no paying "the difference + service charge" for better drinks than those included. It appears that passengers pay the full listed price. What I have not seen is what sort of cost we'd be looking at for better wines by the glass, or cocktails with top shelf liquors. Are the drinks priced with regard to the fact that we've already paid for basic drinks? Or are they priced without that consideration?

 

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This sort of question is asked frequently on the Celebrity board, and most folks kindly explain how it works, then someone else comes along and chastizes the poster for not searching first. 

 

 

Not sure how much help I can be as I’ve never bought a single drink onboard. Mostly we stick to the included drinks, although we did have a premium package on our last cruise. I have looked at the menu and it did seem to me that prices were somewhere near normal bar prices for non-included cocktails.

[mchell810]

14 hours ago, MamaFej said:

My friends would get their Boone's Farm and their Bartles & James confiscated.

 

 

Bartles & James!  Wow, I haven't thought of that for many many years.  Thanks for reminding me of the days when it would take me an hour to finish one drink and then have a buzz all night!  I guess my taste buds have matured 😜 🍷

 

14 hours ago, MamaFej said:

Okay, I've done my due diligence, and have come up with a partial answer, so I'm going to ask here.

 

I've determined that there is no paying "the difference + service charge" for better drinks than those included. It appears that passengers pay the full listed price. What I have not seen is what sort of cost we'd be looking at for better wines by the glass, or cocktails with top shelf liquors. Are the drinks priced with regard to the fact that we've already paid for basic drinks? Or are they priced without that consideration?

 

-------

This sort of question is asked frequently on the Celebrity board, and most folks kindly explain how it works, then someone else comes along and chastizes the poster for not searching first. 

 

 

I only bought a glass of wine once in 2019 so not a lot of experience: I believe I paid $13 for a malbec, but cannot recall if there was a service charge.  The wine was not pleasing and I left it on the table. After that I only drank the wine I had brought onboard. 

 

IMHO if one drinks spirits Azamara works but for those of us who are really only wine drinkers it is the one area where Azamara disappoints.  Now, I factor in bringing wine when deciding to book Azamara & comparing prices to other lines.

[FlyerTalker]

6 hours ago, mchell810 said:

Bartles & James! 

 

We thank you for your support.

[Host Jazzbeau]

We got the Premium package as part of our sale promotion.

 

Will I be able to upgrade my package (just mine, DW doesn't drink) to Ultimate for $7/day?

 

And if you have one of the packages do you get a discount on wine by the bottle or a Wine Package?

[excitedofharpenden]

6 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

We got the Premium package as part of our sale promotion.

 

Will I be able to upgrade my package (just mine, DW doesn't drink) to Ultimate for $7/day?

 

And if you have one of the packages do you get a discount on wine by the bottle or a Wine Package?

This one has been discussed before and I'm pretty sure that if it's part of a promotion and you want to get the Ultimate package then you will have to pay for the whole thing, not just the difference. That's my recollection, but someone correct me if I'm wrong. 

 

Phil 

[crzrr]

9 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

We got the Premium package as part of our sale promotion.

 

Will I be able to upgrade my package (just mine, DW doesn't drink) to Ultimate for $7/day?

 

And if you have one of the packages do you get a discount on wine by the bottle or a Wine Package?

On our February Caribbean cruise you could pay the difference and then get the loyalty discount to upgrade the premium liquor package to the ultimate package.  Also, if you want to you can upgrade the Essentials package, that is being offered on so many bookings, to the Indulgence package once onboard.  I wish that they would let you do this prior to boarding so that you could use the shore excursion credit ahead of time. 

[mj_holiday]

On 2/12/2022 at 8:36 PM, MamaFej said:

Okay, I've done my due diligence, and have come up with a partial answer, so I'm going to ask here.

 

I've determined that there is no paying "the difference + service charge" for better drinks than those included. It appears that passengers pay the full listed price. What I have not seen is what sort of cost we'd be looking at for better wines by the glass, or cocktails with top shelf liquors. Are the drinks priced with regard to the fact that we've already paid for basic drinks? Or are they priced without that consideration?

 

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This sort of question is asked frequently on the Celebrity board, and most folks kindly explain how it works, then someone else comes along and chastizes the poster for not searching first. 

 

On our only cruise (so far) on Azamara we stayed with the included package and DH bought whatever liquor drink he wanted in the evening.  His Rusty Nail casts $8.00 and although the literature says tips are included with the price, the ticket had a place for a service charge.

This was before the ownership change.

One thing I dislike about Azamara is their complicated included and upgraded liquor packages

On 2/12/2022 at 8:36 PM, MamaFej said:

 

 

 

Edited March 16, 2022 by mj_holiday

[cruisinclined]

On our 2018 Quest cruise there was a Zinfandel red  as included which I liked (and I am particular on reds), When we returned home I checked the UK price at £12, in US would be about  $18. Then in 2019 we sailed the Pursuit and I requested the same wine which, with effort, they dug out although it wasn't on the list. I kept asking and kept getting it. I was pleased!

We have OBC on the upcoming cruise and with the top package, probably Ultimate, there is Champagne which I will enjoy before a meal (perhaps during too)but I will expect something red which is worth the cash!

US red Zinfandel can be terrific. It is an Italian variety but the US does it really well.

If I do not get a good red in July then in future, as has been suggested, I will buy wines ashore and pay corkage fees( which sound reasonable). But something of a pain to have to do this.  They should be able to keep an unfinished bottle aside for drinking the following night as only one of us drinks. Any experience of that?

But, Azamara, get some wine advice and get something decent to drink!!

 

P.S. Yes probably could finish the bottle, but not worth the embarassment of falling over.

[Mackdogmolly]

10 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

This one has been discussed before and I'm pretty sure that if it's part of a promotion and you want to get the Ultimate package then you will have to pay for the whole thing, not just the difference. That's my recollection, but someone correct me if I'm wrong. 

 

Phil 

I think it can depend on who you ask 😕