Uograde to Premium Beverage Package not worth the money

[drakes2]

9 hours ago, helen haywood said:

I’ve experienced the shortages of wine/alcohol under the Premium Package since the resumption of cruises.  With the latest large hike in upgrading from Classic to Premium I think I’ll just stay with the Classic Package.

I have a smallish wine Cellar in my basement that houses approximately 50 bottles of various wines all have been purchased at 20 to 30% off.  Two of my favorites are a Freemark Abbey and Austin Hope cab which will accompany me on my next cruise. 

[Purplsmurf]

They didn’t have much champagne on our last cruise and some people were really upset. We have a comped cruise coming up. I plan on bringing 4 bottles of champagne since we won’t have a drink package. Wonder what would happen if I just carry my bottle and glass with me!😂 It will already be open when I get to dinner. Will I still be charged a corkage fee?! 🤷🏻‍♀️

[thebutlerdidit]

8 minutes ago, Purplsmurf said:

They didn’t have much champagne on our last cruise and some people were really upset. We have a comped cruise coming up. I plan on bringing 4 bottles of champagne since we won’t have a drink package. Wonder what would happen if I just carry my bottle and glass with me!😂 It will already be open when I get to dinner. Will I still be charged a corkage fee?! 🤷🏻‍♀️

I thought they stopped charging a corkage fee?  It sounds like a viable plan to me. 

[Purplsmurf]

1 minute ago, thebutlerdidit said:

I thought they stopped charging a corkage fee?  It sounds like a viable plan to me. 

From what I understand, if you have a drink package then the corkage fee won’t be charged. Being a comped cruise we are going to try to get by without purchasing the drink package. We purchased  it on a previously comped cruise and while I found that It was worth it to me ($15 champagne and $13 martinis add up), it really wasn’t to my husband. Our daughter and son in law will be with us. They both have the premium drink package, so not sure how the corkage fee will work bringing in a bottle if 2 of us have the package and 2 don’t. We shall see….

 

 

[handbellplayer]

On 5/12/2022 at 5:42 PM, Fly and Sail said:

Since it has often been asked, here are the two different menus CLASSIC & PREMIUM.

 

I think as some stated above it depends what you usually drink. At the Martini Bar usually all drinks are made with Grey Goose or Ketel One. And I really wouldn't want to drink a Martini made with Smirnoff or Stolichnaya, maybe Tito's but yeah... $10 really makes the difference here.

I have a question about this list - I understand everything but the cocktails list.  If a particular cocktail is made with a standard liquor, why would it be considered "premium"?  For example. my husband drinks Moscow Mules.  If his drink is made with a classic package vodka, why would it be priced as premium?  Is ginger beer somehow considered premium?

[the_dylaness]

I echo many of the cruisers here... our June 3 cruise on the Reflection found very limited options in most venues.  I understand this, but please provide alternative options.  One night at dinner I asked for Villa Maria (apparently the hardest thing on the ship to find... each day in different venues I was told something different about its availability), was told they didn't have it (fine) and asked about an alternative choice.  Since the printed wine list seemed to have NO relationship whatsoever to the actual bottles onboard, I said "I am happy to try any other similar option on the premium list except the Cloudy Bay which I have tried and did not care for."

 

I'll give you a dollar if you can guess what they brought me.

 

 

[sunlover33]

14 hours ago, Purplsmurf said:

Would be great. Unfortunately, they aren’t offering “z”. They used to, but didn’t on our cruise last month and people were getting pissed!

Or not as the case may be!

[madmedic]

21 minutes ago, handbellplayer said:

I have a question about this list - I understand everything but the cocktails list.  If a particular cocktail is made with a standard liquor, why would it be considered "premium"?  For example. my husband drinks Moscow Mules.  If his drink is made with a classic package vodka, why would it be priced as premium?  Is ginger beer somehow considered premium?

Sorry if this has been asked before but could I get a smaller martini made with classic spirit at the martini bar? 

[Purplsmurf]

6 minutes ago, madmedic said:

Sorry if this has been asked before but could I get a smaller martini made with classic spirit at the martini bar? 

Technically, no. They used to do it a few years ago, but since stopped. Some bartenders might still do it,  but they aren’t supposed to so it could be hit and miss. On our most recent cruise people asked and were told no. Not sure the reasoning. Maybe because the martini bar is always so busy so they limit martinis to people who have the premium package or pay the up charge? 

[zitsky]

1 hour ago, Purplsmurf said:

They didn’t have much champagne on our last cruise and some people were really upset. We have a comped cruise coming up. I plan on bringing 4 bottles of champagne since we won’t have a drink package. Wonder what would happen if I just carry my bottle and glass with me!😂 It will already be open when I get to dinner. Will I still be charged a corkage fee?! 🤷🏻‍♀️

You got a comped cruise because there was no champagne?  What do I get if there is no toilet paper?  🙂

[madmedic]

20 minutes ago, Purplsmurf said:

Technically, no. They used to do it a few years ago, but since stopped. Some bartenders might still do it,  but they aren’t supposed to so it could be hit and miss. On our most recent cruise people asked and were told no. Not sure the reasoning. Maybe because the martini bar is always so busy so they limit martinis to people who have the premium package or pay the up charge? 

Shame as. I love the martini bar but am such a lightweight I thought the classic package would work for me. 🤣

[Purplsmurf]

2 hours ago, zitsky said:

You got a comped cruise because there was no champagne?  What do I get if there is no toilet paper?  🙂

No. I didn’t say that. I said people were upset because there was no champagne and I also said we have a comped cruise coming up. I didn’t say it was because of no champagne. Why would they comp a cruise for that? I hope it was supposed to be a joke

[Purplsmurf]

2 hours ago, madmedic said:

Shame as. I love the martini bar but am such a lightweight I thought the classic package would work for me. 🤣

You can get other drinks at the Martini bar that are on the classic package…..just not martinis

[Whinenowine]

2 hours ago, zitsky said:

You got a comped cruise because there was no champagne?  What do I get if there is no toilet paper?  🙂

 

Not a handshake, I'll tell you that for sure!

 

[zitsky]

48 minutes ago, Purplsmurf said:

No. I didn’t say that. I said people were upset because there was no champagne and I also said we have a comped cruise coming up. I didn’t say it was because of no champagne. Why would they comp a cruise for that? I hope it was supposed to be a joke

You could be a VIP or something.

 

There was a smiley?  🙃

[bluwes]

5 hours ago, the_dylaness said:

I echo many of the cruisers here... our June 3 cruise on the Reflection found very limited options in most venues.  I understand this, but please provide alternative options.  One night at dinner I asked for Villa Maria (apparently the hardest thing on the ship to find... each day in different venues I was told something different about its availability), was told they didn't have it (fine) and asked about an alternative choice.  Since the printed wine list seemed to have NO relationship whatsoever to the actual bottles onboard, I said "I am happy to try any other similar option on the premium list except the Cloudy Bay which I have tried and did not care for."

 

I'll give you a dollar if you can guess what they brought me.

 

 

I'll gladly take the Cloudy Bay

[bcspam]

On 5/12/2022 at 4:40 PM, alyssamma said:

Sorry you had a bad time. However, I think you really mean the upgrade isn't worth it for *you*.

 

For someone like me who would upgrade to be able to drink Grey Goose it certainly would be worth it. And since the cost is only like $10-12/day, it's kind of a no brainer. I think many others would say the same.

 

In the very specific case you mention above it's not worth it, but in many, many other cases it is.

 

Also, not sure what MDR wait times or food quality have to do with upgrading to premium bev package.

 

[bcspam]

35 minutes ago, bluwes said:

I'll gladly take the Cloudy Bay

Just an FYI upgrading from the Premium to the Premium Plus package is $29per day/per guest.  If it was only $12/15 I'd be taking it just for the coffee.  AND everyone in the cabin has to upgrade, my daughter is joining me on this cruise and doesn't drink coffee or sparkling water - total upgrade cost is $243 each!  That's outrageous.  Hoping it goes on sale otherwise we'll keep what we have and just pay for our coffee.

[alyssamma]

5 hours ago, bcspam said:

Just an FYI upgrading from the Premium to the Premium Plus package is $29per day/per guest.  If it was only $12/15 I'd be taking it just for the coffee.  AND everyone in the cabin has to upgrade, my daughter is joining me on this cruise and doesn't drink coffee or sparkling water - total upgrade cost is $243 each!  That's outrageous.  Hoping it goes on sale otherwise we'll keep what we have and just pay for our coffee.

From the Celebrity website...

 

 

There is then a discount for being in the Captain's Club. Pre-price increase this took it down to $12pppd. Based on other reports it is now $15pppd. But even without the discount, it's $18 and not $29.

[bdstickks0944]

On 6/15/2022 at 5:51 PM, grandgeezer said:

“Everybody” as you put it, that complains about the cruise lines do not continue to use them. From 2017 through 2019 we cut our cruising by over 80%. From October 2019 through the present, we’ve done 0 cruises, none scheduled, and none being watched. If and when they go back to offering a quality product for a reasonable price, we’ll reconsider although we aren’t holding our breath. The Always Inclusive is a deal breaker also.

Well good for you.  I completely disagree with you but that’s fine.  

[zitsky]

3 hours ago, bdstickks0944 said:

Well good for you.  I completely disagree with you but that’s fine.  

You can’t say that on the internet LOL!

[handbellplayer]

On 6/17/2022 at 12:09 PM, handbellplayer said:

I have a question about this list - I understand everything but the cocktails list.  If a particular cocktail is made with a standard liquor, why would it be considered "premium"?  For example. my husband drinks Moscow Mules.  If his drink is made with a classic package vodka, why would it be priced as premium?  Is ginger beer somehow considered premium?

Trying again since no one answered my question from yesterday.......

[grandgeezer]

3 hours ago, bdstickks0944 said:

Well good for you.  I completely disagree with you but that’s fine.  

This was posted as a personal opinion, which is just that. I wasn’t expecting any comments as again, is was just an opinion.  So in staying along your lines, I completely disagree with your lines but that’s fine.

[zitsky]

13 minutes ago, handbellplayer said:

Trying again since no one answered my question from yesterday.......

Where does it say this?  That the drink is made with classic but priced as premium?

[handbellplayer]

2 minutes ago, zitsky said:

Where does it say this?  That the drink is made with classic but priced as premium?

In my post above #331 I quoted a drink list that someone had posted.  On the premium list for Cocktails it showed "Moscow Mule",  My question was why a cocktail that can be made with any liquor be considered premium.