upgrading drink package

[NCteacherlovescruising]

We got the All Included when we booked.  I'm considering upgrading to the premium drink package for better wines, but don't see an option to just upgrade.  Would that cover drinks from the martini bar?  How would I go about that?  I believe it's cheaper if I do it pre-cruise, but I could be mistaken.

[NantahalaCruiser]

36 minutes ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

We got the All Included when we booked.  I'm considering upgrading to the premium drink package for better wines, but don't see an option to just upgrade.  Would that cover drinks from the martini bar?  How would I go about that?  I believe it's cheaper if I do it pre-cruise, but I could be mistaken.

Yeah, I have never seen the upgrade as an online option - although I have heard that some have gotten it prior to booking by contacting the Captain's Club rep.

 

You might consider instead just upgrading to premium on the second day of your cruise, thus effectively getting a 1 day price reduction.

[jelayne]

If you are Elite or Elite + you get a 15% discount on the upgrade from the Classic to Premium beverage package but you need to call to upgrade with the discount.  In the cruise planner I saw a phone number to call internet and beverage package upgrades, it was not the Captains Club number.

I believe it was 800-722-5941.

[NCteacherlovescruising]

6 minutes ago, jelayne said:

If you are Elite or Elite + you get a 15% discount on the upgrade from the Classic to Premium beverage package but you need to call to upgrade with the discount.  In the cruise planner I saw a phone number to call internet and beverage package upgrades, it was not the Captains Club number.

I believe it was 800-722-5941.

I’m not Elite. This will only be my second Celebrity cruise. 

[Angua]

on the 2 past cruises we have done on celebrity, we initially booked AI with a big box store travel agent.  a few weeks before the cruise we were able to upgrade from classic to premium with some additional discount online.  If I remember correctly, the upgrade opportunity only showed up a few weeks before the cruise but this was pre covid so I don't remember exactly how many weeks before this happened.

 

This may have changed since the restart though.

[jelayne]

8 minutes ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

I’m not Elite. This will only be my second Celebrity cruise. 

Then check the cruise planner closer to you sailing to see if the upgrade option appears on-line.

If not then you can upgrade once on the ship.  Any bartender will be more than happy to take of the upgrade and will remember you as they get some benefit for the upgrades they sell.

[PTC DAWG]

1 hour ago, jelayne said:

Then check the cruise planner closer to you sailing to see if the upgrade option appears on-line.

If not then you can upgrade once on the ship.  Any bartender will be more than happy to take of the upgrade and will remember you as they get some benefit for the upgrades they sell.

This…^^^ I always upgrade on board if I am not booked with premium package…and yes, it covers Martini Bar. 

[julia]

@jelayne  Can I get the Elite discount if I upgrade with a bartender onboard, or is it just prior on the phone?  I'd like to use the OBC from my TA (which doesn't show until onboard).  Thx!

[CaroleSS]

Anyone but me hoping there is a Black Friday sale which might decrease the cost of upgrading? Right now, for our next cruise, there is only a slight discount ($1/day). I was hoping for a tad more.

 

Anyone's crystal ball (or lucky 8-ball) still working? Mine got a crack with Ian, so it's in the shop! 🤪

[Bo1953]

2 hours ago, julia said:

@jelayne  Can I get the Elite discount if I upgrade with a bartender onboard, or is it just prior on the phone?  I'd like to use the OBC from my TA (which doesn't show until onboard).  Thx!

No, it can only be done via phone to X to get the discount.

 

Cheers and bon voyage

[ConnMom]

I was able to upgrade to the premium package last month for a cruise we are taking in April.  My cruise planner on the Celebrity website had a number to call for beverage upgrades. 

I upgrade primarily for the upgraded wines and the premium waters; however, we were disappointed on our Summit cruise last June that upgraded wines were not readily available, and there have been reports that upgraded wines are still difficult to obtain.  So I am having some second thoughts about the value of upgrading, especially since they raised the upgrade price about 5 months ago.

Cheryl

[rsverdier]

I had the same problem; I wanted to upgrade our All Included package to a premium package pre-cruise, so I first sent an e-mail to Celebrity. They advised me to contact our TA for this, so I contacted her. She got in touch with Celebrity's local GSA, but they couldn't do anything either. In the end, I called Celebrity on their international Captain's Club telephone number (1-316-554-5961) and the they finally could book the upgrade. It took her 30 minutes to do so, apparently it was hard to book the upgrade under the CC tier discount rate that we are in, but she managed to do it in the end.

[NCteacherlovescruising]

8 hours ago, ConnMom said:

I was able to upgrade to the premium package last month for a cruise we are taking in April.  My cruise planner on the Celebrity website had a number to call for beverage upgrades. 

I upgrade primarily for the upgraded wines and the premium waters; however, we were disappointed on our Summit cruise last June that upgraded wines were not readily available, and there have been reports that upgraded wines are still difficult to obtain.  So I am having some second thoughts about the value of upgrading, especially since they raised the upgrade price about 5 months ago.

Cheryl

I would be upgrading for wine and the martini bar. It would be quite disappointing if I did this and they didn’t have a red I like. If Decoy isn’t available they should give us something better, imo.  

[NCteacherlovescruising]

2 hours ago, rsverdier said:

I had the same problem; I wanted to upgrade our All Included package to a premium package pre-cruise, so I first sent an e-mail to Celebrity. They advised me to contact our TA for this, so I contacted her. She got in touch with Celebrity's local GSA, but they couldn't do anything either. In the end, I called Celebrity on their international Captain's Club telephone number (1-316-554-5961) and the they finally could book the upgrade. It took her 30 minutes to do so, apparently it was hard to book the upgrade under the CC tier discount rate that we are in, but she managed to do it in the end.

We booked through a TA with an All Included package as well. I didn’t realize it would be so complicated to do this. 

Edited October 27, 2022 by NCteacherlovescruising

[3CanadianBears]

NCTeacher - perhaps check again with your TA? Our TA was able to upgrade for us - we are sailing in May.  

 

Cheers! 

[WIBadgerFan]

1 hour ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

We booked through a TA with an All Included package as well. I didn’t realize it would be so complicated to do this. 

Yes, it is really annoying but thanks to helpful folks on this site who kindly answered when I asked the same question: just call.  It took ten minutes at the most for me a few days ago for our sailing on Nov 3 on Silhouette. 

[PTC DAWG]

2 hours ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

We booked through a TA with an All Included package as well. I didn’t realize it would be so complicated to do this. 

It is not complicated at all…get on board, upgrade at a bar..done. Or as stated above, call or email your TA. 

Edited October 27, 2022 by PTC DAWG

[Woody14]

18 hours ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

I’m not Elite. This will only be my second Celebrity cruise. 

I would still call captains club as a member you would still get a slight discount.

That said it did come and go in my planner for my Alaska cruise on the Eclipse last summer.

You can also do your upgrade onboard, the bartenders love when you do as they get some sort of incentive for it, but they can't offer you the captains club discount which may not be much anyway 

Edited October 27, 2022 by Woody14

[drakes2]

4 hours ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

I would be upgrading for wine and the martini bar. It would be quite disappointing if I did this and they didn’t have a red I like. If Decoy isn’t available they should give us something better, imo.  

I wouldn't bother upgrading until they get some better wines in the Premium package. Decoy is part of it but often they run out and will ask you if you want another wine or will give you one from the basic package.  On my very recent cruise I saw many drinking CK Mondavi cabernet which is basic and I was told those people paid for Premium.  For sure they will not give you a better wine unless you pay the difference 

[Texed]

3 minutes ago, drakes2 said:

  For sure they will not give you a better wine unless you pay the difference 

This is not always the case. Sometimes you get a wonderful sommelier. 😊

[bigbenboys]

4 hours ago, 3CanadianBears said:

NCTeacher - perhaps check again with your TA? Our TA was able to upgrade for us - we are sailing in May.  

 

Cheers! 

2 of our last 4 cruises we did not have PDP, so both times I had our TA call and upgrade our drink packages and internet with our CC discount.

[AnnaNicole]

5 hours ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

I would be upgrading for wine and the martini bar. It would be quite disappointing if I did this and they didn’t have a red I like. If Decoy isn’t available they should give us something better, imo.  

Decoy was available on Solstice Sept 24 cruise.  I did have to insist on it a couple of times.  They routinely pushed Celebrity Elegance red wine.   Sometimes, the pour I got was definitely NOT Decoy.   There were a few times that the wine tasted watered down.   UGH.

 

Evian water was not available.   Vellamo was the replacement.

[drakes2]

52 minutes ago, AnnaNicole said:

Decoy was available on Solstice Sept 24 cruise.  I did have to insist on it a couple of times.  They routinely pushed Celebrity Elegance red wine.   Sometimes, the pour I got was definitely NOT Decoy.   There were a few times that the wine tasted watered down.   UGH.

 

Evian water was not available.   Vellamo was the replacement.

They can be sneaky however they will not pour you watered down wine.

[drakes2]

1 hour ago, Texed said:

This is not always the case. Sometimes you get a wonderful sommelier. 😊

I've been  on 4 cruises post covid and only purchased the Premium package once.  All the sommeliers have been ok none were great. One wouldn't even recommend any Tuscan wines as HE didn't like any.  😆 🤣 

[NutsAboutGolf]

One thing to keep in mind, you can wait until you're on board and then pay the prorated amount based on the number of remaining nights left.  Totally understand this doesn't work for everyone but if you're on a really long cruise (just got off of the the 15 night Millie) it could save a bundle if you wait a week before upgrading.