Upgrading drink package

[RichYak]

17 minutes ago, drakes2 said:

The price has still gone up by $40/from the old classic (pre December 19th) to purchase the new premium package.  What doesn't make sense?

You referred to $40 as the "upgrade" price and even did the math on what it would cost for a 10 day cruise, which was all wrong. Following that up with comparing the current cost of one package with the old price of a completely different package makes no sense as it's an irrelevant comparison. It only served to further confuse the issue.

[TravelingCircusof5]

On my cruise plamner order history, it only shows My packages for drinks and AI- like only one person is on the reservation, not my husband’s. Is that normal? He is on the reservation. I checked. 🤪

[Wineaux007]

I called the Captain's Club to upgrade my Classic to Premium asking for the Elite+ discount.  It came out to $14.14 a day for an 11 night sailing, which included the grats.

[drakes2]

37 minutes ago, RichYak said:

You referred to $40 as the "upgrade" price and even did the math on what it would cost for a 10 day cruise, which was all wrong. Following that up with comparing the current cost of one package with the old price of a completely different package makes no sense as it's an irrelevant comparison. It only served to further confuse the issue.

Yes its irrelevant and we all know that. I was comparing the old basic to the new premium and I know you know what I was referring to. Still a $40 hike in pricing.  

[DaKahuna]

5 hours ago, TravelingCircusof5 said:

On my cruise plamner order history, it only shows My packages for drinks and AI- like only one person is on the reservation, not my husband’s. Is that normal? He is on the reservation. I checked. 🤪

 

 Yes,  as you and your husband have different portfolio numbers.  If you log into his Celebrity account and go to his Cruise planner you will see his information. 

[CleoChase]

7 hours ago, wrk2cruise said:

 

Easiest way is to look at the bottom of your Xpress pass used for boarding.   It will say CALL for Classic and PALL for Premium.

 

Thank you for posting this!  I have been looking for anywhere in the planner that stated that we had the standard drink package.  It was supposed to be part of our fare, but I couldn't find it listed anywhere and did not know what CALL meant on my Xpress pass.  

[Josie201]

Dec. 29 update.  Not sure how Celebrity does its math but I called this morning.

 

9 night cruise.  We are Elite + so she confirmed the 15% discount.  Added 20% gratuity.  Total for the 9 nights is $297.00 for two/$148.50 pp or $16.50 pp per day.  I said I had seen rates quoted of as low as $14 pp pd, she said it may have been an on-line sale which she didn't have access to. 

 

FWIW, this means they are not simply applying the $20 pp pd "upgrade fee" as that would come to $20 * .85 = 17 plus 20% = $20.40 pp pd.   She said it depended on what the rates were when I booked...? 

[TourDeCruise]

Our friends (bff and her husband) and the two of us are cruising together next month. We are Zenith so we get the Premium drink package included as one of our benefits. Our friends are Select and booked with the gratuities, Classic Drink Package, and Wifi perk. They definitely prefer the Premium package as they appreciate the better wine and beer, occasional more expensive martini/cocktail/coffee w/ alcohol, and the Aqua Spa Cafe smoothies. Today, pre-cruise through Captain's Club, they upgraded to Premium for our 7-night cruise. For being Select (level below Elite), they get a 10% discount to upgrade. 

 

For the 7-night cruise with Select Captain's Club status, here is what she said. "Upgraded to Premium. Cost $126 per person plus 20% gratuity. It includes the 10% Select discount. Total just under $300." 

 

Elite/Elite+ will get a little better price to upgrade because of the 15% discount.

Edited December 29, 2022 by TourDeCruise

[Dar & Bob]

On 12/26/2022 at 2:23 PM, wrk2cruise said:

 

Easiest way is to look at the bottom of your Xpress pass used for boarding.   It will say CALL for Classic and PALL for Premium.

 

Thank you for posting this.  Just checked our Xpress pass for our sailing in 2 weeks and it says CALL - we booked the Exhale package when it was still available.  So now calling X - you saved me waiting at Guest Services.  

The rep says it's an IT problem.  We love the X ships but wow the website and working through things is a PITA.   Nothing seems to be intuitive. 

 

[wrk2cruise]

1 minute ago, Dar & Bob said:

Thank you for posting this.  Just checked our Xpress pass for our sailing in 2 weeks and it says CALL - we booked the Exhale package when it was still available.  So now calling X - you saved me waiting at Guest Services.  

The rep says it's an IT problem.  We love the X ships but wow the website and working through things is a PITA.   Nothing seems to be intuitive. 

 

Saw you on the roll call.  That will be leg 2 of our B2B.  We board on Monday!

[Dar & Bob]

2 hours ago, wrk2cruise said:

Saw you on the roll call.  That will be leg 2 of our B2B.  We board on Monday!

Enjoy your first cruise and see you in 2 weeks.  

[Mimiya11]

So...in the past we have enjoyed our Premium packages.  We just booked a one week February cruise and get the Basic package.  My understanding is that we can pay the difference between the basic drinks and the premium ones on a per drink basis.   I love that Martini bar. 

 

Has anyone just paid the difference for maybe 2 or 3 premium drinks (including a glass of wine) and was it any better value than upgrading the package?    

[LGW59]

11 minutes ago, Mimiya11 said:

So...in the past we have enjoyed our Premium packages.  We just booked a one week February cruise and get the Basic package.  My understanding is that we can pay the difference between the basic drinks and the premium ones on a per drink basis.   I love that Martini bar. 

 

Has anyone just paid the difference for maybe 2 or 3 premium drinks (including a glass of wine) and was it any better value than upgrading the package?    

Totally depends on how much you drink.  Just do a cost comparison between the two packages.  Then it’s easy to decide if the up charge per drink is worth it 

[Mimiya11]

Just now, LGW59 said:

Totally depends on how much you drink.  Just do a cost comparison between the two packages.  Then it’s easy to decide if the up charge per drink is worth it 

Thought of this as soon as I posted LOL

Yes, I will wait to get on board, see how it goes after the first day and upgrade if needed.   Done that before, since it is a per day charge anyway.   Thanks again LGW59 🙂

 

 

[terrydtx]

On 12/25/2022 at 9:12 PM, zitsky said:

Weren’t people talking about Cherry Tart Pinot Noir?  Is that really any good?

We like the Cherry Tart Pinot, and it is on the Premium list by the glass. I buy it here in Texas when we can find it for about $15 a bottle. I remember Kendal Jackson being premium as well and our butlers have supplied bottles of it in our cabin as part of the PDP. For us the biggest difference between classic and premium is the quality and choice of wines and it's worth the upgrade. With Premium we have found no reason to buy any wine by the bottle anymore. We are also now only booking suites with Celebrity and the Premium dinks package is included in the suite's amenities. I also enjoy a Mccallen 12 year old scotch before dinner and at $15 a shot it is included in the PDP, or it was on the Reflection in August.

Edited December 30, 2022 by terrydtx

[jagoffee]

2 hours ago, Mimiya11 said:

So...in the past we have enjoyed our Premium packages.  We just booked a one week February cruise and get the Basic package.  My understanding is that we can pay the difference between the basic drinks and the premium ones on a per drink basis.   I love that Martini bar. 

 

Has anyone just paid the difference for maybe 2 or 3 premium drinks (including a glass of wine) and was it any better value than upgrading the package?    

What you say is true with mixed drinks and wines.  There are some things like premium regular and sparkling waters waters, where this not not true.  There may be a few other items.  You can always upgrade after a day or so.  

[drakes2]

1 hour ago, terrydtx said:

We like the Cherry Tart Pinot, and it is on the Premium list by the glass. I buy it here in Texas when we can find it for about $15 a bottle. I remember Kendal Jackson being premium as well and our butlers have supplied bottles of it in our cabin as part of the PDP. For us the biggest difference between classic and premium is the quality and choice of wines and it's worth the upgrade. With Premium we have found no reason to buy any wine by the bottle anymore. We are also now only booking suites with Celebrity and the Premium dinks package is included in the suite's amenities. I also enjoy a Mccallen 12 year old scotch before dinner and at $15 a shot it is included in the PDP, or it was on the Reflection in August.

They replaced the Cherry Tart with Cherry pie some time in 2019 but have not updated the menu since then. The Cherry Pie is not as good. I think it's on Premium but should be on basic package. I always upgrade my package mainly as I drink a  large bottle of Evian and a couple of San Pellegrino or perriers daily. It also covers drinks at WCB. 

[prmssk]

1 hour ago, jagoffee said:

What you say is true with mixed drinks and wines.  There are some things like premium regular and sparkling waters waters, where this not not true.  There may be a few other items.  You can always upgrade after a day or so.  

The description of the classic alcohol package in the cruise planner is now listing the premium waters and everything else that is in the current Zero Proof package except smoothies.  So this may have changed with the new packages.

[TourDeCruise]

On 12/26/2022 at 2:23 PM, wrk2cruise said:

 

Easiest way is to look at the bottom of your Xpress pass used for boarding.   It will say CALL for Classic and PALL for Premium.

 

Thank you for the reminder. Our friends just upgraded pre-cruise to Premium Drink Package and their Express Pass says CALL because they had already printed out. Our Express Pass says CALL even though we are Zenith when it should say PALL. We both called Celebrity to get it straightened out. Supposedly the Express passes should update soon if we want to re-print, but Concierge said we do not need to re-print ours.

 

Edited December 30, 2022 by TourDeCruise

[lawk]

Not sure if this was covered - what non-alcoholic beverages are included with Classic package? 

[Mimiya11]

9 hours ago, jagoffee said:

What you say is true with mixed drinks and wines.  There are some things like premium regular and sparkling waters waters, where this not not true.  There may be a few other items.  You can always upgrade after a day or so.  

 

I am now trying to figure out how to upgrade pre-cruise using maybe? my elite discount. 

But...for some reason I cannot see any links on the website to upgrade only purchase a package? 

Anyone able to do it?   No biggy if I do when we board. 

Plus so many inconsistencies on different lists.  Some don't even have the specialty coffees on classic which am sure is incorrect.   

[DaKahuna]

8 hours ago, lawk said:

Not sure if this was covered - what non-alcoholic beverages are included with Classic package? 

 

From the description of the Classic Beverage Package:

 

• Zero Proof: Acqua Panna water, Evian water, San Pellegrino, Premium coffees, Red Bull & Editions, Sodas, Premium teas, Vitamin water, Bottled Iced Teas, Aqua Spa Fresh Juices, Zero Proof Cocktails Frozen & Non-Frozen

[DaKahuna]

1 hour ago, Mimiya11 said:

 

I am now trying to figure out how to upgrade pre-cruise using maybe? my elite discount. 

But...for some reason I cannot see any links on the website to upgrade only purchase a package? 

Anyone able to do it?   No biggy if I do when we board. 

Plus so many inconsistencies on different lists.  Some don't even have the specialty coffees on classic which am sure is incorrect.   

 

You cannot do it via the web site.  In order to upgrade a drink package or to get your Elite discount, you need to call Celebrity or have your TA do upgrade for you. 

 

Here is what non-alcoholic beverages are included in the Classic package (from the description of the Classic package in Cruise Planner)

 

• Zero Proof: Acqua Panna water, Evian water, San Pellegrino, Premium coffees, Red Bull & Editions, Sodas, Premium teas, Vitamin water, Bottled Iced Teas, Aqua Spa Fresh Juices, Zero Proof Cocktails Frozen & Non-Frozen

 

[jagoffee]

10 hours ago, prmssk said:

The description of the classic alcohol package in the cruise planner is now listing the premium waters and everything else that is in the current Zero Proof package except smoothies.  So this may have changed with the new packages.

 

18 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

From the description of the Classic Beverage Package:

 

• Zero Proof: Acqua Panna water, Evian water, San Pellegrino, Premium coffees, Red Bull & Editions, Sodas, Premium teas, Vitamin water, Bottled Iced Teas, Aqua Spa Fresh Juices, Zero Proof Cocktails Frozen & Non-Frozen

 

14 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

You cannot do it via the web site.  In order to upgrade a drink package or to get your Elite discount, you need to call Celebrity or have your TA do upgrade for you. 

 

Here is what non-alcoholic beverages are included in the Classic package (from the description of the Classic package in Cruise Planner)

 

• Zero Proof: Acqua Panna water, Evian water, San Pellegrino, Premium coffees, Red Bull & Editions, Sodas, Premium teas, Vitamin water, Bottled Iced Teas, Aqua Spa Fresh Juices, Zero Proof Cocktails Frozen & Non-Frozen

 

That is a nice change as it will avoid any confusion.

[prmssk]

6 hours ago, jagoffee said:

 

 

That is a nice change as it will avoid any confusion.

Someone else posted yesterday evening on a different thread that the non-alcoholic inclusions listed in their cruise planner for the classic beverage package are the same as the classic has always been (no fancy waters, etc.) and on Celebrity's website there is actually a blog with a post implying the classic beverage may not include any non-alcoholic beverages.  The section of Celebrity's website about drink packages is silent on this.  So I don't know if this truly has changed or not.