Surcharges for drinks in Retreat Lounge

[jelayne]

9 minutes ago, camella said:

That's because it's La Crema central coast which is a cheap version of La Crema Russian River which they used to have and not nearly as good.  The difference in price for a bottle at Total wines is $9.  The central coast sells for $17.97 and the Russian river sells for $26.97

That’s better than the premium package only Pinot noir,          Robert Mondavi, which is $7.19 buy 6 at Total and the charge for a bottle on board is $35 - that’s a premium wine🤔
Even better a bottle of Mondavi Pinot is less than a bottle of Beringer white Zinfandel which is $40 on board and $5 at Total.

[camella]

4 minutes ago, jelayne said:

That’s better than the premium package only Pinot noir,          Robert Mondavi, which is $7.19 buy 6 at Total and the charge for a bottle on board is $35 - that’s a premium wine🤔
Even better a bottle of Mondavi Pinot is less than a bottle of Beringer white Zinfandel which is $40 on board and $5 at Total.

You have to laugh - they are completely clueless and will lose a bunch of customers for this little trick.  I'm elite plus and will not be sailing on them past my current bookings if they don't straighten this out.  I quit sailing Royal Caribbean because of the nickel and diming with drinks and stuff and the selection they have is disgusting.  So sad to see the same happening to Celebrity.

[markeb]

19 minutes ago, camella said:

You have to laugh - they are completely clueless and will lose a bunch of customers for this little trick.  I'm elite plus and will not be sailing on them past my current bookings if they don't straighten this out.  I quit sailing Royal Caribbean because of the nickel and diming with drinks and stuff and the selection they have is disgusting.  So sad to see the same happening to Celebrity.

 

No, they won't. And the $23/glass wine is in Australia with gratuities included, so $19/glass on a sailing in the rest of the world. Which the average customer will simply interpret as $2.40 extra from their premium package (or $4.00 apparently in Australia). Or $10.80 from their classic package. 

 

They're selling drink packages. The Premium Drink Package is currently on sale for 69.99/day plus gratuity (at least on some sailings). That's just over 4 $17 drinks per day. A pina colada during the day. A couple of bottles of water. Maybe a soda or a latte. A martini before dinner. Let's add that up real quick:

 

Coke $4

Bottle water: $4

Sunset Pina Colada: $15

Martini at the Martini Bar: $17

Latte: $5

Glass of wine in package: $17

 

That's $62 (Before someone jumps in, the gratuity washes out mathematically here.). Have two martinis, 2-3 bottles of water, maybe one more Pina Colada and you're well over the 69.99. Two cokes, two bottles of water, two pina coladas, two martinis, a latte and a glass of wine and you're at $102, so you've paid for a full price package. Red Bull is $7 and San Pellegrino Naturali is $6, so those add up as well. And if you really want a better wine with dinner you get a 20% discount on a bottle of much better wine (which are largely priced much better than the cheap stuff). Of maybe you just enjoy the wine that is in the package.

 

For package holders (which seemed to be the majority on my last two cruises) the absolute price is irrelevant. You've already paid for the first $17. That's a sunk cost whether you buy a glass of wine or not. It's not a $19 glass of wine, it's a $2 glass of wine (or $2.40 with gratuity). The price of the wine on land is irrelevant. It only matters whether it's in your package or you're paying extra. To the vast majority of cruisers not commenting on these threads. And looking at the various bars on the ship, there are a lot of people buying drinks other than wine. So they're happy their package is paying for what they drink. Which is a lot of rum and coke, Jack and coke, bourbon and coke, etc. And beer.

 

I'm not going to argue whether they're premium wines. They're not. They're $2.40/glass wines.

[jelayne]

7 minutes ago, markeb said:

 

No, they won't. And the $23/glass wine is in Australia with gratuities included, so $19/glass on a sailing in the rest of the world. Which the average customer will simply interpret as $2.40 extra from their premium package (or $4.00 apparently in Australia). Or $10.80 from their classic package. 

 

They're selling drink packages. The Premium Drink Package is currently on sale for 69.99/day plus gratuity (at least on some sailings). That's just over 4 $17 drinks per day. A pina colada during the day. A couple of bottles of water. Maybe a soda or a latte. A martini before dinner. Let's add that up real quick:

 

Coke $4

Bottle water: $4

Sunset Pina Colada: $15

Martini at the Martini Bar: $17

Latte: $5

Glass of wine in package: $17

 

That's $62 (Before someone jumps in, the gratuity washes out mathematically here.). Have two martinis, 2-3 bottles of water, maybe one more Pina Colada and you're well over the 69.99. Two cokes, two bottles of water, two pina coladas, two martinis, a latte and a glass of wine and you're at $102, so you've paid for a full price package. Red Bull is $7 and San Pellegrino Naturali is $6, so those add up as well. And if you really want a better wine with dinner you get a 20% discount on a bottle of much better wine (which are largely priced much better than the cheap stuff). Of maybe you just enjoy the wine that is in the package.

 

For package holders (which seemed to be the majority on my last two cruises) the absolute price is irrelevant. You've already paid for the first $17. That's a sunk cost whether you buy a glass of wine or not. It's not a $19 glass of wine, it's a $2 glass of wine (or $2.40 with gratuity). The price of the wine on land is irrelevant. It only matters whether it's in your package or you're paying extra. To the vast majority of cruisers not commenting on these threads. And looking at the various bars on the ship, there are a lot of people buying drinks other than wine. So they're happy their package is paying for what they drink. Which is a lot of rum and coke, Jack and coke, bourbon and coke, etc. And beer.

 

I'm not going to argue whether they're premium wines. They're not. They're $2.40/glass wines.

Well if I think of it as a $2.40 glass of wine it will taste better😂. 
Are you on the 21st Ascent?  Maybe we can splurge, meet, and have a $5 or 8 glass of wine.

[markeb]

Just now, jelayne said:

Well if I think of it as a $2.40 glass of wine it will taste better😂. 
Are you on the 21st Ascent?  Maybe we can splurge, meet, and have a $5 or 8 glass of wine.

 

Nah. Next cruise is May on Summit southbound Alaska. That's our last booked cruise at this point. Not because of any of this nonsense. We want to see inland parts of the world...

 

(And who knows, we might book something onboard. Things change.)

[Baynanno1]

4 hours ago, camella said:

I don't see that in post #2.  Could you repost please?

 

I'm not quite sure what happened there - Post #2 of this thread :

 

 

[jelayne]

26 minutes ago, Baynanno1 said:

 

I'm not quite sure what happened there - Post #2 of this thread :

 

 

Decoy has been moved back to the Premium package. The others are still outside of the Premium package.m

[jelayne]

39 minutes ago, markeb said:

 

Nah. Next cruise is May on Summit southbound Alaska. That's our last booked cruise at this point. Not because of any of this nonsense. We want to see inland parts of the world...

 

(And who knows, we might book something onboard. Things change.)

Maybe another time 😊

[39august]

We sail on EQ Thursday. I hope the "new" wine menu prices are on our sailing. This is sort of like "cookiegate".  Decoygate?

[Winemaker_1]

From what I've read here in the last 6 months, maybe "Lauragate" is most appropriate.  Pizzagate, cookiegate, butlergate, winepricegate, and solocruisergate.  All on her watch, right?

 

These required damage control or a 'walk-back'.  

Edited January 16 by Winemaker_1

[Josie201]

7 minutes ago, Winemaker_1 said:

From what I've read here in the last 6 months, maybe "Lauragate" is most appropriate.  Pizzagate, cookiegate, butlergate, winepricegate, and solocruisergate.  All on her watch, right?

 

These required damage control or a 'walk-back'.  

Lest we forget vapegate....

[39august]

Ah. yes. I almost forgot Vapegate!

[drakes2]

6 minutes ago, Josie201 said:

Lest we forget vapegate....

Hi Josie. Hope all is well.

[81Zoomie]

33 minutes ago, Winemaker_1 said:

From what I've read here in the last 6 months, maybe "Lauragate" is most appropriate.  Pizzagate, cookiegate, butlergate, winepricegate, and solocruisergate.  All on her watch, right?

 

Most also necessitated damage control or a 'walk-back'.

It’s interesting to note the level of ‘walk-back’ varies.  Perhaps it’s inversely related to the perceived potential revenue generated.  Cookies were easy, wine not so much.  X has successfully loaded the menu with cheaper less palatable wines and it appears they only walked back a couple from “Elevated” to “Premium”.  Who knows what the availability is.  In X speak, they “listened to feedback, added variety, and made changes by the end of the month”.   I wish the walk-back on the wines was bigger.  Question is, while everyone is focused on wine, what’s happening behind the curtain?

Edited January 16 by 81Zoomie

[jmdlv1]

On 1/14/2024 at 11:45 AM, 81Zoomie said:

I wrote to LBH yesterday afternoon about the changes in the Retreat as well as the beverage packages. I just received a call from the “Executive Office” (on a Sunday!). The rep said that LBH is listening to all of the concerns she is receiving.  The rep also related that, “You can expect to see some changes by the end of the month. Some things are coming back.”  Time will tell.  If you haven’t already written to LBH, now would be an excellent time to share your thoughts with her.   lhodgesbethge@celebrity.com

Thank you for posting the email address.

I sent an email yesterday to LBH thanking her for turning me on to luxury cruise lines which now offer a better value.

Did not receive a response LOL

[jmdlv1]

Just received a call from Geidy in the "executive office"

Who said all the changes are being looked at and there may be some postive news at the end of the month.

[High on the Seas]

43 minutes ago, jmdlv1 said:

Just received a call from Geidy in the "executive office"

Who said all the changes are being looked at and there may be some postive news at the end of the month.

 

43 minutes ago, jmdlv1 said:

Just received a call from Geidy in the "executive office"

Who said all the changes are being looked at and there may be some postive news at the end of the month.

Based on all the missteps Celebrity has made recently, I wonder what their definition of “positive” is. 

[goofysmom99]

"The end of the month" is already too late to fix the bumper-car school of management that Celebrity has embraced.  I'm so disgusted, I just coughed-up another 25% deposit today for Silversea.  Granted, it's still within the RCG family but I'm betting/hoping SS isn't out to dismantle its brand/reputation like X has done.

[billc23]

4 minutes ago, goofysmom99 said:

"The end of the month" is already too late to fix the bumper-car school of management that Celebrity has embraced.  I'm so disgusted, I just coughed-up another 25% deposit today for Silversea.  Granted, it's still within the RCG family but I'm betting/hoping SS isn't out to dismantle its brand/reputation like X has done.

I have no problem with Silversea being in the RCG family. If one does't like the performance of their VW Jetta, would they not purchase a Porsche because money goes to the VW group?  

 

The Volkswagen Group sells passenger cars under the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Cupra, Jetta, Lamborghini, Porsche, SEAT, Škoda and Volkswagen 

 

Hopefully Silversea stays the same quality they have.

[PTC DAWG]

42 minutes ago, goofysmom99 said:

"The end of the month" is already too late to fix the bumper-car school of management that Celebrity has embraced.  I'm so disgusted, I just coughed-up another 25% deposit today for Silversea.  Granted, it's still within the RCG family but I'm betting/hoping SS isn't out to dismantle its brand/reputation like X has done.

Seems like we are comparing apples and oranges here…600 passenger ships, totally different experience..

Edited January 16 by PTC DAWG

[CruiseRQA]

3 hours ago, Winemaker_1 said:

From what I've read here in the last 6 months, maybe "Lauragate" is most appropriate.  Pizzagate, cookiegate, butlergate, winepricegate, and solocruisergate.  All on her watch, right?

 

These required damage control or a 'walk-back'.  

Last year there was talapiagate ... 

[81Zoomie]

2 minutes ago, CruiseRQA said:

Last year there was talapiagate ... 

 

yep…menugate!

[High on the Seas]

39 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

Seems like we are comparing apples and oranges here…600 passenger ships, totally different experience..

I am looking at post-pandemic Celebrity to cruising Celebrity today.  So many issues that were self inflicted making the overall experience much less desirable. No class of room has been spared. 

[PTC DAWG]

1 minute ago, High on the Seas said:

I am looking at post-pandemic Celebrity to cruising Celebrity today.  So many issues that were self inflicted making the overall experience much less desirable. No class of room has been spared. 

I was speaking of Silversea and the 600 passenger count on much smaller ships..

 

But yeah, I sailed Equinox right of the gate, on the return and it was great with the lower passenger count. 

[goofysmom99]

30 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

Seems like we are comparing apples and oranges here…600 passenger ships, totally different experience..

I'm counting on it. 

 

I can count on one hand the number of productions shows I've been to on X in the last decade so won't miss those.  Casinos no longer are as entertaining as they once were for me, so that's OK, too.  I do enjoy lounge singers/musicians, chatting with other folks where we can hear each other (sans DJ), trivia, enrichment lectures, and being able to order decent wine by the glass without a surcharge.  Also hoping to find better dining options (better quality proteins).  I'll be in Luminae next month, and will be interested to see if the food has improved since last March when I wasn't at all wowed, at least in a good way.  Willing to try something new for the comparable price of a sky suite (actually, as a solo, it's $5K less).