Are you booking a cruise and looking forward to relaxing and indulging in some great food and drinks, exciting entertainment, and beautiful scenery? Celebrity is upping the bar for what is standard for cruise guests, including a Celebrity Cruises drinks package for everyone!
Luxury for All
Celebrity has gone all-in on setting itself a bit apart from some of the other cruise brands by offering an upscale cruising experience. They’ve also become aware that many cruisers these days want to be connected while on the ship. That’s why they’ve branded themselves as having “Wi-Fi, Drinks, and Tips Always Included”.
Tips are included with your booking on Celebrity, meaning you won’t have additional tips charged onboard. Which can be a savings of around $15-$20 per person per day compared to other cruises. If your tips weren’t included, a couple (2 people) can expect to pay around $210-$280 for tips in addition to their cruise fare on a one-week cruise.
The Always Included package also includes Celebrity’s Surf Wi-Fi package for each guest. This wifi package allows basic internet where you can send some messages and emails but isn’t able to handle large image files or any kind of streaming of movies or facetime. You can upgrade from the Surf to Stream WiFi package for $20 per person per day, or by purchasing the Indulge Package.
Drinks included is a big part of this new level of luxury from Celebrity Cruises. The package includes the Classic Beverage package. So now let’s look at what that package gives you and what the upgrade option to the Premium drinks package gives you.
Celebrity Cruise Drink Packages
As with many cruise lines lately, there are levels of upgrades for service. And the Celebrity Cruises beverage packages are no different. There are two options for your package. The Always Included guest offer includes the classic beverage package.
Celebrity Cruises’ Classic Beverage Package includes all carbonated drinks (i.e. unlimited sodas), non-premium bottled water, juices (apple, orange, cranberry, grapefruit, lemon), premium specialty coffees and teas as well as basic beers, spirits, cocktails, and wines by the glass (up to $9 per serving). Bottles of wine are not included, but you will get a 15% discount.
The Premium drink package with Celebrity includes all of the above but offers higher-end liquors, more premium beers, and more wines by the glass, like champagne, priced up to $15 per serving. And if you want to order a bottle of wine, you’ll get a 20% discount versus the 15% in the classic package. The premium package also includes premium waters like Evian and San Pellegrino sparkling water and it includes Red Bull, too.
If you compare the Celebrity Cruises classic drink package versus the premium drink package you’ll mainly see the differences in more offerings, but whether it matters to you is the question. You can see a full comparison chart on this page from Celebrity. Some examples of the drink package differences:
- Guinness, Stella, and Blue Moon, etc are in the premium package, Bud Light, Coors Light, Corona, etc are in the classic beverage package.
- If you love to sip a glass of wine, the classic package includes mostly house/table wines, whereas the premium package includes champagnes and various estate wines.
- If you’re a gin drinker, you’ll find Bombay Sapphire and Hendricks in the premium package and Beefeater, Bombay Dry, and Gordon’s in the classic.
- And as I mentioned above, you’ll be able to grab premium waters and enjoy sparkling water with the premium package versus the non-premium water in the classic.
Overall, I loved knowing that I could order whatever I wanted while on board. And we loved being able to grab the aluminum bottles of water or San Pelligrino sparkling waters while walking around the ship.
The cost to upgrade from classic to premium beverage package on Celebrity Cruises is $12 per person per day and includes the server gratuity (which is included with the Classic package as well). For a one-week (7-day) cruise, you’re looking at paying $84 per person for the week to upgrade to the premium beverage package. But you can also get the upgraded premium beverage package if you opt-in for one of Celebrity’s upgrade packages, Elevate or Indulge.
Celebrity Cruises Elevate Package
The Elevate Package includes the upgrade to the premium beverage package as well as a shore excursion credit. The onboard credit amount is based on how long your cruise is. You’ll receive $100 per person for 1-5 night sailings, $150 per person for 6-9 night sailings, and $200 per person for 10 night or longer sailings. AquaClass guests receive a spa credit instead of a shore excursion credit.
The cost for the Elevate package is $30 per person per day. For a couple cruising for 7 days, they’d pay $420 for the Elevate package which would include a $300 shore excursion credit ($150 each). If you only wanted to upgrade to the premium beverage package, that would be an extra charge of $168 for 2 people, making the Elevate package a deal if you use the shore excursion credit.
Note that it’s not clear if 3rd and 4th guests in a stateroom must upgrade. So, if you’re traveling with kids you’ll want to see if you’re required to upgrade everyone in the cabin or just the 1st and 2nd passengers. :) Even though Celebrity is often thought of as being primarily for adults, my daughters have loved cruising with Celebrity. Kids especially love the soda packages and mocktails!
Read my other posts: 5 Best Things to Do on Celebrity Edge Cruise Ship and Ultimate Guide for Happy Tweens and Teens on a Caribbean Cruise
Celebrity Cruises Indulge Package
A step up from Elevate is the Indulge Package. This package upgrade will cost double the Elevate package, $60 per person per day. But, it comes with some bonus extras. The Celebrity Cruises Indulge Package includes faster WiFi — you’ll get the Stream Wi-Fi package which allows you to video chat and stream your favorite TV shows and movies (assuming there is a good connection to the ship at sea).
You’ll also get the premium beverage package and you’ll receive onboard credits for shore excursions and onboard spending (premium dining, spa, shopping, etc). The value of the onboard credits (shore excursion + onboard spending) will vary based on the cruise length, $200 per person for sailings 1 – 5 nights, $300 per person for sailings 6 – 9 nights, and $400 per person for sailings 10 nights or longer.
For a couple on a 7-day cruise, they’ll spend $840, and will receive faster wifi, premium drinks, and $600 to spend on shore excursions and onboard spending. Again, the premium beverage upgrade would be $168 for 2, and upgrading to the Stream Wi-Fi package will cost $140 each, $280 total. So just upgrading drinks and wifi for 2 guests on a one-week cruise would cost $448, the Indulge package costs $392 more but also includes $600 for shore & onboard spending.
Beyond the Elevate and Indulge packages, some cruises offer “Perks Packages” that include many of the same items above but include specialty dining instead of shore excursion credits.
Concierge Level on Celebrity
Concierge Class cabins are all balcony cabins and allow concierge guests to utilize a personal concierge to help them before and during their cruise. Guests will also have priority Embarkation and Disembarkation.
Concierge guests also have an enhanced room service breakfast menu, and will receive a few onboard perks:
- Sparkling Wine (upon request)
- Private Concierge Class Lunch
- Daily Delectable Delights
- Pillow Selection (upon request)
- Use of Umbrella and Binoculars (in cabin)
- Celebrity Embossed Key Holder
One of my favorite perks for concierge guests is flexible dining times for the main restaurants. While Celebrity assigns you an early or late dining time (630 pm or 8 pm), concierge guests can choose to eat when they want, say 700 pm and show up at the restaurant and ask for seating. Of course, it’s depending on availability and there might be a wait, but we didn’t experience that on our recent cruise.
AquaClass Level
If you’re cruising with the goal of relaxing and finding peace, the AquaClass level of cabins might be just for you! AquaClass has been designed to be a wellness escape with all rooms located near the spa. AquaClass cabins have premium bedding and special amenities:
- 2 Bottled waters in-room: daily
- 2 Yoga mats
- In-room fitness amenities
- Eco-friendly natural ingredients shower amenities
- Expanded wellness on-demand TV
- 100% Cotton bathrobes, slippers, towels
- Welcome bottle of sparkling wine (upon request)
- Complimentary use of umbrella and binoculars
- Complimentary shoeshine service
AquaClass guests also have access to an exclusive restaurant, Blu. The menu features clean, crisp flavors with a focus on healthy meal options complemented by an extensive list of sustainable, biodynamic wines.
And you’ll pamper yourself in AquaClass with complimentary access to the SEA Thermal Suite, which has eight distinct spaces that all incorporate different elements of the SEA experience (Edge series cruise ships) and the Persian Garden which includes rejuvenating experiences, including aromatic steams and tropical rain showers on Millennium and Solstice series ships.
The Retreat
If you’re looking for the ultimate luxury cruise vacation with Celebrity, you’ll want to book a cabin in The Retreat. It’s an exclusive level of service that includes all suite cabins, a private restaurant, pool, lounge, and sundeck, as well as a dedicated personal retreat host at your service.
The Retreat restaurant, Luminae, is also a spectacular dining experience. The menu options are found nowhere else on board, including the new signature dishes created by Celebrity’s Global Culinary Ambassador Daniel Boulud, exclusive for The Retreat guests.
At the front of the Edge and Revolutionized class ships, there is a private Retreat sundeck where you’ll have personal lounge service with beverages, snacks, and towels. Note that the private Retreat sundeck is not available on Celebrity Solstice, Eclipse, Reflection, Constellation, Infinity class ships.
All cabins in The Retreat are suites with upgraded amenities. The Retreat guests also get the Indulge package upgrade mentioned above. They’ll receive the premium beverage package, Stream WiFi, onboard and shore excursion credits.
Conclusion
By introducing this “Always Included” branding, Celebrity Cruises has moved ahead as being an attainable luxury cruise line for adults and families with older kids. Their ships are designed to offer cruisers the chance to unwind and relax, without the need to always be going and doing. While the classic package everyone receives is a taste of luxury, upgrading to one of the Elevate, Indulge, or Perks packages will ensure you have a cruise of indulgence.
The Celebrity Cruises drinks packages allow all guests to enjoy alcoholic drinks while cruising without the need to always be checking prices and thinking about tipping. I personally can’t wait to cruise again with Celebrity, perhaps even on their upcoming new ship, Celebrity Beyond!
Once you have your cruise booked and are ready to pack, be sure to print off my cruise packing list!
