A Celebrity Cruises beverage package offers the choice to enjoy an unlimited amount of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks for a fixed daily price for the duration of your cruise vacation.
Your base cruise fare includes entertainment, accommodations, transportation between ports of call, and select food and beverages. Unless you book Celebrity's "All Included" fare (more on that later), you will find that there are some things you have to purchase separately, including alcohol.
What is a Celebrity Cruises drink package?
Many cruise lines offer beverage plans that allow you to pay a specific amount upfront to receive either a fixed or unlimited number of beverages each day of your cruise.
When sailing on any Celebrity ship, you can purchase a drink package at a fixed daily cost, so you can budget your beverage costs in advance. Saving money, however, is not always guaranteed.
Once a package is purchased, the benefits become available on your SeaPass card. From there, any waiter or bartender can easily verify that you have one.
The drink packages allow guests to get unlimited drinks at nearly every restaurant or bar on a Celebrity cruise ship or private destination (i.e., Perfect Day at CocoCay and Labadee, Haiti).
Those who have booked a Celebrity cruise and want to purchase a drink package can do so either prior to their cruise through the Cruise Planner or once onboard their ship.
When you are purchasing it in advance, you must pay for the package for the duration of your cruise, whether that is 5-, 7-, or 14-nights. Per Celebrity's website, all packages are sold on a per-cruise basis and do not include beverages sold in gift shops, mini-bars, or room service.
Will I save money if I purchase a drink package?
When buying a package, the most important thing you want to consider is whether it will save you money or not. Depending on your drinking habits, you might not break even with an unlimited package!
Start by roughly determining how many drinks per day that you can and will drink over the duration of your cruise. If you are only planning on 3 or 4 per day, you might be better off skipping the package, while those who think that they can reasonably average 8 to 9 beverages per day will at least break even.
If you drink enough, a Celebrity drink package can save you money. On the other hand, some people do not care about breaking even or getting their money's worth so much as paying one price upfront for all their glasses of wine, beer, cocktails, and other included drinks.
Celebrity Cruises drink package overview
Celebrity Cruises offers a few drink packages for guests to choose from, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, that provide guests with an unlimited number of the specific beverages their package includes. Drink packages range from $30 to $109 per person, per day prior to the 20% added gratuity.
Classic Drink Package
Celebrity's Classic Package is their lowest-tiered alcoholic package. Starting at $89.00 per person, per day, you can choose from select beers, spirits, cocktails, liqueurs, frozen drinks, and wines by the glass up to $10 per serving. You will also get 15% off all wines by the bottle.
If you order a beverage that is over $10, you will be charged the difference. If, for instance, you were to order a $17 martini, you would see a $7 + 20% gratuity charge reflected on your onboard account.
To at least "break even," you would need to drink about nine $10 beverages per day. Note that this package does include the same non-alcoholic beverage options as the Non-Alcoholic Package.
Premium Drink Package
The Premium Package is more inclusive than the Classic Package. With that, however, comes a higher price. You can expect the Premium Package to start at $109 per person, per day. Each guest that purchases this package will get specialty coffees and teas, craft and artisanal beers, spirits, cocktails, frozen drinks, Coca-Cola products, premium bottled water, and wines by the glass up to $17 per serving.
Instead of a 15% discount off all wines by the bottle, the package includes a higher 20% discount.
Just like the Classic Package, if you would like to order a drink that is more than $17, you will be charged the difference plus gratuity.
Since the included threshold is higher, you would have to consume seven $17 drinks per day to break even, rather than the Classic Package's nine $10 drinks.
Non-Alcoholic Drink Package
Celebrity only offers one non-alcoholic package, the Zero Proof Drink Package, which costs $30 per person, per day and includes premium bottled water, specialty coffees and organic teas, Vitamin Water, Red Bull, bottled ice teas, frozen smoothies, zero-proof cocktails, and Coca-Cola products, as well as offerings from The Spa Cafe.
There are no age restrictions on this package.
Pros and cons of getting the drink package on a Celebrity Cruise
All drink packages have their fans and critics. Some do not see why anybody should be drinking that much, while others prefer to let loose while on vacation. That being said, buying a drink package has pros and cons, and all sides should be considered before getting one!
1. Value
If you are looking to splurge while on your vacation, you might get an exceptional value by purchasing a drink package, rather than paying for each drink à la carte. The catch is that you really have to be someone who enjoys having a lot of drinks (i.e., at least a half-dozen) each day.
If you are thinking that you will only indulge in that many drinks one or two days out of the cruise, you might save money by buying each drink individually. There is no point in buying a drink package if you know that you will not be drinking enough to break even.
As of March 2023, cocktail prices range from $9 to $17 each. Below is a list of a few cocktails, wines, and beers onboard Celebrity ships and how much they cost:
- Bud Light ($7)
- Corona Extra ($7.50)
- Pomegranate Mojito ($9)
- Prosecco, Zonin ($9)
- Pinot Grigio Corte Giara ($10)
- Rum Mule ($10)
- Elderflower Blush ($11)
- Celebrity Bloody Mary ($11)
- Stella Artois ($11)
- Caribbean Cobbler ($13)
- Mixi-Cali Martini ($17)
Depending on your preferred drinks, you might get more value out of the Premium Package than the Classic. It is not worth it to pay for the cheaper package if you will not be able to get your favorite drinks or be constantly charged.
2. Convenience
One of the biggest pros of a drink package is the convenience. You don't have to worry about racking up any large sums on your onboard account or think about if you actually want to spend the money on a drink at that specific moment.
You also have the freedom to order a drink even if you are unsure if you will like it or not. If it ends up not being for you, you can simply order something else without feeling as though you wasted $10+. And if you do end up liking it, you were able to be more adventurous with the package, rather than sticking to your tried-and-true favorites.
3. Drink fatigue
"Drink fatigue" is what happens when guests drink more than they normally do just for the sake of utilizing the drink package. If you have a package, it is important to ask yourself if you really want a drink, or if you are getting one just because of the package.
If you are on a shorter cruise, getting a drink package might make more sense than on a longer cruise. Ordering 6+ drinks per day for 3 or 4 days is much easier than for 7 days.
4. Vacation budget
By pre-purchasing a drink package via the Cruise Planner or once you get onboard, you know exactly how much you will be spending on alcoholic (or non-alcoholic) beverages. You won't have to count every drink that you have. In other words, you can more appropriately budget for your vacation, especially if you are really unsure about how much you are going to drink.
Of course, there are tons of other things that you can choose to spend your money on instead of a drink package, such as shore excursions or spa treatments. If you would rather allocate your vacation money towards other incidentals, that is fine, too.
Celebrity "All Included"
When you are booking your Celebrity cruise vacation, you have two options for fares. The first is a standard fare that includes accommodation, transportation between ports, entertainment, and select food and beverages. The second is known as "All Included," which adds the Classic Beverage Package and Basic Wi-Fi to your rate.
The price difference depends on how long your sailing is. On a 3-night cruise from Fort Lauderdale to the Bahamas, for instance, the cheapest fare starts at $162 per person based on double occupancy for an interior cabin. The "All Included" rate for the same sailing and cabin is $457 per person.
There is more of a gap between the pricing on longer cruises. The cheapest rate on a 7-night Pacific Coastal cruise is $409 per person. The "All Included" rate jumps up to $966.
If you want to upgrade from the Classic Beverage Package to the Premium, you can do so for $24 per day. You can save 5% if you book pre-cruise.
Note that while this package used to include tips, Celebrity Cruises announced that effective October 4, 2023, they will eliminate prepaid gratuities from its All Included pricing packages, meaning that you'll have to pay them in addition to the higher rate.
Below are the current gratuity rates as of August 2023:
- $18.00 USD per person, per day for Inside, Ocean View, and Veranda staterooms
- $18.50 USD per person, per day for Concierge Class and AquaClass staterooms
- $23.00 USD per person, per day for guests of The Retreat.
Purchasing a drink package through the Cruise Planner
If you do not book the "All Included" rate, you can always buy a drink package later through the Cruise Planner. This is where you will also find links to shore excursions, specialty dining venues, and other cruise add-ons that you may want to purchase to enhance your vacation.
You can purchase any add-ons up to 48 hours before your sailing. You may also call Celebrity Cruises directly if you would prefer to speak to a representative.
Read more: 50 Best Celebrity Cruises Tips & Tricks
Frequently asked questions
Does every person in the stateroom have to purchase a package?
Purchasing a drink package is completely optional. You are not required to have one to sail. That being said, if one person opts to get a package, all other guests of legal drinking age in the same stateroom are required to do so as well.
If you purchase an alcoholic package and are sailing with guests between the ages of 13 and 20, they must get the Zero Proof Drink Package. Guests 12 and under do not have to get any package.
Additionally, if you are sailing with a pregnant guest, a recovering alcoholic, or someone with another medical issue that does now allow for alcohol consumption, they may get the Zero Proof Drink Package, rather than an alcoholic one.
Do Celebrity drink packages come with a daily beverage limit?
No! There's no limit on Celebrity drink packages in terms of how many drinks a guest may consume in a single day or throughout the duration of the cruise.
When placing an order, however, you cannot get two drinks at a time, as you are only allowed one. If multiple people are wanting to order a drink, each will need to present their SeaPass card to the bartender or waiter.
Do Celebrity drink packages include gratuity?
Yes. All gratuities are included in the final purchase price, meaning that you do not have to tip onboard unless you choose to do so.
How to cancel a Celebrity drink package?
If you purchased your package in advance via the Cruise Planner, all you have to do is log back into your account and search through your order history. From there, you can easily cancel your package for a refund to your original payment method.
If you wait to cancel until you are on the ship, your refund will be credited to your onboard account.
Are drink packages available fleet wide?
If you are sailing on an Expedition vessel to the Galapagos, you will not be able to purchase a drink package, as they are not offered.
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