u/proflaw

Hi all. As a follow-up to my post of a few days ago asking about the economics of drink packages, I just have a couple of follow-up questions for everyone who was kind enough to provide me with advice.

1- I’ve just seen the ‘cheapest’ package yet, since I booked our May Xcel cruise in the spring - $122 (Cdn) pp/pd for premium drinks and wifi (normal ‘sale’ price seems to be $140-150. If I swallow hard and purchase it, am I correct in reading that I can change my mind and cancel later?

2- Posters were suggesting that drinks à la carte were $22. Is that before or after the extra 20% gratuity and, I assume, it’s in USD? With what’s happened to the Canadian dollar over the past few years (not going to make this political), that would mean drinks would cost about $35 CAD each.

With the wifi that we need for work ‘on sale’ for $40 pp/pd, it feels like an average of 2.5 drinks per day is the break even point.

——————

Not trying to ruin my trip in advance by stressing too much about money, but an extra $3000 for drink packages on top of almost $10k for a sunset veranda (before we even think of excursions, hotels and flights from Canada) is putting a bit of a damper on my enthusiasm - not that I would share that with my wife, as this trip is for her 50th birthday/25th anniversary, and she deserves it.

Never thought I’d find a mainstream cruise line that would make our previous Disney cruises look affordable…

For our ten days on the Xcel next May, seven of them are port days, so our time on the ship is limited.

Given what I’ve read about being able to bring on two bottles of wine and twelve cans of pop (x2 for my wife and I - not sure how that works???) it feels like there’s probably no point to paying for a drink package??? It ranges from $70 pp/pd (Cdn.) for non-alcoholic to $140 pp/pd for premium (haven’t seen it get much cheaper than that over the last couple of months).

Given how little we’re on board, I can’t see us having more than two glasses of wine with dinner and maybe a martini afterwards on all the port days. Even adding a fruity cocktail or two by the pool for the sea days, the math doesn’t seem to be mathing.

Given this is our first time on Celebrity, I don’t know what I don’t know, so is there something else I should be taking into consideration?

Any and all advice appreciated.

EDIT: For those who have been asking below, the numbers I gave above are the ‘sale’ prices. Doesn’t seem to matter whether the website says 10/20/40% off (seems to change by day), the actual price never varies more than a few dollars.

We do need wifi for work, so add a bit $20 pp/pd on to the $70 - $140 (n-a and premium) costs I wrote above - eg the combined packages are $88 and $156 ‘on sale’ right now.

Hi all.

My wife and I are doing the 10-day Italy/France cruise on the Xcel next year for our 25th anniversary.

As much as we would like to disconnect, we do need wifi to connect with home and work.

I see that Celebrity wants to charge us $44.88 pp/pd (Canadian) per day just for wifi, with it jumping to $68.75 with non-alcoholic drinks or $122.77 with premium drinks.

I’m wondering if anyone has used GigSky’s cruise/land package onboard in the Mediterranean (or on the Xcel) and can tell me how well it worked (the search threads all seem to be for Caribbean cruises). I can get a 3gb/10 day package for the same cost as one day of what Celebrity wants to charge.

The GigSky website specifically says it works on the Xcel, so I guess the question for anyone with experience is “how well”.

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Hi all. Not sure why my post was removed, but in reading the faq I’m guessing it’s because I didn’t identify my country or iOS version - so let’s try again…

My wife, my daughter and myself are all still using 13pros that were purchased when it came out. I am in Canada and am using the latest version of iOS.

About a year ago, I had the batteries replaced under Apple Care for my wife and daughter, but at that time, my health showed 83%. I use my phone many hours a day, and I’m still at 83%.

I know I could go in and pay for a new battery, but after paying for AC for this many years, I’m being stubborn about this - and yes, I understand and appreciate the irony of the situation.

I’ve followed every recommendation I’ve found online to try to figure out if there’s a glitch and it’s not recording the percentage properly (including a full wipe of the phone), but it still shows 83, even though I have to charge more often than I ever had to.

I did go to the Genius Bar about six months ago and they said everything was fine and if I wanted a new battery I’d have to pay for it.

Any thoughts or suggestions greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Good morning, all. I hope you’ll all forgive me for asking a question that I’m sure you see regularly in this forum.

I’m taking my wife on a 25th anniversary cruise next May (10 days on the Xcel). Holy sticker shock Batman - $11k (Canadian) for a sunset balcony room, although the other times we’ve cruised (2) have been on Disney, so I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised…

What I’m hoping for your advice on is wrt to drinks and wifi. I’m seeing a “flash sale 20% off) price of $142 pp/pd for the premium drinks and wifi package, so basically another $3k on top of the fare.

Historically are there better times to buy the package, eg Black Friday, or this likely the best I’m going to see?

We’re not heavy drinkers - maybe a cocktail or two a day and a glass of wine with dinner. Am I better off going with the non-alcoholic drink/premium wifi package at $90 pp/pd and just paying out of pocket?

We’re more likely to be drinking Diet Coke than anything else, so with the the Premium wifi & more perks package on sale for $40 pp/pd, $50 extra a day for “pop” seems like a big premium.

Any and all advice very much appreciated!!!

——

Edit: Thanks to all who have replied so far. I’m learning a lot about Celebrity and how it operates.

Good thing we only have one 25th anniversary - between the room, drinks/wifi and, I’m guessing if it’s like Disney, we’re going to get hit with tips as well - and then flying from Canada to Barcelona, I’d better win the lottery or find a second job…