Celebrity Cruises Drops Surcharge on 'Complimentary' Beverage Package

(9:40 a.m. EST) -- Celebrity has dropped an unpopular $14 daily charge it added to its “complimentary” beverage package perk two months ago.

 “The satisfaction of our guests always comes first,” said Brian Abel, Senior Vice President, Hotel Operations for Celebrity Cruises. “We take feedback seriously and as a result have reevaluated this policy and decided to remove the service fees.”

The cruise line dropped the fee on December 17, and will work with passengers who had been charged, offering a beverage package upgrade, a chance to re-price their cruise without the perks, or, in some cases, credit.

The original promotion let passengers choose from free extras such as onboard credit, prepaid gratuities and a Classic Beverage Package. The perks promotions typically are not available on the lowest available fares.

According to information distributed to travel agents, passengers who have already been charged the fee will be upgraded to the Premium Beverage package, or they can choose to reprice their fare without the beverage charge at prevailing cruise rates.

Passengers who paid to upgrade from two to four perks who already had the Premium Beverage Package will receive an onboard credit of $14 per day. To qualify, passengers must have booked under promo names 4PERKS or 4PERKS NRD during the offer period of October 10 to November 25, 2019.