What’s Actually Included on a Celebrity Cruise

The three layers of a cruise price

Every cruise price has three layers: what any fare includes, what a bundled fare adds, and what always lands on your onboard account. Comparing two cruises without separating these is the main reason people feel misled.

• Layer 1 — the base fare: your stateroom, main and casual dining, entertainment, and non-alcoholic staples.
• Layer 2 — the bundle: drinks, Wi-Fi and gratuities, sold together as an "All Included" style fare or bought separately as packages.
• Layer 3 — the onboard account: specialty dining, excursions, spa, casino, shop purchases, and anything outside your package limits.

A cheap fare with three expensive layers on top can easily cost more than an expensive fare with none. Price the whole trip, never the headline.

What every Celebrity fare includes

• Your stateroom and daily housekeeping.
• Main restaurant dining. On Edge Series that is four distinct restaurants; on Solstice and Millennium class, one main dining room.
• Buffet, casual venues and poolside food.
• Room service (a delivery fee may apply at some hours).
• Theatre productions, live music and lounge entertainment.
• Pools, hot tubs, the Solarium and the fitness centre.
• Standard tea, drip coffee, iced tea, and water from dispensers.
• Youth programming where it operates.
• Transport between the ports on your itinerary.

Check current details: Room service fees, venue lists and which activities are complimentary vary by ship and change. Confirm against the current information for your specific sailing.

Bundled ("All Included") fares

Celebrity sells fares that bundle a drinks package, Wi-Fi and gratuities into the cruise price. The bundle is not free — it is priced in — but it is usually cheaper than buying the three separately, and it removes the daily decision-making.

• Typically bundled: a classic-tier drinks package, a basic Wi-Fi allowance, and gratuities.
• Upgrades within the bundle (premium drinks, faster Wi-Fi) are usually available for a supplement.
• The bundle generally applies to the first two guests in a stateroom.
• Cruise-only fares still exist and are the better buy for light drinkers who do not need connectivity.

Check current details: Celebrity has restructured its fare bundles several times in recent years, and what is included differs by market, promotion and sailing. Never assume — get the inclusions attached to your specific booking confirmed in writing. This is one of the most common sources of onboard disappointment.

What our group rate includes

Revolution Travel Group holds its own Celebrity group space, and every group booking through us includes Open Bar, Free Wi-Fi and a US$50 onboard credit on top of the group fare.

• Open Bar and Wi-Fi apply to the two guests booked in the stateroom.
• The US$50 onboard credit is applied to the stateroom.
• Group prices are per person based on exactly two guests sharing a stateroom, and exclude taxes and fees.
• Group space must be booked more than 120 days before departure.

Check current details: The exact beverage and Wi-Fi package tier is set by Celebrity for each group. We confirm it in writing before you book — ask for it, and do not rely on a general description.

Drinks, and the break-even question

Beverage packages have a break-even point measured in drinks per day. Below it you lose money; above it you save. The honest answer for most light-to-moderate drinkers on a cruise-only fare is that a package does not pay.

• Packages usually cover drinks up to a per-drink price ceiling; anything above it is charged as the difference.
• They typically include specialty coffee, bottled water and soft drinks as well as alcohol — which matters for the arithmetic.
• Lines commonly require both guests in a stateroom to purchase the package. Check this before assuming one of you can opt out.
• Packages generally do not cover drinks bought ashore.
• Gratuity on package drinks may or may not be included depending on the fare.

Check current details: Package tiers, price ceilings, what counts as a covered drink and the both-guests rule all change. Confirm the current terms for your sailing before buying.

Gratuities

Gratuities on a cruise are not optional in the way restaurant tipping is — they are a standard daily charge that funds the crew’s compensation structure.

• On a bundled fare, they are typically already paid.
• On a cruise-only fare, they are either prepaid at booking or charged daily to your onboard account.
• The daily amount differs by stateroom tier — suite guests pay more.
• A separate service charge is usually added to individual bar purchases unless a package covers it.

Check current details: Gratuity amounts and policies change regularly. We confirm the current per-day figure for your sailing and stateroom tier when we quote you — budget for it rather than being surprised by it.

Wi-Fi

Satellite connectivity at sea has improved enormously but is still sold in tiers, and the cheap tier is meaningfully worse than the expensive one.

• Basic tiers handle messaging, email and web browsing.
• Premium tiers handle video calls and streaming.
• Packages are usually per device, though the number of devices allowed varies.
• Buying on board is almost always more expensive than buying in advance.
• Our group rate includes Wi-Fi, which removes this decision entirely.

Check current details: Connectivity quality and package structure vary by ship and region. Polar and remote itineraries are the weakest. Do not plan to work at sea without confirming what your ship and route can actually support.

Specialty dining

Every Celebrity ship has restaurants that carry a cover charge on top of your fare. On Celebrity they are genuinely a step up rather than a way to escape mediocre food — the complimentary dining is already good.

• Cover charges are per person, per visit, and vary by venue.
• Dining packages covering several nights are usually cheaper than booking individually.
• Book the popular venues before you sail; the good tables go early.
• AquaClass guests already dine in Blu, and Retreat guests in Luminae, which reduces the case for paying extra.
• One or two specialty dinners on a week-long sailing is the pattern most guests settle on.

Check current details: Venue lineups, menus and cover charges vary by ship and change with refits. Check what exists on your specific ship.

Shore excursions

Excursions are usually the largest discretionary line on the onboard account, and the one where independent alternatives are most viable.

• Booking through the ship costs more but carries a meaningful protection: if the excursion runs late, the ship waits.
• Independent tours are often cheaper and smaller, but the ship will not wait for you.
• In many European and Alaskan ports you can do perfectly well on foot or by public transport for nothing.
• Anything involving a long transfer or a tight return window is worth booking through the ship.

Everything else that hits the onboard account

• Spa treatments and salon services.
• Thermal suite access, unless you are in AquaClass or a suite.
• Casino play.
• Shop purchases and art auctions.
• Laundry and pressing, unless your tier includes it.
• Medical centre visits — a real reason to carry travel insurance.
• Photographs.
• Some fitness classes and specialty activities.
• Room service delivery fees at certain hours.

Check current details: Onboard accounts are typically settled in the ship’s currency, usually USD. Check your card’s foreign transaction fee and budget for the exchange rate, which the ship does not control.

How to compare two fares honestly

Put both options through the same three layers and total them. The answer is frequently not the one the headline price suggests.

Check current details: Leave the gratuities row on the group column as "confirm" until we have confirmed it in writing for your sailing. We do not publish an inclusion we have not verified.