What All Included actually bundles
Celebrity's All Included fare adds two things to your base cruise fare: a Classic Drinks Package and Basic Wi-Fi. No specialty dining. No shore excursions. No onboard credit. And — this catches more people than it should — no daily gratuities.
Gratuities were part of All Included until October 4, 2023, when Celebrity removed them. Many travel articles and booking guides written before that date still say All Included covers gratuities. They're wrong. If you're reading an older guide, check Celebrity's own FAQ before you budget.
One thing to keep straight: the 20% gratuity on the beverage package itself is included in All Included fares. You won't see a separate beverage service charge on your bill. But your daily hotel service gratuity — covering your stateroom attendant, dining staff, and hotel teams — is charged separately, every day of the sailing.
What the upgrade actually costs
Prices move by ship, itinerary, and how far ahead you book. On a 7-night Caribbean sailing aboard Celebrity Apex in November 2026, a standard interior cabin ran approximately $713 per person at the cruise-only rate. The All Included rate for the same cabin was $1,308 per person — a difference of $595 per person, or roughly $85 per night. For two guests over seven nights, that's $1,190 more to unlock drinks and Wi-Fi.
The drinks package: read the fine print before you celebrate
The Classic Drinks Package — what All Included gives you — covers beverages priced up to $12 per drink. That covers a solid range of cocktails, beers, wines by the glass, specialty coffees from Café al Bacio, and non-alcoholic drinks. The Celebrity Martini Bar, one of the best bars at sea, sits mostly within that range. House cocktails, standard beers, and wines by the glass generally clear the cap without issue.
But the $12 cap is real, and plenty of drinks sit above it. A premium scotch, top-shelf tequila, certain sparkling wines — these push past $12 without much effort. Go over the cap and you don't lose your package value. You pay the difference between the drink price and your cap, plus 20% gratuity on that difference only. A $15 cocktail costs you $3.60 extra. A $19 drink costs you $8.40 extra. Seven nights of ordering above cap adds up fast.
The Premium Drinks Package raises the cap to $19. Pre-cruise pricing for Caribbean sailings in 2026 runs approximately $92.99 per person per day for Premium against $84.99 for Classic — about $8 more per day. Either way, buying pre-cruise is cheaper than upgrading at the bar.
All adults in the same cabin must buy the same package tier. You cannot mix Classic and Premium in one stateroom, and Celebrity enforces this. If one of you drinks significantly more than the other, sort this out before you book — it's a real cost, not a minor detail.
You cannot opt out of the drinks component in an All Included fare. But Celebrity offers a Non-Alcoholic Drinks Package at approximately $39.99 per person per day pre-cruise. A non-drinker is better off on that than paying full All Included rates for alcohol they won't touch.
The break-even calculation
Buy the Classic package as a standalone — outside of All Included — and it costs approximately $84.99 per person per day pre-cruise on Caribbean sailings. Add the 20% beverage gratuity on top and the real daily cost is just over $102 per person.
To break even at $102 per day on mostly $12-to-$14 drinks, you need roughly seven to eight drinks across the day. Think of it this way: a specialty coffee in the morning ($5–$6), a drink at the pool mid-morning ($10–$12), a beer or cocktail before lunch ($8–$12), a glass of wine with lunch ($10–$12), two cocktails at dinner ($12–$14 each), one or two drinks in the evening ($10–$14 each). For a moderate-to-heavy drinker, that's a normal sea day. For a light drinker, it's not.
On European itineraries the numbers shift. Celebrity prices packages lower there — Classic runs approximately $54.99 per person per day pre-cruise, putting the real daily cost around $66. Break-even drops to four or five drinks a day, which most people can hit without trying.
Specialty dining: separate budget, always
All Included doesn't cover specialty dining. The specialty lineup is good — Fine Cut Steakhouse, Le Voyage by Daniel Boulud, Eden Restaurant, Raw on 5. Cover charges typically run $45–$65 per person, higher for premium experiences. Two or three specialty dinners across a 7-night sailing adds $200–$400 for two guests that sits entirely outside your All Included fare. If you know you want multiple specialty nights, look at a pre-cruise dining package — better value than paying per visit. Either way, budget for it before you compare headline fares, not after you board.
What "Basic" Wi-Fi actually means
Basic Wi-Fi handles messaging, email, and casual browsing. Video calls, streaming, anything bandwidth-heavy — it won't cope. If you plan to Zoom with the office, FaceTime the family, or watch Netflix on a sea day, Basic Wi-Fi will let you down.
Premium Wi-Fi is a step up — it handles video calling and light streaming well enough, most of the time. Upgrading from Basic to Premium typically costs around $20–$25 per person per day pre-cruise. Book it before you sail; onboard pricing is higher. Cruise ship internet runs on satellites — it can be inconsistent. If you need to stay properly connected, the Premium upgrade is worth having.
The gratuities you still owe
All Included or cruise-only, daily hotel service gratuities are charged separately. Current rates as of early 2026: $18.00 per person per day for inside, ocean view, and veranda staterooms; $19.00 for Concierge Class and AquaClass; $23.00 for The Retreat.
Two guests in a standard veranda cabin on a 7-night sailing: $252. Not a hidden charge — it's disclosed at booking — but it belongs in your budget from day one, because it applies regardless of which pricing tier you choose.
What two guests actually pay: the full picture
Two guests, veranda cabin, Celebrity Apex, 7-night Caribbean sailing, November 2026.
| Option | Components | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Cruise-only fare | $713 per person × 2 | $1,426 |
| + Classic Drinks Package standalone | $84.99 × 7 nights × 2, plus 20% gratuity | $1,428 |
| + Daily hotel gratuities | $18 × 7 nights × 2 | $252 |
| Cruise-only total | ~$3,106 | |
| All Included fare | $1,308 per person × 2 | $2,616 |
| + Daily hotel gratuities | $18 × 7 nights × 2 | $252 |
| All Included total | ~$2,868 |
All Included is $238 cheaper on this sailing — but only if you drink enough to justify the package. Drink less than the break-even threshold and that gap closes. One more note: Celebrity runs All Included promotions regularly, sometimes cutting the fare differential to $40–$50 per person per night. At that price it's a straightforward decision for anyone who drinks at all. Check current offers before assuming the $85 per night difference is fixed.
Three spending profiles: which one are you?
A glass of wine at dinner, maybe a cocktail before. Most port days spent ashore. Phone checked once or twice a day. Buy drinks as you go, use Basic Wi-Fi, pay gratuities separately. On a Caribbean sailing you'll spend less than the All Included premium.
You drink throughout the day — coffee in the morning, a couple of cocktails at the pool, wine at dinner. Most sea days spent onboard. The numbers are close to break-even, and there's something to be said for not watching the tab. When you've pre-paid, every drink feels free. That's a comfort thing more than a savings thing, so be honest with yourself about which one is swaying you. But if switching off completely is part of why you cruise, it counts.
You order freely, the bar is part of your day, and you drink good wine. All Included pays for itself quickly. If you regularly order above the $12 cap, upgrading from Classic to Premium costs roughly $8 more per person per day pre-cruise — and it takes fewer above-cap drinks than you'd think to make that pay.
The Retreat: a different calculation
Retreat suite guests get the Premium Drinks Package and Premium Wi-Fi included — better than standard All Included, at a much higher base fare, with daily gratuities still extra at $23 per person per day. Also removed in October 2023: the per-person onboard credit that used to come with Retreat bookings. If you're looking at a suite, factor both of those changes into your numbers before you book.
The right comparison to make
Most people comparing Celebrity for the first time make the same mistake: they stack Celebrity's All Included price against another line's cheapest advertised fare. That comparison tells you nothing. A $599 Carnival fare and a $1,308 Celebrity All Included fare are different products at different price points, serving different expectations. The only comparison that means anything is Celebrity All Included versus Celebrity cruise-only plus what you'd actually buy. The numbers above do that for one specific sailing. Run the same exercise for yours at CruiseClarity.
Bottom line
All Included is a good product for the right traveler. It just isn't what the name implies. You get a capped drinks package and basic internet — both useful, neither unlimited. Gratuities are extra. Specialty dining is extra. Premium Wi-Fi costs more. The Retreat gets a better deal, but you're paying substantially more for the cabin.
If you drink moderately to heavily, spend most sea days onboard, and don't want to think about the bar tab, All Included earns its premium. If you're a light drinker, spend most of the cruise ashore, or barely use ship Wi-Fi, cruise-only and pay as you go will almost certainly cost less.
Don't let the name do your budgeting for you; the math is what matters.