What does Celebrity All Included actually include?
Two things on top of your fare: the Classic Drinks Package and Basic Wi-Fi. Daily hotel gratuities are not included — Celebrity removed them from All Included fares in October 2023, and plenty of older guides still get that wrong. Specialty dining, Premium Wi-Fi, and anything above the $12 drink cap stay extra.
What should I actually compare?
Not Celebrity against another line's cheapest fare — Celebrity All Included against Celebrity cruise-only plus what you'd actually buy. Daily hotel gratuities run $19.50–$24.50 per person, per day on either path, so they don't tip the decision either way. The question is whether the All Included fare premium is worth the drinks and Wi-Fi you'd otherwise buy separately.
Is All Included worth it?
On a November 2026 Apex sailing we priced — two guests, seven nights, interior — All Included came out $322 below cruise-only plus a separately purchased Classic Drinks Package. That comparison does not add standalone Basic Wi-Fi to the cruise-only side, so the gap understates All Included if you'd buy Wi-Fi anyway. It only helps if you'd buy the drinks package at all; if you barely drink, cruise-only wins easily.
Who is it likely right for?
Moderate to active onboard drinkers who'd buy the Classic package separately and use ship Wi-Fi — especially if you like not watching the bar tab. When the numbers sit near break-even, pre-paying can be a comfort call as much as a savings call.
Who should probably skip it?
Light drinkers, port-heavy sailings where most days are ashore, and anyone who wouldn't buy the Classic package on their own. Non-drinkers are better off on cruise-only — or a non-alcoholic package — than paying the full All Included premium for alcohol they won't touch.
Celebrity is already selected. Add your fare, nights and guests, then pick All Included.
Price this for my Celebrity sailing →All Included is a fare you choose when you book, not a package you add later.
It contains two things: the Classic drinks package and Basic Wi-Fi. Nothing else.
Each of those can be upgraded, and both upgrades are called Premium. The Premium drinks package raises the per-drink cap from $12 to $19. Premium Wi-Fi adds video calling and light streaming. They are separate purchases and separate decisions.
The Retreat, Celebrity's suite class, includes both Premium tiers.
“Gratuity” means two different things here. The daily one is a fixed amount per guest, per night — $19.50 to $24.50 depending on your stateroom. The other is 20%, added to drinks, specialty dining, spa and room service. Neither covers the other.
Celebrity is already selected. Add your fare, nights and guests, then pick All Included.
See what your cruise really costs →Common questions about Celebrity All Included
How much does All Included cost over cruise-only?
On one November 2026 Apex sailing CruiseClarify priced, about $85 per person, per night more — $595 per person, or $1,190 for two guests over seven nights.
What's the catch with the Classic Drinks Package?
It covers drinks priced up to $12. Plenty sit above that — a premium scotch, a top-shelf tequila, certain sparkling wines — and a $15 cocktail still costs you $3.60 — the $3 difference plus the 20% gratuity on it.
Can I add All Included after I've booked?
All Included is a fare type you choose at booking, not an add-on. If you've already booked cruise-only, you often can't simply switch to the All Included rate — but you can buy the same pieces separately through Celebrity's Cruise Planner before you sail: the Classic Drinks Package and Basic Wi-Fi, each per person, at lower pre-cruise prices.
Is the drinks package per person or per stateroom?
Per person — and every adult of legal drinking age in the same stateroom must buy the same tier. You can't put one guest on the Classic drinks package and another on Premium. Wi-Fi is charged per person too.
Is a Celebrity cruise all-inclusive? What All Included covers
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. Celebrity's own FAQ puts it in four words: onboard staff gratuities are charged separately.
You can pick it on any stateroom grade from Inside up to AquaClass, and every Retreat suite gets it automatically at the Premium tier. The one gap is Galapagos, where Celebrity doesn't offer All Included at all.
Gratuities were part of All Included until October 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.
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 Celebrity All Included costs to add
It varies by ship and date — on one Apex sailing, about $85 per person nightly.
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 stateroom ran approximately $713 per person at the cruise-only rate. The All Included rate for the same stateroom 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 Classic Drinks Package: what the $12 cap covers
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, a favorite with many guests, 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. Celebrity prices packages by ship and sailing date, so the figure you are quoted will not be the figure below. What does not change is how you work it out: take the two daily prices you are shown, add 20% to each, and compare. At typical 2026 pre-cruise prices that looks like this.
| Package | Price shown | What you actually pay |
|---|---|---|
| Classic | $90 per person, per day | $108 |
| Premium | $110 per person, per day | $132 |
| The upgrade | $20 per person, per day | $24 |
That $24 is the gap between two standalone packages. If you already hold All Included, you are not buying a second package — you are topping up the one you have, and Celebrity prices that separately: $20 per person, per day, and that figure already includes the beverage gratuity. So the upgrade inside All Included is genuinely cheaper than the standalone gap, not just cheaper-sounding. For two guests over seven nights it comes to $280.
Now the part that decides it. Above the Classic $12 cap you pay the difference plus 20% on it, so a $19 drink costs you $8.40 extra. To get $20 a day back you need somewhere between two and three above-cap drinks a day, every day. Fewer than that and Classic wins. Buy the upgrade pre-cruise either way — it costs more at the bar.
All adults in the same stateroom must buy the same package tier. You cannot mix Classic and Premium drinks packages 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, priced well below the alcoholic ones. A non-drinker is better off on that than paying full All Included rates for alcohol they won't touch.
How many drinks it takes to break even
About seven drinks a day at these prices.
Buy the Classic package as a standalone — outside of All Included — and it costs around $90 per person per day pre-cruise. Add the 20% beverage gratuity and the real daily cost is about $108 per person.
Pay as you go and that same 20% lands on every drink, so a $13 cocktail costs $15.60. Breaking even at $108 a day takes about seven drinks. In practice that's a specialty coffee in the morning ($5–$6), something at the pool mid-morning ($10–$12), a beer or cocktail before lunch ($8–$12), a glass of wine with it ($10–$12), two cocktails at dinner ($12–$14 each) and one or two more in the evening ($10–$14 each). For a moderate to active drinker that's an ordinary sea day. For a light drinker it's a lot of drinking to break even.
On European itineraries the numbers shift. Celebrity prices packages lower there, so break-even drops too. Take the price you’re quoted, add 20%, and divide by what a drink costs you — the same sum as above.
About seven to eight drinks a day on a Caribbean sailing, where the package costs more; four to five a day in Europe, where it's cheaper. Below that, paying as you go usually wins.
Specialty dining is not included
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 $58–$67 per person at most venues, with premium experiences like Chef's Table at $135–$169. 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.
Wi-Fi: what "Basic" actually gets you
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 typically adds around $7–$15 per person, per day pre-cruise (standalone Premium Wi-Fi runs about $27–$35 a day against Basic's $20). 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 Wi-Fi upgrade is worth having.
Gratuities are not included either
The daily charge of $19.50–$24.50 per guest, per night — separate from the 20% on drinks.
All Included or cruise-only, daily hotel service gratuities are charged separately. Celebrity raised these on 29 July 2026, by $1.50 across every stateroom tier. Current rates: $19.50 per person per day for interior, ocean view, and veranda staterooms; $20.50 for Concierge Class and AquaClass (Celebrity's higher stateroom tiers); $24.50 for The Retreat.
Two guests in a standard interior stateroom on a 7-night sailing: $273. 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.
After the increase drew complaints, Celebrity emailed guests to say the new rates apply to reservations booked on or after 29 July 2026, and that guests who booked earlier can still pay the old rate — but only if they prepay their gratuities in full at least 48 hours before sailing. Book before the rise and leave the charge to post daily onboard, and you pay the new rate.
We have to be straight about the sourcing: Celebrity has not published this on its website. Its gratuity FAQ carries the new rates, no effective date, and nothing about earlier bookings — we re-read it on 4 August 2026 to be sure. The rule comes from Celebrity's own email to guests, reported on 30 July 2026. If you booked before 29 July, confirm it with Celebrity or your travel agent, then prepay well inside the deadline rather than on the last day.
What two guests actually pay on a 7-night Celebrity cruise
Two guests, interior stateroom, Celebrity Apex, 7-night Caribbean sailing, November 2026. The fares are that sailing’s; the package price is the typical rate used throughout this guide.
| Option | Components | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Cruise-only fare | $713 per person × 2 | $1,426 |
| + Daily hotel gratuities | $19.50 × 7 nights × 2 | $273 |
| Cruise-only, no drinks package | ~$1,699 | |
| + Classic Drinks Package (standalone) | $90 × 7 nights × 2, plus 20% gratuity | $1,512 |
| Cruise-only + drinks bought separately | ~$3,211 | |
| All Included fare | $1,308 per person × 2 | $2,616 |
| + Daily hotel gratuities | $19.50 × 7 nights × 2 | $273 |
| All Included total | ~$2,889 |
All Included is $322 cheaper than buying the same drinks separately — but only if you'd buy them at all. Skip the package and cruise-only is far cheaper here, about $1,699; at that point All Included stops making sense. 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: should you buy All Included?
Light drinkers skip it, active drinkers buy it, moderate drinkers are close to break-even.
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, price the Premium upgrade properly before you buy it: $20 per person, per day on top of All Included, gratuity included, which needs two to three above-cap drinks a day to pay for itself.
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 $24.50 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 wider question — whether a ship-within-a-ship suite earns its premium over a balcony — is a separate calculation again.
Celebrity All Included vs cruise-only: the right comparison
Compare Celebrity All Included against Celebrity cruise-only plus what you’d actually buy.
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 sailing — open the calculator and run it once on each fare.
Is Celebrity All Included worth it? The verdict
All Included is a good product for the right traveler.
It just isn't what the name implies — a capped drinks package and basic internet, both useful, neither unlimited, with gratuities and specialty dining still on your bill. Celebrity puts the value at $200–$800 per person against onboard prices, which is fair enough if you'd have spent that anyway and meaningless if you wouldn't.
So the test is your own drinking, not the brochure. Moderate to heavy, most sea days onboard, no appetite for watching a tab — it earns its premium. Light drinker, most days ashore, barely touch the Wi-Fi — cruise-only and pay as you go will almost certainly cost less.