FLtoAlaskaGirl
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Posts posted by FLtoAlaskaGirl
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No he doesn't. Royal Caribbean no longer requires every person in the stateroom to purchase a drink package. It's nice they have changed their requirements because not everyone is a drinker & would get their moneys worth with the drink package. Many other cruise lines still require everyone to purchase a drink package if they share a stateroom.
Thankfully Royal Caribbean does not.
Please see this FAQ link from Royal Caribbeans Website to verify:
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If you go to add a package to your cart through Cruise Planner, and you select the Ultimate package, it is 55$ per day + an additional 15%(shows up as a service charge, its actually gratuity), so you are actually paying $63.25 per day with gratuity. Multiply that X the amount of NIGHTS, not days and you will get your total for your cruise!
I chose to go with the Premium Package because I do not need sparkling water, fresh squeezed OJ or specialty coffee.
You get regular juice from concentrate with the Premium Package and bottled still water, and regular coffee/tea.
The additional $6 base rate per day for fresh squeezed and special coffee wasn't worth it to me. The alcohol in the Ultimate package is the same EXACT stuff in the Premium.
All packages include the fountain soda cup with use of freestyle machines and fountain soda from the bars, along with the discount on bottles of wines.
My premium package is $49 per day x the 4 nights +15% gratuity = $225.40
Hope this helps!
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If you go to add a package to your cart through Cruise Planner, and you select the Ultimate package, it is 55$ per day + an additional 15%(shows up as a service charge, its actually gratuity), so you are actually paying $63.25 per day with gratuity. Multiply that X the amount of NIGHTS, not days and you will get your total for your cruise!
I chose to go with the Premium Package because I do not need sparkling water, fresh squeezed OJ or specialty coffee. :rolleyes:
You get regular juice from concentrate with the Premium Package and bottled still water, and regular coffee/tea.
The additional $6 base rate per day for fresh squeezed and special coffee wasn't worth it to me. The alcohol in the Ultimate package is the same EXACT stuff in the Premium. :D
All packages include the fountain soda cup with use of freestyle machines and fountain soda from the bars, along with the discount on bottles of wines.
My premium package is $49 per day x the 4 nights +15% gratuity = $225.40
Hope this helps!
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Here is an old file with included alcohols, and a PDF with the drinks listed with pricing.
There are wines, sparkling wines, champagnes, and spirits under the $12 cap. If you want a 15$ glass of wine you pay the $3 difference.
They have changed the drink cap for cocktails to $12 from the original $10, this can be found on royal caribbeans website under drink packages
http://media.royalcaribbean.com/content/shared_assets/pdf/menus/beverage_packages.pdf
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The Royal Caribbean sites pricing on drink packages for the Premium Package does include cocktails up to $12, and frozen cocktails. I would assume the $12 cap still applies for frozen beverages, although it is unclear. Most frozen beverages do not exceed $12 a glass unless it is in a souvenir cup(they are not included in your drink package). If you order a margarita that is $14, you pay the difference of $2. You can also order a $14 margarita and request a lower quality tequila and that will lower the price to 10-12$ in most cases. :D
Someone has also posted the "whats included" liquor list - so you get a general idea. It is my understanding that Royal Caribbean has modified it so that you can order drinks with Patron as it is the tequila of choice in most of their Margaritas. Also, you will notice if you glance at a drink menu, that the majority of their frozen cocktails include Pyrat XO Reserve rums - I do believe that they have since modified the allowed lists to include commonly used top shelf liquors.
Check out this link for some pictures of the drink menus for a general idea on pricing http://www. cruise savvy .com/cruise_pictures/drink_prices?page=2 and the attached file which includes many current drink pricings. You'll have to remove the spaces between cruise and savvy and before/after the words as cruise critic doesn't allow "advertising" even though it isn't an advertisement.
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If you already have a beer & wine package it sounds like either the select package or the Premium, if you have the premium you can get cocktails(alcoholic and non alcoholic) juices and soda.
If you have the Select(beer & wine) you also get fountain soda. If you currently have the select package, you can upgrade it to the Premium from the Select when you get onboard and you just pay the difference, which is probably $20 per person more per day to include non-alcoholic & regular cocktails, it also boosts the $ amount of wine you can get with the Premium package.
They do have the ultimate package - I would only recommend this if you want premium coffee, fresh squeezed OJ, and sparkling water. The ultimate package combines the Royal Replenish package with the premium package.
All drink packages include the freestyle coke machines & fountain soda from the bar. :)
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I think your heart is in the right place, especially for the room attendant & wait staff at dinner. I would recommend you get a personalized card maybe and put their tip in the card, and maybe one of the AMAZING Cadbury chocolate bars from Canada. I love the chocolate bars. Honestly I don't think many people do anything "extra special". I have heard that tipping them 20 or so dollars on the first night will make them that much more grateful and you will receive better service. Give them a Cadbury chocolate bar and tape a $20 to it. They will LOVE it, and they can eat the chocolate or give it to a friend. Have a card for them at the end of the trip thanking them for their special service instead of just stuffing money in the envelope, they will probably throw the card away, but it is the thought that counts, and the kind words inside.
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I'm going on a cruise on the Enchantment of the Seas on 12/1 to the Bahamas. I have done a lot of research on the beverage packages and I have come to the following conclusion:
The Premium Beverage Package does not include: Fresh Squeezed Juice(*you still get regular concentrated juices), Sparkling Water, Red Bull(by the can, you can still have it in drinks), Sodas by the can, any "Specialty Coffees" which I assume is anything frozen or latte, and non of the packages include milkshakes.
The Ultimate Beverage Package includes: Fresh Squeezed Juices, Sparkling Water, Red Bull, and Specialty Coffees. It DOES NOT include Milkshakes either, nor does it include canned soda.
Both packages include: Beer(except a few types that are asterisked on menus), Wine(up to $12 a glass), Cocktails frozen and normal(up to $10), fountain soda(includes a cup to use with freestyle machines or fountain soda from the bar), juice from concentrate and bottled still water(regular water), regular coffee & tea that is offered to the general cruise population. You can order beverages in all bars, the wind jammer, main dining room(great for wine at dinner) and at the private Islands such as Cococay!
If you are curious which brands are included in the Premium Beverage Package, I included a list I found on a thread.
After much deliberation I decided to get the Premium Beverage Package since I will not need "Fresh Squeezed Juices or Specialty Coffee".
You can always order a non-alcoholic frozen beverage and enjoy the slushie or order a mudslide for a "milkshake" like beverage.
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It wasn't quite time for lunch, so I headed back to the bar and got a strawberry daiquiri. The bar was a bit more crowded now so I drank it quickly and moved over to the picnic tables and sat down, claiming a table in the shade. Time ticked by, and there wasn't many people around, and there was sand in my watershoes and salt drying on my camera, I still had a little bit before lunch was to be served so I headed for the fresh water shower just a few feet away. I tried rinsing out my shoes but the sand was very stubborn and wouldn't come out. I was done swimming for the day, so I headed to the restroom.
I shook the sand out of my capris and put them on and took off my watershoes, I was going to barefoot it the rest of the day. I wasn't in the bathroom more than 5 minutes and by the time I'd come out they'd already opened up the buffet and there was a huge line. It was almost comical! I gingerly walked over, dropped my stuff at a picnic table and got in line with the hungry masses.
The line moved very slow, and I was paranoid someone was going to mess with my stuff. But i eventually made it to the front. They had burgers and hot dogs (I had one of each...) pork ribs and chicken. I took a rib, but skipped the sides. After I got my food I went to the drink table. Your choice was water or red water that wrongly called itself fruit punch. (There was absolutely no fruit taste too it.)
A group of people had taken over my table and left a very small spot for me to sit. I was a little irritated, because they could have left me more room than that. I gathered my stuff, balancing my plate in one hand and stomped off to find another table. They told me I could sit with them, but I didn't want too. I found a nice couple from the grandeur and sat with them.
The food was delicious, especially the pork rib. The hot dog was great!
After lunch, I packed up and left for the tender boats. You have to go through a scanner to make sure you didn't have anything you weren't supposed to. I don't understand, because everything on the island came from them, it's not like you can smuggle something you're not supposed to have on. Maybe they were afraid you'd try to take home an iguana?
Back on board, I thought that well.. maybe I should have bought some of the $5 shirts. Oh well, already here. I took a shower, got dressed in fresh clothes and went down to the windjammer to get a drink.
I contemplated the t-shirts, as I sipped my orange vanilla coke. I had a lot of people to buy for, and $5 shirt is a steal. What if they didn't have them in Nassau? Who cares that they'd shrink and fade. I never promised a GOOD souvenir, just a souvenir.
I made up my mind, and washed and refreshed, with about 2 hours before the last tender, I decided to go back to Coco Cay and get some shirts. As I was heading to the elevator I came across the ex boyfriend, sitting on deck listening to music.
Let me say something about the music, I have noticed a lot of people on the carnival forums complain that there is no live band on the pool deck and that the recorded music is loud. I found the live band to be just as intrusive as the recorded music.
I asked if he'd been on the island yet, and he said no. What? ARe you kidding? How can you NOT get off the boat? So I invited him along with me back to the straw market and we both headed down to the tender boats together.
On the island it was emptying out. A few people in the water, the straw market was practically empty. I was really puzzled that the $5 shirts were only M, L, XL, and 2X. No small. I needed small. How weird. The small shirts were considerably more expensive.
I got a few, and walked around. We walked to the beach so he could at least see it, and then headed back. Passing back through security, I headed right on to an almost full tender back to the ship, got my seat and looked around... Uhhhh where they heck was my ex boyfriend? Did he fall over the side or something? Nope. He was leaning against the wall.
I later found out he decided to wait for the next boat as he felt the current one was too crowded. It would have been nice for him to say something. The tender stayed several minutes while the stragglers ran on. I debated on whether I should get off and go see what was up with him, but I decided that if he didn't want to even mention "Hey I'm gonna wait here" then he could wait by himself.
Back on the ship, I went to go get ready for Formal night. And what an awful dinner experience that was..
I'm hoping that the food was as wonderful as my past experience on Royal Caribbeans Monarch of the Seas before it retired in 2010! I LOVED the food on Royal Caribbean, the food on Carnival just sucks substantially. Can't wait to read more!
Drink packages worth it?
in Royal Caribbean International
Posted
Nice job on the Excel Spreadsheet! I did modify a couple of items as most beers are 4.50-5 a piece and I'd drink wines at $12 a glass with my premium package and plenty of bottled water and a few cocktails.
I'd say have breakfast around 10, and at 11 AM I'd start drinking, have 1 frozen cocktail at $10-12 + gratuity, a few beers afterwards, and 1-2 bottles of waters in between all by the pool or in the casino, that will take me to 1 or 2 PM depending on my mood. Then go into port for a few hours, I've done this cruise before so there isn't much besides the beach that appeals to me.
Then get back on the ship around 4:30, grab a glass of wine at $12 before heading to my room to get ready for dinner at 5:45, have another 1 or 2 glasses at dinner. Attend a show and have some water, then attend nightlife festivities and probably stick to beer.
I'd estimate 5-6 bottles of water. $17.25 based on your pricing
2 sodas - 5.75
4 beers - 20.70
2 frozen margaritas or similar - 23.00
3 glass of wine - 41.4
Total of: 108.1
In total with a premium package I am getting way more than my moneys worth, as with gratuity its $56 per day. This is in a period of 14 to 15 hours, enough to maintain a buzz throughout the day.
Definitely worth it if you are a drinker!