andrew_j

Can't really help on this one, all I saw was a row of cans of soft drink in the 'display' at the buffet

I think it will come down to how much soft drink you would drink with a meal, and whether you prefer bottled water. There is plenty of drinking water stations around the venues, but you need to be organised to stay hydrated; I would sit near a water station after gym to rehydrate when a big bottle would have been more convenient. The cabin water is meant to be safe, but ours was always warm and so only used for brushing teeth etc.

Soft drinks come in 250ml cans and are the Coca Cola range - so Fanta etc. Coffee is available at a couple of venues and I think was coffee shop price so about $4 but I'm a bit hazy. tea was good value, it was $2.50 for a pot of T2 tea from the cafe in the Atrium. Mocktails were around $10. Large bottles of water were relatively expensive, about $5 but there was a discount if you ordered six I think. they are in the rooms for you to buy or order.

OK, so I am back from my Pacific Explorer cruise. All the wines by the glass are between $11 and 13. In general, they are quite good. Bottles go from a bit under 40 to over a hundred (including some celebration type stuff). As a wine snob, I thought the wine list was well chosen - solid and drinkable. There's a High Country sangiovese and a chianti for $40 which is what my local restaurant charges. If you want to splurge, there are plenty of good options well under a hundred. Be aware the lists change between the restaurants, the Italian varietals are all in Angelos. The cocktails list is pretty much everything for $15. A couple of stronger cocktails hit 17 and so wouldn't be covered by the premium package, there's also an Archie Rose bar that does cocktails in the 16-21 range. These were the best drinks we had on the ship, AR is a good brand. I never bought any soft drinks or coffee so can't comment. There is free mediocre orange and apple juice at breakfast, and just water at lunch/ dinner (no iced tea unlike other lines).

I was looking at the restaurant wine lists a couple of weeks ago and they were at family restaurant prices. I just don't drink enough to make the drinks package worthwhile, I could do it for a couple of days but not a week or more. As an idea it was about 14 for a cocktail and 40 for a bottle of wine. A hundred a day is a lot of booze.