Booze on board

Can someone tell me some drinks prices on board Windstar - for a beer, cocktail and "average" glass of wine.

We're trying to figure out if it's worth taking the drinks package on board ($32pp per day for wine; $54 for wines and cocktails as well).

I think per person, we'd probably have a cocktail, a beer and two glasses of wine each per day on average and wonder what that lot would cost, and if buying those drinks individually would work out cheaper than a package.

Thanks in advance for your answers and merry Christmas.

About $40 for all four plus gratuity. Prices are reasonable. Some wines may run a little more but might not be included in the package. We don't buy the packages because we are off the ship most days and just don't drink enough to justify the cost. Also, we buy wine by the bottle and have them keep what we don't drink for the next night. If you drink that much every day you might break even. Merry Christmas to you too.

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Most wines are somewhere between $7 and $11:50. (According the the beverage package brochure, 20 are included in the below 8.50 package and an additional 13 in the below 11.50 a glass package.) So two glasses a day should be under $20. I haven't paid attention to the beer prices but I expect that nice beers would be within that range. Cocktail prices are going to vary depending on the cocktail. The daily special cocktail is less than $10 (didn't pay much attention but the dollar number was a single figure.

So, two wines, a beer and a cocktail would probably be around $40 - maybe a bit more if you always choose the most expensive wines and cocktails but still less than the $52 a day for the Captain's Exclusive Beverage package.

Generally, it takes 5 drinks per person a day to get the package past break even.

There were several occasions on our cruise where we got drinks that we didn't have to pay for: Champagne at check-in, Captain's welcome party, Yacht club reception and the cocktail making demonstration (which might not be the case I guess if a hoard of people showed up, but they gave out cocktails for answering a trivia question about them and it ended up with each of the 4 couples present getting one when we were there).

Beer with gratuity runs $7.99 which I thought was rather high. Heineken, Coors Light, and Budweiser were little cheaper and you could get a bucket of 5 of those 3 beers for $25.80 which was a good price but not a good selection choice for me.

Beer with gratuity runs $7.99 which I thought was rather high. Heineken, Coors Light, and Budweiser were little cheaper and you could get a bucket of 5 of those 3 beers for $25.80 which was a good price but not a good selection choice for me.

There is a 15% gratuity added to the beverage package price as well as on the individual drinks so comparing to the $52 a day package, one would use the price without gratuity. So $7 rather than $7.99.

Say one beer at $7, two $11 glasses of wine (the high end of what's included in the package) = $29. That leaves $23. Adding one cocktail isn't going reach to break even. It would take 2 or 3 more drinks to get there.

So 5 or 6 drinks a day for break even on the Captain's Exclusive package.

Probably 5 glasses of wine a day on the wine packages (4 if one always chooses a wine at the max covered price).

I could see buying it for convenience of not having to sign & having a known price if one expects to be a bit below break even.

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And am I correct that you cannot book a beverage package ahead of time, that it is booked at check in?

That is not correct.

You can add it ahead of the cruise, as we did for our wonderful NYE cruise. As I recall (my wife handled it), there is a form you can download from their website to complete and either fax or email to them.

And am I correct that you cannot book a beverage package ahead of time, that it is booked at check in?

So I was recently on the Windstar Legend the beverage package includes some of the worst tasting wines one could ever drink so we cancelled it after two drinks the free wine and champagne served at the receptions is of the same quality you are best to purchase in advance and cancel or purchase when you're on board and try it and then cancel and determine what's best for you as there was no security on our cruise and no scanning machine many people just simply snuck their own booze in and mixed it with the cocktail mixes of their choices in their refrigerators

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Disagree with ranchojoss. There is a large selection of wines with the beverage package, many quite drinkable.

sorry i was referring to the wine package.

I'm a Windstar Cruise fan. My feeling this is my vacation I will pay for a beverage plan. I'll enjoy a drink at lunch, dinner or just looking at the city we're at. Pay for a beverage plan and enjoy yourself. (unless you don't drink)

I think it worth it.

On our 5th cruise last year, we opted for the bev package for the first time and found it convenient enough to take it again on our upcoming cruise on Star Pride. We like to have a drink or two at lunch, a few more at cocktail time and will usually split a bottle for dinner then maybe have a nightcap on deck. We feel we get good value especially if you order the pricier wines (although we like the Chasing Venus Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand which is on the basic wine package and which only costs $8.50). Most of the wines of the pricier packages are fine although I recognize they could do better on the bubbly. You also get access to Top shelf liquor and lots of great imported beers (Red Stripe)