Drinks package seems ridiculous price

[Cheshirecat5]

Myself, husband and 16 year old daughter have been quoted £472 for the drinks package for a week on the Spirit in July, which seems extreme. However we don't want any nasty shocks. If we don't take this package, how much would we expect to spend for normal soft drinks, tea and coffee? Our daughter only drinks water as she doesn't like fizzy drinks. I don't drink much, and my husband likes the odd beer or glass of wine with his meal.

[jenny wren]

~Tea and coffee and water are available 24 hours a day from the machines in the buffet.

 

The alcohol prices are very reasonable I think there is a drinks menu somewhere on this page if you do a search....class of house wine is about £3.00 and cocktail of the day about the same......cans of sprite, coca cola etc are around £1.25 ...thats just from memory.....I think the general feeling is that the full price drinks package is not worth it ...but I was pricing up for next year and the drinks package was £49 per person so then of course it would be worth it !!!!

[Cymro1953]

Hi,

Jenny's covered the free drinks. Also you can get milk 24 /7 and also fruit juice at breakfast

The prices for the others are about the same as pub prices. £2.90 a pint, £3.10 for a cocktail.

 

Here's a link to the drinks menu from the Island Escape that Crinkle has posted from December and the prices are the same as I've seen for the other Thomson's ships.

 

http://s855.photobucket.com/home/Crinkle-pics

 

Berwyn

[kruzseeka]

Myself, husband and 16 year old daughter have been quoted £472 for the drinks package for a week on the Spirit in July, which seems extreme. However we don't want any nasty shocks. If we don't take this package, how much would we expect to spend for normal soft drinks, tea and coffee? Our daughter only drinks water as she doesn't like fizzy drinks. I don't drink much, and my husband likes the odd beer or glass of wine with his meal.

 

Iced water, tea and coffee are served with lunch, dinner in the main restaurant and available 24/7 in the self-service Lido restaurant - all free. There is a selection of teas available too. Cappuccinos, hot chocolate and bottled water are charged. A glass of house wine (220ml) was £3.15 on Celebration recently (choice available in reds, whites and roses) and drink prices in general are similar to UK pub prices. If you are modest drinkers, then the package would certainly not be economical for you. We never buy it, but when we book early and get it as a 'freebie', we do value it as a 'perk'. Both the Spirit itineraries this season are fabulous so I'm sure you'll have a great trip. Enjoy! :)

[Ov3rride]

We were quoted £538 per person for our transatlantic crossing

[its,only,me]

We would never drink the full price of the drinks package :eek: so only when it is going free or cheap do we get it :D

 

mrs.c

[Cheshirecat5]

Thanks for all your information. It's been very helpful for us virgin cruisers!:)

[Cymro1953]

Thanks for all your information. It's been very helpful for us virgin cruisers!:)

 

Also by the time you are ashore on excursions most days you will only have to think about paying for a few drinks in the evenings.

And unlike the U.S. cruise lines there is no 15% tip added to each drink order :eek: . So drinks were very expensive on their ship in June.

 

Anything you need to know, there are plenty on here who will have the info for you.

 

Berwyn

[crooza]

At £49, I would snap it up. At anything over £75, I would think long and hard about how many drinks you have as most drinks are between £2.50 to £3.

[steelerannie]

When we were onboard Destiny, it was probably the main topic of conversation wherever you were!! How much you'd paid for it, or if you'd got it free. We were also told that Thomsons are thinking about getting rid of the AI package alltogether. Personally, I think that would be a big mistake.

[Cruiserhel]

i agree think it would be big mistake too as i think if we did not get AI we would think twice about crusing with them

[steelerannie]

We've actually booked to go to the Caribbean next year with P&O, as when we'd put the cost of the drinks on it was cheaper!! Plus we've got £150 per person OBC

 

Ann

[davecttr]

Indeed, I have this feeling that Thomsons are not actually all that cheap once you add everything up. The only major difference is no tipping neccessary but it appears that many Thomsons cruisers tip anyway, at least the ones who frequent forums seem to do so.

[Ov3rride]

Thomsons made a good go of the all inclusive Topaz (Now tin cans bless her), but it makes me think if it was that good why didnt they do it again?

[Beckyfaye-2008]

Only the two of us and we dont drink a great deal, would not entertain the drinks package, if we had not got a free drinks package for booking early. Had we had to pay I think it would have cost us £98 each at the time of booking for a week.

[capasamari]

We've (happily) paid £98 each for a week's all-inclusive for Destiny next New Year. Our bar bill for two weeks on P&O this Christmas and New Year was around £500. We're not drunkards by any means but do like a drink (and it was Christmas and New Year...) Anyway I'm sure most of it was him...

 

Carol x

[steelerannie]

£98 for a week isn't bad. But we were quoted £169 per person, per week aboard the Dream for next winter - so no matter how hard I tried I couldn't drink that much booze or coffee!!

 

Ann

[davecttr]

I considered the Dream for next winter but the £49 offer on the Destiny was too good to miss, plus I want to visit the eastern islands anyway.

Without an AI I would spend about £100 per week so any offer at that level or less is a good deal.

[crooza]

Our bar bill came to around £250 for the two of us but only because the last day we tried our best to get our £338 worth. Ironically, had we not had the AI package we would have spent more on drinks as we would have chosen wines we liked as opposed to house wine and also drank more spirits as only the very basic spirits are included. I drink bottled beers which are not included in the AI package but after a lengthy discussion with Diana, the bar manager, we did get bottled beer, baileys and bacardi included. (Bacardi was only 10p extra but Baileys was £3.20 a small measure.)

[Jim The Scot]

£98 for a week isn't bad. But we were quoted £169 per person, per week aboard the Dream for next winter - so no matter how hard I tried I couldn't drink that much booze or coffee!!

 

Ann

 

Hi Ann

 

When we booked the Dream for June this year they were looking for £378 per party for AI,thats £189pp or £27 per day of drink pp :D..Suffice to say we never took up the offer.We have however got £100 on board spend per party..Regarding the AI,the price may suggest drink prices may be more expensive on the Dream

[steelerannie]

It should be interesting once the Dream starts for people to post the prices etc. so we can compare with the Destiny etc.

[yorkshirephil]

I don't think the full price drinks package is worth the money, it just makes you drink more to get your monies worth. Saying that we have paid it in the past when we have booked late and got a good price on the cruise, or if it is a chilling out cruise where we didn't plan on getting off the ship too much so had a few drinkies through the day.

[Cymro1953]

I don't think the full price drinks package is worth the money, it just makes you drink more to get your monies worth. Saying that we have paid it in the past when we have booked late and got a good price on the cruise, or if it is a chilling out cruise where we didn't plan on getting off the ship too much so had a few drinkies through the day.

 

We tend to book early and get the "free A.I." because our T.A. usually has a deal that includes free return transport to the airport.

But I did the sums and as you mention if you book last minute and pay full for the A.I. the price did not work out much different for the same cabin category.

 

Berwyn

[Beckyfaye-2008]

Nothing to do with the price of drink, but talking of prices,we were looking at the excursion prices on Spirit for Egypt and Israel trips, in April 2008 they were £49 each for full day trip, this year they are £70 each.

[its,only,me]

Nothing to do with the price of drink, but talking of prices,we were looking at the excursion prices on Spirit for Egypt and Israel trips, in April 2008 they were £49 each for full day trip, this year they are £70 each.

 

Now that seems a bit of a jump :eek:

 

mrs.c