Royal Caribbean -New Alcoholic Beverage Packages

[insidecabin]

Another issue with the RCI implimentation is the no soft drinks included.

 

People will have to take the alcoholic drink or pay so thats what they will do,

offer sodas/juice and many would mix the drinks up a lot more.

 

I think the actual implimentation on the ships will be different and people will be able to get soda for free and maybe any of the cocktail mixers as a soft drink

 

Whisky and Sprite please, no whisky or seperate glasses thanks.

[beachbuddy]

Over drinking issues.

 

Having been on a few AI through the UK you get patterns.

Thomsons used to have a ship(TOPAZ) that was ALL AI it was in the price,

Both times we sailed that there were no real problems with any excess, one large group of lads(late 20's old school mates on an annual trip) got close but were more out to have fun than cause trouble.

 

Cruising generaly attracts fewer of the "lager louts" allthough as it becomes more cost effective that will change, for drinkers with no interest in going places the AI resorts are still often a cheaper option.

 

Short cruises with AI attract the party people where the problem can be worse no one cares about the ports. So watch out on the IOTS 3/4 nighters, they could be some party groups.

 

7 night cruises get a mix, many people can sustain the drinking for that length of time but people do want to visit the ports so that tends to limit the overall number that excess, those that do just end up sleeping in longer and longer.

 

Longer cruises more people get weary of the endless drinking so you are left with the few hard cases, that people tend to avoid.some will be more selective and only overindulge when there is a sea day following.

 

New cruisers and those not used to AI often over indulge the first night or 2 but tend to tail off realizing they are missing the ports by sleeping in.

 

 

For those that are non drinkers some people capacity can be suprising

Someone that is reasonably tollerant could do most of following and stay OK(ish)

 

bloody mary/bucks fizz with breakfast(8-10)

2 beers before lunch (10-12)

couple of glasses of wine with lunch (12-1:30)

Couple of beers/cocktails and a snooze by the pool ( up to 4)

Afternoon speciality coffee with afternoon snacks(4-5)

More beer/wine in the cabin getting ready for dinner. (5-6)

pre dinner G&T/martini at the bar (6-7)

wine with dinner (7-9)

Show drink (9-10) (might fall asleep)

After show beer/wine/cocktails

Bed or late night disco/bar for a night cap.

 

Mix in a few activities and a good snooze and th eday would fly by.

 

Packages are ideal for a no port transatlantic.

 

Wow..........if i drank that much in one day, they'd be carrying me to my cabin!!! LOL

[chrisx3mom]

I'll stick with buying my daily beverages. There is no way my husband and I would be drinking $1,400.00 worth of alcohol in a week. We buy the wine package for dinner and a cocktail at a show. No way that comes to $200 per day. RC is not Carnival. Don't want to be on a ship with a bunch of drunks partying day and night!! Guess I'll be changing my "favorite" cruise line.

[cybercon]

I would realy like Carnival to take a hard look at this. This sounds great.

[picturethis3]

We would definitely take advantage of the all-you-can-drink package!

[picturethis3]

Carnival did have it at one time for groups but everyone in the group had to participate.

[picturethis3]

Not sure how you calculated $1400 for the week but $49 X 7 comes out to $343/per person.

[keyslass]

My husband did the Beer package on Celebrity last year and thought is was a great idea. You know the cost before you go. We did not notice anyone using their drinks package to excess (Then again this is celebrity and nor Royal and not primarily European clientele.)

 

The wine package previously offered on Royal Caribbean which we have done is the past,while a good idea, became a real pain. Getting a bottle of wine outside dinner hours was nearly impossible, and even during dining hours we had some difficulties. No such difficulty with the beer package on Celebrity.

 

We are sailing the Trans Atlantic next month with Celebrity and have both opted for the Drinks package. Not cheap, but the know before you go pricing makes it worry free. I won't be worrying about what we are spending when I order that extra glass of wine.

 

We saved hubby's receipts from the last cruise and it did save us money. a couple of beers by the pool, a couple before dinner, and a couple after dinner and it paid for itself. The drinks package on Celebrity includes all drinks up to a certain price, so with water/soda during the day and wine with dinner, and a cocktail or two, I am sure it will be worthwhile. Providing it does not interfere with the service you receive. That has been my only concern.

[JanieC]

I would buy the package. If it's on a day by day basis for sure. If I was on shore excursion most of day I might pass on that day. These packages would be good or like HAL have happy hours. I am not a big drinker but do enjoy a few drinks every so often on cruise & some of them are close to $10. I think it's a good idea to try anyway.

[The Rowdys]

My husband and I did the drink package with Celebrity in December! We both LOVED it! With our morning bloody mary and a couple drinks of the day, we felt we got our moneys worth! We are cruising with a group of friends in March 2012 on Mariner of the Seas and all SIX of us hope it is available on that ship by then!! :cool:

[CaroleC]

Does anyone know what the house wine is thats included? I don't drink beer and only like Berenger White Zinfandel wine so I'm thinking I will probably not bother with a package on the Indy in May. But if Berenger is included, which I doubt, then that will be a different matter altogether :D.

 

Hubby will definitely go for the beer package as he does like a beer or three!

 

IMO I don't think it will really encourage people to drink to excess. Lets face it, most people when on vacation will drink however much they want to regardless of the cost. I would imagine that those purchasing packages are the people who would be drinking several beers during the day/evening anyway so I really can't see it making any difference to the amount of drunkeness on board.

[idratherbesailing]

I can see the new alcohol packages attracting European and some Asian cruisers as they typically consume some type of alcoholic beverage on a daily basis (beer and/or wine especially). For the American cruiser this would not be such a great deal as the consumption of alcohol in the US tends to be quite different. We Americans, who drink responsibly (typically those who are not very young adults or persons with an alcohol addiction), tend to drink on special occaisions or perhaps have a coctail or a glass of wine or beer before or with dinner. For us this package would be a VERY expensive way to have that drink.

[FAMSTR]

recently I was on celeberity. they had these packages but the payback was approx 15 drinks a day vs package deal price. And you can only buy one drink at a time for yourself, not buy for others. High end drinks ($10) martini vs normal (6 dollar martini) would not be comped at all. at least you would think they'd cover $6 of the $10. you'd have to drink 15 drinks a day to make the package price pay back. as one celebrity customer service rep said to me prior to departure, "I didn't think we sold those anymore. They weren't very popular." Gee, ya think?

[louhun88]

Does anyone know what the house wines are on RCI?? Please let there be a nice Australian Chardonnay and a Californian Zinfandel :D

 

I wonder what spirits they are including in the $39 package as it is only house brands??

 

When it comes to cocktails it says only cocktails using the house brands, can I ask for my cocktail to be made with house brand spirits instead of premium??

 

Sorry, never cruised before so I have no idea what brands they use!

[Muffin167]

The Beverage Pkg's offered by Celebrity is one of the reason's I sail a lot with them.

[M&MCruisin]

Call it $210 for a 7 day cruise pp? I'll pass, I think I'd drink too much just trying to get my money's worth.

 

EXACTLY! While I do not drink, nor do I have a problem with those who do, I do believe that these packages will make people drink more than normal so they feel they got their monies worth. This is where I see the potential for more accidents and will likely see more unruley adults. That is when I have a problem with drinking, not the actually drinking itself. Before people get their panties in a wad, I did say potential. I understand that not ALLL people take it to extreme. It is a brilliant money making plan by the cruise line though! JMHO!

[Cru1z1ng1rl]

I so hope this is available for my cruise the end of November on Enchantment of the Seas. We have only been on one other cruise which was on the Celebrity Solstice and we were surprised that all cruise lines did not offer beverage packages! It is much easier to budget this way!

[iflyjets]

Gratuities are included in the day rate.

 

 

I know that you don't have to pay a gratuity each time you order a drink off your package, but I thought that they collected the 15% gratuity at the time you purchase your package (that is, they add 15% to the price of your package). At least, that is what I have seen aboard Celebrity ships and what is posted on the Celebrity site.

 

http://www.celebritycruises.com/beforeyourcruise/faq/home.do?faqSubjectName=Beverage+Packages&faqId=4040&pagename=faq_answers

 

 

And, just for info, here is a link to the FAQs regarding alcohol packages at Celebrity. These may NOT, however, be the same "rules" as RCCL is testing on their cruises, howefver, so it is just for reference.

 

http://www.celebritycruises.com/beforeyourcruise/faq/subject.do?faqSubjectName=Beverage+Packages&pagename=faq_questions

 

Good for RCCL if they are NOT doing the same thing as their sister company, that is, NOT charging an upfront 15% when you purchase the package. Would surprise me if they weren't, however.

 

But, I bow to your expertise, especially since this is a new program for RCCL and is being tried in UK/Europe first.

[Elizanessie]

I know that you don't have to pay a gratuity each time you order a drink off your package, but I thought that they collected the 15% gratuity at the time you purchase your package (that is, they add 15% to the price of your package). At least, that is what I have seen aboard Celebrity ships and what is posted on the Celebrity site.

 

http://www.celebritycruises.com/beforeyourcruise/faq/home.do?faqSubjectName=Beverage+Packages&faqId=4040&pagename=faq_answers

 

Good for RCCL if they are NOT doing the same thing as their sister company, that is, NOT charging an upfront 15% when you purchase the package. Would surprise me if they weren't, however.

 

But, I bow to your expertise, especially since this is a new program for RCCL and is being tried in UK/Europe first.

 

 

From RCCL UK -

 

Question - Can you please tell me what does each package cost?

Answer -

The Beer package costs $29 per day.

The Classic Package is $39 per day.

The Premium Package is $49 per day.

All the packages have the 15% bar service gratuity/Service Charge included in this price.

[sunkey1]

I really do not want to be on any of those ships offering these packages. I'm all for an occasional drink on a cruise, and I enjoy wine with dinner, but the idea of masses of cruisers with unlimited drinks at their disposal isn't my idea of fun. A US Caribbean cruise during spring break would be a nightmare (of course, it probably already is!). Guess I'm just an old fogey!

 

I have been on MANY cruises and saw fewer intoxicated cruisers (total number - zero!) on my most recent cruise aboard Celebrity where the beverage package is offered than I have on any other cruise I've been on. Everyone is thinking that the only people who purchase these packages are lushes. My husband got it just to try it out and this was a "typical" day:

 

fresh squeezed oj and bottled water at breakfast, specialty coffee mid morning, bottled water at the gym, soda or bottled water at lunch, martini before dinner, bottled water at dinner, specialty coffee after dinner, martini or molecular bar drink after dinner, maybe two

 

As you can see, he was far less of a "lush" than many of the average cruisers, yet he still got his "money's worth" with all of the coffees and waters. Is it something we would do every cruise? No, but it's nice to have that option, after all life is just about choices. And I'll choose to cruise with open minded people anytime over the close minded who tend to nitpick people to death over choices they don't personally agree with. JMHO!

[Canusa02]

I don't drink enough to justify spending that type of money per day on alcohol. I'll just stick with my one-every-so-often method, and keep my bar tab under $100 for the week.

[Cruisedreamer1]

It seems clear that unless you are a heavy drinker while cruising, these packages are not a value. I wonder if instead of a flat rate per day there was a card that one give one the right to X number of drinks for a set fee and the cost depending on the quality of alcohol and type of drink. Princess has a coffee card like this and it gives one X number of specialty coffee drinks pluc unlimited drip coffee while on board. The best part is that the card did not expire and one can use the card on another cruise. I bought one of the coffee cards and loved it!

[insidecabin]

I can see the new alcohol packages attracting European and some Asian cruisers as they typically consume some type of alcoholic beverage on a daily basis (beer and/or wine especially). For the American cruiser this would not be such a great deal as the consumption of alcohol in the US tends to be quite different. We Americans, who drink responsibly (typically those who are not very young adults or persons with an alcohol addiction), tend to drink on special occaisions or perhaps have a coctail or a glass of wine or beer before or with dinner. For us this package would be a VERY expensive way to have that drink.

 

Not the Americans I cruise with they all drink like fishes.

 

( I realise what that says about the company I keep)

[jetlag69]

GREAT JOB ROYAL CARIBBEAN!!!!!!!!!! I am booked on Princess in 3 weeks and wish I could switch. This is a GREAT IDEA. $29 a day, thats barely more then the soda cards. No more $1500 tabs at the end of the cruise!!!! No more water drinkers riding my coat tails!!! 5 beverages a day covers the cost. All the cruisers, American and Canadian, that I've sailed with will find this a great deal. It is an OPTION, those of you who don't drink, don't pay. Those of us who do will pay a fair price. Win/Win.PRINCESS PLEASE WAKE UP AND GIVE YOUR CUSTOMERS WHAT THEY WANT. I know who will get my business on the next cruise. I will vote with my wallet...

[katrinklet]

As we check out setting up a once-in-a-lifetime cruise experience in the Med. for several couples in 2012, this offer from RC will continue to define them as the leader of the pack!

Can't wait to see RC and others roll this out for even more ships.:)