VOS - Ultimate drink package - not good value!

[julzcruz]

Hello, just arrived back from NZ VOS cruise today & thought I would share our experience of the Ultimate drink package. We purchased this as like our espresso coffees & better quality wines. Each night we had trouble ordering our selected wines and had to bar hop until something decent was available. Most bar waiters told us the only wines they had were the cheaper ones & would get the ones we preferred in the following night. (Must get them choppered in). I was given a customer satisfaction survey to fill out on day 5, so filled in my grievances regarding the wine selection. Received a call from the Hotel Director who apologised, advised us to insist at each bar what wine we wanted & if they didn't stock it ask them to track some down and to mention his name if they seemed reluctant. We had to do this on several occasions for the rest of the cruise and was effective, though felt uncomfortable doing so. Felt whole experience for the price we paid was not satisfactory and have passed this onto RCCL. Other aspects of the cruise were enjoyable though!

[Jarrah-cruise]

That does put a damper on things!

 

Will you be doing up a review of your trip? Would love to hear all about it! :)

[goodycruising]

Someone else mentioned about the choices available too a while back and having to hunt around to find where it was stocked. Did you feel that you got value for the package, particularly if you went to shore for the day?

[cruisin-m]

I got the same with a premium package on Celebrity a lot of bartenders were reluctant to give you the "premium" stuff included on the package, just saying they didn't stock that beer/spirit/wine, always seemed to be the cheap or unwanted American stuff available. Sometimes if you asked for a high end spirit they would be like what about this one and pick up the cheapo house spirit! Just had to insist on the good ones that were included and eventually you got it.

 

Must be a part of the training to try and save costs by talking people with packages into cheap drinks or something haha!

[tassie cruiser]

When we were on VOS NYE cruise, we did not find any of the above. 6 of us all had the premium package and for the 14 nights there was never a time that we ordered something that we couldn't get or wasn't included. We tried so many different things we would never have normally bought and found the package to be great value. By the time we tried a few cocktails, couple wines then few bottles of water , there was our money's worth. If we got a cocktail we didn't like, it was no drama to leave and get another one. Etc...it was also good as when we would go to a bar to order drinks the bar people have awesome memories and knew who had the package so no need to show your card or anything. But I guess if the dollar drops more it will make it more expensive, we were lucky that we purchased packages when the dollar was good. We are booked on the same cruise this year and will get the package again. :)

Edited February 28, 2014 by tassie cruiser

[fishtaco]

We had the Premium drinks package on VOS when it was first introduced so slightly different to the Ultimate.

 

There was a very noticeable lack of favourite drink brands from the beginning Beer/ wine /spirits and it seems in a full year nothing has changed much!

 

We ended up getting most of our nightly drinks from the champagne bar in the end as at least the spirits were premium there and they could mix a cocktail.

 

Pool bars could not or did not know how to make a cocktail without using pre mixed cocktail mix which was horrible.

 

Although we drank plenty we cancelled our package on day 5 of a 14 nighter mainly because we were not used to drinking quite so much on a cruise.

 

I am not a drink brand snob but the biggest disappointment to me was "The Pub with no Beer" lol I just couldn't understand why they display a huge choice of beer but dont stock 99% of it?

 

The package is worth the money for those that drink a lot or dont mind "Well" drinks but if you buy it expecting good wine top shelf and premium spirits along with a good choice of beer then it may not work unless you are willing to bar hop for your preferred choice:)

[Gerko]

I got the same with a premium package on Celebrity a lot of bartenders were reluctant to give you the "premium" stuff included on the package, just saying they didn't stock that beer/spirit/wine, always seemed to be the cheap or unwanted American stuff available. Sometimes if you asked for a high end spirit they would be like what about this one and pick up the cheapo house spirit! Just had to insist on the good ones that were included and eventually you got it.

 

Must be a part of the training to try and save costs by talking people with packages into cheap drinks or something haha!

 

We had the same on Celebrity Solstice. Premium package was a joke. Asked for Chivas Regal. Got none. Asked for any premium scotch or single malt. Got none. After much head scratching a bottle of standard Johnny Red was all he could find. Even the premium non-alcho package was a joke. Bought it for my 16yo. No mocktails to be found anywhere on ship and was flat out even getting a can of soft drink instead of post-mix. Even just finding a staffmember to serve a drink was difficult.

 

Obviously now the lines are regularly offering the packages, often free as a promotion, they are trying to minimise theie expenses. It would be interesting to see if there were two people who frequented a bar each night regularly, one with a prepaid package and one paying as they went, which one the staff would serve faster once they picked up on it.

[fishtaco]

We had the same on Celebrity Solstice. Premium package was a joke. Asked for Chivas Regal. Got none. Asked for any premium scotch or single malt. Got none. After much head scratching a bottle of standard Johnny Red was all he could find. Even the premium non-alcho package was a joke. Bought it for my 16yo. No mocktails to be found anywhere on ship and was flat out even getting a can of soft drink instead of post-mix. Even just finding a staffmember to serve a drink was difficult.

 

Obviously now the lines are regularly offering the packages, often free as a promotion, they are trying to minimise theie expenses. It would be interesting to see if there were two people who frequented a bar each night regularly, one with a prepaid package and one paying as they went, which one the staff would serve faster once they picked up on it.

 

On RCI there was not a lot of difference with service, I know this as I cancelled mine:)

 

I tipped our dinner drinks waiter first night and after that it didnt matter what part of the ship he turned up at serving he always found what I asked for!

 

I was drinking Bass and Boddingtons beer, it wasnt in the pub or many other bars but he found it for me for 14 nights:)

[The_Big_M]

Staff get tips either way, so whether you have a package or not doesn't make much difference. Sure, individual payers could give a greater tip... but that doesn't happen often to make a difference to personal attention.

[fishtaco]

Staff get tips either way, so whether you have a package or not doesn't make much difference. Sure, individual payers could give a greater tip... but that doesn't happen often to make a difference to personal attention.

 

I tend to tip or sign for tips as I drink more. Hic lol

 

The MDR drinks waiter was the only one who presented me with a printout to sign when I had the drinks package so there may be some truth in it?

 

Many with drinks packages are never presented with a receipt and if like mine after the first day the card was never even swiped so there is less opportunity to get an extra tip from those with a package? This would naturally make the non package drinker more favourable to be served over the package drinker?

[barnsey1802]

We had the same on Celebrity Solstice. Premium package was a joke. Asked for Chivas Regal. Got none. Asked for any premium scotch or single malt. Got none. After much head scratching a bottle of standard Johnny Red was all he could find. Even the premium non-alcho package was a joke. Bought it for my 16yo. No mocktails to be found anywhere on ship and was flat out even getting a can of soft drink instead of post-mix. Even just finding a staffmember to serve a drink was difficult.

 

Obviously now the lines are regularly offering the packages, often free as a promotion, they are trying to minimise theie expenses. It would be interesting to see if there were two people who frequented a bar each night regularly, one with a prepaid package and one paying as they went, which one the staff would serve faster once they picked up on it.

 

We must have been really lucky on our NYE cruise, like Fiona said, we didn't have any trouble finding the drinks we liked. I drink scotch and always asked for Chivas, every bar had some. Maybe they stocked up a little more because it was NYE.

 

Deidre.:)

[Cruise_me_Crazy]

Interesting read. Not sure if we will bother after reading the comments!:)

[30thbirthdaygirls]

I was going to go ultimate drink package on our royal carribean rhapsody cruise in 2 weeks time, but considering some of the negative feedback on it plus the drop in aud to usd, I'm seriously contemplating winging it and just buying as I go. 10 day cruise with 4 port days I think I will be better off or spending the same $740 aud. if buy chance I find it to be a better option I can always add it on. There really should be a coffee, water and juice package I would go for that

 

 

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[cruisin-m]

We had the same on Celebrity Solstice. Premium package was a joke. Asked for Chivas Regal. Got none. Asked for any premium scotch or single malt. Got none. After much head scratching a bottle of standard Johnny Red was all he could find. Even the premium non-alcho package was a joke. Bought it for my 16yo. No mocktails to be found anywhere on ship and was flat out even getting a can of soft drink instead of post-mix. Even just finding a staffmember to serve a drink was difficult.

 

Obviously now the lines are regularly offering the packages, often free as a promotion, they are trying to minimise theie expenses. It would be interesting to see if there were two people who frequented a bar each night regularly, one with a prepaid package and one paying as they went, which one the staff would serve faster once they picked up on it.

 

One of the bartenders at the molecular bar on Solstice (who was extremely friendly and good regardless) said that he really disliked the new package system, because there is no longer an incentive to serve the customers anymore and that it's unfair because they spread it evenly regardless of how much they individually served a person.

 

Although that was his point of view, in my mind they would definitely end up with more tips overall as a result of packages.

[Oz_Steve]

We had the premium drinks package on the Solstice last December and it was great. There was a group of 9 with the package and we got great service everywhere. If you want the good spirits etc you do have to go to the right bars. The passport and pool bars weren't much good but the Molecular, Martini, Cellar Masters and the Blu dining room were fantastic.

On the first night in Blu we ordered a bottle of La Belle Epoque as with the 30% off it was very good value and we wanted to try it. My wife tipped the Sommelier $20 as he did have to hunt it down and after that he was suggesting stuff we try (all included with the package) that wasn't necessarily available on the wine list after we had tried most of the 'standard ones'. He would have some that they used to stock but didn't put on the list anymore as they only had a few left etc.

We also frequented the Cellar Masters and were getting great service and variety from the Sommelier. As they were so many of us he did get some latitude with what we could get by the glass as we would finish the whole bottle between us and he wouldn't be stuck with half a bottle of by the glass wine that wasn't on the list so people didn't know was available.

Would I get the premium package again? In a heartbeat.

[Oz_Steve]

One of the bartenders at the molecular bar on Solstice (who was extremely friendly and good regardless) said that he really disliked the new package system, because there is no longer an incentive to serve the customers anymore and that it's unfair because they spread it evenly regardless of how much they individually served a person.

 

Although that was his point of view, in my mind they would definitely end up with more tips overall as a result of packages.

 

 

Was that one of the Ukranian guys? They were excellent, I think their names were Andre and Sergei.

[fishtaco]

I was going to go ultimate drink package on our royal carribean rhapsody cruise in 2 weeks time, but considering some of the negative feedback on it plus the drop in aud to usd, I'm seriously contemplating winging it and just buying as I go. 10 day cruise with 4 port days I think I will be better off or spending the same $740 aud. if buy chance I find it to be a better option I can always add it on. There really should be a coffee, water and juice package I would go for that

 

 

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Not sure which cruises you have done in the past but you have to ask yourself "Have I ever spent $740 on booze" on a 10 day cruise?

 

Even some of the big cruise boozers have dry out days as well as port days.

 

I have been on cruises on P&O where some have spent way over $740 on a 10 nighter, I know this as fact as I used to spend a lot of time in the smoking areas with the same people day in day out and they used to say how much they were spending.

 

If you are an average drinker who has just a few more when on a cruise then in my opinion it is not good value.

 

If you have plenty of money then its great for convenience and consumption value is irrelevant.

 

I am a fairly big beer drinker and drink quite a bit on a cruise but I could not sustain 10 beers a day everyday.

 

I cancelled my drinks package during the cruise mainly because both Tracey and I were drinking way too much.

 

In the end our booze bill was around 1/2 the price I paid for the 14 night packages.

 

Carnival USA do much shorter 3 4 and 7 night cruises with the 3 and 4 nighters being the most common cruise lengths and their drink packages have a daily consumption limit, a 3 or 4 night booze cruise on unlimited drinks package would be non profitable to a cruiseline.

 

A 10 night or above cruise is still profitable because "on average" most people cannot drink their package $,s worth :)

[mtn_couple]

We had the ultimate package on VOS and got value from it. It's not only alcohol included. Fresh squeezed juice at breakfast, lattes for morning tea, beer or soft drink for lunch, latte arvo tea, a couple of drinks with dinner, a cocktail or 2 after and a bottle of water to take back to the room at night. More than paid for it and we weren't 'drunk' a single night! I liked that I could try cocktails I normally wouldn't spend $12 on just to see what it's like, if I didn't like it, didn't matter just get something else.

 

 

Cruised - Dawn Princess Nov 2008

Cruised - Sun Princess Nov 2009

Cruised - Carnival Spirit Nov 2012

Cruised - Voyager of the Seas Feb 2014

Cruising - Celebrity Solstice Nov 14

[fishtaco]

We had the ultimate package on VOS and got value from it. It's not only alcohol included. Fresh squeezed juice at breakfast, lattes for morning tea, beer or soft drink for lunch, latte arvo tea, a couple of drinks with dinner, a cocktail or 2 after and a bottle of water to take back to the room at night. More than paid for it and we weren't 'drunk' a single night! I liked that I could try cocktails I normally wouldn't spend $12 on just to see what it's like, if I didn't like it, didn't matter just get something else.

 

 

Cruised - Dawn Princess Nov 2008

Cruised - Sun Princess Nov 2009

Cruised - Carnival Spirit Nov 2012

Cruised - Voyager of the Seas Feb 2014

Cruising - Celebrity Solstice Nov 14

 

 

If you usually spend the same amount or more than the package price on paid for consumables then its well worth the cost, if you dont then you have spent more than you normally would by purchasing the package which is the goal of the cruiseline:)

 

Cruiselines on a whole make all of their profit from paid for products and consumables that were not included in the original ticket price:)

 

I am not at all against the package, I bought it myself but many who have not yet purchased it are always asking if it is worth it:confused:

 

Its worth can be justified in top shelf premium drinks and cocktails alone and that is easy to calculate by number of drinks x cost of drink.

 

If a balcony cabin was always better cruise value than an inside or O/V I would only ever cruise in a balcony cabin because its worth it:)

[mtn_couple]

If a balcony cabin was always better cruise value than an inside or O/V I would only ever cruise in a balcony cabin because its worth it:)

 

If your cruising for a cheap holiday, then no it's prob not worth it unless you drink a lot normally. We enjoy the carefree feeling of not having to add up our account, we know what we've spent and use it. Our bill at the end of our last cruise was $40.

 

But I also only ever cruise balcony cabins or suites....

[fishtaco]

If your cruising for a cheap holiday, then no it's prob not worth it unless you drink a lot normally. We enjoy the carefree feeling of not having to add up our account, we know what we've spent and use it. Our bill at the end of our last cruise was $40.

 

But I also only ever cruise balcony cabins or suites....

 

You only ever cruise on a balcony or in suite but would not buy drinks for as much as $12 each, this is economising because you had the $12 drinks with the package but would not have bought them without:)

 

To some Balcony/suite only cruisers limiting their onboard drink spend to lower cost drinks only would also be cruising for a cheap holiday:)

[mtn_couple]

You only ever cruise on a balcony or in suite but would not buy drinks for as much as $12 each, this is economising because you had the $12 drinks with the package but would not have bought them without:)

 

To some Balcony/suite only cruisers limiting their onboard drink spend to lower cost drinks only would also be cruising for a cheap holiday:)

 

 

No, I WOULD spend $12 on a drink I knew I like. However, I would NOT spend $12 on a new/different drink just to 'taste test' it without a package.

[keagle]

If your cruising for a cheap holiday, then no it's prob not worth it unless you drink a lot normally. We enjoy the carefree feeling of not having to add up our account, we know what we've spent and use it. Our bill at the end of our last cruise was $40.

 

 

 

But I also only ever cruise balcony cabins or suites....

 

 

This is the reason that we purchase a drink package, usually the premium. It is paid for well in advance and there is no worry about how much is going on to our account.

We try many of the drinks available.

[30thbirthdaygirls]

We had the ultimate package on VOS and got value from it. It's not only alcohol included. Fresh squeezed juice at breakfast, lattes for morning tea, beer or soft drink for lunch, latte arvo tea, a couple of drinks with dinner, a cocktail or 2 after and a bottle of water to take back to the room at night. More than paid for it and we weren't 'drunk' a single night! I liked that I could try cocktails I normally wouldn't spend $12 on just to see what it's like, if I didn't like it, didn't matter just get something else.

 

 

This is exactly how I was justifying it, but take into account the 4 days of ports for me, the last day I won't be drinking much and that I am not a big drinker that really has to pace herself (having kids and not being able to drink much turns you into a Cadbury). The coffee, juice and water free flow was justifying it. How was the coffee? I'm going to order my usual things and see on the first day if they are decent first, no point signing up to bad coffee.

 

 

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[Oz_Steve]

We had the ultimate package on VOS and got value from it. It's not only alcohol included. Fresh squeezed juice at breakfast, lattes for morning tea, beer or soft drink for lunch, latte arvo tea, a couple of drinks with dinner, a cocktail or 2 after and a bottle of water to take back to the room at night. More than paid for it and we weren't 'drunk' a single night! I liked that I could try cocktails I normally wouldn't spend $12 on just to see what it's like, if I didn't like it, didn't matter just get something else.

 

 

This is exactly how I was justifying it, but take into account the 4 days of ports for me, the last day I won't be drinking much and that I am not a big drinker that really has to pace herself (having kids and not being able to drink much turns you into a Cadbury). The coffee, juice and water free flow was justifying it. How was the coffee? I'm going to order my usual things and see on the first day if they are decent first, no point signing up to bad coffee.

 

 

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Try a few of the free coffees first. Then the pay for coffees will taste fantastic and taste even better as the cruise goes on. I really can't stand the filtered American coffee. Think McDonalds filtered coffee but not quite as good.