Premium drink packages on river cruise lines

[doreman]

Trying to plan a European River cruise for 4 couples. Some lines are all-inclusive and some are not. How do the ones that are not charge for drink packages and other types of add ons? I guess a follow up question would be are the all inclusive lines such as Scenic,Tauck,Uniworld worth the extra initial cost?Or is it better to buy the add ons the other lines offer? ( Hope I am making sense with my question) Tanks for any input on the matter.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Most lines include wine and beer at lunch and dinner (and mimosas at breakfast), and there are no sea days like on ocean cruises -- so I can't figure out how it would pay to buy a drinks package. But YMMV.

[caviargal]

The answer to whether it is worth the extra cost IMO depends on the individual.

 

We enjoy the wine AMA includes with lunch and dinner. We have a cocktail before dinner in the lounge and often a nightcap. Our bar tab at the end of 7 days is about $200.

 

When comparing what is really included, consider what components you would be using. We are taking our first cruise with Uniworld in 4 weeks and cannot use the arrival transfer as we are coming in by train. The departure transfer will be useful but I have in the past booked my own at reasonable rates.

 

We prefer to choose our own hotels and drivers and often opt for private guides so that we are able to fully customize our time to our preferences.

 

I have identified several excursions that are an extra charge with Uniworld that are included with AMA. We enjoy DIY and will be exploring on our own most days. If you prefer to have all of your excursions included, then Tauck could be worth the premium for you.

 

We usually do some laundry and have a massage and those are extras on any line, unless there is a repeater perk I am not aware of.

 

River cruises are not what size fits all. It all depends on your personal travel style and priorities.

[Got2Cruise]

I know there is a thread someplace here that talks about which brands are included in the package. You might want to investigate that also. It also depends how much you and your friends like to drink. We sailed on Avalon which does NOT include beer and wine at lunch. This didn't bother us. We usually ate a quick lunch and then went out after lunch for more touring. If we wanted a drink in the pm we would find an establishment in the local town. We rarely had time for more than one cocktail before dinner. We usually had to be touring at 8:30 am the next morning, so sitting around drinking after dinner late into the evening wasn't something we enjoyed doing. We might have had another cocktail some nights

 

It is not like an ocean cruise where you have sea days and 3:00 pm sail away parties every day.

[cruzzzinma]

I think our bar bill was 60 euros on a 7 day Viking cruise. That included a before dinner drink for two, five or six sodas/sparkling water during the week and two or three after dinner drinks. I think the drink package would have been $450 for the two of us. We always buy a drink package on ocean cruises, but it would have not been worth it for a river cruise.

 

We brought a couple of bottles of wine onboard in Paris. I don't think we bought any more at ports, but we might have. Viking is very generous at lunch and dinner and I always got a refill "to go" after dinner. The days are long on a river cruise and dinner is very slow-paced. Most of us crashed after dinner.

[pontac]

I think it all depends on how much you drink, and what you drink.

 

If you're the sort who likes sitting at the bar and drinking lots of spirits and cocktails then a drinks package might be worthwhile. But check what is inclused and not included.

 

We like wine, but don't drink anything else. The free wine at lunch and dinner are fine for us and we buy also wine from local wineries and have them with some meals - no corkage fee.

 

I have looked at the wines offered in the drinks package, but the top wines are not included and neither is Champagne.

 

And everyone in the cabin must pay for the package. For us its not worth it.

 

Also,sparkling wine is served at receptions, welcome and captain's partys, and spirits are served at the reception for repeat customers.

 

My experiences on Viking

[pacmom]

Cruzzinma, 60 euros could never have bought the amount of drinks you say they did. If all you had were predinner drinks each nite at 5 euros each, you woulf be over the 60 euro limit. Am not an advocate of drink packages--couldn't drink that much--plus the cost is per person not per cabin. Have found the wine on AMAwaterways and also on Uniworld very good. Have not been on Viking since people say the included wine has improved.

[Hoyaheel]

We did a Christmas Markets cruise on Avalon this past December - Nuremberg to Basel. One reason we chose Avalon was the fridge in our cabin and the itinerary so my husband could sample oodles of German beer. So we didn't mind not having wine/beer served by Avalon at lunch as we bought beer (and wine) in the ports to try. We had our own with lunch, in the afternoon, theirs with dinner, and we had many afternoon tasting sessions with in-laws and friends we met on board. Avalon had a nice happy hour in the afternoon (4-6 or 5-7 - a couple of hours prior to the Cruise Director talk/dinner) with half price drinks, so if we bought alcohol on board, we bought it at happy hour. A drink package definitely would not have been worth it for our drinking habits and that particular cruise (and honestly I don't know if Avalon even offers one).

Edited June 3, 2015 by Hoyaheel

[franski]

 

We usually do some laundry and have a massage and those are extras on any line, unless there is a repeater perk I am not aware of.

 

Uniworld offers laundry as a repeater perk.

 

Fran

[hiccups]

Uniworld offers laundry as a repeater perk.

 

Fran

 

I believe Uniworld has free self-service laundry on all its ships as well.

[loge23]

Any input on the Silver package from the Grand European Viking trip vets?

Specifically, what were the wine prices on the menu for sale and what drinks were not included?

I ask because of some of the comments above from experienced travelers. We were on Viking last year on a 7-night cruise and it seemed that everything at the bar was fair game for the package - including Veuve Cliquot by the glass and Remy XO cognac. For other posters this was clearly not the case.

I believe the package is expensive enough to offset the cost to Viking on average. Any further input is appreciated!

[ellenw]

We did the drink package on our recent Viking Rhine cruise. It was perfect for us. Preferred the Cabernet over the chard and pinot noir they poured at lunch and dinner. Nice to have a mixed drink whenever you felt like it. I had Drambuie after dinner most nights (sometimes, more than one!). Very generous pour. And, as someone mentioned earlier, getting friendly with the bar staff is always a good idea. Plus, I just love talking to the crew and hearing about where they are from.

[Kathie859]

My river cruise experiences (four so far and deciding on the next one) are all Uniworld. I find that by the time you add tips, airport transfers and the anytime beverage service, cost of tours (Uniworld does offer the occasional optional expense tour in addition to the regularly scheduled ones) that they are not so much more expensive than other lines and cheaper than a few.

 

Lest I sound like an alcoholic,:), I enjoy a predinner cocktail, wine at dinner and have spent several nights spending a few hours with new acquaintances in the lounge having after dinner drinks. Uniworld's list of liquor has a nice selection and service has not been affected by the no tipping policy.

 

Also, if you decide to arrive a few days before or after the cruise, you can use whatever transportation segment you need. If you book your extensions thru Uniworld, transportation from your hotel is included.

[caviargal]

We did the drink package on our recent Viking Rhine cruise. It was perfect for us. Preferred the Cabernet over the chard and pinot noir they poured at lunch and dinner..

 

Does Viking pour the same wines daily at lunch and dinner?

[pontac]

Does Viking pour the same wines daily at lunch and dinner?

 

When we did teh Rhine trip, and the Danube the followingyear the 'house' wines oured free every lunch and dinner were their own labelled Austrian Gruner Veltliner and Zweigelt. Both better than expected. And of course we supplemented these with local wines bought along the way.

 

On the Douro the wines were all Portugues, and changed day by day.

 

The Bordeaux cruise had different wines every day, all Bordeaux and chosen from the appellation where the boat was visiting.

[Magnum60]

We did a Viking River Cruise (Russia) two years ago and loved every second of it. We decided that we'd buy the beverage package for this trip. That said, we won't bother with one on any future river cruises .

Because we likely drink more than most river or ocean cruise passengers we thought that we'd save a few bucks by buying the offered drink package. Free wine (decent wines I might add) and free local beer (also very good) served at lunch and dinner wiped out any cost advantage we might have had purchasing their beverage package. While it was convenient to not need to sign for every drink we ordered we found that on a river cruise there really is no cost advantage in buying a beverage package.

[loge23]

Thanks to all for your comments!

Now that we are within our 30 day window, we will have to make our purchase of the beverage package onboard,which will allow us to get a better perspective for our decision.

I'll be sure to follow up in this forum upon our return.

Happy cruising to all!

[pontac]

we will have to make our purchase of the beverage package onboard,

 

 

Ask to see the drinks list, there is a faint symbol next to drinks marking those which are outside the scope of the 'inclusive' drinks package.

 

If you have a particular favourite brand or drink ask to ensure it is included, e.g. if you want to drink Champagne make sure which Champagne brand(s) are included and they they are not referring to their own cheap German fizz

[Polocks]

Just wondering if anyone has a price list of cost of beverages on Viking river cruise

Thank you

[caviargal]

Just wondering if anyone has a price list of cost of beverages on Viking river cruise

Thank you

 

Suggest you begin a new thread for this.

[LFS517]

Just wondering if anyone has a price list of cost of beverages on Viking river cruise

Thank you

 

Viking provides a sample bar menu on their website, just search for the Silver Spirits package.