Buying Drink Package Online vs Onboard

[tinkertwo]

Yes, but they may require you to have at least 4 days left in the cruise.

 

can i take a minute to just suck up to you??? you are amazing! not that everyone doesn't help but you have answered so many of my questions. i'm new to rcl. i think i need to make you my t.a., lol.

i'm just going to start p.m.ing you my questions.

seriously, Thank you so much!

[Artemus]

I agree, Bob is great.

[funNsun4me]

Since I plan on using some OBC to purchase a drink package I decided to call C&A and was told that the price to pre-purchase or purchase once on board are absolutely the same. I sure hope she is right or I am going to be really :mad:

[SavageCruiser]

We Bought UP packages on board the AOS on Dec 19th and received a 30% on board discount.

[Maxit]

Our saving by pre buying was so extensive I feel we must have had a one off. As our saving was nearly 25us a day and that included the grats

[coconut telegraph]

Since I plan on using some OBC to purchase a drink package I decided to call C&A and was told that the price to pre-purchase or purchase once on board are absolutely the same. I sure hope she is right or I am going to be really :mad:

 

I was told the same thing and charged an extra 18% gratuity once purchased on board last week on the NOS...I have reached out to RCCL, but haven't heard back.

[neflier]

Since I plan on using some OBC to purchase a drink package I decided to call C&A and was told that the price to pre-purchase or purchase once on board are absolutely the same. I sure hope she is right or I am going to be really :mad:

 

I was told the same thing on the phone and was hit with an additional 18% on board.

[cindivan]

No taxes are charged on package purchases on board in US ports.

 

So in cruises starting out, for example, Southhampton the prices might be higher on board? For example, the premium says "from $57 per day" and the total is $399 so they don't add taxes there. I get to the final payment confirmation page and it still doesn't add anything on. So it looks like no additional taxes if I pre-buy. Do you think it will be more on board with taxes or does the 57 already include taxes. I know when we went out of Barcelona it was something like 63 a day for the same package because of Spain VAT.

[cindivan]

It seems if you purchase online it's $57.00 per day total (includes gratuity) for the premium package.

If you purchase onboard it's $57.00 per day plus gratuity.

 

That is exactly what I am wondering!!! Does anyone have any proof of this?? I might after our Harmony cruise. I will probably prebuy DH and me and buy our kids on board using OBC which will about wipe that out. Compare prices, Wa la - experiment done.

 

Unless someone has recent personal experience.

[Clarea]

So in cruises starting out, for example, Southhampton the prices might be higher on board? For example, the premium says "from $57 per day" and the total is $399 so they don't add taxes there. I get to the final payment confirmation page and it still doesn't add anything on. So it looks like no additional taxes if I pre-buy. Do you think it will be more on board with taxes or does the 57 already include taxes. I know when we went out of Barcelona it was something like 63 a day for the same package because of Spain VAT.

To my knowledge, no taxes are added for purchases of drink packages onboard on cruises out of Southampton. I agree, cruises out of Spain that stay within the Schengen area are charged VAT.

[ksmcdonald]

That is exactly what I am wondering!!! Does anyone have any proof of this?? I might after our Harmony cruise. I will probably prebuy DH and me and buy our kids on board using OBC which will about wipe that out. Compare prices, Wa la - experiment done.

 

Unless someone has recent personal experience.

 

 

I'm leaving in a few weeks and when I went on "Cruise Planner" just now this is what it said after I put the beverage package in my Cart. (I copied and pasted their exact words):

 

 

• A 18% gratuity charge will be added to each package price listed above.
  
• Please note: Orders cannot be modified once they're added to your shopping cart. To change an order, you'll need to first cancel the order, and then make your purchase(s) again.
  

So, you pay the gratuity whether you buy it on board or per-purchase it online.

Edited February 10, 2016 by ksmcdonald

[Clarea]

I'm leaving in a few weeks and when I went on "Cruise Planner" just now this is what it said after I put the beverage package in my Cart. (I copied and pasted their exact words):

 

 

• A 18% gratuity charge will be added to each package price listed above.
  
• Please note: Orders cannot be modified once they're added to your shopping cart. To change an order, you'll need to first cancel the order, and then make your purchase(s) again.
  

So, you pay the tax whether you buy it on board or per-purchase it online.

You pay the gratuity either way, but cindivan was asking about taxes (like VAT) that are additional to the 18% gratuity.

[ksmcdonald]

You pay the gratuity either way, but cindivan was asking about taxes (like VAT) that are additional to the 18% gratuity.

 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retired LEO

It seems if you purchase online it's $57.00 per day total (includes gratuity) for the premium package.

If you purchase onboard it's $57.00 per day plus gratuity.

 

That is exactly what I am wondering!!! Does anyone have any proof of this?? I might after our Harmony cruise. I will probably prebuy DH and me and buy our kids on board using OBC which will about wipe that out. Compare prices, Wa la - experiment done.

 

Unless someone has recent personal experience.

 

 

I was referring to cindivan's post that I copied above. She was asking for proof of the quote from Retired LEO. I meant to say gratuities are charged either way, not tax. I've edited my post.

[cindivan]

You pay the gratuity either way, but cindivan was asking about taxes (like VAT) that are additional to the 18% gratuity.

 

Sorry if I seem to be confusing taxes and VAT.... I am more interested in gratuity since it doesn't say anything about VAT so I'm assuming that will probably not be added onboard for anything pre-bought because I bought it from the states.

 

Regarding gratuity, I got to the final page where I enter my payment info and then "confirm order" and it is still showing my total as $399, which is a total of $57 per day with no tip added. And it states something different that what yours said, specifically no additional gratuity added, so a difference of about $70 per package.

 

Gratuity has already been included in the price of each package.

Please note: Orders cannot be modified once they're added to your shopping cart. To change an order, you'll need to first cancel the order, and then make your purchase(s) again.

 

I don't know if it makes a difference of where the cruise originates, but I guess I might as well pre-buy two of drink packages and use the OBC for the others. It will be interesting to see if the other two get charged additional gratuity when we purchase it on board.

Edited February 10, 2016 by cindivan

[Clarea]

Sorry if I seem to be confusing taxes and VAT.... I got to the final page where I enter my payment info and then "confirm order" and it is still showing my total as $399, which is a total of $57 per day with no tip added. And it states something different that what yours said, specifically no additional tax added., so a difference of about $70 per package.

 

Gratuity has already been included in the price of each package.

Please note: Orders cannot be modified once they're added to your shopping cart. To change an order, you'll need to first cancel the order, and then make your purchase(s) again.

 

I don't know if it makes a difference of where the cruise originates, but I guess I might as well pre-buy two of drink packages and use the OBC for the others. It will be interesting to see if the other two get charged additional gratuity when we purchase it on board.

Which package are you purchasing for $57?

[marksoe]

The one thing that I would say to be careful about if you were to buy the package online, is if there is some kind of promotion.

 

For the last cruise we went on, for our wedding, there was a promotion on the Ultimate drink package. This promotion stated that if we bought the package online between a certain date range, we would not only get the Ultimate drink package for our sailing, but we would also receive (per person) a coupon for someone else to get a royal refreshment package, plus a bottle of champagne.

 

The first issue was that this promotion was not shown on the receipt whatsoever.

 

The next issue was that this apparently wasn't conveyed to the ship correctly, either. When we got onboard, we did show we had the ultimate drink package, but nowhere to be found was the 'coupon' for someone else to get the royal refreshment package, or the bottle of champagne.

 

We had to go to guest relations to talk to them about it. Their response was that we also had to sail between the range of dates, too. This wasn’t true. I confirmed over the phone beforehand.

 

Either way, guest relations was able to help me and they gave me the package, with the coupon, and a bottle of champagne on 'good faith', so I was happy.

 

This isn’t meant to be a complaint, since they fixed the issue for me, but just to understand that some promotions that were purchased online may get lost. Be sure to take pictures of the promotion with your phone, or try and call to get a receipt with the extras notated on it.

Edited February 10, 2016 by marksoe

[Artemus]

Bob, the premium package is $57.82 per day for my upcoming Oasis cruise.

[cindivan]

Which package are you purchasing for $57?

 

The Premium package (Harmony out of Southhampton May 29, 2016)

Edited February 10, 2016 by cindivan

[Clarea]

Bob, the premium package is $57.82 per day for my upcoming Oasis cruise.

Thanks. I was trying to figure out if Cindi was also trying to purchase the Premium package, in which case the $57 includes gratuity.

[ksmcdonald]

Sorry if I seem to be confusing taxes and VAT.... I am more interested in gratuity since it doesn't say anything about VAT so I'm assuming that will probably not be added onboard for anything pre-bought because I bought it from the states.

 

Regarding gratuity, I got to the final page where I enter my payment info and then "confirm order" and it is still showing my total as $399, which is a total of $57 per day with no tip added. And it states something different that what yours said, specifically no additional gratuity added, so a difference of about $70 per package.

 

Gratuity has already been included in the price of each package.

Please note: Orders cannot be modified once they're added to your shopping cart. To change an order, you'll need to first cancel the order, and then make your purchase(s) again.

 

I don't know if it makes a difference of where the cruise originates, but I guess I might as well pre-buy two of drink packages and use the OBC for the others. It will be interesting to see if the other two get charged additional gratuity when we purchase it on board.

 

 

 

Hmm...that is very strange! Maybe different ships have different charges, although I can't believe they would do that. My message was definitely different than yours.....very interesting!

 

(I did get the "To change an order, you'll need to first cancel the order, and then make your purchase(s) again.)But it did say gratuities will be added.

 

If I were you, I'd book now! It will save you a little money!

[DrD]

Some of us prefer to spread out the payments; I don't want to be hit with a huge bill when I get home from a cruise. I pay out my cruise, I pay for as much up front as possible. In USD.

 

Yeah, wouldn't it be great if there was someplace where you could put the payments, then take it all at once and pay the final bill? And wouldn't it be even better if that place paid you to hold your money until you needed it? Too bad that doesn't exist.

 

I bought our packages in advance just because they had a sale, otherwise I always wait as long as possible to pay anything. I don't believe in interest-free loans to anyone not in my family.

 

Although the exchange rate thing is a legit reason, although it's hard to predict in the short term which way it's going.

Edited February 10, 2016 by DrD

[tazaria]

We just pre-paid our drinks packages (gratuities included) so I guess we'll see if it works out cheaper once we get on board.. I would have liked to use the OBC, but I have no doubt I'll find other things to spend my money on ;)

[CaribFrog]

So to add to the confusion, and hopefully someone can clear it up for me......

 

I've read somewhere on this forum but not on this thread, that if you buy your package while still in the originating port - the taxes (VAT) of that state/city will be added to the purchase price. If you purchase after sailing (and maybe from a 'table's setup in public areas on day 1 that are processed later) the VAT is not added. Some commented that they were successful in getting these VAT charges reversed while at sea.

 

I've seen pictures of one of the tabes the ship had setup, posted in that same thread, that showed the Premium package price as $49 USD plus gratuities ($57.82) just as the pdf of onboard purchase showed

 

Either way as a Canadian that has to pay $81 CDN to prebuy the package ($49 + 28% gratuity +40% exchange) I will wait until onboard to see if I can find one of those 30% off the Ultimate packages!

Edited February 11, 2016 by CaribFrog

[astera]

I prefer to buy it online and get it out of the way, but if you were to take into account that you might be boarding late (3PM+?), have access to the Diamond lounge so free drinks from around 4:30 to 8pm, and can initially bring two bottles of wine to your cabin... you might well find that you'll only need a drinks package from Day 3... :)

[tazaria]

So I noticed today in my cruise planner that the cost of the Royal Replenish package that we purchased has increased form $30.80 to $31.02 - most likely this is due to exchange rate fluctuations between the USD and AUD.. but I have to say that I don't think I'll regret pre-purchasing it, because if the AUD continues to flip flop the way it has, I'd hate to board and find out that instead of the $22 US/day inc gratuities we paid in advance, we were paying $22/day PLUS gratuities at a worse exchange rate...

 

I know it's mostly psychological, but I prefer knowing that it's all done and out of the way and that there will be no nasty little surprises at the end of the cruise with exchange rate variances. Now I plan to sit back and spend my OBC, and hopefully come in as close to $0 as possible.