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Is it worth buying a drinks package?

jtsbusiness

By jtsbusiness,
in Royal Caribbean International

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VASOXFANN

VASOXFANN

Posted
Posted (edited)

For us, it depends of the itinerary and what we plan to do in port.

 

For our Grandeur cruise, it's been a couple of years since our last vacation, and we want to relax and enjoy ourselves! We have been to all of the ports, and we'll be in an inside cabin, and we don't have any plans for the port days. RC's drink package applies to their private island. We'll probably have a couple mimosas/coffees at breakfast, a couple glasses of wine plus coffees with desserts at lunch/dinner, some frozen drinks, beers and sodas throughout the day, a drink or 3 at night during shows or at a bar... :D We aren't lushes, we just want to relax....so it's definitely worth it to us for that cruise.

 

For our Carnival cruise, in February, we haven't been to any of the ports, and we plan to be off the ship all day each port day. Even though there are 3 sea days, the loss of those port days renders their drink program not worth it to us.

 

We do this type of analysis for each of our cruises.

Edited by VASOXFANN
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MrsKC08

MrsKC08

Posted
Posted

Someone did a drink calculator and if you put in what you anticipate drinking, it will tell you what you could save if you have the package. This is what we used and made the decision that it was worth it for us to get it for our upcoming Harmony cruise. If you consider bottled water to take off at ports, fresh juice in the morning and 4 drinks throughout the day, it will most likely save you some $$. Check out the thread below to find the calculator. This is also fairly new with accurate pricing.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2315750&highlight=drink+spreadsheet

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jtsbusiness

jtsbusiness

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Thanks everyone for your helpful responses. I am virtually on the break even line so think I am going to go for it and then I know I can have what I want when I want it without worrying. It also helps spread the costs as I have to pay now.

 

Hope it has also been helpful to others and perhaps those going in next couple of weeks can let us know how they get on - both for and against.

 

I was interested in reading that someone was planning to bring their own wine on. I didn't think this was allowed for consumption on the ship.

 

Again many thanks

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KnightsFan

KnightsFan

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Posted
Thanks everyone for your helpful responses. I am virtually on the break even line so think I am going to go for it and then I know I can have what I want when I want it without worrying. It also helps spread the costs as I have to pay now.

 

Hope it has also been helpful to others and perhaps those going in next couple of weeks can let us know how they get on - both for and against.

 

I was interested in reading that someone was planning to bring their own wine on. I didn't think this was allowed for consumption on the ship.

 

Again many thanks

 

 

When figuring your break even you should remember that it's 5 drinks per day for the entire cruise, so if it's a 5 day cruise it's worth it if you'll drink 25 drinks over the entire voyage.

 

This was something I hadn't realized when thinking about the drink package previously. I was worried about those days in port where I wouldn't start drinking until the afternoon, I would probably only have 2 or 3 drinks. But on sea days I could easily have 6 or 7 over the entire day.

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gliles

gliles

Posted
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As others said, it's not about alcohol either. When I price that I'm not including prem coffee (Starbucks girl here) bottled water, prem juice I can give to my kids etc. Can't wait :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

But you shouldn't be giving juice to your kids from your package :eek:

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Robinola

Robinola

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Hi, we are booked on Serenade of The Seas for a 10 day in March, 2017. The drink package cost for us is $1350.00 Canadian. Roughly $57.00/day plus the 18%.

 

OUCH, Poleman! That hurts. Don't know what your "exchange" rate is, but it stings a little for Americans as well. I am thinking more and more and then most are going to be doing it. Basically it is a higher cost of cruising. I suppose it is just going to cost more...just like everything else in this world.

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reedl

reedl

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Posted

Since I do not drink alcohol at all, and my wife may drink two drinks the entire cruise, the higher end drinks packages are useless for me.

 

OTOH, I drink a LOT of soda, so that package is well worth it for me.

 

But of course that is what is personally good for me, not others of course.

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alan06

alan06

Posted
Posted (edited)

Personally I have found the drinks packages always been great value proposition for me.

 

I have purchased them on Celebrity and Princess and have found them excellent value.

This will be my first Royal Caribbean drinks package but I presume I will also have no complaints this time around also.

We prefer longer cruises with more sea days, this too should be factored into your decision making process. If your cruise has plenty of port days you may be of the ship and then the package may not be as good value to you personally.

 

Bottom line is you need to work out how many drinks you think you may have a day (All Days) and calculate the value that way.

 

I give drink packages the thumbs up for value.

 

Have a nice cruise whatever you decide to do.

 

Alan

Edited by alan06
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Newbieflorida

Newbieflorida

Posted
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On the fence abt the drink package, as I would have to buy 6 of them! Even at 20% off, $2250 sounds like ALOT of money for drinks. Does anyone know how long the 20% special will last? Also, one of our ports is Labadee. Anyone know if you can use the drink package on the island? Thanks! P.S. Feeling like a lush here.

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Clarea

Clarea

Posted
Posted
On the fence abt the drink package, as I would have to buy 6 of them! Even at 20% off, $2250 sounds like ALOT of money for drinks. Does anyone know how long the 20% special will last? Also, one of our ports is Labadee. Anyone know if you can use the drink package on the island? Thanks! P.S. Feeling like a lush here.

Unknown how long the 20% off will last.

 

You can use the packages oin Labadee and Coco Cay.

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tray

tray

Posted
Posted

Newbieflorida: That is my problem and I only have to buy four!!! It's a lot of money upfront when you are saving to pay off the cruise as well! Plus...one of our excursions required payment upfront which was not cheap! I ended up purchasing two of the drink packages now and will pray they continue to have the sale on and off over the next several months! I know we'll spend it on drinks anyway while on the ship, but we will have the cruise and excursions paid off by then! Whatever the case, I plan on the attitude 'drink and be merry' regardless of what we end up doing on the last two packages! [emoji485][emoji898][emoji482][emoji41]

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erby2283

erby2283

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Posted (edited)

As a non-drinker, I can tell you that I cannot justify the new $26 price for the Refreshment package. Kicking myself for not buying it at $19 (was on vacation and away from the boards and unaware they were getting ready to increase). At $19, I would totally buy the package but not at $26. Heck, with the 20% off discount, the alcohol package is only $20 more per day.

Edited by erby2283
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ColoradoGurl

ColoradoGurl

Posted
Posted (edited)
On the fence abt the drink package, as I would have to buy 6 of them! Even at 20% off, $2250 sounds like ALOT of money for drinks. Does anyone know how long the 20% special will last? Also, one of our ports is Labadee. Anyone know if you can use the drink package on the island? Thanks! P.S. Feeling like a lush here.

 

 

That is a lot of money. Also very generous of you to even consider buying drinks packages for 5 other adults (or 4, I guess if one is your significant other and part of your personal expenses already); maybe they can pay for part of it themselves and you could still pay a portion of it as a gift.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Edited by ColoradoGurl
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reallyitsmema

reallyitsmema

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Posted
As a non-drinker, I can tell you that I cannot justify the new $26 price for the Refreshment package. Kicking myself for not buying it at $19 (was on vacation and away from the boards and unaware they were getting ready to increase). At $19, I would totally buy the package but not at $26. Heck, with the 20% off discount, the alcohol package is only $20 more per day.

 

I agree! We were on a cruise when they introduced the new packages. We have been buying the $19 Replenish package on our last couple of cruises, but doubt we will buy the new $26 Refreshment. It was hard to justify the cost before, adding almost $100 for two a week, makes paying as we go seem like a better option.

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erby2283

erby2283

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Posted
I agree! We were on a cruise when they introduced the new packages. We have been buying the $19 Replenish package on our last couple of cruises, but doubt we will buy the new $26 Refreshment. It was hard to justify the cost before, adding almost $100 for two a week, makes paying as we go seem like a better option.

 

Exactly! Mine is a 9-day cruise so the difference is $75.60! Do you remember what the average price is nowadays for a virgin drink? Maybe I can skip the first couple of days and then buy the package a few days in and save some $?

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BamaGuy44

BamaGuy44

Posted
Posted
At 3 drinks per day, it will be less expensive to buy drinks one at a time.

 

At 5 drinks per day, it will be break even to less expensive to have a package.

 

Note that for the numbers to work with a package, it's every day, including port days.

 

This is really all anyone needs to know to make this decision. People make this WAY more complicated than it actually is.

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