Help me factor in drinks costs

[soggy1975]

The plan; mum dad and 2 boys aged 11&13..off to w med summer 17

The options;

Royal Caribbean freedom of the sea 7nt Barcelona to Barcelona

Ncl epic 7nt either Rome to Rome or Barcelona to Barcelona

Tui discovery 7nt from Palma

Now the tui will be all inclusive

How much will drinks be on ncl/royal Caribbean so i can factor this into my budget

Is there any other costs(except for excursions that im not pricing up yet) that i need to add to any online quote i get for these options

 

As a guide i guess we'd drink maybe 3 alcoholic beverages a day(non alc for kids obvs) mostly beer and wine with an occasional cocktail

[Cuervosar]

Well, you could just opt for one of the beverage packages, and then your costs would be known for the most part. You should get plenty of feedback from others on this. We usually just grab the basic one which covers almost everything we would want and then if there is something that is not included we just pay for that as an additional expense.

 

Other items to budget? Tips for the staff, should be guidelines listed on the web sites. Photos if you want them, they can be pricey, but they can also be very well done. Spa services? Specialty dining? Casino? Those 3 seem to create a lot of damage on my final statements. There may be specialty dining packages but we never bother because we never know how much we are going to indulge.

 

I'm pretty sure I'm missing a few things, but we budget quite a bit for our on board expenses.

[rmurray847]

The plan; mum dad and 2 boys aged 11&13..off to w med summer 17

The options;

Royal Caribbean freedom of the sea 7nt Barcelona to Barcelona

Ncl epic 7nt either Rome to Rome or Barcelona to Barcelona

Tui discovery 7nt from Palma

Now the tui will be all inclusive

How much will drinks be on ncl/royal Caribbean so i can factor this into my budget

Is there any other costs(except for excursions that im not pricing up yet) that i need to add to any online quote i get for these options

 

As a guide i guess we'd drink maybe 3 alcoholic beverages a day(non alc for kids obvs) mostly beer and wine with an occasional cocktail

 

When we've sailed Europe (once with NCL, once with Royal), the drink prices on board have been in US $. I'd say you should assume an average cost of $10 per drink (beer a little less, wine a bit more). Plus 18% gratuity. See how that compares to the drink packages that are clearly outlined on the cruise line web sites (and the prices for the drink packages DON'T include gratuity, so add extra for that). If you REALLY one plan on 3 drinks each per day, you probably don't need the drink package, IMO.

 

Other expenses to think about: When you book your cruise, the cost will suddenly go up from what the website says. There are taxes and port fees. And often, there are "auto gratuities". I'd suggest to start booking a cruise and pretty early on, you'll get a more "all in" price. There's the bulk of your extras. You have opportunities to leave gratuities at the end of your cruise for folks like your room steward. This is not required, of course, but we have always left something and been happy to do so. At bars, gratuities will be added, so no choice there.

 

Other things you can spend extra money on, but don't have to in order to enjoy yourselves: Speciality restaurants...whatever ship you choose from the NCL or Royal ships you've mentioned will have numerous "additional charge" places to enjoy food, but you do not HAVE to do this. There are lots of onboard activities...most are free, some have additional cost. The spa costs extra (and is expensive). Yes, you can have photos taken, but you don't have to buy any, if you don't want. Be gracious and pose for the photos...later you can look at them in the photo shop, but if you aren't enamored of any...don't buy any. It's easy. There are shops on board and also places to buy fancy coffee drinks and such...but again, no money needs to be spent, and you'll still have a good time. We always spend a little extra, but really never anything much.

 

OH, and there is a casino. You can spend A LOT of money there!! Unless you are an avid card player, I'd give this a miss. The slot machines themselves are set fairly tight.

[spookwife]

The plan; mum dad and 2 boys aged 11&13..off to w med summer 17

The options;

Royal Caribbean freedom of the sea 7nt Barcelona to Barcelona

Ncl epic 7nt either Rome to Rome or Barcelona to Barcelona

Tui discovery 7nt from Palma

Now the tui will be all inclusive

How much will drinks be on ncl/royal Caribbean so i can factor this into my budget

Is there any other costs(except for excursions that im not pricing up yet) that i need to add to any online quote i get for these options

 

As a guide i guess we'd drink maybe 3 alcoholic beverages a day(non alc for kids obvs) mostly beer and wine with an occasional cocktail

 

 

a la carte will run you US$8-12 on Royal for well/house drinks. $15 and up for top shelf or the really good wines. sodas run like $3.50 a piece. Bottle water is also a few dollars, specialty coffees between $5-7 for non alcoholic versions. as a general rule you would need to drink 8-10 a day to break even on most packages. on the higher end package, you only pay the difference between the $12 limit and the actual cost. on the lower end( up to $9,) you would pay the entire cost on anything over that.

 

does the price you are being quoted cover daily gratuities( $13-15 per person per day, all ages) ?

 

specialty dining runs $25-50 per person.

[soggy1975]

Thats all v helpful thanks

One other thing..i've looked at the cost of excursions and ncl seem much more expensive than royal caribbean and thomsons seems to be by far the cheapest..is this accurate

We'd probably organise some excursions independently but the price difference has surprised me

[spookwife]

Thats all v helpful thanks

One other thing..i've looked at the cost of excursions and ncl seem much more expensive than royal caribbean and thomsons seems to be by far the cheapest..is this accurate

We'd probably organise some excursions independently but the price difference has surprised me

 

98% iff the time it is always better to arrange your own excursions in port privately. if you want a beach day, a little research will show you the least expensive options to get to the beach on your own in most ports. a good Guide book( Froder's, etc) can be invaluable when it comes to finding things to do. it is usually quite easy to haggle a price for a sight seeing tour from the local drivers at the pier. join the Roll call for the cruise you end up with and go in on a tour with others from here.

[George C]

I agree it will be about 10 dollars a drink for RCCL, what ship is it?? also RCCL allows you to bring on 2 bottles of wine which you can drink in your cabin or in dinning room without any corkage fee. we just did 12 day RCCL from Barcelona, great cruise

[phillygirl63]

There are different options for drink packages on each cruise line that would fit each of you. I believe RCI's deluxe beverage package is $55/pp/day plus 18% gratuity for each drink. Most of the other lines seem to be roughly the same price, but some are all inclusive (meaning, the gratuity is included in the daily cost). For example, Oceania (and I believe Princess) have all inclusive packages.

 

IMO, it only takes about 5 drinks per day, unless you are strictly a beer drinker. Most wines and cocktails average about $10 each. Also, keep in mind that premium or deluxe beverage packages also include all non-alcoholic beverages, such as bottled water, soda, and specialty coffees. All of this adds up at the end of the day. If you want a specialty coffee in the morning, then maybe a soda or a beer at lunch, a fruitylicious cocktail poolside, a cocktail after returning from a long day of touring, a pre-dinner cocktail, a glass or two of wine at dinner, then meet up with friends at your favorite lounge for a cocktail or two before bed, then you would be better to get the package and not have to worry about what your bar bill is going to be at the end.

 

As for excursions, since you are a group of 5 or six, I would recommend doing private tours. There is a lot of information on the Ports of Call forum on this. The itineraries you are contemplating involve some ports where it is beneficial to have a private tour guide. The ship's excursions IMO don't measure up to what you will cover in a private tour and cost much more, and I have done both. Not to mention, that you only move as fast as the slowest person in the bus.

[jocap]

Thomson don't have tipping, so there's nothing to add to your drinks package.

Yes, we've known where their excursions have been cheaper than others, sometimes doing the same trips.

[mjkacmom]

I think NCL is still offering free at sea, and you can choose the UBP as one of your perks.

[GottaKnowWhen]

The plan; mum dad and 2 boys aged 11&13..off to w med summer 17...

As a guide i guess we'd drink maybe 3 alcoholic beverages a day(non alc for kids obvs) mostly beer and wine with an occasional cocktail

 

On Celebrity and, if I recall correctly on Royal, the beer that you can buy within the basic drinks package is very limited. Bud, Bud Light, maybe one or two others. If you enjoy a good ale or bitter, and if you can find it aboard, you'll have to pay for it. I do find the Basic wines to be drinkable but again if you want anything special you will be paying for it because the price will be beyond that allowed in the Basic package. In short, given what you have outlined I would recommend against a package. The few better quality drinks you have will still be less than the cost of a Basic package, much less than the Premium packages. And remember, you will likely spend a significant amount of time ashore, severed from the onboard sources of the occasional tipple. This makes it that much more difficult to take advantage of a drinks package.

Edited December 9, 2016 by GottaKnowWhen

[griffy116]

We usually drink more on a cruise than on a land vacation (including soft drinks) when in the Caribbean, but we've done two Med cruises and as for drinking while on the ship, we wouldn't have gotten our money's worth with drink package. While we did have quite a bit more wine than our usual, it was in port cities, not on the ship itself. We spent so little time exploring the ship and there was only one sea day that we mostly came on board, went to a late dinner and then hit the beds for another early morning leaving the ship to explore a new city. That's the only variable I would add when making your decision. We did Royal Caribbean, and you can bring two bottles of wine, per cabin, on the ship for your own consumption.

[rmurray847]

On Celebrity and, if I recall correctly on Royal, the beer that you can buy within the basic drinks package is very limited. Bud, Bud Light, maybe one or two others. If you enjoy a good ale or bitter, and if you can find it aboard, you'll have to pay for it. I do find the Basic wines to be drinkable but again if you want anything special you will be paying for it because the price will be beyond that allowed in the Basic package. In short, given what you have outlined I would recommend against a package. The few better quality drinks you have will still be less than the cost of a Basic package, much less than the Premium packages. And remember, you will likely spend a significant amount of time ashore, severed from the onboard sources of the occasional tipple. This makes it that much more difficult to take advantage of a drinks package.

 

Just finished a Royal cruise in September. The beer was NOT limited. The drinks package was pretty much like having a $15 per drink coupon. With one exception, all the beer was under this limit and it was all available through the package. (I had one or more of most!)