1st time cruiser----beverage package worth it?

[kmae248]

Hey everyone, 1st time cruiser here!

 

I just booked a Royal Caribbean cruise for December 2018 and I'm a bit overwhelmed by ALL of the choices/packages!

 

I was curious about the drink packages---are they worth it? When we dine at a 'free' restaurant--would we still have to pay for drinks if we didn't purchase a package? Would it be best to buy the package with the alcoholic beverages?

 

Thanks!

[CruiseAir747]

My wife and I have found them worth it. We have found that if you have 4-5 alcoholic drinks per day on average then you have hit your break-even. That doesn't even include all of the bottled water we get or just soda.

 

If you won't drink that many alcoholic drinks, then I would consider going with a different package (if any of them at all).

 

We also like it because we don't have to worry about the cost of what it would be at the end of the cruise. We just factor the price of the package into the budget of the overall vacation.

 

When you dine at a 'free' restaurant, you would have to pay for drinks if you don't have a package.

 

Keep an eye on the prices of the packages, they do change often with various "sales". We got our packages for our May cruise on Oasis for $48 per person per day. I think full price was $54 or $55.

[dwayneb236]

We tried it and while we really did like the convenience of it being paid for and not having to worry at the end, found we were pushing to get in our break even totals. Port days are the toughie. That's several hours of prime drinking time that you are away. If I never left the ship I would do it every time. But my wife likes to go into ports and she wants me to go with her for some reason. We got out moneys worth, but just barely.

[cruisekitty22]

We are first timers too and plan to get the alcohol beverage packages. But we wont be sharing it. We are on a short cruise so we will try it out. I think its worth it for all you get. Especially bottled water.

[firerecruit71295]

My wife and I didnt start buying the Deluxe Drink Package until our last cruise... We used to be rumrunners but honestly it is WAYYYY better just getting a drink package. We also found that it only takes 4-5 premium drinks to hit the amount you pay per day for the package if you find it on sale. We usually grab a caramel latte in the morning (used to only get regular coffee but now that we had the drink package we are able to get the "premium" coffee) I would either have a screwdriver or bloody after that by the pool (both with grey goose) and then a drink here or there throughout the day, couple glasses of wine with dinner, a nice night cap (martini or scotch) during a show or at the casino, and then a bottled water to have by the bed at night. Thats 8 "drinks right there that would typically cost about around $56 before 18% gratuity.

 

With all that being said... It depends on how port heavy your cruise is because if you are off the ship you wont be getting free drinks (unless in Labaddee or Coco Cay), how long the cruise is... Some people cant keep up with that amount of drinking for 7 days straight... I can but some cant LOL

 

And its so nice to literally go to the bar and order whatever you want, try something new, and get a $0 bill. Stress free vacation is what I like!

[Mcolema7]

It really depends on what you like to drink.

 

My fiance and I both drink alcohol and like to drink frozen and specialty cocktails on vacation. I'd say around 4-5 drinks per day breaks even depending on the price being offered. For us it's worth it because we do tend to have a few drinks by the pool, a couple with dinner, and a couple during shows or at the casino. I also like the specialty coffee and we drink a lot of bottled water. We definitely drink more on sea days and less on port days, but it evens out for us.

 

The factor of it being worry free is really the biggest benefit for me. I like knowing what I'm paying upfront and not worrying about what my tab is each day.

 

If you don't drink a lot of alcohol, there are other packages that may still benefit you depending on what you like.

 

Have a great time!

[Greg1084]

It's very easy to hit the break even point when you're on vacation. 2 drinks by the pool in the afternoon, a glass of wine with dinner, and a drink during a show that night would be enough to break even. Add on the benefit of specialty coffee, soda, fresh juice, and bottled water and it's more than worth it in my opinion.

[projectx]

I guess I'm in the minority here that says it's not worth it.

 

4-5 drinks a day is fine if I'm on the ship all day... but I'm not. If the ship is in port, I'm not on the ship. Which means I'm trying to cram in 4-5 drinks just in the evening. I'm just not that much of a drinker and it would be a waste. Do the math... for my wife and I on a 7-night cruise the package cost would come to over $600 with the discount... just for beverages? I don't go on vacation to save money but I just can justify that price for liquids.

 

Sure, there are people that can get their money's worth... but they wouldn't offer it if it wasn't a good deal for their profit margins. When I'm on vacation I eat what I want, when I want, however much I want, same goes for drinks. Any time a company offers an "all-you-can" add-on package I always come out ahead paying a la carte.

[prekteacher]

My husband and I love the drink package as others have posted we get it before the cruise so we don't worry about a bar bill at the end. I also love to have beers during the day in the pool and drink martinis after dinner as well. This beyond breaks even and as others have said orange juice and bottled water as well as if you get specialty coffee except from starbucks all goes toward that cost and package.

 

It is all about how much you drink but even on port days I have broke even I guess. But the convenience that if I do not like a drink I have gotten then I can get a different one without worrying about the cost especially at bionic bars creations is another plus.

 

It seems like a lot about 800-900 per couple but I have had bar bills over 1000 in the past so it definitely can work out.

 

Good luck with your decision.

Barbara

[qkd0314]

I guess I'm in the minority here that says it's not worth it.

 

4-5 drinks a day is fine if I'm on the ship all day... but I'm not. If the ship is in port, I'm not on the ship. Which means I'm trying to cram in 4-5 drinks just in the evening. I'm just not that much of a drinker and it would be a waste. Do the math... for my wife and I on a 7-night cruise the package cost would come to over $600 with the discount... just for beverages? I don't go on vacation to save money but I just can justify that price for liquids.

 

Sure, there are people that can get their money's worth... but they wouldn't offer it if it wasn't a good deal for their profit margins. When I'm on vacation I eat what I want, when I want, however much I want, same goes for drinks. Any time a company offers an "all-you-can" add-on package I always come out ahead paying a la carte.

 

 

I totally agree, I cannot justify spending that much on beverages, especially since we are not huge drinkers. Even if I have one "fancy" beverage by the pool per day, it doesn't balance out. Also, remember you do get 2 bottles of wine per stateroom to bring on board, so that can be your dinner beverages!

[Coldspring62]

I am booked for my second cruise and am definitely in the deluxe package boat for 4 reasons.

1) I know the cost up front so just factor it into the holiday.

2) I can try all sorts of drinks that I wouldn’t usually even think about.

3) if I feel like a drink then I don’t think about the cost, most of the drinks seemed to be over $6. Any drink $12 or under is included.

4) I saw some people with pages and pages of paper for their final bill, I am on holiday I don’t need extra paperwork.

What ever the OP chooses you will have a great time on an RC cruise, I went on my first to try it but wasn’t expecting much. I was wrong and now think I am hooked!

[Grandma Dazzles]

Hey everyone, 1st time cruiser here!

 

I just booked a Royal Caribbean cruise for December 2018 and I'm a bit overwhelmed by ALL of the choices/packages!

 

I was curious about the drink packages---are they worth it? When we dine at a 'free' restaurant--would we still have to pay for drinks if we didn't purchase a package? Would it be best to buy the package with the alcoholic beverages?

 

Thanks!

 

If you do not drink a lot of alcohol you could pay for your drinks as you order them. Very roughly beer is around $8, basic mixed drinks around $10, fancy frozen drinks around $12, wine $10 and up. Drinks also have an automatic 18% top added. Soda is around $4 a can.

 

 

Drinks that are "free" in other words included with your fare are tap water (not bottled), coffee (not specialty), tea, iced tea, juice at breakfast (not fresh squeezed), lemonade/punch, flavored water, hot chocolate, white and chocolate milk.

 

 

You need to decide if you want a package or pay as you go. Only you can decide how many alcoholic drinks you would drink each day. Perhaps do a little math and compare prices.

 

 

Welcome to CC and enjoy your cruise.

[George C]

Hey everyone, 1st time cruiser here!

 

I just booked a Royal Caribbean cruise for December 2018 and I'm a bit overwhelmed by ALL of the choices/packages!

 

I was curious about the drink packages---are they worth it? When we dine at a 'free' restaurant--would we still have to pay for drinks if we didn't purchase a package? Would it be best to buy the package with the alcoholic beverages?

 

Thanks!

 

We always get drink package, if you drink 4 or more alcoholic drinks a day it will pay for package, water and soda is also included, package can be used at all restaurants and bars

[Jasukkie]

I bought it on a 5 night cruise and didn't buy it on a 9 night cruise. No regrets in either case. Things to know, you can bring two bottles of wine with you onboard. That's per room but some people bring two per person without a problem. There will be two for the price of one drink specials in the afternoon, and buckets of beer specials. At some point during the cruise, it's pretty common for 10 drink cards to go on sale, around $85 so better for those more expensive drinks than if you are just a beer drinker. It's a great feeling knowing you won't get a bill, but it's a considerable amount of money depending on the cruise. When we went without the package, I think our total was around $150, including one of those 10 drink cards. We had our own bottles of wine at dinner twice, would have liked more but didn't want to run the bill up.

[cb at sea]

Totally depends on your drinking habits,i itinerary, etc. The drink package on RCI works on the "private beaches" (Coco cay and Labadee), if you're going there. Sea days are when you're on the ship the most.

 

Included in your fare is: ice water, coffee, tea (iced or hot), lemonade, milk and juice at breakfast. So, take that into consideration. Plenty of included fluids.

 

Unless you plan on drinking more than 4-6 pricey boozy drinks a day...EVERY day, it's probably not worth getting a package. You can buy ANYTHING without a package....so you won't lack for a buzz.

[payitforward]

It really does depend on how port intensive your cruise is. When I'm on the ship, I like to have 1-2 "fruity drinks" by the pool during the day, a glass of wine or two with dinner, and at least one cocktail in the evening. (If I'm up late, that can be up to four or more cocktails.) I find that when I'm paying per drink, I don't always get what I want because I'm worried about spending too much. (Especially true for pina coladas or mango tangos by the pool as they're up to $15 with gratuity.) I also like the ability to get bottled water whenever I want. That said, when we're doing a lot of ports, it just isn't worth it to me. When a ship has the Freestyle Coke machines, I can get soda, water, flavored water, Powerade, lemonade and more for just $8.50 per day. I have a short cruise in March where I have the drink package, and a longer one in April where I just have the soda package.

[dcgrumpy]

I easily came out ahead on my last cruise between bottled waters, specialist coffees, a frozen drink by the pool, wine with dinner, a drink or two after dinner. Plus I just like the convenience.

[TravelinGert]

Hey everyone, 1st time cruiser here!

 

I just booked a Royal Caribbean cruise for December 2018 and I'm a bit overwhelmed by ALL of the choices/packages!

 

I was curious about the drink packages---are they worth it? When we dine at a 'free' restaurant--would we still have to pay for drinks if we didn't purchase a package? Would it be best to buy the package with the alcoholic beverages?

 

Thanks!

 

Whether a drink package is worth it is pretty subjective. Lots of people will say only worth it if you'll drink more $ worth per day than the package costs. Others say even if you aren't sure you'll drink that much, the ability to pay for everything in advance so there is no surprise bill at the end and being able to feel you can abandon any drink you buy you don't like without any real consequences is worth the expense.

 

I've cruised with the all-inclusive anything goes package, with just the non-alcoholic drinks package, with no drink package, and with a soda only package. Just started looking what's going on now with Royal's drink packages and I see they are selling ten drink punch cards part way through some cruises now and still let you take two bottles of wine aboard when you embark so that's new to me.

 

In my experience the expensive all inclusive package is not worth it for me on a cruise with most days spent at a port where I am looking forward to getting off the ship for a shore excursion. I'm probably not going to be drinking anything alcoholic other than wine with dinner on those days and even with the high cost per glass I'll get nowhere near spending as much as the plan costs. I would only buy that package again if the cruise had mostly sea days since I often enjoy a few cocktails by the pool on sea days.

 

Even with the low cost of the only soda package - at the time I sailed with that one, it was just $6.95 per day - it wasn't worth it for me. After the cruise was done I realized there were days I never even drank any sodas. My spouse has been getting the sodas package every cruise and he definitely gets his money's worth every time because he loves sodas.

 

I had the everything except alcohol package on a port intensive cruise and felt I got really good value for money. Every morning I would go grab an espresso to sip while waiting for my spouse to finish getting ready, have a fresh squeezed oj and a cappuccino with breakfast in the Windjammer, grab a bottle of water leaving the ship and another when I got back on board, take my wine to dinner in the MDR with me, and have a specialty coffee with my dessert in the Windjammer. I had a non-alcoholic frozen drink by the pool several days and bottled water by the bed in case I work up thirsty as well. The last night I was all out of wine so I bought a glass with dinner. Over all I felt both from a financial standpoint and an enjoyment standpoint this worked well for me.

 

I don't yet know what Royal is doing now as regards to bringing your own wine. On my previous Royal cruises they only charged corkage if you took the bottle to the dining room with you. We didn't initially realize you could ask your room steward for wine glasses for your cabin. I have no shame. I chilled my wine in the ice bucket with ice provided by the room steward and poured myself a glass in one of the water glasses from the bathroom. Took that with me to the MDR and enjoyed my wine with dinner. Our waiter kindly let me know just ask the room steward for wine glasses. Yes we did give him a nice tip at the end of the cruise. :)He could have let me keep right on bringing my wine in a water glass each night just for laughs.

[Jakemedic]

We chose to purchase the drink package for our upcoming trip on the Freedom. My experience thus far is with Carnival and I must say I LIKE IT!!! It allowed us to drink things that we normally would not have if we were paying by the drink. I was drinking key lime pie martini and Gentleman Jack martini’s. Cost wise, they would have been $14 to $15 each and I just didn’t have to worry about the cost associated with them. Want a frozen drink by the pool? You can order call grey goose vodka versus old overshoe (being a smarty pants). The drinks took a few minutes longer to obtain, but clearly at a quality that I could definitely taste. I even had a shot of “Duke”, which I have never seen before or since. It is a Kentucky whiskey licensed by the family of John Wayne. Now granted it wasn’t as good as a shot of Gentleman Jack’s, but I can say that I had indeed tried it.

 

We never tried to make sure we were getting our money’s worth, it was more if you want something, get it, and didn’t have to worry about getting sticker shock at the time of the final bill.

 

My vote is for the drink package, I enjoyed it very much and neither my bride or I got “drunk and stupid”. I genuinely hope you enjoy your upcoming cruise!!

Edited February 21, 2018 by Jakemedic
spell check did not catch my misspelling of whiskey :)

[WillTravelForFood]

We definitely think it is worth it. Got it for the first time in 2015 and haven't ever questioned getting it on every cruise since then. Between the bottled water, soda, smoothies, specialty coffee and booze, we easily break even. Typically, we have a few drinks during the day, some wine with dinner, drinks at a show and then we hit the night club. On port days, we do a couple of bottled water runs before leaving the ship and are usually back on board in time for afternoon trivia before the dinner/show/party combo. Not only is it convenient to pay one price up front and have a stress free vacation, it is nice to not feel pressured to finish a drink you didn't like so it wasn't a waste of money. I experiment with new flavors and if I don't like something, I can order something new.

[DrHfuhruhurr]

The drink package works for us. It's not really even a question of breaking even (though I am positive we do, between bottled water, coffee, and cocktails). The best part about it, for me, is the extra breathing room the package gives me, financially. We have plenty of money to buy alcohol either way (a la carte or via a package), but when I'm on a cruise I like the feeling of knowing I purchased all of my drinks over a year ago. It may not be 100% rational, but it makes the current trip seem just a little bit less indulgent. No giant bill to pay at the end of the cruise, after I've already spent heavy on activities on shore or trinkets on the ship.

[S.A.M.J.R.]

It doesn't matter if 99/100 people say the package is "worth it" to them. You need to know how YOU will use it. As others have said, generally 4-5 alcoholic drinks EVERY day (averaged over the cruise) and you'll break even. Sounds easy, but keep in mind port days. That may change how much you drink.

 

Knowing what the final bill will be does have some value, but not a lot in my mind. Like maybe two drinks worth.

Getting different drinks if there's something you don't like has no value in my mind. I have a couple of "go to" drinks and that's about all.

 

I love the people who say "I want to know what the final bill is, if I don't break even, that's OK. But I don't want to waste money on a drink I don't like." (hint: if you don't break even, you've "wasted money").

[Coldspring62]

It doesn't matter if 99/100 people say the package is "worth it" to them. You need to know how YOU will use it. As others have said, generally 4-5 alcoholic drinks EVERY day (averaged over the cruise) and you'll break even. Sounds easy, but keep in mind port days. That may change how much you drink.

 

Knowing what the final bill will be does have some value, but not a lot in my mind. Like maybe two drinks worth.

Getting different drinks if there's something you don't like has no value in my mind. I have a couple of "go to" drinks and that's about all.

 

I love the people who say "I want to know what the final bill is, if I don't break even, that's OK. But I don't want to waste money on a drink I don't like." (hint: if you don't break even, you've "wasted money").

 

 

 

Thinking too much and not drinking enough is my diagnosis. You only have 2 drinks? Seriously variety is the spice of life, get out there and try them all before we are all 6 feet under and no one remembers who we were anyway. 🤩

 

 

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[paper1122]

Personally I love to sit at the bar and people watch and talk to other cruisers so without the package you can rack up quite the bill. Some of the best times I've had on a cruise ship were talking to the bartenders and the "regulars" at the bar.

[Janeille]

We are first timers as well &

We purchased the alcohol package for us, and the soda package for the kids. Now, at first a I was thinking that there is no way on gods green earth that the 4 of us would consume almost $1000 of soda & liquor in one week. But considering that kids can order slushees, shakes & smoothies in addition to 0.5 liter bottles of water it was pretty clear that the kids pack was worth it. Looking at the prices of drinks ($10-15) I think the drink package will pay for itself. It’s also allowing me to have wine with my dinners while my husband might prefer a mixed drink or beer. I also plan on taking advantage of the 20% discount on wines purchased on ship, if I see anything that I want.