Need to buy Drink Package on Royal Caribbean?

[dpostman]

Hello, My name is Dennis, and I have a drinking problem when I cruise.  Problem is... I find it so darn expensive to drink when I'm on a cruise.  Any other time, I don't have a problem.

 

Sorry... I just had to

dp

[Tree_skier]

On 3/9/2019 at 8:45 PM, navybankerteacher said:

You really need to be a serious drinker (verging on having what might well be called a drinking problem) for a drink package to make economic sense. 

 

On 3/10/2019 at 3:48 PM, navybankerteacher said:

I never suggested anyone was an alcoholic.

Just how high is your horse?

 

You may not be a drinker but you are clearly smoking crack! Just bow out of the discussion and admit you were rude and judgmental rather than continue to embarrass yourself with each subsequent post trying to just obfuscate and justify your original statement and it's intent.

 

To the OP, you may find that even though you are far from being an alcoholic the DBP makes good economic sense.  I am far from being an alcoholic and was glad I purchased it.  When you consider the cost of beverages on an individual basis, it doesn't take long to wrack up a hefty bill.

 

That yellow colored beverage they serve in the Windjammer in the morning they call OJ is nearly tasteless. I usually started with two freshly squeezed OJ's with breakfast.  That'll run you about $10.  I'm going to have at least two Latte's at Cafe Promenade during the day.  There's another $10.  I'll have three Diet Cokes with dinner.  I believe the soda's are $3 each.  Add in lunch on sea days or days you return from port a little early, which we have usually done.  Throw in a few bottles of water and you almost reach the cost of DBP without a drop of alcohol being consumed.  If you want a couple of drinks a day the DBP could very well be good value for you.  Especially if you want to experiment with a couple new drinks.  If don't like it, you leave it sitting on the table and order something else. You're on a Caribbean cruise so a few frozen blended drinks at $12 each make perfect economic sense without descending into the depths of alcoholic depravity.

Edited March 12, 2019 by Tree_skier

[Tree_skier]

1 hour ago, ShillyShally said:

You can also pre-buy water for the room if you don't want to lug it on - yes you pay more but I loved having it in the room and keeping it in the fridge to pull out as needed!  I have to drink water a lot to stay hydrated, more than most people, so I got bottles when I was out and about on the ship and had the bottles in the room too.  I had the beverage package too so with a little more work I could have just stock piled the bottles they hand you on ship but those are small and the ones I ordered for the room were nice to know at the end of the night I didn't have to hit a bar for water.

What we do is ask for a bottle of water with every other drink we order then store them in the room.

[Tree_skier]

1 hour ago, Sitzmark said:

Actually, the OP specifically asked if he only wanted 2 drinks for the entire cruise did he need to buy a package.  Or would he be permitted to buy them individually.  This was not about breaking even, or economics, or getting drunk.  It was about whether a package was required to have a drink at all, it was about logistics.  The proper answer should have been as others had given, a simple no, it is not required. 

 

I'm sure you aren't so stupid as to not understand why you irritated people or that it wasn't intentional.  

Oops, my bad... I was responding based on the faulty assumption that the OP wanted two drinks a day.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See Navybankerteacher, admitting an error and apologizing isn't to hard!

Edited March 12, 2019 by Tree_skier

[navybankerteacher]

2 hours ago, springfire said:

More people would learn from their mistakes if they weren't so busy denying them.  You made a bad post, don't try to justify it.

You are absolutely correct - I was wrong to think that there might be some people who might  want as many as  five drinks a day for their $35 to $50 —- rather than the OJ, bottled water and lattes they are actually after.   

 

[mayleeman]

@navybankerteacher

I should have been more sympathetic. Clearly this issue hits close to home. Do a lot of people around you seem to have a drinking problem? 

[purdo]

I phoned RC up and was able to book a beverage package for hubby and a refreshments package for myself as I'm not a big drinker.  When the prices were reduced slightly, I phoned up again cancelled the original packages and booked a beverage package for myself, thinking well I'm on holidays might as well try out some cocktails etc and not have to worry about a bill at the end of the cruise.  As previous posters have said they prices would certainly add up with the 18% on top of every bill.

Edited March 12, 2019 by purdo

[TravisP]

On 3/9/2019 at 9:45 PM, navybankerteacher said:

You really need to be a serious drinker (verging on having what might well be called a drinking problem) for a drink package to make economic sense. Do the math, count the drinks, consider the limitations (daily caps, no service to the already inebriated, port days ashore, etc.) and remember to add in the gratuities before going for it.

Actually, you can not be a huge drinker and the drink package can be worth it. Does not take a whole lot of drinks to exceed the per day cost. Also keep in mind that it is more than just adult beverages you get with the deluxe package. Here is a spreadsheet I created to calculate if the package is a good option for you are not. 

Beverage Program Calculation.xls

[TravisP]

On 3/10/2019 at 9:56 AM, xxHadleyxx said:

By whose definition?  And does that mean average year round, or mean if the person ever drinks that amount, say, when on vacation for a week, but most of the time does not?

 

 

Yep. I would bet that most people on a cruise that get the deluxe package do not drink the same amount on a normal week at home as they do on a cruise vacation. 

[Sitzmark]

9 minutes ago, TravisP said:

Actually, you can not be a huge drinker and the drink package can be worth it. Does not take a whole lot of drinks to exceed the per day cost. Also keep in mind that it is more than just adult beverages you get with the deluxe package. Here is a spreadsheet I created to calculate if the package is a good option for you are not. 

 

That's quite a lot of work you did on that spreadsheet.  Thanks.

[TravisP]

8 minutes ago, Sitzmark said:

That's quite a lot of work you did on that spreadsheet.  Thanks.

I got a spreadsheet similar to that a few years ago when I did a Carnival cruise. So when I could not find one for Royal Caribbean, I created one. I already had a good starting point from the other one. I did however completely start from scratch on this one so I could add in some more options and such to it. Then added pop up comments to it to help explain how to use it. 

 

So many people only look at the adult beverage cost when comparing the cost of the deluxe package. So many other things need to be figured into it. Do you drink any of the other beverages you get with the package like water, specialty coffee, soda, milk shakes and other things. Als would you be getting out of the other packages if you are not going to get the deluxe package. You need to look at everything about it and not just how many beers can you get a day to break even. 

[SRF]

On 3/12/2019 at 11:33 AM, Tree_skier said:

That yellow colored beverage they serve in the Windjammer in the morning they call OJ is nearly tasteless. I usually started with two freshly squeezed OJ's with breakfast.  That'll run you about $10.  I'm going to have at least two Latte's at Cafe Promenade during the day.  There's another $10.  I'll have three Diet Cokes with dinner.  I believe the soda's are $3 each.  Add in lunch on sea days or days you return from port a little early, which we have usually done.  Throw in a few bottles of water and you almost reach the cost of DBP without a drop of alcohol being consumed.  If you want a couple of drinks a day the DBP could very well be good value for you.  Especially if you want to experiment with a couple new drinks.  If don't like it, you leave it sitting on the table and order something else. You're on a Caribbean cruise so a few frozen blended drinks at $12 each make perfect economic sense without descending into the depths of alcoholic depravity.

 

OTOH, you could purchase the Refreshment Package for less, and then just pay for your few alcoholic drinks indivdually.

[theotherchad]

31 minutes ago, TravisP said:

Actually, you can not be a huge drinker and the drink package can be worth it. Does not take a whole lot of drinks to exceed the per day cost. Also keep in mind that it is more than just adult beverages you get with the deluxe package. Here is a spreadsheet I created to calculate if the package is a good option for you are not. 

Beverage Program Calculation.xls

 

You, sir, are a kind and thoughtful person (who surpasses me in Excel skills)! That Calculator should be the first thing posted every single time someone asks about whether the drink package is worth it (which is quite regularly on these boards) !

[Sitzmark]

1 minute ago, TravisP said:

 

So many people only look at the adult beverage cost when comparing the cost of the deluxe package. So many other things need to be figured into it. Do you drink any of the other beverages you get with the package like water, specialty coffee, soda, milk shakes and other things. Als would you be getting out of the other packages if you are not going to get the deluxe package. You need to look at everything about it and not just how many beers can you get a day to break even. 

 

Absolutely.  I don't consider the total cost of the beverage package, because if I didn't get the "booze" package, I'd get the one that has everything else.  So the cost I consider is the difference between the two.  That price is a lot lower than the one people always get stuck on in these threads.  Bottom line is you are going to spend something, you need to figure out how much you'll use and the best way to get it at the lowest cost.  That spreadsheet makes it a lot easier to do.

[purdo]

Excellent spreadsheet, thanks.  Before I bought the beverage package for myself, I added up roughly what the drinks would cost, then had to take the exchange rate into account  (Sterling), definitely will be saving money and not having to worry about a big bill at the end of the cruise!

 

This spreadsheet just makes it so much easier to see the savings or not!

Edited March 13, 2019 by purdo

[Cruiser_1977]

On 3/10/2019 at 9:39 AM, navybankerteacher said:

I did not say that it did not make economic sense - just that,  if it does make economic sense for you,  you  probably fall into the definition of having a drinking problem: which, for a man, is defined as more than 4 drinks a day or more than 14 drinks a week (lower limits for a woman).  

You are slightly off...https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/overview-alcohol-consumption/alcohol-facts-and-statistics

Binge Drinking:

• NIAAA defines binge drinking as a pattern of drinking that brings blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels to 0.08 g/dL. This typically occurs after 4 drinks for women and 5 drinks for men—in about 2 hours.³³

NIH does not use the term alcoholic.

[Tree_skier]

2 hours ago, SRF said:

 

OTOH, you could purchase the Refreshment Package for less, and then just pay for your few alcoholic drinks indivdually.

True, however at $12 dollars a drink only a couple a day and you are at the break even point. Comparing the prices in my upcoming Adventure cruise at $26 for RP and $50 for the DBP I’d say my argument still stands. 

 

That being said, I miss understood the original post and I think the OP is intending to only purchase two drinks on the whole cruise so your way, for the OP, would definitely work better. 

[navybankerteacher]

9 minutes ago, JennyB1977 said:

You are slightly off...https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/overview-alcohol-consumption/alcohol-facts-and-statistics

Binge Drinking:

• NIAAA defines binge drinking as a pattern of drinking that brings blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels to 0.08 g/dL. This typically occurs after 4 drinks for women and 5 drinks for men—in about 2 hours.³³

NIH does not use the term alcoholic.

I did not use the term “alcoholic” either -that term was introduced by certain posters who seemed to think that “problem drinking” (which is the term I referred to - which simply means, over a period of time, more than 4 drinks for women and 5 for men in one day.   Nor did I refer to “binge drinking” - which you cite —- which is the above amount WITHIN A TWO HOUR PERIOD.

 

 

[Sitzmark]

20 minutes ago, JennyB1977 said:

You are slightly off...https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/overview-alcohol-consumption/alcohol-facts-and-statistics

Binge Drinking:

• NIAAA defines binge drinking as a pattern of drinking that brings blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels to 0.08 g/dL. This typically occurs after 4 drinks for women and 5 drinks for men—in about 2 hours.³³

NIH does not use the term alcoholic.

It appears that this link may be where the previous poster got his information, however the levels he is quoting are for people considered at low risk for developing a problem.  

 

[navybankerteacher]

10 minutes ago, Sitzmark said:

It appears that this link may be where the previous poster got his information, however the levels he is quoting are for people considered at low risk for developing a problem.  

 

Yes, they are at low risk but, by exceeding the daily 4 for women/5 for men levels over a period of time, they still fall within the defined “problem drinking” category.

 

 

 

[Sitzmark]

3 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

Yes, they are at low risk but, by exceeding the daily 4 for women/5 for men levels over a period of time, they still fall within the defined “problem drinking” category.

 

 

 

Give it up.  about 2% of these people develop a problem according to the statistics.  I think it's an acceptable risk.

[TravisP]

Drinking 5+ drinks in a day while on vacation does not mean you have a drinking problem. That is ridiculous. It means you are having a good time and enjoying yourself on vacation. You might have a point if you drink like that every single day for the rest of the year. But just basing that on what they do on a seven day cruise vacation is ridiculous.  

[Sitzmark]

26 minutes ago, Sitzmark said:

Give it up.  about 2% of these people develop a problem according to the statistics.  I think it's an acceptable risk.

by comparison the NIAAA reports that 17 percent of all men and 8 percent of all women will develop an AUD at some point.  That puts the 2% risk of these folks in the "Low Risk" category into some perspective.  I think we're safe.

 

AUD is Alcohol Use Disorder.

[A2Mich]

As great as this thread is, it’s still not as comedic as the one about bars not being open more than 15 hours a day, where the OP wants to file suit against RCI. 😁

[Tree_skier]

On 3/13/2019 at 11:46 AM, TravisP said:

Actually, you can not be a huge drinker and the drink package can be worth it. Does not take a whole lot of drinks to exceed the per day cost. Also keep in mind that it is more than just adult beverages you get with the deluxe package. Here is a spreadsheet I created to calculate if the package is a good option for you are not. 

Beverage Program Calculation.xls

Great spreadsheet!  Thanks for doing this.