Drink package

[babbet1962]

Can anyone tell me how the deluxe drink package cost.....is it $18.00 a day per person or was that a special they had

Is the special still on and if it is when it is over

[Clarea]

That was a mistake (not a special) and it was over in a few hours.  Figure $40 and above now.

[AshleyDillo]

The $18 drink special was a pricing error, so definitely not available. 

 

Typically the drink package will run $46-$57/day if you purchase it through the cruise planner prior to your cruise.  You can purchase it and cancel it and repurchase if you see the price drop.

[The Sunset Glow]

$18 Beveragegate was a few hours mistake. I think the lowest I've seen was $38 for black friday?? Typically the lowest is $47 on the various, ongoing "sales".

[LBumb]

just had $44 on majesty

have to keep looking

[cured]

1 hour ago, babbet1962 said:

Can anyone tell me how the deluxe drink package cost.....is it $18.00 a day per person or was that a special they had

Is the special still on and if it is when it is over

We are on our first RCI cruise in August (Oasis Med) and have been checking our cruise planner regularly for a year. Lowest I have seen it was $50/day/person.

 

Come on intern, mess up the 2019 sailings! (only kidding, don't want some poor soul to lose his/her job over a typing error if that was what it was)

[fdthird]

We’ve got it for $42 for our September B2B.   That’s about as cheap as I’ve seen it. 

[paul1815]

We got it for $41 on the Jewel two years ago....  Loving the $18 we got for our 2020 cruise!  🙂

 

[dswallow]

Whatever the onboard pricing for a specific sailing is, online you will generally see 20%, 25% or 30% discount deals to pre-purchase it. Look at the advertised rate and the discount they claim it is and divide it out to figure the onboard price (i.e., $50/80% = $62.50 which is actually a $63 onboard price since they round in your favor on the discounts.

 

You're almost always only ever going to see 20%, 25% or 30% off that onboard price, depending on the particular "sale". And anytime you buy the package and later see it at a better price, you can with no penalty always cancel your previous purchase and buy it at the new price, up to 1 to 3 days before your sailing date.

 

If you also will be buying the Surf+Stream VOOM internet package, you'll sometimes see a combined packaged offer totaling as much as 35% off, but otherwise the combo drink package plus internet will usually offer a couple dollars a day savings over their best internet price offer.

 

If you are Diamond Plus, you can always buy the drink package onboard with a 30% discount, so except perhaps for convenience, or if you get the internet combo package, you rarely will have a better price in advance. If you are Pinnacle, you can always buy the drink package onboard with a 40% discount, so you'll almost never do better in advance.

 

Yes, there's likely an exception here or there when RCCL may decide some particular sailing maybe needs some extra oompf, though they seem to be getting fewer and fewer to the point they seem mostly like those classic rumors like my cousin Mary was told be her best friend that her hairdressers son got a $30/day price... et. al. 🙂

 

Sign up to the various social media groups for your sailing (and pay attention to posts in them) so you gain the benefit of other people checking cruise planner prices and sharing that to the group.

 

Here's three links you should check regularly:

 

Snapshot of Current Offers: http://www.creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Promotions/Snapshot_of_Current_Offers.pdf

 

Snapshot of Cruise Planner Offers: http://www.creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Promotions/Snapshot_of_CruisePlanner_Offers.pdf

Going, Going, Gone sale flyer (updated weekly, usually by Thursday night ET, sometimes later): http://www.creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Multi_Dest/Special_Offers/rci_sales_event.pdf

Edited July 6, 2019 by dswallow

[LBumb]

I feel its a great deal to buy and pay prior to cruise

[scott2165]

We just got off Navigator. We prepaid 6 months ago at $47 per day. Our friend paid $57 a day a couple months back. 

 

Either way it was worth it. 

 

We drink specialty coffees as well as alcohol and had a Coco Cay day and sea day. 

 

My my wife and I saved about 50% of paying as we go. 

[not-enough-cruising]

Another consideration is (depending on port of embarkation) you may well be charged sales tax if buying on board the first day.

[grandgeezer]

We don’t get the packages, but I don’t think the price you see includes the gratuity of 20%, or whatever it is. $50 per day would actually cost you $60 per day.

[Ourusualbeach]

2 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Another consideration is (depending on port of embarkation) you may well be charged sales tax if buying on board the first day.

That is only supposed to be on individual drinks purchased and does not apply to packages according to Miami.  If they try to charge you extra tax on a package get guest services or the  F&B manager involved and have it removed.  (North American sailings)