Royal Caribbean pre-planner currency & Drinks package question

[adelaidefc]

19 minutes ago, Port Power said:

Don’t pre-purchase the drinks package.  Buy it once on board.  You can do that on arrival or at any bar that day or the next.  And just insist your cabin mate is tea-total.  However she most likely will have to buy the soda package.  

 

Hmmm I guess it depends how much it goes down before the cruise.

She's not completely tee-total. So given that the best onboard price for booze package would likely be about $63USD + 18% gratuity; the combined total of that plus a soda or refreshment package, plus her getting a couple of premium cocktails a day would mean we would be better off if the pre-purchase dropped to <$70AUD I reckon. Much more than that and we'd be probably be better off without a package.   

 

I'll just wait and see, I'm pretty easy either way. 

Great advice on visiting the pursers desk! Will definitely do that!

[Chiliburn]

1 hour ago, adelaidefc said:

Nah that was per person. Which makes it not really much cheaper than onboard unfortunately

$95 per person for the two specialty restaurants,I doubt you will get better than that.

Chops is usually about $A70 and wonderland is usually about $A85.

I think it was on my cruise planner for a September cruise at $A115

[Balsam12]

2 hours ago, Port Power said:

Don’t pre-purchase the drinks package.  Buy it once on board.  

 Do this and pay much more than you would have by purchasing in advance.

Having said that, nobody knows how things will work when cruising starts up again. Maybe it will be cheaper to purchase on board, maybe it won't, but in my experience, it has always been cheaper pre-cruise, as long as you keep an eye on the prices and grab the drinks package at it's lowest price (or keep cancelling and repurchasing when prices drop).

Here's my spreadsheet of price fluctuations for our cancelled NZ cruise on Radiance:

 

The right hand column is where we purchased, and then when we cancelled and repurchased.

 

27/04/2019	$87.68
24/07/2019	$90.42
12/08/2019	$89.05
30/08/2019	$83.57	$83.57
6/09/2019	$89.05
21/09/2019	$78.09	$78.09
4/10/2019	$83.57
8/10/2019	$72.61	$72.61
20/10/2019	$83.57
29/10/2019	$78.09
27/11/2019	$69.87	$69.87
5/12/2019	$75.35
11/12/2019	$65.76	$65.76
20/12/2019	$69.87
8/01/2020	$65.76
13/01/2020	$68.16
17/01/2020	$72.42
22/01/2020	$68.16
31/01/2020	$65.76
10/02/2020	$69.87
15/02/2020	$75.35
25/02/2020	$65.76
4/03/2020	$69.87
6/03/2020	$65.76

You can see that from the top price of $90.42 ($2170.08 for two people over 12 nights), we got it for $65.76 ($1578.24 total). That's a difference of nearly $600.

As far as your cabin mate not drinking enough to justify the package, from what I read, there's no need to tell porkies. You can't buy just one package online, but you can do it over the phone. Just tell them your cabin mate hardly drinks alcohol. They will have to buy the refreshment package, but that will cover their coffees, softies and mocktails as well as bottled water. They then pay for their alcohol as they go.

Don't go getting alcohol on your package and giving it to your room mate, because if you get caught, they will take the package off you and charge you for every drink you have already had. It's the old story... be upfront and then do the right thing, and you'll have no problems. Tell lies and try to scam the system, and it could end up costing you.

I have heard that some phone operators won't allow it, but then you just call up again and get a different operator that will.

Again, nobody knows how it will work in the future, so anything might change.

[Port Power]

57 minutes ago, Balsam12 said:

 Do this and pay much more than you would have by purchasing in advance.

Having said that, nobody knows how things will work when cruising starts up again. Maybe it will be cheaper to purchase on board, maybe it won't, but in my experience, it has always been cheaper pre-cruise, as long as you keep an eye on the prices and grab the drinks package at it's lowest price (or keep cancelling and repurchasing when prices drop).

Here's my spreadsheet of price fluctuations for our cancelled NZ cruise on Radiance:

 

The right hand column is where we purchased, and then when we cancelled and repurchased.

 

27/04/2019	$87.68
24/07/2019	$90.42
12/08/2019	$89.05
30/08/2019	$83.57	$83.57
6/09/2019	$89.05
21/09/2019	$78.09	$78.09
4/10/2019	$83.57
8/10/2019	$72.61	$72.61
20/10/2019	$83.57
29/10/2019	$78.09
27/11/2019	$69.87	$69.87
5/12/2019	$75.35
11/12/2019	$65.76	$65.76
20/12/2019	$69.87
8/01/2020	$65.76
13/01/2020	$68.16
17/01/2020	$72.42
22/01/2020	$68.16
31/01/2020	$65.76
10/02/2020	$69.87
15/02/2020	$75.35
25/02/2020	$65.76
4/03/2020	$69.87
6/03/2020	$65.76

You can see that from the top price of $90.42 ($2170.08 for two people over 12 nights), we got it for $65.76 ($1578.24 total). That's a difference of nearly $600.

As far as your cabin mate not drinking enough to justify the package, from what I read, there's no need to tell porkies. You can't buy just one package online, but you can do it over the phone. Just tell them your cabin mate hardly drinks alcohol. They will have to buy the refreshment package, but that will cover their coffees, softies and mocktails as well as bottled water. They then pay for their alcohol as they go.

Don't go getting alcohol on your package and giving it to your room mate, because if you get caught, they will take the package off you and charge you for every drink you have already had. It's the old story... be upfront and then do the right thing, and you'll have no problems. Tell lies and try to scam the system, and it could end up costing you.

I have heard that some phone operators won't allow it, but then you just call up again and get a different operator that will.

Again, nobody knows how it will work in the future, so anything might change.

I have always found it to be more expensive pre-cruise as the conversion rate US$ to AUD is well below market rate.  And the OP wants to utilise the best conversion rate.

 

I definitely concur that you don’t pass on drinks, even though you can “buy” two at a time from the bar.  
 

However, you can always follow the advice above and track changes in AUD for the package.  After all, no definitive decision is made until the last available date.  Nevertheless I think purchasing onboard is the best value at the current exchange rate, but hold a watching brief by all means. (I remember when I booked a cruise on Celebrity Solstice when AUD equaled US$.  A brief glitch in time!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 28, 2021 by Port Power

[M-H-B]

Hi AdelaideFC - I booked the same cruise, it was so cheap for Ovation that I couldn't resist, even though I'm not 100% confident it will go, or even 100% that I will go even if the cruise does! 

 

Literally just a day or two ago, the price of the Deluxe package was down at $79AUD inclusive of the VOOM package - which is the price it has been on every sale since I booked it, which was just before Black Friday.  So it won't be long before they do another cruise planner sale and it goes back to that.  I think its a good price when inclusive of the internet. Would never pay what its on for now.

 

I've been on Ovation once before and on Explorer before that. I got the package both times and don't regret it, even though I'm not a heavy drinker. Between occasional soft drinks, morning coffee, water throughout the day, and wines with meals, I think I more than recovered the cost.  I tried cocktails once a day to see what I might like and was never told it would extra on top of the package, even a Long Island Iced Tea.

 

Let's hope cruising is back to normal(ish) soon so that the November cruises aren't the first ones to go - that will give me more confidence in actually going on this one :)

[adelaidefc]

1 minute ago, M-H-B said:

Hi AdelaideFC - I booked the same cruise, it was so cheap for Ovation that I couldn't resist, even though I'm not 100% confident it will go, or even 100% that I will go even if the cruise does! 

 

Literally just a day or two ago, the price of the Deluxe package was down at $79AUD inclusive of the VOOM package 

Yeah that would definitely sweeten the deal and would definitely get it at that price (whilst still keeping an eye out for even better). 

It really is a cheap cruise. Not sure what you got it for but ours was $150pp/night for an unobstructed balcony forward (but near midship). I've wanted to try ovation for a while so figured we'd book and just see how things roll by then. With any luck most of the population will be vaccinated by then. 

 

Will be interesting to see if the vaccine is compulsory for boarding. I kind of hope so to be honest, as my biggest fear would be an outbreak onboard and not being allowed to disembark.

[M-H-B]

Yes, an outbreak on board would be horrible.  I also hope everyone will be vaccinated by then and that Royal will require it.

 

I was actually on Ovation in February 2020, I think the second last one before everything was cancelled. We got back and then shortly thereafter the whole Ruby Princess debacle happened.

 

Its a nice ship - I travel with my 8 year old so the extras on that ship for kids are nice. I got $125 a night pp for an inside - I wanted to take a gamble on a Royal Up if/when the ship travels at lower capacity. $150 for a balcony is pretty good, I might make a call tomorrow and see what they can do for me.

[adelaidefc]

FYI if anyone is interested the drinks package on my cruise was at $68.50/day, which I decided to get (still hoping it may come down later). 

[Chiliburn]

52 minutes ago, adelaidefc said:

FYI if anyone is interested the drinks package on my cruise was at $68.50/day, which I decided to get (still hoping it may come down later). 

If it didn’t have a note that it wasn’t refundable you can easily cancel and rebook.