Beverage package

[GMomKassie]

Can anyone tell me, do they add 18% to every drink when you have the drink package?

[Ourusualbeach]

7 minutes ago, GMomKassie said:

Can anyone tell me, do they add 18% to every drink when you have the drink package?

No.  You pay the 18% on the drink package cost and then you don’t pay any extra on board. 

[RobInMN]

The 18% gratuity is included in the drink package.

It used to be that when you purchased it, they would tack it on to the final purchase price. So if it was $20/day for 5 days, they would charge you 20 * 5 * 1.18 = $118.

Now, or at least on some cruises, it's built into the per day price.

I currently have 2 cruises booked for June (that will be cancelled) with the non-alcoholic refreshment drink packages on both.

One is on Jewel, where the 45% off sale was listed as $18/day, * 7 days comes to $252, but I was billed $297.36 which adds the 18% gratuity of $45.36.

The other cruise is on Anthem, also 45% off sale , but that was listed as $22/day, * 9 days comes to $396, which is what I was billed. There was no additional 18% tacked on the final charge

$18 * 1.18 = $21.24, which seems to me that the on Anthem, the gratuity is already included in the per day price.

 

[RobInMN]

RC FAQ:

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/beverage-package-gratuities-policy

I don't know if it's just not up to date, or if my Anthem cruise is not including gratuities. But like I said, based on price, if it's technically not, it's priced as though it is.

 

BTW, I either read somewhere, or it was in a RC blog video that when you use your drink package the server/bartender automatically gets 18% of what the drink's listed price is, as if you tipped them 18% directly. Hope that's true.

[Ourusualbeach]

14 minutes ago, RobInMN said:

The other cruise is on Anthem, also 45% off sale , but that was listed as $22/day, * 9 days comes to $396, which is what I was billed. There was no additional 18% tacked on the final charge

$18 * 1.18 = $21.24, which seems to me that the on Anthem, the gratuity is already included in the per day price

That is an anomaly.  That is the first that I have heard where it has been included.  

[RobInMN]

11 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

That is an anomaly.  That is the first that I have heard where it has been included.  

I thought it strange too. Didn't know if it was something new they were doing on certain ships or classes of ships. So far I've only been on Voyager & Oasis classes. Anthem would have been my first Quantum. I just double checked in the cruise planner order history details for both cruises.

For each person:

Jewel shows:

     Price $126

     *Gratuity $22.68

     Total $146.68

Anthem shows:

     Price $198, Credit $x, Subtotal ($198-x)

     *Gratuity $0.00

     Total $198

On Anthem, there was a $200 shipboard credit that they applied, which paid for 1, and left $2 credited on the other. But either way, the final total is the same as he initial price, with gratuity $0.

So, I don't know.

 

[daninwi]

how does the deluxe beverage package and Voom work?  are you paying 18% on the total or not?  on some cruises it looks like the deluxe beverage package and voom is sold at $58 / day.  $8 for internet isnt bad, but if you have to add 18% on top of that, the bundle offers little to no value.

 

 

[RobInMN]

10 minutes ago, daninwi said:

how does the deluxe beverage package and Voom work?  are you paying 18% on the total or not?  on some cruises it looks like the deluxe beverage package and voom is sold at $58 / day.  $8 for internet isnt bad, but if you have to add 18% on top of that, the bundle offers little to no value.

 

 

Looks like the package is full price beverage, and discounted VOOM, and the gratuity is charged on just the drink package amount.

 

I just added that to my cart on an 8 night cruise.

Price: $616

Gratuity: $96.77

Total: $712.77

 

18% on the Price would have been $110.88

96.77 is 18% of $537.61

$537.61 / 8 = $67.20

 

The Deluxe Beverage Package by itself is listed as $67 / day

 

So I would be paying just $78.39 for VOOM Surf + Stream or $9.80 / day, which is listed as $16.79, for a savings of $7 / day.

 

I was going to say that if you are only going to get 1 device for your family/group, that might make sense, but when it comes to VOOM, you can share. So don't but 4 people @ 1 device. buy 1 @ 4 device package. It used to be a significant savings. But I just looked at that for this cruise, and while there is still a savings, it's very small. 4 @ 1 device is $16.79 * 4 = $67.16, a single 4 device plan is $57.57. For 2 devices, it's only about $1.50. Much smaller than the drink + VOOM savings.