Drink Package Prices Down Today On My Three Upcoming Cruises

[kands6191]

I just booked two October cruises so I have been checking the drink package prices for the past few days.  It has been $71 (at the phony sale price of 20% off).  Today it went down to $62 and it isn't designated as being on sale.  No email about a "sale" either.  I bought it because even with our 4 free Diamond drinks I think it will be a good deal for us at this price.  We buy lots of water and coffee too.

 

I checked my May 2022 cruise and it went down to $58 and it had also been at $71.  

[ScubaCat3]

Thanks for mentioning this. I just saved on some cruise planner items and on a cruise. I thought I was going to save about $200 on the cruise but actually saved almost $400. Yay!

[De Colores]

You can bring two bottles of wine per cabin and if your Diamond and above you get drink coupons. Not sure your situation but drink package might not be worth it. 

[AustinCruise]

Big win!  Thanks.

[dswallow]

5 hours ago, kands6191 said:

I just booked two October cruises so I have been checking the drink package prices for the past few days.  It has been $71 (at the phony sale price of 20% off).  Today it went down to $62 and it isn't designated as being on sale.  No email about a "sale" either.  I bought it because even with our 4 free Diamond drinks I think it will be a good deal for us at this price.  We buy lots of water and coffee too.

 

I checked my May 2022 cruise and it went down to $58 and it had also been at $71.  

 

A sale begins 9/23. Prices usually adjust the evening before, but the percent-off banners, at least on the old-style cruise planner pages, generally doesn't change until sometime later, on the day the sale is actually supposed to begin. This leads to people thinking sales are "faked" because they visit the day before, see a price and the wrong banner, and then come back the next day and see the same price with the correct banner.

 

If you've seen $71 at 20% off, the onboard price will be approximately $89-$90. It's not exact because Royal Caribbean likes to round things to dollars much of the time, and for legal reasons 20% off the price cannot turn out to be 19.8% off the price, it must be at least 20%, et. al., so the actual discounts are usually slightly better than the indicated percent-off works out to be.

 

Since you also see $62, which likely will turn out to show being 30% off when the banners are updated properly for the sale, that would also indicate an onboard price of approximately $89-$90, so that's consistent.

 

This sale was first announced around 12 noon ET on 9/21, and starts on 9/23, so it's a rather short-notice sale. I've attached the flyer.

 

 

 

[WindinmySails]

Thanks for this information!  How long will the sale last and do you think they would bring it even lower, or now is the time to buy?  

[SRF]

13 hours ago, kands6191 said:

 because even with our 4 free Diamond drinks I think it will be a good deal for us at this price.  We buy lots of water and coffee too.

The question is, will you buy $60 per day of coffees and waters?

 

It would take 5 alcoholic drinks a day, on top of your 4 Diamond ones, to break even.

 

Did you think of getting the Refreshment package to cover your non-alcoholic drinks and use your Diamond vouchers for alcoholic drinks?

 

On our next cruise, the Deluxe Beverage Package is only $53 per day.  But the Refreshment Package is only $23.   I can probably easily do $23 in coffee, water, and fresh squeezed OJ.

Edited September 23, 2021 by SRF

[dswallow]

4 hours ago, SRF said:

The question is, will you buy $60 per day of coffees and waters?

 

It would take 5 alcoholic drinks a day, on top of your 4 Diamond ones, to break even.

 

Did you think of getting the Refreshment package to cover your non-alcoholic drinks and use your Diamond vouchers for alcoholic drinks?

 

On our next cruise, the Deluxe Beverage Package is only $53 per day.  But the Refreshment Package is only $23.   I can probably easily do $23 in coffee, water, and fresh squeezed OJ.

 

These are all good suggestions for anyone uncertain about the value of a package to do in order to examine the value to them. Another thing to look at is if you can justify the refreshment package for what it offers at its cost, then look at the price difference between it and the deluxe package to consider if the incremental cost for the package to also cover alcoholic beverages makes sense.

A daily specialty coffee, and occasionally a second one would be about a $6 or so value each. A soda or bottled juice/sports beverage would be a $3.50 value. A frozen non-alcoholic drink falls in a $6-$8 value. A bottle of water would be a $2 value. Fresh squeezed orange juice seems to be about a $4.50 value post-Covid, but I previously saw it sometimes priced at as much as $9 on some sailings. If you depend on the Coke Freestyle machine for favorite sodas, you need to evaluate the refreshment package incremental cost over the classic soda package cost, since Freestyle usage is only as part of a package, you can't readily think of it as a per-drink value.

Much of it can come down to you not actually spending the full cost of a drink package if you were buying a la carte, but when you have the drink package, you may be more willing to get things that would've had a cost instead of settling for things that don't; like having a soda with a meal instead of iced tea or lemonade or water. Or enjoying a glass of wine with your meal when you might not normally do that. So it may be good to consider if you can come close to justifying the costs, that simply the small extra amount is something you can safely ignore for the ease of choice it provides you, too.

 

 

[DCPIV]

4 hours ago, SRF said:

The question is, will you buy $60 per day of coffees and waters?

 

It would take 5 alcoholic drinks a day, on top of your 4 Diamond ones, to break even.

 

Did you think of getting the Refreshment package to cover your non-alcoholic drinks and use your Diamond vouchers for alcoholic drinks?

 

On our next cruise, the Deluxe Beverage Package is only $53 per day.  But the Refreshment Package is only $23.   I can probably easily do $23 in coffee, water, and fresh squeezed OJ.

 

If the Refreshment Package is the alternative, then the break-even is based on the difference between that and the Deluxe Package, or only about 3 alcoholic drinks per day, give or take.

 

Don't ask me how I know it, but there are folks who will do that on top of any CA drink allowance currently available. 😉

[DCPIV]

12 minutes ago, dswallow said:

Much of it can come down to you not actually spending the full cost of a drink package if you were buying a la carte, but when you have the drink package, you may be more willing to get things that would've had a cost instead of settling for things that don't; like having a soda with a meal instead of iced tea or lemonade or water. Or enjoying a glass of wine with your meal when you might not normally do that. So it may be good to consider if you can come close to justifying the costs, that simply the small extra amount is something you can safely ignore for the ease of choice it provides you, too.

 

That's what it always could down to for us. We're on vacation and, by golly, we're acting like it.

 

Another advantage is that you may be willing to try something you might not try if you had to pay to do it. There's no monetary risk (or perhaps a small one if there's an upcharge). You don't like it? Get something else and resume vacation. 

 

I've been seen once or twice indulging in a very expensive whisky because it was worth the upcharge. I might not ever care to pay the full price, but the upcharge is fine. 

[Psycho and Barb]

Just checked all three of our upcoming cruises and the prices are the same as they have been.  We don't follow the Royal sales or as we call them "Royals Fuzzy Math".  We check our cruise planners a few times a week so we know our crises basic price.  When we see its a good deal...We purchase it but also keep checking.  When we see another good deal we cancel and repurchase.  I cant remember every finding it on a true sale.  Most of the time we just find it when checking it weekly.

[SRF]

23 hours ago, DCPIV said:

 

If the Refreshment Package is the alternative, then the break-even is based on the difference between that and the Deluxe Package, or only about 3 alcoholic drinks per day, give or take.

 

Don't ask me how I know it, but there are folks who will do that on top of any CA drink allowance currently available. 😉

 

True.

 

Several permutations depending on YOUR habits.

 

We normally have a fresh squeezed OJ.  Seldom a specialty coffee.  But do 2 - 4 bottles of water each.

 

But on a sea day, can easily to 6 alcohol drinks or so.  On a port day, more to 2 - 3 alcohol drinks.

 

Currently Diamond, so 4 drinks a day.  For US, it make more sense to just pay for the water and OJ.  And the sea day extra drink or two or even three.

 

NO WAY for us to get the value out of the DDP with the Diamond drinks.

[WindinmySails]

23 hours ago, Psycho and Barb said:

Just checked all three of our upcoming cruises and the prices are the same as they have been.  We don't follow the Royal sales or as we call them "Royals Fuzzy Math".  We check our cruise planners a few times a week so we know our crises basic price.  When we see its a good deal...We purchase it but also keep checking.  When we see another good deal we cancel and repurchase.  I cant remember every finding it on a true sale.  Most of the time we just find it when checking it weekly.

Wow, so if I bought now, and changed my mind, I could?  Or if the price goes lower, I can cancel and repurchase at the better price...Just want to make sure.

[John&LaLa]

October 3rd Allure is now $47

 

Decent price, but not a value with our 6 vouchers and casino drinks

[Biker19]

7 minutes ago, WindinmySails said:

Wow, so if I bought now, and changed my mind, I could?  Or if the price goes lower, I can cancel and repurchase at the better price.

Yes.

[CruiseBride926]

Thanks! My April cruise on the Anthem which hasn’t budged from the 60’s is down to $49

[MCazer]

Husband and I are both Diamond, and with my two bottles of wine and 4 drink vouchers, I am good. But husband likes to try new things and would burn through the 4 vouchers. We both enjoy our coffee drinks and bottled water and fresh orange juice. So, I called Crown and Anchor, and was able to get the Drink package for him and refreshment package for me.  You can't do it online, but can over the phone!  Also added our wifi at 30%, which is better than we would get with Diamond onboard.  Got it for one device and will use our free days for the second device when needed.  

[Psycho and Barb]

4 hours ago, WindinmySails said:

Wow, so if I bought now, and changed my mind, I could?  Or if the price goes lower, I can cancel and repurchase at the better price...Just want to make sure.

Yes you can up to 48 hours before you sail I believe.   We have canceled and repurchased the booze package and excursions many times.   

[dswallow]

6 hours ago, WindinmySails said:

Wow, so if I bought now, and changed my mind, I could?  Or if the price goes lower, I can cancel and repurchase at the better price...Just want to make sure.

For any beverage package or internet package you could even board the ship and cancel it onboard. The refund will go to your onboard SeaPass account as a refundable credit; if you didn't use the full amount by the end of the sailing via the onboard account it then would be credited back to your credit card.

[LilBlackDress]

I got the refreshment package earlier today to add to my Diamond Drinks

I drink a lot of water. I am not a fan of the taste of the ships water. 

Between 1 or 2 specialty coffees, the Fresh OJ, and the water I might break even.
If they had an unlimited bottled water package I would get that in a heartbeat! I can go without the OJ and the coffee.

Their water package is nowhere near enough. 😞

[xrayvin]

My problem is I already bought it but was really hoping to get it at a lower rate but now that I have it I can not see the current price! Does anyone have a suggestion on how to check current price? It just says already purchased where the price usually is. 

[Jerseygirl1416]

2 minutes ago, xrayvin said:

My problem is I already bought it but was really hoping to get it at a lower rate but now that I have it I can not see the current price! Does anyone have a suggestion on how to check current price? It just says already purchased where the price usually is. 

Click on it again and it will show.

[xrayvin]

On 9/24/2021 at 12:39 PM, CruiseBride926 said:

Thanks! My April cruise on the Anthem which hasn’t budged from the 60’s is down to $49

This is what I was hoping for. No such luck. Still $58 for my sailing. But now thanks to JerseyGirl I can follow it more. Fingers crossed for Black Friday deal.