Looking for information on beverage packages (VOTS)

[Vacationdreamer<><]

I am planning to book a VOTS cruise tomorrow and was trying to look around the RCCL website for some information.  I found a page describing the different packaged, but couldn't find any pricing.  Would anyone be able to guide me to approximate costs?  We hope to do a 5n out of Galveston if that makes a difference.

 

Also - if we get the Refreshment or Deluxe package it says, "Premium coffee and tea."  Where would we get this?  Would that include lattes and/or cold coffee drinks?

 

TIA!

 

So eager to get on a ship again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Coralc]

The DBP seems that the average is around $60 + to $70 + per person per day, plus 18% gratuity. Our March cruise is on sale for $63.99. It is a Buy one, get One 50% off sale, which is not always the best deal. 

Edited December 12, 2022 by Coralc

[Biker19]

18 minutes ago, Vacationdreamer&lt;&gt;&lt; said:

Where would we get this?  Would that include lattes and/or cold coffee drinks?

Cafe Promende and the WJ have specialty coffees. Yes.

[taglovestocruise]

Once you book you will have access to the cruise planner, prices are different for each ship and sail date. There will be a sale New Years weekend.  Most people call the sales fake, just look at total cost and include the 18% grat added on. 

[ONECRUISER]

26 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

Once you book you will have access to the cruise planner, prices are different for each ship and sail date. There will be a sale New Years weekend.  Most people call the sales fake, just look at total cost and include the 18% grat added on. 

Black Friday(week) Sale last Month had many drink plans and Internet priced lower then they'd been in while. Though the days of $39 DBP during peak CV shutdown are long gone never to return...

[Vacationdreamer<><]

3 hours ago, taglovestocruise said:

New Years weekend

Cool. Thank you!

 

2 hours ago, ONECRUISER said:

Black Friday(week) Sale last Month had many drink plans

Ugh.  I wasn’t quite ready to book yet. 😜 

Thank you for the info. 

9 hours ago, Biker19 said:

specialty coffees.

Perfect. Thank you. 

 

9 hours ago, Coralc said:

average is around $60 + to $70

Wow. Thank you. I didn’t have a frame of reference.  👍 

[CruisingWalter]

Drink packages are just stupid expensive on Royal Caribbean these days. I don't know that I've seen them for less than $65/day in quite a while, and keep in mind both adults in the cabin have to purchase it. We're on Symphony of the Seas in a week and it's been between $68 and $80/day ever since we booked. Right now sitting at $73/day or $1,022 for the week for 2 people. And ignore the 'funny math' from RCCL of "Buy one get 40% off, price reflects the discount!" It's ALWAYS 40% off but the price goes up and down, they just keep adjusting the 'original price' so it sounds great with the 'discount.'

 

When it comes to RCCL we will get the Refreshment Package that includes soft drinks and specialty coffees. Today that's only $23/pp but we got it on Black Friday for $19/pp which is $266/week. Then we just pay for the alcohol ala carte. We'll easily spend less than $300 on the cocktails over the course of a week.

 

On a recent Carnival cruise we could have gotten the Cheers package for $51/day but we opted to skip that because over a 7 night cruise that's $714. We went completely ala carte and ended up spending about $275 for the entire week, all coffees and cocktails. 

 

Too many people jump right into the drink package without the doing the math, not realizing that they're badly overpaying for the 'convenience' of free drinks. I've done multiple TikToks and YouTube videos showing the math and it's amazing how many people say "You know, I never actually did the math to see if it works out." Especially if one person in the cabin is a bigger drinker than the other person. You're just throwing money away which RCCL is happy to take from you. 🙂

Edited December 12, 2022 by WheresWalter

[Vacationdreamer<><]

3 hours ago, WheresWalter said:

RCCL we will get the Refreshment Package

This is what I will select.  I agree. We would not get our money’s worth for a higher package.  We will do a la carte for wine or beer at dinner. 
I do love pop and coffee and mocktails. 
My kids will love the freestyle machines. 
 

Thank you. 

[Liljo22]

1 hour ago, Vacationdreamer&lt;&gt;&lt; said:

This is what I will select.  I agree. We would not get our money’s worth for a higher package.  We will do a la carte for wine or beer at dinner. 
I do love pop and coffee and mocktails. 
My kids will love the freestyle machines. 
 

Thank you. 

FYI...I don't believe your ship has one but the package does not include Starbucks branded locations.  The Cafe Promenade and WJ have a sign that say they use Starbucks coffee but are included.   

[Td6462]

2 hours ago, Vacationdreamer&lt;&gt;&lt; said:

This is what I will select.  I agree. We would not get our money’s worth for a higher package.  We will do a la carte for wine or beer at dinner. 
I do love pop and coffee and mocktails. 
My kids will love the freestyle machines. 
 

Thank you. 

Just off of Voyager 3 weeks ago. There are NO Freestyle machines on board at this time. Several beverage staff did mention it is in the plan to add them in the future. Just be aware at this point in time you have to go to any bar/venue that offers soda to have the cup filled. 

[Vacationdreamer<><]

9 minutes ago, Td6462 said:

Just off of Voyager 3 weeks ago. There are NO Freestyle machines on board at this time. Several beverage staff did mention it is in the plan to add them in the future. Just be aware at this point in time you have to go to any bar/venue that offers soda to have the cup filled. 

oh man. 
I missed that. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

my kids love the freestyle at Taco Bell. 😜 

do you know if the package costs as much on VOTS?  Do you just ask bartenders for drinks like other lines then?

Thank you for the info!!

[Td6462]

2 hours ago, Vacationdreamer&lt;&gt;&lt; said:

This is what I will select.  I agree. We would not get our money’s worth for a higher package.  We will do a la carte for wine or beer at dinner. 
I do love pop and coffee and mocktails. 
My kids will love the freestyle machines. 
 

Thank you. 

FWIW. We have cruised with our 3 kids 4 weeks this year. It may seem like (and it is) a fair amount for the DBP but as is often pointed out on this forum it only takes ~6 to 7 drinks to be at $65 to $75 dollars PPPD.

Even with all that's included with the refreshment package once you add those 2 or 3 or 4 adult beverages during dinner or a show or family movie on the deck or brunch day  it negates the savings in most cases.

We always get our value out of the DBP. 

It's nice to try different adult drinks and not feel like you have to finish it if you don't want to. IMO...

[Td6462]

5 minutes ago, Vacationdreamer&lt;&gt;&lt; said:

oh man. 
I missed that. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

my kids love the freestyle at Taco Bell. 😜 

do you know if the package costs as much on VOTS?  Do you just ask bartenders for drinks like other lines then?

Thank you for the info!!

It was $23.99 PPPD on Voyager, We paid $24.99 on Odyssey and $22.99 on Symphony.

Yes, the bartenders will need to fill the cups for you.  

[Vacationdreamer<><]

1 minute ago, Td6462 said:

nice to try different adult drinks

That certainly could be valid!!

I almost never drink. Like 3 drinks a year, tops. I am not sure I would be even remember the cruise if pushed to get my money’s worth. 😆😆

 

 

[Td6462]

1 minute ago, Vacationdreamer&lt;&gt;&lt; said:

That certainly could be valid!!

I almost never drink. Like 3 drinks a year, tops. I am not sure I would be even remember the cruise if pushed to get my money’s worth. 😆😆

 

 

I would kindly suggest you thoroughly look at everything you can find about Voyager and lack of kid activities before booking. Not knowing your kids ages it may work for you. Our 3 year old was mildly amused. Our older kids 11 & 12 would have been board to death.  Again, my opinion and experience.

[Vacationdreamer<><]

4 minutes ago, Td6462 said:

I would kindly suggest you thoroughly look at everything you can find about Voyager and lack of kid activities before booking. Not knowing your kids ages it may work for you. Our 3 year old was mildly amused. Our older kids 11 & 12 would have been board to death.  Again, my opinion and experience.

really? 😧

 

our last cruise was Carnival Valor - a small ship. NOLA 2019. 
It just had one slide, small golf course, movies in PM. We had a ball. Kids were 19, 17, 15, 13, 9, 6.  

VOTS seems to have much more than Valor did. 
“kids” going this time are 20, 18, 17, 12 & 10. I think they will like golf, flow rider and slides. ???

 

[CruisingWalter]

11 minutes ago, Vacationdreamer&lt;&gt;&lt; said:

really? 😧

 

our last cruise was Carnival Valor - a small ship. NOLA 2019. 
It just had one slide, small golf course, movies in PM. We had a ball. Kids were 19, 17, 15, 13, 9, 6.  

VOTS seems to have much more than Valor did. 
“kids” going this time are 20, 18, 17, 12 & 10. I think they will like golf, flow rider and slides. ???

 

 

Yeah it has a LOT more than Valor does for sure. I think the kids will have a great time. It has the triple water slides, flow rider, mini golf, lazer tag, ice skating, outdoor movies, rock climbing.... the kids will have a great time on that ship. 

[CruisingWalter]

20 minutes ago, Td6462 said:

I would kindly suggest you thoroughly look at everything you can find about Voyager and lack of kid activities before booking. Not knowing your kids ages it may work for you. Our 3 year old was mildly amused. Our older kids 11 & 12 would have been board to death.  Again, my opinion and experience.

 

Lack of kid activities?!?  It has the triple water slides, flow rider, mini golf, lazer tag, ice skating, outdoor movies, rock climbing.  I mean that's a lot for the kids to do. 🙂 

[Td6462]

16 minutes ago, Vacationdreamer&lt;&gt;&lt; said:

really? 😧

 

our last cruise was Carnival Valor - a small ship. NOLA 2019. 
It just had one slide, small golf course, movies in PM. We had a ball. Kids were 19, 17, 15, 13, 9, 6.  

VOTS seems to have much more than Valor did. 
“kids” going this time are 20, 18, 17, 12 & 10. I think they will like golf, flow rider and slides. ???

 

 

2 minutes ago, WheresWalter said:

 

Lack of kid activities?!?  It has the triple water slides, flow rider, mini golf, lazer tag, ice skating, outdoor movies, rock climbing.  I mean that's a lot for the kids to do. 🙂 

Everyone has their own experiences on board each ship. For us, our kids preferred Odyssey and Symphony. 

I agree that for older kids (that you mentioned) the activities may be pleasant. 

Again, I was just encouraging a thorough review before booking and offering my opinion and experience from our B2B 3 weeks ago.

 

[Vacationdreamer<><]

43 minutes ago, Td6462 said:

kids preferred Odyssey and Symphony. 

there are so many cool ships to choose from.  It came down to a particular week working for us and us wanting to go out of Galveston. VOTS was the only one that still had connecting rooms at this point. (Allure and Vista did not as of Friday.). 
 

we are just so happy to cruise again. It’s been a long 3 years 😭

 

 

[Vacationdreamer<><]

1 hour ago, WheresWalter said:

the kids will have a great time on that ship. 

I believe so. We done NCL Getaway and DCL Magic and CCL Valor with the kids. They’ve had a good time on each of them. They are very flexible in general.