Deluxe Beverage Package

[BobH5849]

OK  Thanks.  I think Ill try this on our March cruise and see how it works out for us.  We will be 1 night shy of D+ after this cruise and the 5 freebee drinks will certainly be nice.

 

[huntr104]

I think once you figure all the drinks included and not focus on just the Alcoholic drinks it's easier to swallow.  (pun intended)  From fresh squeezed juices, specialty coffees, sodas (Red Bull included), bottled water, alcohol, shakes from Johnny Rockets, etc.  Over the course of the day it really adds up.  But, if your itinerary has alot of stops that you'll be off the ship and drinking in port then it may not make sense for you, unless your stops are Coco Cay and Labadee which honors your DBP. 

[CruisingHogFan]

These type post are amazing to me! People want to complain but it’s still a great deal if you plan to have 5 drinks a day. Plus add in bottle water, soda, Powerade, fresh juice and coffee. They could charge $100 a day (just like some other major cruise lines) and it still would be a bargain for most people. Some like me would benefit even at $120 a day even after our daily vouchers 

Have you been to a nice restaurant or bar and ordered a drink in the last year? Sporting event or concert? We paid $32 per mixed drink at Cowboys Stadium this year. 
 

 

Edited December 27, 2022 by CruisingHogFan

[poocher]

PER mixed drink?!?!?  There is no way I would ever need a drink badly enough to pay $32 for one.  Did Jerry Jones deliver it personally???

[Big_G]

23 minutes ago, huntr104 said:

I think once you figure all the drinks included and not focus on just the Alcoholic drinks it's easier to swallow.  (pun intended)  From fresh squeezed juices, specialty coffees, sodas (Red Bull included), bottled water, alcohol, shakes from Johnny Rockets, etc.  Over the course of the day it really adds up.  But, if your itinerary has alot of stops that you'll be off the ship and drinking in port then it may not make sense for you, unless your stops are Coco Cay and Labadee which honors your DBP. 

 

This is how we're looking at it. We're already at break even or more with just alcohol but we drink more bottled water than that so it's worth it for us.

[not-enough-cruising]

53 minutes ago, CruisingHogFan said:

These type post are amazing to me! People want to complain but it’s still a great deal if you plan to have 5 drinks a day. Plus add in bottle water, soda, Powerade, fresh juice and coffee. They could charge $100 a day (just like some other major cruise lines) and it still would be a bargain for most people. Some like me would benefit even at $120 a day even after our daily vouchers 

Have you been to a nice restaurant or bar and ordered a drink in the last year? Sporting event or concert? We paid $32 per mixed drink at Cowboys Stadium this year. 
 

 

Parking fees at the stadium will also make people stop complaining about parking at the port as well
my season-ticket parking passes for this year were, I believe $175 per game (and you were not allowed to opt out of preseason)

[footzz]

6 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Parking fees at the stadium will also make people stop complaining about parking at the port as well
my season-ticket parking passes for this year were, I believe $175 per game (and you were not allowed to opt out of preseason)

That's why we take limos to the games. It cost less $ and we don't have to hassle with DFW traffic.

[not-enough-cruising]

1 minute ago, footzz said:

That's why we take limos to the games. It cost less $ and we don't have to hassle with DFW traffic.

That’s a good way to go.

We are local, so the traffic doesn’t bother us too much.

Took a helicopter to the game one time, had a friend whose wife splurged on a mile stone birthday.

[George C]

1 hour ago, CruisingHogFan said:

These type post are amazing to me! People want to complain but it’s still a great deal if you plan to have 5 drinks a day. Plus add in bottle water, soda, Powerade, fresh juice and coffee. They could charge $100 a day (just like some other major cruise lines) and it still would be a bargain for most people. Some like me would benefit even at $120 a day even after our daily vouchers 

Have you been to a nice restaurant or bar and ordered a drink in the last year? Sporting event or concert? We paid $32 per mixed drink at Cowboys Stadium this year. 
 

 

I refuse to give Jerry Jones a dime of my money, I was a cowboy fan until he bought them . 

[CruisingHogFan]

44 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Parking fees at the stadium will also make people stop complaining about parking at the port as well
my season-ticket parking passes for this year were, I believe $175 per game (and you were not allowed to opt out of preseason)

It’s all about what you enjoy in life! I pay $5,000 per year just for the right to buy season tickets for the Razorbacks. Add the actual ticket prices, food, drinks, etc and it gets expensive. But we enjoy it just like we enjoy going on cruises and not having to worry about per drink costs.

[Miloomar]

22 hours ago, footzz said:

Saying it's a good deal is tantamount to the sunk cost fallacy. The cruise lines have a Captive Audience and unless someone skirts the alcohol policies, they will have to pay whatever the cruise line charges. So, many will drink copiously just to 'break even'. That doesn't necessarily make it a good deal for the consumer, but it is a effective rationalization for them to justify the cost.

I'm not saying it's a good deal on land and you're right, you need to "pay whatever the cruise line charges"... but if you're on the ship and plan on having 6+ drinks a day, then it is a good deal. It's got nothing to do with the sunk cost fallacy. If you plan on drinking more than the break even point or less than the break even point. That's the only thing to consider. If you think 6 drinks a day while on vacation is "drinking copiously" then obviously it's not for you. For a lot of other people, they would find value if the break even point was 10 drinks or more. Sunk cost implies you didn't bother to think in advance what your behavior was going to be and you need to make up for it after the fact and get yourself sick. People who ask the question online of "is it worth it" are doing the math before paying 

[Ocean Boy]

23 hours ago, Funky Fusion FoodsJ said:

Customers are definitly shying away from purchasing the package.  Even for the "partiers" this is expensive as they don't drink that heavily every day for it to make sense.  Hopefully RCL will adjust pricing during 2023 if the trend continues.

How do you know that people are not buying? If that were the case I would have expected to see price adjustments by now but the price for my cruise isn't budging.

[Ocean Boy]

20 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Why pre pay for OBC? That makes no sense; just pay the bill at the end of the week and keep your money in your pocket as long as possible. 

Exactly, like when the Visa bill shows up 20 days after you get home.

[Funky Fusion FoodsJ]

15 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

How do you know that people are not buying? If that were the case I would have expected to see price adjustments by now but the price for my cruise isn't budging.

I have an agency, this is just what we're seeing in our 2023 bookings.  75% or our bookings are not purchasing.

[poocher]

34 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Exactly, like when the Visa bill shows up 20 days after you get home.

Yup, 3 extra weeks to hold onto my money and reward points to boot.  Hubby & I went without in November just as a test.  Package would have cost $1400 for 2 on an 8 day cruise.  Total on my account for our OOP drinking $325 plus the cost of 2 bottles of carry on wine.

Edited December 28, 2022 by poocher

[Liljo22]

1 hour ago, Miloomar said:

I'm not saying it's a good deal on land and you're right, you need to "pay whatever the cruise line charges"... but if you're on the ship and plan on having 6+ drinks a day, then it is a good deal. It's got nothing to do with the sunk cost fallacy. If you plan on drinking more than the break even point or less than the break even point. That's the only thing to consider. If you think 6 drinks a day while on vacation is "drinking copiously" then obviously it's not for you. For a lot of other people, they would find value if the break even point was 10 drinks or more. Sunk cost implies you didn't bother to think in advance what your behavior was going to be and you need to make up for it after the fact and get yourself sick. People who ask the question online of "is it worth it" are doing the math before paying 

Agreed.  The drink package isn't for everyone but 6 drinks is not a lot over a day for most people.  You have a couple of drinks by the pool, a pre dinner drink, a wine with dinner and a couple of after dinner drinks and you are there.  I know my wife and I will drink at least that amount every day so I know its automatically worth it for us.  This doesn't even include any coffee drinks we get in the morning or my expresso I like to have with dessert.  We may even start the day with a mimosa or two on some days. 

 

We are never drunk or sick although I did unknowingly keep up with my BIL once on a Carnival cruise where he hit the 15 limit by 11.  That was not a fun morning.     

[Miloomar]

1 hour ago, Funky Fusion FoodsJ said:

I have an agency, this is just what we're seeing in our 2023 bookings. 75% or our bookings are not purchasing.

Do people normally book packages through an agency? Do you see when someone books a package on their own but booked the cabin through the agency? 

[Cru1s1ng2009]

On 12/27/2022 at 9:58 AM, Sparetiming said:

Is it just me or has the Deluxe Beverage Package prices so high it no longer makes sense to buy it? Our cruise is in a few weeks and I have diligently checked the price, the cheapest it has been listed at is $72.99. Even the Black Friday sale was at this price. Now they have the Holiday specials and still at this price. For 2 people this amount is $1,168.00!! Almost as much as our cruise price. Sorry this is just ridiculous and I am disappointed. I guess I will be brown bagging 2 bottles of wine.

nope they are outrageous. 

 

I purchased it for my cruise on Friday ONLY because my daughter turns 21 on Thursday. this will be the only time she will ever get one. with 4 free drinks a day, we can deal without getting the package. but since this is her first legal time i figured i would splurge. 

[Funky Fusion FoodsJ]

52 minutes ago, Miloomar said:

Do people normally book packages through an agency? Do you see when someone books a package on their own but booked the cabin through the agency? 

We keep in frequent contact with clients and provide updates on cruise planner beverage sales, just a service we provide.  They purchase through Cruise Planner so they can cancel and repurchase if we notify them of a better price.  Prepandemic they would immediatly purchase packages and then cancel and repurchase as needed, now they just wait for the right sale to come, which has been infrequent this year.

[The Fun Researcher]

Frankly, the cost of the drink package has been too high for us ever since we started sailing in 2012. 

 

But... what has drastically changed even more so has been the individual drink cost.  Up through 2014 or so, I used to get a rum and coke or any other simple drink for $6.  Now it's what, around $11?   I have to think that they raised the per drink cost to make the drink package package look more attractive.  When you purchase the package you are locked into that cost per day, which means Royal has a guaranteed margin from that.

 

Either way though, there is no way I'm going to spend as much for a drink package as I am for the cruise itself, which in many cases is close to where the cost is now.

[footzz]

35 minutes ago, The Fun Researcher said:

Up through 2014 or so, I used to get a rum and coke or any other simple drink for $6.

Yeah, and up until 2014 there were more choices in the packages too. I drink mostly beer, and my wife drinks wine. When RC modified the packages in 2105 they became way less attractive to us. Now, the DBP prices are of little value for those who mostly drink beer and wine. For reference, here's a blast from the past...

[The Fun Researcher]

3 hours ago, footzz said:

Yeah, and up until 2014 there were more choices in the packages too. I drink mostly beer, and my wife drinks wine. When RC modified the packages in 2105 they became way less attractive to us. Now, the DBP prices are of little value for those who mostly drink beer and wine. For reference, here's a blast from the past...

Amen to that!  Ah the good 'ol days!  Thanks for the blast from the past.  -Dan

[jmom2004]

Being from Canada, the DBP is usually top of our list of pre-purchase items - the shipboard prices are in USD and cruise planner is CAD - so there is a savings for us for sure.  We are not heavy drinkers but don't want to be thinking about prices while we are vacationing.  The price is higher than previous cruises but we're not surprised as prices have gone up for everything.  

[Mum2Mercury]

On 12/27/2022 at 3:11 PM, huntr104 said:

I think once you figure all the drinks included and not focus on just the Alcoholic drinks it's easier to swallow.  (pun intended)  From fresh squeezed juices, specialty coffees, sodas (Red Bull included), bottled water, alcohol, shakes from Johnny Rockets, etc.  Over the course of the day it really adds up ...

Disagree.  I drink lots of drinks all day ... ice water and free juice in Windjammer, soda I brought onboard myself.  Maybe one iced coffee during a week.  Have never wanted a milkshake or protein shake on board.  No way I'd ever reach $80+ , even once, much less daily. 

On 12/27/2022 at 3:17 PM, CruisingHogFan said:

... They could charge $100 a day (just like some other major cruise lines) and it still would be a bargain for most people. Some like me would benefit even at $120 a day even after our daily vouchers ...

A few people, yes, but "most people"?  No way.  

8 hours ago, Funky Fusion FoodsJ said:

I have an agency, this is just what we're seeing in our 2023 bookings.  75% or our bookings are not purchasing.

Not a surprise.  

5 hours ago, footzz said:

Yeah, and up until 2014 there were more choices in the packages too. I drink mostly beer, and my wife drinks wine ...

Yes, I remember that.  I wish they still offered a "lower" drink package good for just beer and wine.  "Everything" is just too expensive. 

5 minutes ago, jmom2004 said:

... We are not heavy drinkers but don't want to be thinking about prices while we are vacationing ...

Edited December 28, 2022 by Mum2Mercury

[Ocean Boy]

On 12/27/2022 at 11:50 AM, Husky1987 said:

Lots of people don't realize that the $14 drink probably costs the cruise line somewhere in the neighborhood of, what, $4-5? 

I highly doubt that a typical drink cost the cruise lines anywhere near close to that amount.