Is Have it All Package worth it for light drinkers of alcohol

[JeanneEDW]

I am trying to decide if it is worth purchasing the Have it All package for a 7 day voyage on Nieuw Amsterdam. My daughter and I are not heavy consumers of alcohol, but do have interest in the WiFi, excursions and dining option in the package. What are the costs of individual soft drinks, coffee,   an average glass of wine etc?  Any advice would be appreciated. 

[Ellencruise]

18 minutes ago, JeanneEDW said:

I am trying to decide if it is worth purchasing the Have it All package for a 7 day voyage on Nieuw Amsterdam. My daughter and I are not heavy consumers of alcohol, but do have interest in the WiFi, excursions and dining option in the package. What are the costs of individual soft drinks, coffee,   an average glass of wine etc?  Any advice would be appreciated. 

I’m not a big drinker but I like HIA so I don’t have a bill at end of cruise. Sparkling water, canned water, occasional margaritas,etc are very enjoyable. Drinks of wine and cocktails run $9 to fancy wines of $15.

[Overhead Fred]

See https://rogerjett-photography.com/specialty-2/hal-regular-and-specialty-restaurants/hal-beverage-menus/ for many drink menus and prices

[Cruise Suzy]

You can find price lists here: https://rogerjett-photography.com/  Most cruisers add up the total cost of what they will use in HIA during a cruise (excursions, WiFi, dining, beverages) and then compare that to the $50/day pp that HIA costs. For example, we can share a WiFi package and do without shore excursions. But when averaged between DH (light drinker) and I (almost no alcohol) we would probably consume $45/day or more in beverages. So it works for us.

 

I see @Overhead Fred answered while I was typing.

Edited March 28, 2023 by Cruise Suzy

[JeanneEDW]

Thank you all very much!

[Destiny0315]

Consider also where your cruise is heading to and how port intensive it is. For example it would be warmer and more humid on a Caribbean cruise than on an Alaskan one especially during the daytime and there would be more need to rehydrate. You also will likely have four to five port days and may be off the ship as much as 8 hours in those ports. So the majority of your onboard drinking then would be on the ship in the evenings. 

[Bostonjetset]

“Light” is relative.  It’s almost never worth it for me personally as I’m content with maybe one or two alcoholic drinks TOTAL on a cruise (not per day). Even if I get a special coffee at Dutch Cafe three or four times on a cruise and pay for one specialty dinner it still doesn’t make HIA worth it to me.

[AncientWanderer]

A couple of other things we've factored in lately, as the drink part doesn't make sense for us...

If port stops are frequent and in U.S., like on an Alaska cruise, we don't really need wi-fi because we use our phones in port.  (That is getting to be applicable in foreign ports, too, now that international phone service is better.)

Also, on some itineraries, like trans-oceanic, the wi-fi service onboard isn't great anyhow, so having the package isn't useful.

 

One does need to pencil it all out, but those are things we've thought of recently.

[doone]

1 hour ago, Ellencruise said:

I’m not a big drinker but I like HIA so I don’t have a bill at end of cruise. Sparkling water, canned water, occasional margaritas,etc are very enjoyable. Drinks of wine and cocktails run $9 to fancy wines of $15.

Ditto for me as well, I like the HIA.

[Sea Hag]

We don't drink alcohol, and we also don't usually buy packages. But when I recently booked our first cruise with HAL, I booked it with HIA. There was a promo for an upgrade from obstructed OV to balcony if we purchased HIA. I ended up with the cabin I would have booked anyway, at the same price as booking without the upgrade promo, and I've got HIA. That's a win in my book.

[FOPMan]

Considering how much (little) alcohol was in a pour, you may drink more than you expect. At home, we are vert light drinkers- maybe a single beer (ok, so greater than 5% abv or a single glass of wine a month. And we feel it. On the NS in December, I could drink several margaritas and not feel much in alcohol effects.

[yerdua]

Don't forget to factor in the 18% automatic gratuity on every drink, coffee, soda and canned water, plus the same 18% added to specialty dining that will be incurred without HIA (which includes the 18%).

[pmjnh]

This is very subjective....

the HIA is never worth it for us....only one of us would use wifi, only one of us has a glass of wine with dinner. we dont generally use ship tours..but we have on occasion..We always bring our reusable water bottles...and honestly we drink on board like we drink at home...water, water and more water and I enjoy a glass of wine with dinner. he enjoys a beer once a month.  So we run the the numbers..when your other half is an accountant...haha..  so, my solution is that we buy a sommelier suite wine package and pay minimal compared to the HIA package or even buying a glass of wine with dinner every night at $14.00 a pop.

 

Bottom line is, you have to do the math.

Edited March 28, 2023 by pmjnh

[badtwin]

It is very helpful to actually sit down with paper and pencil and do the math.  My DH and I calculate how many wine packages we will buy and guess how many drinks a day and we don't get close to HIA price. So for us it doesn't pencil out.

 

BUT if you want and value the other parts of HIA, it can easily make sense as has been pointed out.- If you want the internet package and if you would otherwise use ship's tours and specialty dining, then when those costs are added in HIA makes sense.

 

There is also the "emotional" aspect of HIA.  I have to say I really enjoyed our Viking cruise with wine and beer included at meals.  I never questioned another glass if I wanted it.  On HAL or other cruises, I tend to hold back due to my incredibly cheap nature.  Maybe that's a good thing but as others have noted, it is nice to have the freedom to order another drink and not worry about the bill at the end of the cruise.

   

[brovol]

My wife and I are very light drinkers, but we actually do get the drink packages on cruises; primarily so we don't ever think about the cost of drinks while on the cruise.  And, I have to admit, we tend to drink far more when on the cruise as a result.  Kind of motivates us to let our hair hang.  We have never come close to the drink limit, and there are several days where we drink nothing but non-alcoholic beverages, or maybe just a drink or two. 

 

We have gotten the HIA package on our HAL cruises, but have never used the excursion credit.  We actually love eating in the main dining room, so the specialty dining isnt a big deal for us either.  Hmmmm.....   Maybe the HIA isn't worth it. 

 

Glad we had this chat.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

We too are very light drinkers but in many cases removing the HIA also removes ship board credit that has been included in almost every promotion and is currently being given. You need to take that into consideration as well. I recently booked 3 HAL cruises and considered not having the Have It All but when I did the math and loosing the SBC I was only actually paying about $100 for the Beverages per person which was definitely worth it. Also those who did the Early Booking Bonus with the Crew Incentive pre paid.The next important factor for me is the Wifi, shore excursions I could take or leave but use it if I have it. 

[RD64]

3 hours ago, yerdua said:

Don't forget to factor in the 18% automatic gratuity on every drink, coffee, soda and canned water, plus the same 18% added to specialty dining that will be incurred without HIA (which includes the 18%).

And if you are Canadian, the ability to pay in Canadian dollars before departure makes it a no brainer - an additional 35% savings on the exchange. Four drinks a day - not factoring in Internet, excursion credit, dining credit, pays for it. For all the Judgey Judgersons out there, four drinks per day is not an unreasonable amount while on vacation.

[Susanmaz]

Don’t forget the HIA drink package also covers specialty coffees, canned sodas and canned water. The hot mocha coffee when in Glacier Bay is wonderful, the iced mocha coffee when in the tropics is a great treat. All things I never do “at home.”

[lissie]

We are maybe moderate drinkers - 3/4 drinks on a sea day 1/2 drinks on a port day - mixture of wine and cocktails.  

 

I looked quite hard at HIA because we were booking a 25 day cruise and I need connectivity and we'll do some excursions. 

 

Couldn't come close to justifying it.  We have 21 port days 5 in Iceland 2 in Greenland, 2 in USA the rest in Canada.   I use an eSim to travel with my NZ phone and with the exception of Greenland that costs about $4.50 a week  per a country.   The shore excursion money would probably have gone unused - because I could get far cheaper options booking direct with operators rather than HAL. 

 

We don't drink soda or canned/bottled water. I assume there is something to drink non-alchoolic in the Lido for free. I'll drink 1/3 coffees/day on sea days probably only  1 on port days - my partner drinks less.  The fancy dining will probably not be available as it will be all booked out with so few sea days - plus I amy well be sea sick on the bits to and from Greenland! 

[Sgwscruiser]

Break even is around 5-6 per day

[Anne614]

On our 10 day Baltic cruise that HIA package bumps from $100 in shore excursions to $200 pp and from 1 specialty dinner to 2.  That works for us!

[kickboxrca]

I think if it were just about the $$, it wouldn't pay for us either - we can definitely live without wifi, and don't drink much - but as a number of posters have mentioned - pay in advance, then you don't debate whether or not to have that other fancy coffee or that drink with dinner.  We are also Canadian - spending Canadian $$ is so much less painful!

[rodndonna]

14 hours ago, kickboxrca said:

I think if it were just about the $$, it wouldn't pay for us either - we can definitely live without wifi, and don't drink much - but as a number of posters have mentioned - pay in advance, then you don't debate whether or not to have that other fancy coffee or that drink with dinner.  We are also Canadian - spending Canadian $$ is so much less painful!

 

Less math just makes for a more enjoyable holiday and we always have that extra "conversion math" to make matters worse.... Without HIA, I can't "not' sit at dinner and so the mental .. "that glass of wine is $11 US, plus grats ..$13 US, convert to Canuck dollar.. $18 ish CAN$".  It's more math than I like to do on holiday and more than I would  typically spend on a glass of wine at dinner ... so removing all that thought process  and math for us just makes for a more enjoyable holiday.
 

[AFNavigator]

On 3/28/2023 at 1:12 PM, badtwin said:

It is very helpful to actually sit down with paper and pencil and do the math.  My DH and I calculate how many wine packages we will buy and guess how many drinks a day and we don't get close to HIA price. So for us it doesn't pencil out.

 

BUT if you want and value the other parts of HIA, it can easily make sense as has been pointed out.- If you want the internet package and if you would otherwise use ship's tours and specialty dining, then when those costs are added in HIA makes sense.

 

There is also the "emotional" aspect of HIA.  I have to say I really enjoyed our Viking cruise with wine and beer included at meals.  I never questioned another glass if I wanted it.  On HAL or other cruises, I tend to hold back due to my incredibly cheap nature.  Maybe that's a good thing but as others have noted, it is nice to have the freedom to order another drink and not worry about the bill at the end of the cruise.

   

HAL occasionally also runs promotions that include gratuities (crew gratuities, not the already included drink gratuities) which really makes the HIA package attractive.

[Kate45]

This is for my fellow Canadians. So from what I've been told by my TA, if you prepay gratuities it is in Cdn $$. Is the HIA also in Cdn $$? And does it include the 18% gratuities? My TA didn't know the answer to that. We are on a port intensive cruise from montrea to Boston with most of the days in canadian ports. Wondering if the HIA pkg is even worth it as we can just go ashore, get a drink or two and pay in cdn $$. Thoughts?