Drink package rules

[Banana123]

Hi everyone,

 

I have a few questions about the the deluxe drink package that I tried to find on the Royal Caribbean website but I wasn't able to.

 

1) What is the time limit between drinks?  We were on a Carnival cruise with the kids in January and I think it was 5 minutes or something and it was good. 

 

2) We got the soda package for the kids and would order a mocktail or two a day for them using our package and it worked out great.  Nobody really paid any attention and it wasn't egregious or anything and it wasn't dozens a day.  Are we likely to run into any problems doing the same on Royal?

 

3)  How does the cup work?  Does it have a lid?  We are going to have a day at Coco Cay, do we need to carry the cup around with us?

 

4)  In general, are the packages worth it?  I'm going to try to find prices somewhere and will do my own math, but I'm interested in others' thoughts.  We aren't 'drink ourselves into oblivion' kind of people, but between a latte in the morning, drinks throughout the day and wine with dinner, we certainly did get our money's worth on the Carnival one.  The Royal one costs more but I'm assuming the drinks do too?

 

Many thanks!

 

 

 

[topnole]

1) No set time limit between drinks that I know of.  

 

2).  If you mean using your package to get a drink for your kids, well not sure what to say as I’ve never done it.  But obviously this is against the rules and they could take away your package for sharing with others.  They have the refreshment package which is good for kids who will have mock tails. Get ready for some lectures on stealing.  
 

3).  The cup is for the soda machines.  you don’t have to bring it to get any type of drink.  It will have a lid.  I wouldn’t bring it myself.  
 

4).  It depends.   Per your statement, probably a no brainer.   Estimate 80+ a day for the package.   It could be more, could be less.  It varies for each cruise.  
 

 

Edited May 3, 2023 by topnole

[OCSC Mike]

13 minutes ago, Banana123 said:

The Royal one costs more but I'm assuming the drinks do too?

 

You can find drink prices in the app but most standard liquor based drinks are $14 plus 18% tip (there are a few exceptions) and beers/hard seltzer are $7-8 plus tip. I'm not a wine drinker but I know those prices vary.

[bar1068]

8 minutes ago, Banana123 said:

Hi everyone,

 

I have a few questions about the the deluxe drink package that I tried to find on the Royal Caribbean website but I wasn't able to.

 

1) What is the time limit between drinks?  We were on a Carnival cruise with the kids in January and I think it was 5 minutes or something and it was good. 

 

2) We got the soda package for the kids and would order a mocktail or two a day for them using our package and it worked out great.  Nobody really paid any attention and it wasn't egregious or anything and it wasn't dozens a day.  Are we likely to run into any problems doing the same on Royal?

 

3)  How does the cup work?  Does it have a lid?  We are going to have a day at Coco Cay, do we need to carry the cup around with us?

 

4)  In general, are the packages worth it?  I'm going to try to find prices somewhere and will do my own math, but I'm interested in others' thoughts.  We aren't 'drink ourselves into oblivion' kind of people, but between a latte in the morning, drinks throughout the day and wine with dinner, we certainly did get our money's worth on the Carnival one.  The Royal one costs more but I'm assuming the drinks do too?

 

Many thanks!

 

 

 

The "is it worth it" question consistently comes up on these and other social media forums, which has spawned all of these detailed calculators, spreadsheets, and other assorted "tools" to determine the worth of the package. To us it's simple. Can we drink enough beverages across all of the alcoholic and non-alcoholic offerings onboard to equal the per day cost of the package and we go from there. 

 

That said, one difference between RCI and Carnival is, Carnival has the 15 drink per day limit, but max drink cost of I believe $20 per drink. RCI has no per day drink limit, but a per drink cost limit of $14 I think. However RCI does a couple of things "better", like being able to use the drink package at their "private" spots like Coco Cay and Labadee. Also something trivial is RCI package covers "fresh squeezed" OJ at breakfast, which Carnival does not. I'm at least $10-12 into the per day cost just on OJ alone!!

[Reina del Mar]

13 minutes ago, Banana123 said:

 

 

2) We got the soda package for the kids and would order a mocktail or two a day for them using our package and it worked out great.  Nobody really paid any attention and it wasn't egregious or anything and it wasn't dozens a day.  

 

 

I am sure many people do this  Maybe if cruiselines asked more reasonable prices less people would try this.

 

Dozens a day or just one, it is still stealing…you must live with your conscience.

[topnole]

1 minute ago, Reina del Mar said:

 

I am sure many people do this  Maybe if cruiselines asked more reasonable prices less people would try this.

 

Dozens a day or just one, it is still stealing…you must live with your conscience.

I met a couple several years back who shares a package all trip long (on a 14

night TA).  We met them towards the end.  It was pretty surprising they got away with it and the package was

only 40 something per day back then.  People will always justify stealing, no matter the price.   The cost of the packages is all relative, and honestly it isn’t why some choose to steal.  People that are gonna do it would steal whether it cost 40 or 80.  

[Banana123]

19 minutes ago, topnole said:

  They have the refreshment package which is good for kids who will have mock tails. Get ready for some lectures on stealing.  
 

 

Didn't realise there were 2 tiers of non-alcoholic packages.  SMH.  Thank you!  Will do that if we end up buying the package for ourselves.

[Big_G]

We're doing back B2B shorties on Independence in November. It'll be our first without the DBP...at least for the first leg. The problem will be getting waters. Wife is a 1 water for 1 cocktail/wine drinker and I'm a 1 for 2. That's a lot of waters between the two of us. Add the convenience of not signing and not keeping track of C&A drinks and the experiment is already teetering on failure.

[Ret MP]

A lock is not a bar to entry, it's to keep honest people honest.  Those who are dishonest will find a way to defeat the lock and/or the system.  

[topnole]

42 minutes ago, Banana123 said:

Didn't realise there were 2 tiers of non-alcoholic packages.  SMH.  Thank you!  Will do that if we end up buying the package for ourselves.

FYI.  Also makes sense to just to buy an occasional drink if you want.  You can buy individual drinks too.  But if you do one or two mocktails per day per kid, the refreshment package might make sense.   

[Banana123]

2 minutes ago, topnole said:

FYI.  Also makes sense to just to buy an occasional drink if you want.  You can buy individual drinks too.  But if you do one or two mocktails per day per kid, the refreshment package might make sense.   

Do you know approx how much the mocktails are?  The daily soda package price right now is $15 (CAD) and the refreshment is $41.  If I do one per day per kid, it should be less than $26 right?

[topnole]

15 minutes ago, Banana123 said:

Do you know approx how much the mocktails are?  The daily soda package price right now is $15 (CAD) and the refreshment is $41.  If I do one per day per kid, it should be less than $26 right?

Yeah.  Definitely don’t but they refresh at that price.  Just buy one mock tail.   Should be 7-9 USD.   No where near the 26 extra.   

[gerif]

1 hour ago, Big_G said:

We're doing back B2B shorties on Independence in November. It'll be our first without the DBP...at least for the first leg. The problem will be getting waters. Wife is a 1 water for 1 cocktail/wine drinker and I'm a 1 for 2. That's a lot of waters between the two of us. Add the convenience of not signing and not keeping track of C&A drinks and the experiment is already teetering on failure.

The bartender will gladly give you glasses of ice water at no charge. 

[paross4]

Sorry, I read the title of this post and thought it was a statement.  Drink package rules!!!

😉

 

[Big_G]

58 minutes ago, gerif said:

The bartender will gladly give you glasses of ice water at no charge. 

 

Agree but bottles are more convenient especially when on the move or stocking the cabin.

[Ret MP]

3 minutes ago, Big_G said:

stocking the cabin.

Star class excepted:  I believe the intent of the policy is to not have more than one drink/bottle/can at a time in one's possession, including in the cabin.  So, I don't believe stocking your cabin is quite kosher or the intent of the policy.  It's been my experience that even in Star Class, you can only have one drink or glass of wine delivered to your suite, per person, at a time.  Beer, sodas, water, and wine cooler-type drinks are stocked in the suite.  When the roving bartender/cart (my term, not sure what he/she was officially called) used to come to the Star Class suites, they would only give one drink or glass of wine per person.  

 

YMMV and/or your experience may differ.  

[Reina del Mar]

20 minutes ago, Big_G said:

 

Agree but bottles are more convenient especially when on the move or stocking the cabin.

 

Take a bottle or drinks’ cup with you and refill it using a beaker from buffet ?

[Merion_Mom]

1 hour ago, Reina del Mar said:

 

Take a bottle or drinks’ cup with you and refill it using a beaker from buffet ?

also:  

Amazon.com: Brita Insulated Filtered Water Bottle with Straw, Reusable, BPA Free Plastic, Blush, 26 Ounce: Home & Kitchen

[topnole]

1 hour ago, Ret MP said:

Star class excepted:  I believe the intent of the policy is to not have more than one drink/bottle/can at a time in one's possession, including in the cabin.  So, I don't believe stocking your cabin is quite kosher or the intent of the policy.  It's been my experience that even in Star Class, you can only have one drink or glass of wine delivered to your suite, per person, at a time.  Beer, sodas, water, and wine cooler-type drinks are stocked in the suite.  When the roving bartender/cart (my term, not sure what he/she was officially called) used to come to the Star Class suites, they would only give one drink or glass of wine per person.  

 

YMMV and/or your experience may differ.  

I think he means stocking bottles of water.  The bartenders will certainly give you a bottled water with another drink.   Or even more than one bottled water.  So they seem to be ok with folks stocking water.  Other drinks, certainly not.  

[Mikamarii]

We got the dbp on our 19 night transpacific cruise back in October. Got it for a steal at 55 Cdn (think is was about 40 US at the time). This was the first time we got a drink package. 

Every day we'd each grab a couple bottles of water in the morning after breakfast. We'd each have a fresh squeezed juice sometime in the morning (who knew combining orange and carrot juice could be so good!). An ice coffee somewhere throughout the day (maybe 2) an alcoholic drink or two between lunch and dinner. 1 or 2 drinks at dinner and maybe 1 or 2 in the evening during a show or hanging around. 

We'd grab a couple powerades and water before heading out at the port for the day. We also gave the freestyle cups to our two kids as we never used them. 

Some days we'd have more and some we'd have less. On the low end it was about 60usd a day we drank. 

People will say they drink extra  because they have to feel they got their money's worth. We never felt that way; rather, we drank more than normal because we could, not because we felt we had to. (Why not have that second ice cold beer by the pool?!)

 

The one main reason I'll likely never get a drink package again is simply all the sugar/calories we consumed over a short period of time. 

[HappyTexan44]

51 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

also:  

Amazon.com: Brita Insulated Filtered Water Bottle with Straw, Reusable, BPA Free Plastic, Blush, 26 Ounce: Home & Kitchen

 

We have these and love them!   They even worked on the swamp water in Florida.  Bonus is less waste.  
 

 

[Big_G]

4 hours ago, Ret MP said:

Star class excepted:  I believe the intent of the policy is to not have more than one drink/bottle/can at a time in one's possession, including in the cabin.  So, I don't believe stocking your cabin is quite kosher or the intent of the policy.  It's been my experience that even in Star Class, you can only have one drink or glass of wine delivered to your suite, per person, at a time.  Beer, sodas, water, and wine cooler-type drinks are stocked in the suite.  When the roving bartender/cart (my term, not sure what he/she was officially called) used to come to the Star Class suites, they would only give one drink or glass of wine per person.  

 

YMMV and/or your experience may differ.  

 

I did mean water. We usually pack the fridge with it.

[Merion_Mom]

2 hours ago, Mikamarii said:

We got the dbp on our 19 night transpacific cruise back in October. Got it for a steal at 55 Cdn (think is was about 40 US at the time). This was the first time we got a drink package. 

Every day we'd each grab a couple bottles of water in the morning after breakfast. We'd each have a fresh squeezed juice sometime in the morning (who knew combining orange and carrot juice could be so good!). An ice coffee somewhere throughout the day (maybe 2) an alcoholic drink or two between lunch and dinner. 1 or 2 drinks at dinner and maybe 1 or 2 in the evening during a show or hanging around. 

We'd grab a couple powerades and water before heading out at the port for the day. We also gave the freestyle cups to our two kids as we never used them. 

Some days we'd have more and some we'd have less. On the low end it was about 60usd a day we drank. 

People will say they drink extra  because they have to feel they got their money's worth. We never felt that way; rather, we drank more than normal because we could, not because we felt we had to. (Why not have that second ice cold beer by the pool?!)

 

The one main reason I'll likely never get a drink package again is simply all the sugar/calories we consumed over a short period of time. 

 

Ok, I'll say it.

 

You gave the kids your soda cups?  To use at the freestyle machine?  Without paying for a soda package for them?  Sharing your drink package?

Maybe your answer is "no" to the 3 questions.  Maybe not.  I hope that you did not do these things.

[Ret MP]

4 hours ago, topnole said:

I think he means stocking bottles of water.  The bartenders will certainly give you a bottled water with another drink.   Or even more than one bottled water.  So they seem to be ok with folks stocking water.  Other drinks, certainly not.  

Okay, I can see that!  If that's how they get it, if bartenders are giving away bottles of water with the purchase (thru any beverage package), so be it.  But, I don't agree with people getting water or other products to take back to the cabin or anywhere else to give to unauthorized people.  

[topnole]

Just now, Ret MP said:

Okay, I can see that!  If that's how they get it, if bartenders are giving away bottles of water with the purchase (thru any beverage package), so be it.  But, I don't agree with people getting water or other products to take back to the cabin or anywhere else to give to unauthorized people.  

Yeah. It’s more for having in the cabin or at night I think.  Not giving to others.