Deluxe Beverage Package

[Cdude]

17 minutes ago, cruisegus said:

@DavidOrawan one other thing you have consider with Royal’s pricing is as @Cdude said CCL and it's childern line have a limit on drinks, Royal no limits.  NCL even when part of included is a lower level package that you still pay gratuities on, and if you want good liquor you need to pay an upgrade to that package.

MSC I'm not knowledgeable.

 

Yes Royals DBP is much more expensive now than say 3 years ago. Some will benefit if for no other reason than, knowing up front the cost, no surprise end of cruise bill.  Maybe just not having to think of cost in the decision, do I have a drink or not.

 

I hope whatever you decide it works out for you

To the point about “no surprise end of cruise bill”, Princess never gets their billing right. My cruise a few weeks ago, they started charging me for drinks even though I pre booked the drink package. After they coded my account properly, they left me with erroneous charges that never got resolved after repeated attempts. I had billing issues on prior Princess sailings before this too. Never had an issue on RCCL or NCL.

[Anton]

12 minutes ago, Cdude said:

To the point about “no surprise end of cruise bill”, Princess never gets their billing right. My cruise a few weeks ago, they started charging me for drinks even though I pre booked the drink package. After they coded my account properly, they left me with erroneous charges that never got resolved after repeated attempts. I had billing issues on prior Princess sailings before this too. Never had an issue on RCCL or NCL.

I'm on Caribbean Princess in a couple weeks with the Princess Plus package.  I've been reading about how they screw up the bar sales in many ways.  One being that they charge the medallion that pops up on their screen, so if I go to the bar to get drinks for my wife and myself, they charge both to me by default.  Some even went over the 15 drink limit because of this and were cut off even though they hadn't had 15 drinks.  I just can't wait.

 

As for Royal Caribbean - at least 30% of every cruise they are doing now is "new to cruise" or "new to Royal" and they have nothing to compare the drink package price to, so they buy it.  And it's not going to stop anytime soon.  Eventually the company will tip the scales and package sales will decline enough for them to adjust the pricing. 

[teddybear231]

I remember the pre-covid days when I thought the $65/day charge was expensive....boy are those times long gone. I think the cheapest I got was maybe $48/day on a black Friday sale. Now I think if I'm getting it for $78/day I'm getting a deal.

[DavidOrawan]

11 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

You can find a balcony room with all that for a lot less than $5000

You are correct, same date as my next cruise on RC is 4800 not 5000

[Cdude]

21 minutes ago, Anton said:

I'm on Caribbean Princess in a couple weeks with the Princess Plus package.  I've been reading about how they screw up the bar sales in many ways.  One being that they charge the medallion that pops up on their screen, so if I go to the bar to get drinks for my wife and myself, they charge both to me by default.  Some even went over the 15 drink limit because of this and were cut off even though they hadn't had 15 drinks.  I just can't wait.

 

As for Royal Caribbean - at least 30% of every cruise they are doing now is "new to cruise" or "new to Royal" and they have nothing to compare the drink package price to, so they buy it.  And it's not going to stop anytime soon.  Eventually the company will tip the scales and package sales will decline enough for them to adjust the pricing. 

Be careful on Princess you have to tell them whose medallion to charge. We were always lopsided on our drink count unless we told them to charge one drink per medallion. You need to manage your folio. Princess accounting is awful.

 

Now how does the price on RCCL sound, LOL!

[smokeybandit]

1 minute ago, DavidOrawan said:

You are correct, same date as my next cruise on RC is 4800 not 5000

I've got a balcony cruise coming up that I could get all that for about $2000 on a 7 nighter. And it was booked rather late in the calendar, so it could have been a lot less had I booked early.

[DavidOrawan]

Just now, smokeybandit said:

I've got a balcony cruise coming up that I could get all that for about $2000 on a 7 nighter. And it was booked rather late in the calendar, so it could have been a lot less had I booked early.

Wow so cruise was 400 for 2 people in Ocean View Balcony. 

 

Sign me up.

 

 

 

[Cdude]

I got an ocean view on SOTS for 7 nights on a casino offer free. Had to pay total $350 for taxes and port for two of us. Paid $210 to upgrade to an OV balcony we got to pick. Paid $1200 for drinks and $700 for UDP. Total for everything $2,460 for two with all the trimmings:)

Edited April 1 by Cdude

[vjmatty]

12 hours ago, DavidOrawan said:

Why for royal is the drink package so expensive? It make the cruise so much more than other cruise lines. It's almost as much as the cruise itself? 89.99 per person + gratuities. And that on-sale precruise.

Royal saves me lots of money by sticker-shocking me right out of booking lots of things…drink packages, Coco Cay cabanas and beach club, Icon…it’s so much easier to decide whether to book things when the price is laughably high, especially when combined with a decrease in quality and services, repeated cookie-cutter itineraries and higher fares for the cruise itself. So in a bizarre, backfiring way, Royal is doing me a favor. 
 

It reminds me of when those Dyson fans first came out and cost several hundreds of dollars. I laughed out loud when I saw them at Bed, Bath and Beyond and looked at the price tag. 

[DavidOrawan]

16 minutes ago, Cdude said:

I got an ocean view on SOTS for 7 nights on a casino offer free. Had to pay total $350 for taxes and port for two of us. Paid $210 to upgrade to an OV balcony we got to pick. Paid $1200 for drinks and $700 for UDP. Total for everything $2,460 for two with all the trimmings:)

But how much if no casino offer?

Edited April 1 by DavidOrawan

[Cdude]

1 minute ago, DavidOrawan said:

But how much if no casino offer?

I think it was $2,200 for an ocean view. This is for the 9/1/24 sailing. That is just for the cruise not including the booze or upgraded food.

Edited April 1 by Cdude

[DavidOrawan]

Just now, Cdude said:

I think it was $2,200 for an ocean view. This is for the 9/1/24 sailing.

So 4660 If no casino offer?

[Cdude]

1 minute ago, DavidOrawan said:

So 4660 If no casino offer?

Basically, but that’s including the DDP and UDP and a ocean view balcony.

Edited April 1 by Cdude

[Engineroom Snipe]

8 hours ago, teddybear231 said:

I remember the pre-covid days when I thought the $65/day charge was expensive....boy are those times long gone. I think the cheapest I got was maybe $48/day on a black Friday sale. Now I think if I'm getting it for $78/day I'm getting a deal.

 

The best I have seen in the past twelve months on a Vision Class Ship was $60 per person plus gratuities for seniors.

 

Other than that, you are dead on, $65 on small ships and $78 on large ships is about the best I seen plus gratuities.

 

I think many new cruisers tend to say, "Wow, unlimited drinks for $80 per day" and not immediately see the catch of both people needing the package

 

They remember how many drinks they had at a wedding, bbq, or other event in a day and know they will get their money's worth.

 

The big difference is you are not going to a wedding seven days in a row.

 

Royal never offers a "deal" or "special" unless they know they are going to make a profit.

 

Some people may drink more than their package is worth but my bet is on the house that most people do not and that is how Royal makes their profit.

 

I say, go on one cruise and pay as you go. Look at the bill on your TV at the end of the day. If you are drinking more than the Beverage Package per day, they will let you sign up for it during the cruise.

 

Rarely have I ever heard any couple drink over $1200 worth of drinks on a seven day cruise.

 

Everyone hits the bars hard on embarkation day and the first sea. As already mentioned by another poster, port days start to decrease the usage of the package as well as mild saturation of the body by two days of hard drinking.

 

I am not saying anyone that does purchase the drink package is wrong because many like the idea of tasting different drinks and not worrying about a final bill or check their bill daily, Heck, they are on vacation. The package does include non-alcoholic drinks which is a plus.

[cruisegus]

1 hour ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

... Look at the bill on your TV at the end of the day. If you are drinking more than the Beverage Package per day, they will let you sign up for it during the cruise...

Only embarkation day and the next 2 full days on a 7 night cruise at full non-discounted price.

 

 

[teddybear231]

I should also mention that is depends on the itinerary as well for us. For example, if we are doing a weekend cruise to the Bahamas then it makes financial sense for us to get the drink package (since we plan on drinking all weekend long 😂) ...but when we did our Greek Island cruise, we didn't get a drink package because it was a very port intensive itinerary and we had excursions planned every day. Truth be told, by the time we made it back to the boat we were so exhausted and usually called it an early night.

[amby6063]

Yep the pricing sucks. We just hit diamond so the 4 free drinks is nice, but the convenience of the drink package is why I really like it. I hate having to sign the receipt every time and watch the transactions. It would be nice if they discounted the drink package further to offset the free drinks. Never going to happen though, I know. 

[KsucAts]

The pricing for my cruise next month just dropped to the cheapest I have seen (76.99) so I went ahead and booked it.  It was $88 earlier today.  

[PhillyFan33579]

On 3/31/2024 at 9:24 AM, DavidOrawan said:

Understand it just make Royal price so much higher than others.

 

 

Not trying to sound negative, but no one is forcing you to cruise on RCI. 

[DavidOrawan]

11 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Not trying to sound negative, but no one is forcing you to cruise on 

New sale on drink package. Now down to 81.99 per person plus 18% = 1354.36

 

Edited April 3 by DavidOrawan

[TexanSailor]

14 hours ago, amby6063 said:

Yep the pricing sucks. We just hit diamond so the 4 free drinks is nice, but the convenience of the drink package is why I really like it. I hate having to sign the receipt every time and watch the transactions. It would be nice if they discounted the drink package further to offset the free drinks. Never going to happen though, I know. 

On Odyssey last month, 8 days, 80 C&A drinks, never received a receipt to sign 

[amby6063]

48 minutes ago, TexanSailor said:

On Odyssey last month, 8 days, 80 C&A drinks, never received a receipt to sign 

Yes I mean for the drinks after the free ones 🙂 

[footballmom]

Is Bailey's included in the RC drink package? I don't see it listed.  Thanks

[Biker19]

Just now, footballmom said:

Is Bailey's included in the RC drink package? I don't see it listed.  Thanks

Any/all drinks are included if they are below the $ limit. They usually don’t run out of Baileys.