Should All Incusive Drink Packages be All You can Drink?

I don't think they should be. I have seen lots of people on ships who seem intent on throwing as much booze down their throats as possible.

What I would prefer is you have a drinks account credited with a reasonable amount of money and you can have any drink you want 'free', including premium brands, until the account is depleted, after which you pay the list price.

What would a reasonable amount of money be?

I don't think they should be. I have seen lots of people on ships who seem intent on throwing as much booze down their throats as possible.

 

What I would prefer is you have a drinks account credited with a reasonable amount of money and you can have any drink you want 'free', including premium brands, until the account is depleted, after which you pay the list price.

 

What would a reasonable amount of money be?

Sounds good to me dave we only drink soft drink,s during the day my wife is TT and i have a few pints and a few whiskys of an eavning and a glass of wine or two for our dinner, yes i know what you are saying have seen it many time,s, iwould never buy the drink,s pac my self but always would by a bottle for the room.

What I would prefer is you have a drinks account credited with a reasonable amount of money and you can have any drink you want 'free', including premium brands, until the account is depleted, after which you pay the list price

I really like this idea. We don't have many cocktails or spirits due to the amount of medication my husband has to take but we do like a lot of soft drinks and it would be nice to be able to choose a bottle of wine with dinner rather than just by the glass.

Having just had the AI package I have to say that we enjoy not having to sign for drinks each time we have one. Equally we don't overdo it either and drink a lot less than some other passengers seem to - probably because we are off the ship most of the day.

We enjoyed a couple of cocktails/ciders/beers and also some lovely Sauvignon Blanc with our dinner. To be honest though both of us felt a bit 'All Inclusived' out towards the middle of the last week as I am sure some other passengers must be.

What I really think should be included is water - non was readily available, especially during the evening and when it was there were only small glasses. I am sure providing more free water would save the company money as people were drinking soft drinks and alcoholic drinks to quench their thirst (IMO a maimi vice worked well for me!) :tropical-drink:

I think it would be a great idea to give everyone a set allowance to make their own drinks choices.

AI should be provided for customers who are sensible, or responsible drinkers. AI should definitely include water, after all the term 'All inclusive' implies everything is included. This also means there should not be surcharges, otherwise a portion of that drink is NOT included. However, they could change their advertising term to 'Drinks Package', and determine what each package should contain. They should always retain the right to refuse to serve passengers who may have had too much to drink.

Sweby

I don't think they should be. I have seen lots of people on ships who seem intent on throwing as much booze down their throats as possible.

 

What I would prefer is you have a drinks account credited with a reasonable amount of money and you can have any drink you want 'free', including premium brands, until the account is depleted, after which you pay the list price.

 

What would a reasonable amount of money be?

I would say £125 per person per week, or £250 per cabin for 2.

On board we are 'Sundowners' so we don't drink until 5pm and that for us is a tipple on the balcony until after sailaway, then a decent wine with dinner, and maybe a drink in the theatre later.

We were not on AI during our recent 14 night Discovery cruise and our drinks bill, which included 3 litres of spirits from the on board shop, plus mixers, was around £300. Some of the wine we chose was around £18 a bottle.

If we had purchased the AI when we boarded the cost was around £790 for the two of us (£726 if purchased on line). I know some early bookers got it free.

So your plan would suit us as we could have the choice we prefer.

Thinking about it a better idea might be to give passengers onboard credit based on the length of the cruise and let them spend it on what they want. The corporate bean counters might not like that idea though.

'All Inclusive' is a marketing ploy. They have speciality restaurants where you pay, not all inclusive. Drink can attract surcharges, not all inclusive. You pay for excursions, not all inclusive. You pay for the spa, not all inclusive etc etc.

I would say £125 per person per week, or £250 per cabin for 2.

On board we are 'Sundowners' so we don't drink until 5pm and that for us is a tipple on the balcony until after sailaway, then a decent wine with dinner, and maybe a drink in the theatre later.

We were not on AI during our recent 14 night Discovery cruise and our drinks bill, which included 3 litres of spirits from the on board shop, plus mixers, was around £300. Some of the wine we chose was around £18 a bottle.

If we had purchased the AI when we boarded the cost was around £790 for the two of us (£726 if purchased on line). I know some early bookers got it free.

So your plan would suit us as we could have the choice we prefer.

£125, Get real that would just about cover 4 coffees, 2 glasses of wine and maybe enough change for a glass of lemonade a day.

The three bottles of spirits you quaffed would have added about £300 to your bar bill count if you were AI.

If you want to drink in private thats up to you, live and let live.

.

If you want to drink in private thats up to you, live and let live.

That was a bit personal. Many people buy bottles for cabin use, and enjoying a quiet drink on a warm evening sitting on your balcony is very pleasant.

We enjoy that time privately in the same way that we enjoy the social aspect of sharing a table at dinner and chatting over a glass or two of wine.

Dave was asking a question and I gave my view. Live and let live.

Wow talk about nanny state. Telling people how much they should be drinking on their holiday. And I'm not one of the drunks either. Yes I've seen people having had far to much and they should be told but as for having an allowance at my age i know when I've had enough.

Wow talk about nanny state. Telling people how much they should be drinking on their holiday. And I'm not one of the drunks either. Yes I've seen people having had far to much and they should be told but as for having an allowance at my age i know when I've had enough.

Exactly, you get drunks in the local pub and they arn't on AI, taken as a percentage of the total passengers the drunks are very few, they just stand out so mentally you probably think there are more than what there are.

I don't think they should be. I have seen lots of people on ships who seem intent on throwing as much booze down their throats as possible.

 

What I would prefer is you have a drinks account credited with a reasonable amount of money and you can have any drink you want 'free', including premium brands, until the account is depleted, after which you pay the list price.

 

What would a reasonable amount of money be?

Would you do the same for the serve yourself food areas, for breakfast, buffet lunches etc.,

Stand guard to see who's having more than the majority?

Wow talk about nanny state. Telling people how much they should be drinking on their holiday. And I'm not one of the drunks either. Yes I've seen people having had far to much and they should be told but as for having an allowance at my age i know when I've had enough.[/quote

Well said - Totally agree with you. I do enjoy the AI package. Its much easier having paid up-front. :D

No problem as far as we are concerned. Have not seen anyone obviously drunk on our two cruises. We did find difficulty on our first trip as most outside tables in the self service area seemed to be taken up for much of the day by drinkers, but I guess if they had paid for the all inclusive package they were just getting their money's worth. Our next two trips are on Discovery 2 and then Discovery. Be interesting to see what happens now they are going entirely all inclusive. Won't worry us, there are plenty of bars away from self service and my partner will have his usual couple of beers and I'll have the odd glass of wine. Not big drinkers, but we reckon staying reasonably sober only heightens the enjoyment of the other parts of cruising.