What percentage of pax has a beverage card?

Just wondering. Since a few years cruises are finally heavily advertised in newspapers and on TV in Holland and it seems they all include a (low level) beverage package. I'm not sure why, as I don't think uncertainty about drink prices would keep them from cruising (N=a few, but that would be walkers, bingo and seasickness) , while the normal cost of a package is about the advertised fare for an inside.

Anyway, at some point "free drinks except for cocktails and champagne" gets as normal as "free food, except in specialty restaurants" when nearly all deals already include a beverage package. But maybe they don't, hence the question.

Only each cruise line has the answer and they tend to keep that information secret. But our experience is that it really depends on the cruise line. RCI and Celebrity have frequent promotions, that include drink packages, and they are popular, HAL, on the other hand, also promotes their drink packages...but many of their cruisers do not seem to be big drinkers..so we don't see as many drinking away. And these drink packages are not always the great deal that some think. One needs to consider what they actually spend on drinks and value the package at that price.....not the inflated value used by the cruise line. So a Princess drink package that is valued at $68 per passenger day...is not likely worth that to most cruisers. For example, DW and I do our share of drinking but average $70 - $75 per passenger day (total cost for the two of us). Those drink promotions are not free..and the cruise lines increase their prices during the promotion. So one needs to look at the history of what they charge before and after.

Hank

I usually buy a drink package just so I don't have to think about the expense when on vacation. I like to have the trip paid for, except for souvenirs, when I step into the airport to head off to the port.

Can only answer for our last Carnival cruise. The Food and Beverage Manager said about 700 of the 2600 pax bought the Cheers (inclusive except for wine bottles and >$50 drinks). No idea how many bought the soda package. This was a long cruise with mainly older pax. I’m sure the shorter cruises with a younger crowd have a higher percentage.

Haven’t seen a beverage promo on Carnival, at best they only give some OBC.

Just wondering. Since a few years cruises are finally heavily advertised in newspapers and on TV in Holland and it seems they all include a (low level) beverage package. I'm not sure why, as I don't think uncertainty about drink prices would keep them from cruising (N=a few, but that would be walkers, bingo and seasickness) , while the normal cost of a package is about the advertised fare for an inside.

 

Anyway, at some point "free drinks except for cocktails and champagne" gets as normal as "free food, except in specialty restaurants" when nearly all deals already include a beverage package. But maybe they don't, hence the question.

Hi

As you say many cruise lines are including drink packages in their promotions. Of course they aren't free, besides the immediate additional charge for gratuities on the drink packages, the cost of the "freebies" whatever they may be are somewhat built into the cabin cost. You can easily see this if you follow the prices before and after promotions. The cruise lines are doing their jobs and just selling more product. If price matters and don't drink, find the price without the "free" inclusion.

That being said, I can see the appeal for many to have a more "all inclusive" vacation product. It is convenient. Personally, I don't drink very much and I believe there are many others that feel the same. If you choose to purchase a drink package, for convenience or because you like to drink a lot these packages are great. If you don't drink very much and feel that it's free, so it doesn't really matter, then you really are just paying for something that you are not using.

Hi

 

As you say many cruise lines are including drink packages in their promotions. Of course they aren't free, besides the immediate additional charge for gratuities on the drink packages, the cost of the "freebies" whatever they may be are somewhat built into the cabin cost. You can easily see this if you follow the prices before and after promotions. The cruise lines are doing their jobs and just selling more product. If price matters and don't drink, find the price without the "free" inclusion.

 

That being said, I can see the appeal for many to have a more "all inclusive" vacation product. It is convenient. Personally, I don't drink very much and I believe there are many others that feel the same. If you choose to purchase a drink package, for convenience or because you like to drink a lot these packages are great. If you don't drink very much and feel that it's free, so it doesn't really matter, then you really are just paying for something that you are not using.

The promotional beverage perks are not free - but on Celebrity they often have an effective price of around $25 TO $30 per person per day. You do not have to be a heavy drinker to get up to that level: 2 specialty coffees, a bottle of water and 2 glasses of wine add up to $30. That makes my afternoon cocktails free!

The promotional beverage perks are not free - but on Celebrity they often have an effective price of around $25 TO $30 per person per day. You do not have to be a heavy drinker to get up to that level: 2 specialty coffees, a bottle of water and 2 glasses of wine add up to $30. That makes my afternoon cocktails free!

We agree and think that Celebrity was ahead of the curve in the way they priced their promotions to include the beverage packages. Like many, we have taken advantage of these promotions since we also calculated that the real cost of the drink packages (when included in promos) was in that $25-$30 per passenger day (a good deal for many folks). On the other extreme, when HAL started offering their beverage package they sometimes used very fuzzy math. At one point we had booked a long (38 day) cruise that included their drink package. At one point, after we booked, the price of our cabin actually dropped by around $10,000 (I kid you not) at which point we instructed our cruise agent to "reprice" the cruise at the current price. Our Cruise Agent, who was laughing on the phone, quickly informed us that we would lose the drink package if we had the cruise repriced. Of course the laughing was because we were being asked to pay $10,000 for a drink package....or about $132 per passenger day for drinks! That is more then double what we would normally spend (on drinks) for a 38 day cruise.

This is why informed cruisers carefully track the pricing of cruises, with and without promotions. In order to determine the real benefit, we suggest that folks price out their cruise by adding the real value (not the cruise line's inflated value) of all the promos...based on one's own spending habits. Getting everything down to a cost per passenger day really helps with the comparison. So, that $68 dollar per passenger day drink package is only worth about $35 per passenger day (for us).

But the cruise lines are smart, use real experts in marketing...and know that most passengers do not actually do the calculations. Many quickly get caught up in the promotions, without understanding their real value.

Hank

P.S. For those that think I am blowing smoke about the HAL calculations, we have the actual invoices to prove the numbers.

A couple of years ago, HAL had a promotion called Explore4 which included the Signature Drink Package. And your cruise fare was not raised to cover the cost of the drink package. We did have it on 2 cruises and I kept track of what we drank. Definitely not worth the price to buy the package on our own as we are not big drinkers.

Now HAL is offering the Explore4 promotion but HAL has also raised the price of the cruise fares and in many cases you now have non-refundable deposits.

Recently I had our TA get prices for a cruise -- the price without the Explore4 promotion was $1400 per person cheaper for a 21 day cruise. People need to sit down and do the figures.