Drink Package Worth it?

[ombrelle]

Hi All!

 

I am torn between booking or not with Royal Caribbean. A 16 day cruise, their drink package would come out to $ 1760.00./for 2.:( Has anyone used this package? Was it worth it? Does anyone have a price list of their drinks on board? Would much appreciate all of your comments.:)

[wowprincess]

The fanciest drinks are around $8 or a little more.

 

Not worth it.

[mocnix]

Hi All!

 

I am torn between booking or not with Royal Caribbean. A 16 day cruise, their drink package would come out to $ 1760.00./for 2.:( Has anyone used this package? Was it worth it? Does anyone have a price list of their drinks on board? Would much appreciate all of your comments.:)

 

16 days 5-6 drinks every day

Maybe this will help,

Borrowed.

AOS Drink Prices with Tip.pdf

[LiMurr]

Consider that even if you would drink 5-6 days on a day at sea, you may not do so on shore days. That's why I'm not doing it.

[Jmcphillipsjr]

Heck no it's not worth it.

[Frankmac]

I love the way people say its not worth it/ It is worth it.

 

Its a completely individual thing folks. As someone says at an average of $8 per drink its 7 drinks per day. If that is over your limit then its probably not worth it. If you think you will manage that or more then it probably is worth it.

[pattle66]

Definitely not worth it for us. If I drank 7 drinks a day I wouldn't remember the holiday. Our last bar bill for 7 days was $300 for 2 adults and 2 kids! But everyone is different and only you will know if it is worth it.

[akcruz]

I love the way people say its not worth it/ It is worth it.

 

Its a completely individual thing folks. As someone says at an average of $8 per drink its 7 drinks per day. If that is over your limit then its probably not worth it. If you think you will manage that or more then it probably is worth it.

 

I so agree with this. It really depends on what type of person you are, and what itinerary you are going on whether it is worth it to YOU. It doesn't matter whether it is worth it to me, or anyone else here. If it works out for you great, if not, buy individually.

 

I am shocked (not sure why since this is CC), the number of people that come onto the drink package threads and outright state they wouldn't buy it for xxx or yyy reason. If you aren't interested in it, why bother reading the thread?

 

For us, we are still deciding its worth as we are on a 7 day with 3 ports, one of which is Labadee, so in reality we will have 5 of the 7 days where we will use it all day. A few foo foo drinks by the pool, and a glass or 2 of soda, a before dinner drink, wine with dinner, a drink at the show and maybe another soda or so, puts us at a break even. Spacing drinks out during the day and alternating with water/soda (fountain soda is included) you won't be "blotto" all day.

[ombrelle]

Thank you everybody. Still haven't made up our mind. Maybe if I give more information. The voyage, we are looking at is a repositioning. That said, the fare is most attractive. Most of the days will be spent on board. We are not heavy drinkers, but being mostly on board,it would be nice to have a glass of wine with lunch, a glass or 2 for dinner / for each of us. A drink before dinner and a night cap. Maybe a long drink after lunch around the pool, on deck.

Is it still worth it or not?:confused:

With your experience does Royal Caribbean have the most expensive on board drink package? How does it fare with other ship lines?

 

Thank you:)

[joe6666]

I so agree with this. It really depends on what type of person you are, and what itinerary you are going on whether it is worth it to YOU. It doesn't matter whether it is worth it to me, or anyone else here. If it works out for you great, if not, buy individually.

 

I am shocked (not sure why since this is CC), the number of people that come onto the drink package threads and outright state they wouldn't buy it for xxx or yyy reason. If you aren't interested in it, why bother reading the thread?

 

For us, we are still deciding its worth as we are on a 7 day with 3 ports, one of which is Labadee, so in reality we will have 5 of the 7 days where we will use it all day. A few foo foo drinks by the pool, and a glass or 2 of soda, a before dinner drink, wine with dinner, a drink at the show and maybe another soda or so, puts us at a break even. Spacing drinks out during the day and alternating with water/soda (fountain soda is included) you won't be "blotto" all day.

 

 

 

Wife and I had the drink package on a 12 day on Enchantment.

I thought I might save some money with the package. I don't think it turned out that way.

A couple of frozen drinks each in the afternoon, a couple of glasses of wine at the schooner bar waiting for late dinner, a couple of glasses of wine at dinner. I don't think that was enough to break even...

But remember, if you didn't reach the break even point, all you lost by buying the package was the difference between the cost of the package and what the individual drinks would have cost.

[GEORGET]

Like you i cannot make my mind up, 7 drinks each to break even a day seems alot .

Going on a 7 day cruise next week

 

We will be ashore a lot and as Diamond Guests with the opportunity of the free bar 5.30-8 will probably this time not take it.

 

Then i will have an idea for next time.

 

Pity Rccl are not as cheap as Costa and MSC drinks package, Then it would be a no brainer.

 

hope you have a great cruise

g

[joe6666]

Wife and I had the drink package on a 12 day on Enchantment.

I thought I might save some money with the package. I don't think it turned out that way.

 

A couple of frozen drinks each in the afternoon, a couple of glasses of wine at the schooner bar waiting for late dinner, a couple of glasses of wine at dinner. I don't think that was enough to break even...

 

But remember, if you didn't reach the break even point, all you lost by buying the package was the difference between the cost of the package and what the individual drinks would have cost.

 

And there is no way for me to find out exactly how much my drink package saved me. There is no record of, for instance, me buying a drink at the pool bar on Tuesday afternoon.

My Sea Pass wasn't charged for that drink because it was covered by my drink package.

There was no paper receipt.

There is no record of drinks that I ordered under the drink package.

[jsquaredfl]

Is there a way to find out the prices of drinks before you go on board for specific drinks? Say martinis and wine etc or does that vary on the type of alcohol in it?

[Shopper7287]

I'm wondering the same thing. I found a post on here somewhere that had photos of some of the drink menus (sorry I can't remember who). From that I came up with an average price drink in the following categories...fresh squeezed orange juice (hubby likes and is apparently not included) - guessed at $4.00, Beer - $5.25 (Is probably a LITTLE high, depends on what you like), Wine - $9/glass, "Rum & Coke" - $6.50, "Foo-foo" drink - $10 to $11, and a price for soda (I used $2.50, wasn't sure.) A lot of these may be a bit high, it depends on what kind of drinks you might like. Again, I kind of made up a representative price based on what I saw from the posted menus. Anyway, I made a little spreadsheet and guessed how many drinks we might have each day....it does come out to be a benefit for US, but that's with some pretty regular drinking which we may or may not end up doing...... What I DO like is that gratuities are already included in the package so you don't have to pay MORE, and the package includes the upper shelf liquors where the standard bar drinks do not.

 

Good luck. Still not sure what we're doing yet either.

[mrsfecura]

I so agree with this. It really depends on what type of person you are, and what itinerary you are going on whether it is worth it to YOU. It doesn't matter whether it is worth it to me, or anyone else here. If it works out for you great, if not, buy individually.

 

I am shocked (not sure why since this is CC), the number of people that come onto the drink package threads and outright state they wouldn't buy it for xxx or yyy reason. If you aren't interested in it, why bother reading the thread?

 

For us, we are still deciding its worth as we are on a 7 day with 3 ports, one of which is Labadee, so in reality we will have 5 of the 7 days where we will use it all day. A few foo foo drinks by the pool, and a glass or 2 of soda, a before dinner drink, wine with dinner, a drink at the show and maybe another soda or so, puts us at a break even. Spacing drinks out during the day and alternating with water/soda (fountain soda is included) you won't be "blotto" all day.

 

Agree, agree, agree!!

[libertybelle41]

Not to mention the many drinks I can now order and try that I wouldn't have ordered before because I didn't want to pay for it and end up not liking it. Also, can now choose better quality liquor and not have to worry about the price. I'm excited to try it :)

[Paul65]

I am shocked (not sure why since this is CC), the number of people that come onto the drink package threads and outright state they wouldn't buy it for xxx or yyy reason. If you aren't interested in it, why bother reading the thread?

 

Why on earth would this shock you on a thread that is specifically asking for opinions about whether or not it is "worth it" to buy the drinks package. That's what the OP is asking for. Perhaps you think such a request should only be answered by those who say it is worth it?

 

I think, for what they charge, it's pretty easy to say it's not worth it, unless you're a heavy drinker. And I'm not really saying that to be derogatory. I just mean that some people, particularly when they're on vacation, drink a lot. And if you're that kind of person, it may well be worth it to get the package. If you are the type to maybe have a drink or two in the afternoon and maybe another drink or two in the evening, you're much better off on a pay-as-you-go basis.

[Frankmac]

The OP asked if anyone had used it, If they had was it worth it. What were the prices of drinks.

 

Therefore I would suggest that a reply that simply says "heck no its not worth it" is not very helpful in this particular thread.

 

If you think its not worth it or woth it then explain your reasons for that. Maybe it would be helpful to the OP

[Toddcan]

Many of the college students on our March Indy cruise seemed to think the package was worth it.

 

In fact, I'd bet that there is a really good economics paper or two being written by some of these students extolling the virtues of "The Package", as they called it.

 

Certainly made for a more lively pool deck on sea days :eek::cool::D

[Paul65]

Therefore I would suggest that a reply that simply says "heck no its not worth it" is not very helpful in this particular thread.

 

OK. I'll agree that one particular response was not very helpful. Though it is still a vote that, for that person, it's not worth it. I don't think the responses telling other people that their responses were unhelpful are very helpful, either. :p

[noobcruiser]

As a discussion point for anyone to consider:

The price per person is currently (April 2013) = $55 per person.

 

That includes 15% grat. Therefore, any "break-even cost" should be calculated using $46.75 per person.

 

In doing that, now you can say that five $8 drinks ($40) plus a few fountain sodas is about equal to $46.75.

 

Of course grats (tips) still need to be worked in, but at least I have a comparison of individual drink prices to daily drink charge per person.

 

Food (in this case, drink) for thought.

 

My final thought is this:

If you are a light drinker that primarily drinks a couple of beers or glasses of wine...then this plan is not for you.

 

Personally, I rarely drink beer or wine. Vodka, Tequila, Rum, etc..are my "go to's"...so, for me, for my first RCCL cruise in 10 days, I decided to give it a go.

 

Afterwards, I planned on posting my experience with it, so stay tuned if you are interested.

[DZalumni]

Last time I cruised RCCL we ran up $1200 in bar tab in 7 nights.

$385 per person is a great deal compared to our last bar tab.

[Paul65]

Does anyone know if the drink package would included things like a cocktail seminar? We don't drink all that much, so I doubt that we'd want a drink package, anyway. But on our recent cruise, we went to two different drink "classes" - a martini seminar on the first sea day and a "mixology" class on the next to last day. They were fun, and in both cases, they included what was, at least for me, enough drinking to hold me over for quite a while. :D

[beautiful.thing]

It was well worth it for our group on our recent 7 day FOS sailing. A much longer cruise, not sure. It would depend on who I was with and how many days in port. I drank little to nothing on our port days until I got back onto the ship.

 

We are very social drinkers :cool:

[MandyMooToo]

As a discussion point for anyone to consider:

The price per person is currently (April 2013) = $55 per person.

 

That includes 15% grat. Therefore, any "break-even cost" should be calculated using $46.75 per person.

 

In doing that, now you can say that five $8 drinks ($40) plus a few fountain sodas is about equal to $46.75.

 

Of course grats (tips) still need to be worked in, but at least I have a comparison of individual drink prices to daily drink charge per person.

 

Food (in this case, drink) for thought.

 

My final thought is this:

If you are a light drinker that primarily drinks a couple of beers or glasses of wine...then this plan is not for you.

 

Personally, I rarely drink beer or wine. Vodka, Tequila, Rum, etc..are my "go to's"...so, for me, for my first RCCL cruise in 10 days, I decided to give it a go.

 

Afterwards, I planned on posting my experience with it, so stay tuned if you are interested.

 

Please do report back! We are going in Oasis June 8th and have already purchased the package we are heavy drinkers per se but on vacation I drink a bit more than usual. Probably a mimosa in the morn and fruity beverages by the pool through out the day along with drinks at dinner. Sounds like it will work to the good for us but I'd love to hear real reports and not just my guesses.