What happened to the beverage packages?! (No more soda only!)

[Mimajo]

It really doesn't make a whole lot of sense since the soda only package is usually bought for kids. I always pre purchase and was able to do so for our May cruise on Enchantment.

[donnad08]

We were just on the Oasis the week of Feb 15 and we were able to buy the cup with the soda package on board. The only issue they had was that they ran out of cups a couple of days into the cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Oshawapilot]

We were just on the Oasis the week of Feb 15 and we were able to buy the cup with the soda package on board. The only issue they had was that they ran out of cups a couple of days into the cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

This was just a very recent cruise, so this was either an error, something that just went into effect, or perhaps lastly, something they were just "testing out" on Explorer to see how much outrage there was.

 

Like I said, I'm still surprised there wasn't a thread here on the matter. Initially I was convinced it was a mistake on behalf of our friends (as it was only their second cruise, their first was with ourselves and the rest of our group in December), but having heard more of the story now (and seeing the document I posted earlier in this thread) that seems less and less plausible.

Edited March 5, 2014 by Oshawapilot

[DimeloCantando]

So it sounds like if you want a soda package, you should book it online. Not a big deal really.

 

True enough, IF you know in advance to do so.....which I suppose is the idea behind the discussion on this thread. If I were to find out once on board that my only option was a significantly more expensive beverage package, it would be a big deal to me because we budget our vacation expenses. I appreciate all the information and feedback from fellow cruisers to aid in our cruise planning.

[CyberTag]

We cruise in June on the AOS so would be interested in knowing if this is something they are doing away with.

[ehfl]

So if you boarded for your 10 night cruise expecting to pay $60 and then suddenly were told you had to pay $200 instead, YOU wouldn't be upset

 

I can't really say. I would be more upset at having to do paperwork aboard instead of relaxing. The money is not a huge issue, it's more about the vacation experience. I don't drink soda, so it's not really an issue either way for me.

 

If people want the lower price, it seems like they have the option to book ahead of time, so I don't really understand why price should be an issue. I just checked the web site and saw that the lower price is available on my next cruise in Nov. Maybe I'm missing something here, but it seems like if you really want the soda package, you would simply buy it when you book the cruise, or at least well before boarding.

 

If the package is too expensive then maybe an option would be to not buy the package. If RCL is over-pricing things, then the best way to get them to lower the price is to not purchase it at the higher price.

[reney313]

I don't doubt your friends experience at all, they have no reason to make that up...It just seems really odd to me that RCI would discontinue the regular package and make you order the replenish at $20 a day per person. Do they charge the same for kids? I couldn't imagine having a family with kids and paying that for extra for things they would maybe only order once or twice a cruise. I'm hoping that this is either a test that fails miserably....or maybe they plan on not offering on short 3-4 day cruises?

 

They still list the "regular" soda package on their website. I think I would have been tempted to pull this up for them, and then charge them for my minutes to do so.

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/experiencetypes/category.do?pagename=onboard_cat_dining_options

 

2nd page of the PDF shows the Refreshment package:

 

http://media.royalcaribbean.com/content/shared_assets/pdf/menus/beverage_packages.pdf

Edited March 5, 2014 by reney313

[Oshawapilot]

I can't really say. I would be more upset at having to do paperwork aboard instead of relaxing. The money is not a huge issue, it's more about the vacation experience.

 

There's 4 people in our family, 2 adults and 2 children. There's lots of families like us cruising.

 

So...Each PERSON would have to pay the $200 to even get the soda package in this scenario....so instead of $60+$60+$40+$40 ($200 for ALL of us to get the soda package on a 10 night cruise for the traditional soda-only option) we would be forced to pay $800 instead.

 

I'm glad "money is not a huge issue" for you, but unexpectedly coughing up an extra $600 (!!!) within the first 5 or 10 minutes onboard would certainly be a big hairy deal for MOST people, me included! :rolleyes:

 

That aside, you are clearly missing the point about this being a bait and switch. If they very clearly TOLD people "Book early if you want the cheap price tag" that would be one thing, but to wait until you're a captive audience onboard and then spring it on everyone without any notice whatsoever is just dirty. THAT is what happened in this scenario with our friends.

Edited March 5, 2014 by Oshawapilot

[cecelia0613]

We were on allure the first week of February and my sister in law just purchased a soda package with no problem.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[Oshawapilot]

We were on allure the first week of February and my sister in law just purchased a soda package with no problem.

 

Again, this was just last week.

 

I need to hunt out the Roll Call thread for their cruise and post in there to see if anyone else had a similar experience...or wait for someone onboard now (the cruise after theirs, as mentioned) to report if the same thing happened again.

[BekkaW]

So it sounds like if you want a soda package, you should book it online. Not a big deal really.

 

We wait until we board to buy soda packages so that we can utilize OBC. If I discovered upon boarding that I could no longer buy the soda package, with no notice or advertising this change to standard policy, I would be unhappy about that. Definitely unhappy enough to raise with guest services and escalate to management.

[jkloni]

We are cruising on the Serenade of the Seas in September DH normally buys a soda package on the ship, but because of this thread, I just preordered it. $90 for a 12 night Med cruise....$7.50 per day. Not $6.50 like the PDF showed. Either it's gone up since that was printed or the Europe cruises cost more?

 

Thanks for the heads up. We don't normally buy beforehand because my DH doesn't want to wait to get in the cabin to get his soda card as we normally are on the ship prior to the cabins being ready, I didn't want to take a chance of the soda package being discontinued as the price went for $90 to $240.

 

Looking forward to hearing.....the rest of the story. :). But I got his coke card.

 

Kathy

[Merion_Mom]

There's 4 people in our family, 2 adults and 2 children. There's lots of families like us cruising.

 

So...Each PERSON would have to pay the $200 to even get the soda package in this scenario....so instead of $60+$60+$40+$40 ($200 for ALL of us to get the soda package on a 10 night cruise for the traditional soda-only option) we would be forced to pay $800 instead.

 

I'm glad "money is not a huge issue" for you, but unexpectedly coughing up an extra $600 (!!!) within the first 5 or 10 minutes onboard would certainly be a big hairy deal for MOST people, me included! :rolleyes:

 

That aside, you are clearly missing the point about this being a bait and switch. If they very clearly TOLD people "Book early if you want the cheap price tag" that would be one thing, but to wait until you're a captive audience onboard and then spring it on everyone without any notice whatsoever is just dirty. THAT is what happened in this scenario with our friends.

 

I have no dog in this fight.

 

I can agree that purchasing the Royal Replenish package costs more than the Royal Refreshment (i.e., basic soda package), and may contain things that you don't want. Premium coffee, tea, non-alcoholic cocktails (sometimes referred to as mocktails), fresh squeezed orange juice, bottled water.

 

But I also think that you should have the facts straight. Compare things factually.

 

Apparently, you are going on a ten night cruise.

 

The Royal Refreshment package costs $6.50 per person per day, plus 15% gratuity. For someone under 18, it is $4.50 per person per day, plus 15% gratuity.

 

The Royal Replenish package costs $20 per person per day, gratuity included.

 

So, for you, one package is $74.75. For a child, $51.75. For the four of you, $253.

 

Even if they have in fact eliminated buying the package on board for an adult, I am sure that it is still there for children, since clearly they would have no interest in premium coffee and tea. :)

 

So, the real different is $200 vs $74.75.

 

Just wanted you to have the FACTS.

Edited March 5, 2014 by Merion_Mom

[Merion_Mom]

Oh, and I just got off the Liberty of the Seas on February 25. They still had the basic soda package.

[SNJCruisers]

We are cruising on the Serenade of the Seas in September DH normally buys a soda package on the ship, but because of this thread, I just preordered it. $90 for a 12 night Med cruise....$7.50 per day. Not $6.50 like the PDF showed. Either it's gone up since that was printed or the Europe cruises cost more?

The 1.00 difference is the 15% gratuity.

 

So, the real different is $200 vs $74.75.

 

Just wanted you to have the FACTS.

For the 125.25 difference, you get 10 days worth of non alcoholic frozen drinks, any kind of espresso based drink you'd want, bottled water including San Pellegrino to enjoy with dinner or the plain stuff to take ashore, Red Bull, fresh squeezed OJ and non alcoholic beer.

[Laney219]

The OPs original post was just to point out that their friends were unable to buy JUST the soda package on board. The minimum "soda" package available was the $20/day.

 

OP was using the cost between packages as a guide; not exact. No need to get FACTS straight when the whole point of the thread was to inform everyone to pre-purchase just the soda package if that is what they want. (some seem to want to use OBC on board instead of out of pocket)

 

Moral of the thread: Want just soda? Buy online to make sure you get it.

[jmrothermel]

Guess I'll be ordering online today for my OCTOBER cruise lol. My husband would die without his soda package!

 

 

~Jacqui~ Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[seaofwonder]

The 1.00 difference is the 15% gratuity.

 

For the 125.25 difference, you get 10 days worth of non alcoholic frozen drinks, any kind of espresso based drink you'd want, bottled water including San Pellegrino to enjoy with dinner or the plain stuff to take ashore, Red Bull, fresh squeezed OJ and non alcoholic beer.

 

 

I have no interest in any of those. I've never had a red bull in my life and I don't drink sugary drinks. The bottled water is nice, but I just drink their water and it tastes fine. I like a few diet sodas a day and the package has always been worthwhile.

 

Well, if it's not on my Sunday cruise I guess it might be a good impetus to quit the diet soda habit (keep saying I will, but never do).

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[jkloni]

I would hope that if RCCL really does stop selling the soda only option, that it sends out some sort of notice to its clientele. If you don't normally buy online pre-cruise, how would a person know that it was necessary in order to get only that?

It shouldn't be because I'm part of CC and just happen to have read this thread that I obtained knowledge of the potential change in the sale of long standing soda package which allowed me to order ahead of time instead of when we embarked on the ship.

 

Thanks again,

Kathy

[cruisnseas]

I just got off Navigator. The soda only package was available but you had to ask for it specifically. Perhaps the staff on Explorer was confused over the change.

 

Also, the Replenish package came with the cup.

[SNJCruisers]

If by some chance it's true on your sailing that the package has been cancelled, you do have the option is purchase a 12 pack of soda in any port and bring it back on the ship with you as a last resort.

[shutterbug63]

Just got off the phone with Crown & Anchor. I was told that you CAN still purchase the soda only package on board.

[ehfl]

THAT is what happened in this scenario with our friends.

 

Based on what others are saying, it sounds like either the crew on board was confused, or your friends were confused about the options available. Hopefully, this will be made clear either way, so that there's no confusion when people are booking.

[trev71]

I booked my soda package for my May 2014 Oasis cruise last month and it went threw and I paid for it already. better be in my room. I cant imagine paying 20$ a day a person just to drink soda.

[Boca Rob]

Can you buy 1 package and share with someone?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums