WOW! Booze is expensive on RCI???

[ve2dx]

Booked on Adventure of the seas apr 23rd south caribean cruise, and trying to make sense of their booze packages and I AM GOING CRASY!

 

on Carnival Valor in jan 2014 we had a wine bootle package (5 bottles for 150) but am told you don't get this on RCI anymore? ouch...

 

and their booze packages are expensive and full of catches...

 

any tips or tricks on RCI to get best deal on wine and soft drinks would be appreciated.

 

Thanks again...

 

Richard :confused:

Edited January 31, 2016 by ve2dx

[Shekim]

You are allowed to bring on 2 bottles of wine per stateroom, 750 ml bottles. Wine and champagne, no liquor. Since the price of drinks avg $10 each we are getting the package for the first time. The premium and Ultimate packages also include bottles of water. So 5 drinks per day plus a couple of bottles of water and you've broken even.

[MommaBear55]

Once you get on board, you can check with the wine bar. They are bringing back the wine packages but they are only sold in the wine bar. You have to ask.

[Thoie]

 

and their booze packages are expensive and full of catches...

 

any tips or tricks on RCI to get best deal on wine and soft drinks would be appreciated

 

Never noticed any "catches", but tell us what you think they are and we can confirm or deny or help you figure them out :)

[icsys]

Yes.... it is!

[AtlantaAlly]

RCI doesn't limit drinks like Carnival, so that's nice. :-)

 

And on Adventure there are lots of fun choices! Key Lime Pie Martini in champagne lounge... mmmmm. Pirates punch in the night club. Irish coffee in the dining room. I want back!

[CoopColbie]

While they may not do 'wine packages', you can buy wine through the Gifts and Gear section and have it sent to either your room or the dining room at the start of the cruise.

[riclop]

No kidding everything is so $$$$$$$$.

[DanJ]

So is coke. 3.50 a can, wowza lol

[Retired LEO]

So is coke. 3.50 a can, wowza lol

 

Plus 18%=$4.13

[brillohead]

Booked on Adventure of the seas apr 23rd south caribean cruise, and trying to make sense of their booze packages and I AM GOING CRASY!

 

on Carnival Valor in jan 2014 we had a wine bootle package (5 bottles for 150) but am told you don't get this on RCI anymore? ouch...

 

and their booze packages are expensive and full of catches...

 

any tips or tricks on RCI to get best deal on wine and soft drinks would be appreciated.

 

Thanks again...

 

Richard :confused:

 

 

I don't find it the least bit complicated.

 

1. Figure out what you want to drink. Soda, specialty coffees (latte/cappuccino, etc), mocktails, cocktails, beer, wine.

 

2. Figure out if you're going to drink a minimum of five of those drinks per day on average.

 

3a. If so, buy the package that meets your needs.

3b. If not, don't get any package at all and just pay by the drink.

 

4. Relax and enjoy your cruise.

 

 

And, as has already been mentioned, you can bring on two bottles of wine per stateroom with no corkage fees. If you want, bring on the most expensive wine that you'll want to drink, then buy cheaper wine by the glass or by the bottle when on board.

[GUT2407]

And if you're sailing from Australia it makes a coke near on $6 a can.

[Tatka]

I ordered Piñata colada and it was $13!

[micmacmissy]

I don't find it the least bit complicated.

 

1. Figure out what you want to drink. Soda, specialty coffees (latte/cappuccino, etc), mocktails, cocktails, beer, wine.

 

2. Figure out if you're going to drink a minimum of five of those drinks per day on average.

 

3a. If so, buy the package that meets your needs.

3b. If not, don't get any package at all and just pay by the drink.

 

4. Relax and enjoy your cruise.

 

This is the best post I've ever seen! It should be a sticky at the top of the boards. Honestly, it's not that complicated!!!! :D

[micmacmissy]

WOW! Booze is expensive on RCI!

 

Yes.... it is!

 

Alex, I'll take "Things That Are Obvious" for $500. ;):D

[DanJ]

And if you're sailing from Australia it makes a coke near on $6 a can.

 

As a Canadian, I hear you lol. I thought the first one was a mistake (I remembered on Carnival that they sold cans and bottles so thought RCI might as well and they accidentally charged me for a bottle). When I got the second one at that price, I decided to get the soda sticker lol. Thought I would get by buying the odd can here and there and drinking lemonade and water. Couldn't stomach 4 bucks a can though lol.

[astera]

and their booze packages are expensive and full of catches...

 

The prices are expensive considering they purchase all that booze duty-free and probably get some of the lowest bulk prices possible due to the massive orders they place on a global scale.

 

Then again it's all about economics and they own all the bars in the "floating city," so without a free and open market there is no pressure from competitors to keep prices attractive. ;)

 

In any case I always get the packages just for convenience as I don't want to be signing off each time I get a drink, even though overall I probably break even or maybe come out just slightly ahead.

 

The catch for the wine-lover is that the Select package only includes wines up to $8/glass. The plus side is that a lot of wines are completely mis-priced on Royal Caribbean, so you can easily get a very good wine as part of your package compared to some terribly, el-cheapo wines that are funnily enough priced higher on the ship.

[printingchick]

The prices are expensive considering they purchase all that booze duty-free and probably get some of the lowest bulk prices possible due to the massive orders they place on a global scale.

 

Then again it's all about economics and they own all the bars in the "floating city," so without a free and open market there is no pressure from competitors to keep prices attractive. ;)

 

In any case I always get the packages just for convenience as I don't want to be signing off each time I get a drink, even though overall I probably break even or maybe come out just slightly ahead.

 

The catch for the wine-lover is that the Select package only includes wines up to $8/glass. The plus side is that a lot of wines are completely mis-priced on Royal Caribbean, so you can easily get a very good wine as part of your package compared to some terribly, el-cheapo wines that are funnily enough priced higher on the ship.

 

 

I could be an exception, although I've read other people indicate the same: we seriously limited our cocktail purchases on our recent cruise. We brought wine aboard and had an additional bottle delivered to the cabin. (Just kind of a nice thing to find a bottle of wine in the room when you board - I don't think it really saves money to order from Gifts and Gear.)

 

We purchased a couple of frozen cocktails from the guy on the pool deck, who had two options available each day at 2/$10. I bought one drink of the day at $7.95. Other than that, we ordered wine at dinner and that's it. To be fair, we were on a very port intensive cruise, so off the ship all but one day, but we would typically buy a few more tropical cocktails - just not at current prices. (And it doesn't pay for us to do the drink package on a port-intensive cruise - no way we could drink enough to even break even.) Royal lost money on us. We boarded with a $100 OBC and disembarked owing less than $100 on our Sea Pass account - and we bought some photos and the "Cruise in Review" video.

Edited February 1, 2016 by printingchick

[btoneill]

Anyone who thinks the booze is expensive has never spent much time drinking in Manhattan. :)

 

To be honest, the per drink prices are on par with just about any upscale bar/restaurant in any major US city. You're not drinking pitchers of Miller Lite at the bowling alley down the street, so, don't complain that it doesn't cost the same.

 

If you want to compare it to what you might pay on shore in the islands, yeah, they are expensive. But, I'm pretty sure the $12 Ketel One and tonic on the ship is actually Ketel One. The $7 Ketel One and tonic at bar in Nassau, I'm betting was purchased in a plastic bottle with a handle on the side. :)

 

Brian

[north29]

On X and I thought it was a joke, until I started enjoying it. I just had the Classic , the cheap one, LOL and now would hate to do a cruise without a drink package, for many reasons. On X even in the MDR the sommelier just left a bottle with us and came back to see if we needed another one, maybe we were lucky. I have heard some issues with RC and getting only one glass in the MDR and no one came to see if they wanted another one or two or three.

Edited February 1, 2016 by north29

[Flamencacha]

Anyone who thinks the booze is expensive has never spent much time drinking in Manhattan. :)

 

 

 

To be honest, the per drink prices are on par with just about any upscale bar/restaurant in any major US city. You're not drinking pitchers of Miller Lite at the bowling alley down the street, so, don't complain that it doesn't cost the same.

 

 

 

If you want to compare it to what you might pay on shore in the islands, yeah, they are expensive. But, I'm pretty sure the $12 Ketel One and tonic on the ship is actually Ketel One. The $7 Ketel One and tonic at bar in Nassau, I'm betting was purchased in a plastic bottle with a handle on the side. :)

 

 

 

Brian

 

 

Manhattan, Miami or any major city, amusement park, airport etc, in the US. They are at par with all of those. I had $9.50 drafts at the airport in Puerto Rico. Yeap they are expensive.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ryano]

Every time drink prices are mentioned here, we are often reminded of how they are "on par with any major city bar". No. Ive never had a drink in Manhattan. Ive never even been to Manhattan. I consider Atlanta a "major city" though and i can truthfully tell you I can drink cheaper in Buckhead at upscale bars than I can on the ship now.

 

Thats not most peoples main gripe anyway. The gripe is the 40-50% price hike last year. This Lava Flow pictured below, which would have been $8.05 including tip, is now $14.16 including tip. You can drink a lot cheaper in the tourist traps on the islands than you can on the ship now. Thats what a lot of people that dont buy drink packages are doing IMO.

 

Comparing the prices to a ballgame where you are only there for a few hours vs. a whole week really isnt comparing apples to apples.

 

Edited February 1, 2016 by ryano

[btoneill]

Thats not most peoples main gripe anyway. The gripe is the 40-50% price hike last year. This Lava Flow pictured below, which would have been $8.05 including tip, is now $14.16 including tip. You can drink a lot cheaper in the tourist traps on the islands than you can on the ship now. Thats what a lot of people that dont buy drink packages are doing IMO.

 

Those tourist traps scare me. I'll sit on the boat drinking. :)

[Flamencacha]

Every time drink prices are mentioned here, we are often reminded of how they are "on par with any major city bar". No. Ive never had a drink in Manhattan. Ive never even been to Manhattan. I consider Atlanta a "major city" though and i can truthfully tell you I can drink cheaper in Buckhead at upscale bars than I can on the ship now.

 

Thats not most peoples main gripe anyway. The gripe is the 40-50% price hike last year. This Lava Flow pictured below, which would have been $8.05 including tip, is now $14.16 including tip. You can drink a lot cheaper in the tourist traps on the islands than you can on the ship now. Thats what a lot of people that dont buy drink packages are doing IMO.

 

Comparing the prices to a ballgame where you are only there for a few hours vs. a whole week really isnt comparing apples to apples.

 

 

 

Point well taken. Never cruised Royal before so I wasn't aware of the Price hike.

 

I remember when I went to a Marriot, and waited for some friends at the bar and ordered a glass of house wine it was 11$. By the way that was four years ago. But regardless definitely over priced.

 

Cruise lines keep trying to increase revenue. They push the packages, they figure most won't drink their money's worth.

 

 

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[cincicruisers]

We purchased the premium package for our upcoming 6 night on Navigator. With two sea days and Labadee I felt like it would work out for us. Anxious to see how it works out.