Drinks package Versus pay as you go

[cateryan]

Hi,

Hope Im doing this right, never done a thread before :)

Ok... im on the Sea Princess to PNG in 3 weeks, im trying to work out is it best to get a drinks package for the hubby or just let him pay as he drinks.

Does any one know what the cost of scotch or Bourbon and coke is and the cocktails?

I read the package only covers 15 drinks in a 24 hour period, does any one ever drink 15 drinks to make a package worth it?

And is Princess like P & O, if 1 person in the cabin takes a drinks package then the second person does too?... because if thats the case that sucks because I dont drink booze and have already paid for the soft drinks package.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers, Cate.

[Brisbane41]

For me it is cheaper to pay as you go. The quantity of drinks required to get value for money for the package is far too excessive and it would leave any man awake all night urinating to pass the alcohol. The soda package may be worth it if you like spirits mixed with soda.

 

I am the type of person who will have a beer or two from lunch time and move on to the wines and spirits of an evening. I often purchase several wine bottles around the ship and they keep them at various bars that I use so there is always a drink waiting for me. I have always had a great time doing it this way.

 

One thing I suggest is to go into the system and pre-purchase some on board credit. Use this as your budget for drinks and simply add it to the account before you sail. That way anything left over gets refunded and chances are you will not spend more than your budget.

[Elorac123]

We are on that cruise Feb 2019 ,hope you do a review.

You will find that there is a Happy hour in 2 bars every day twice a day where you buy one and get one for a dollar. We found this to be the best way for us,and if you ask they will leave the tops on beers and you can take them back to your cabin for another time.

Happy travels

[cateryan]

For me it is cheaper to pay as you go. The quantity of drinks required to get value for money for the package is far too excessive and it would leave any man awake all night urinating to pass the alcohol. The soda package may be worth it if you like spirits mixed with soda.

 

I am the type of person who will have a beer or two from lunch time and move on to the wines and spirits of an evening. I often purchase several wine bottles around the ship and they keep them at various bars that I use so there is always a drink waiting for me. I have always had a great time doing it this way.

 

One thing I suggest is to go into the system and pre-purchase some on board credit. Use this as your budget for drinks and simply add it to the account before you sail. That way anything left over gets refunded and chances are you will not spend more than your budget.

 

** thanks for the reply, its a conundrum, we usually go Carnival and drinks are a lot cheaper than what Ive been told they are on Princess, hes not a big drinker but traveling with his best mate might make him a big drinker lol

[cateryan]

We are on that cruise Feb 2019 ,hope you do a review.

You will find that there is a Happy hour in 2 bars every day twice a day where you buy one and get one for a dollar. We found this to be the best way for us,and if you ask they will leave the tops on beers and you can take them back to your cabin for another time.

Happy travels

 

Ill keep that happy hour in mind, great tip, thank you

[cateryan]

** thanks for the reply, its a conundrum, we usually go Carnival and drinks are a lot cheaper than what Ive been told they are on Princess, hes not a big drinker but traveling with his best mate might make him a big drinker lol

 

Forgot to ask, why purchase on board credit?... dont they do debit card and visa?

[rte]

Hi,

Hope Im doing this right, never done a thread before :)

Ok... im on the Sea Princess to PNG in 3 weeks, im trying to work out is it best to get a drinks package for the hubby or just let him pay as he drinks.

Does any one know what the cost of scotch or Bourbon and coke is and the cocktails?

I read the package only covers 15 drinks in a 24 hour period, does any one ever drink 15 drinks to make a package worth it?

And is Princess like P & O, if 1 person in the cabin takes a drinks package then the second person does too?... because if thats the case that sucks because I dont drink booze and have already paid for the soft drinks package.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers, Cate.

As you said if the drinks package only allows you 15 drinks in a 24 hours period, you need the drinks package.

Hi - We sail with Royal Caribbean and always have the drinks package. We find you only have to have about 5-6 alcoholic drinks per day without water and specialty coffees and freshly squeezed orange juice which are in the package. We find this great value. Happy cruising, from NZ

[The_Big_M]

Forgot to ask, why purchase on board credit?... dont they do debit card and visa?

 

They handle the usual payment cards.

 

I think it's because some like the idea in drinks packages of putting a fixed amount in advance, so they don't get a bill for it at the end. (Same money but some people just prefer it that way.) If you do it that way with OBC, you don't feel the need to drink up to meet what you've spent so will wind up ahead if you're not a heavy drinker.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Standard bourbons and scotches are $8-10 but I'm not sure if that includes coke.

 

Cocktails range from $10 to $14.

 

We did three cruises with the drinks package when it was $59. It was borderline cost effective. At the new price we would not get value for money.

[OzKiwiJJ]

As you said if the drinks package only allows you 15 drinks in a 24 hours period, you need the drinks package.

Hi - We sail with Royal Caribbean and always have the drinks package. We find you only have to have about 5-6 alcoholic drinks per day without water and specialty coffees and freshly squeezed orange juice which are in the package. We find this great value. Happy cruising, from NZ

 

The limit is 15 alcoholic drinks, not total drinks. Coffees, OJ, water and mocktails don't count towards the limit. Under the new Princess pricing you'd need to have 7-10 alcoholic drinks a day, depending on what other drinks you had, to break even.

[Esilef]

The limit is 15 alcoholic drinks, not total drinks. Coffees, OJ, water and mocktails don't count towards the limit. Under the new Princess pricing you'd need to have 7-10 alcoholic drinks a day, depending on what other drinks you had, to break even.

 

 

 

7-10 alcoholic drinks a day x days of the cruise = very bad hangover & photos of you posted online of what you forgot you did!

[rte]

The limit is 15 alcoholic drinks, not total drinks. Coffees, OJ, water and mocktails don't count towards the limit. Under the new Princess pricing you'd need to have 7-10 alcoholic drinks a day, depending on what other drinks you had, to break even.

Goodness me what is the price of your package ours is $70 dollars a day at $10 to $14 a drink plus not having to pay for orange juice specialty coffees and free bottled water we only need to have 6 to 7

Also I was not suggesting your limit 15 total drinks including water and oj try reading a little more carefully

[martin jenkins]

Goodness me what is the price of your package ours is $70 dollars a day at $10 to $14 a drink plus not having to pay for orange juice specialty coffees and free bottled water we only need to have 6 to 7

Also I was not suggesting your limit 15 total drinks including water and oj try reading a little more carefully

 

on princess is $86pp per day, p&o is I think $95pp per day.

[wagtail_syd]

Does RCI still have the rule that everyone in the room has to purchase the package? Just thinking this may effect your decision if you were only looking at purchasing it for your husband.

[OzKiwiJJ]

As you said if the drinks package only allows you 15 drinks in a 24 hours period, you need the drinks package.

 

Goodness me what is the price of your package ours is $70 dollars a day at $10 to $14 a drink plus not having to pay for orange juice specialty coffees and free bottled water we only need to have 6 to 7

Also I was not suggesting your limit 15 total drinks including water and oj try reading a little more carefully

 

I suggest you read your post more carefully. "15 drinks in a 24 hour period" implies all drink types. :rolleyes:

 

And the Princess package price is now $86.95. Drink prices start at around $7 for beer, wine is $8-10, cocktails are $10-14, spirits $8-10 for standard brands. So if you drink the cheapest beer your break even point is 13 beers. Using an average of $9 per glass for wine you'd need to drink 10 glasses. Many cocktails are only $10 so 9 of those would get you to break even point, less if you only drank the more expensive ones. As I mentioned in an earlier post we used the drinks packages at the old price of $59 on three cruises and barely broke even especially on one of those cruises where we had difficulty getting sufficient wine with dinner. We didn't stint on what we drank on those cruises although we never over-indulged, but we certainly would not like to try to drink more to get our money's worth at the new price. In fact I'm looking forward to seeing what our daily average cost is on our next cruise. We did a Med cruise last year and the average after converting to AUD was just over $47 per day, but that was a very port-intensive cruise.

[rte]

Does RCI still have the rule that everyone in the room has to purchase the package? Just thinking this may effect your decision if you were only looking at purchasing it for your husband.

If you don't drink you will not have to purchase the alcohol package on RCI

But they may ask you to purchase there soda package $19 a day NZ dollars

Hope this helps

[OzKiwiJJ]

7-10 alcoholic drinks a day x days of the cruise = very bad hangover & photos of you posted online of what you forgot you did!

 

We occasionally have 6-8 a day, on sea days where we have beer or wine with lunch or a mid-afternoon cocktail, but we couldn't handle more. That's our absolute limit.

[xwelshnowkiwi]

Hi there , we have just come off the Emerald Princess in November.

I alone purchased the drinks package , my wife is a non -drinker .

I had at least 5 cappucinos every day , many soda waters .all on the package .

My lunch at the MDR was accompanied with a couple of craft beers , onto sunbaking with 2-3 cocktails ,then a couple of top shelf martinis as pre- dinner drinks .

Dinner ,also in the MDR I ordered 2-3 white or red wines [ why buy a bottle ?] .

At the show i had 2 more cocktails , then onto the piano bar , 2-3-4 top shelf whisky's or try some rum's & gin's i have always wanted to try without buying a bottle at home .

I am a moderate drinker normally , but they wouldn't let me take my car on the ship , so it was only a short walk home !!

I recommend the package as where can you sample soooooooooooooo many different drinks at such a cheap price . if you do not like the drink that you ordered , you only have to say so & a new variety will be only 30 minutes away ,the normal time allotted between orders . enjoy ,enjoy ,enjoy . :hot-beverage::wine-glass::cocktail::tropical-drink::beer-mug::whiskey-glass:

[nh282028]

Hi there , we have just come off the Emerald Princess in November.

 

I alone purchased the drinks package , my wife is a non -drinker .

 

I had at least 5 cappucinos every day , many soda waters .all on the package .

 

My lunch at the MDR was accompanied with a couple of craft beers , onto sunbaking with 2-3 cocktails ,then a couple of top shelf martinis as pre- dinner drinks .

 

Dinner ,also in the MDR I ordered 2-3 white or red wines [ why buy a bottle ?] .

 

At the show i had 2 more cocktails , then onto the piano bar , 2-3-4 top shelf whisky's or try some rum's & gin's i have always wanted to try without buying a bottle at home .

 

I am a moderate drinker normally , but they wouldn't let me take my car on the ship , so it was only a short walk home !!

 

I recommend the package as where can you sample soooooooooooooo many different drinks at such a cheap price . if you do not like the drink that you ordered , you only have to say so & a new variety will be only 30 minutes away ,the normal time allotted between orders . enjoy ,enjoy ,enjoy . :hot-beverage::wine-glass::cocktail::tropical-drink::beer-mug::whiskey-glass:

 

 

 

I’m with you. You just about mirror my beverage day. I would never cruise without a beverage package which, as mentioned, includes coffee and bottled water. And no I don’t get rolling drunk, but yes, need a detox when I get home.

 

 

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[Russell21]

Those last two posts I'm glad it's their liver and not mine. :D

[NSWP]

Those last two posts I'm glad it's their liver and not mine. :D

 

I felt crook reading it, I have a hangover now from the fumes emitting from the puter. We are a drink pre dinner and a glass or two of wine at dinner. That's it.:halo:

 

Drinks Package not for us. Perhaps 20 or 30 years ago I would have had a go at it, when I was a seasoned imbiber, like half a dozen schooners after work.:halo:

 

But some cruisers love the drink packages, do they not? Using the theory...'The More you Drink the More you Save.' lol.

Edited January 31, 2018 by NSWP

[martin jenkins]

Those last two posts I'm glad it's their liver and not mine. :D

 

 

yeah but normally its a week to 10 days on holiday, i'd drink that and more, but once at home probably 10% of that.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Those last two posts I'm glad it's their liver and not mine. :D

 

Some people have a very high tolerance to alcohol. My ex was like that. He could drink everyone under the table and never showed any signs of being drunk. Plus the alcohol he'd consumed didn't show on a breathalyser. We tested him once and it was amazing. I was over the limit after the first bottle of wine (shared between 3), our friend was over the limit after the second bottle, and my ex barely twitched the needle of the breathalyzer at the end of the evening.

[OzKiwiJJ]

But some cruisers love the drink packages, do they not? Using the theory...'The More you Drink the More you Save.' lol.

 

It's also the convenience factor. Not having to wade through all the drinks transactions on your onboard account plus being able to just order another drink if you try something new and don't like it. But it also has to be cost effective as well, IMHO.

 

The other reason we've gone off the drinks packages on Princess is that the wines by the glass aren't the greatest, and there isn't a good selection of wines that I like. We still get drinks packages on Celebrity though, as a perk then upgrade it. Their wines by the glass are much better.

[mv13]

Just wondering if anyone can tell me the price of a softdrink on Sun Princess?