To beverage package or not to beverage package?

[bayou cruiser]

We're still debating the beverage package. We're not big drinkers at all but will have a couple on sea days by the pool, a martini before dinner and usually one after dinner, too. Both of our upcoming cruises are port intensive. On previous cruises we were able to bring water onboard, not sure if that is still the case. And we do drink a lot of water so that is beneficial. I just can't decide if it's worth it on port intensive cruises. Any thoughts are appreciated.

[Clarea]

You would normally have to average 4-5 drinks per day, every day, to make the package worthwhile.

[wolfcathorse]

your beverage package includes the bottled water (I believe it's spring water). If you drink 5 of those a day, that would run you a little over $10 a day. Add in any coffees (not Starbuck's) or fresh squeezed OJ, then you wouldn't have to drink so many alcoholic beverages.

[EmilyJay]

As Host Clarea said if you're drinking 4-5 or more drinks daily then quite possibly worth it. It's never worked out cost effective to us so we have never bothered, last cruise we had 1 glass of wine at dinner then a few beers in the evening, maybe a cocktail here or there but it never came near to what we would have paid for the drinks package.

 

 

Factor in the ports you're doing as Labadee is owned by RCI so you can use your drinks package in that port.

In regards to water, tapped, iced water is always available by the pools and in the restaurants etc which is free.

I've seen people taking big packs of water on with them and seemed to have sailed through security with them so I guess you could try that. I've seen it on all 3 of my Oasis class sailings with multiple people with big packs of water.

We've managed to get the Deluxe Drinks Package for free on our next sailing so it's going to be interesting to see how it works out.

[George C]

I think it closer to 4 maybe even a little less when you add in water , look for a sale we paid 41 plus tip on last cruise

[Beachammo]

I believe Royal is really missing out not selling a case of water at a reasonable price. We would pay $15 ($12 profit) to not have to drag a case onboard. I think 30% of the cabins would take Royal up on it????

 

Or do y'all believe Royal makes more selling it at full price?? Or enticing passengers to buy drink packages that includes expensive (but cheap) bottle water.

 

Not Paying that crazy price for the Evian water.....

 

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

[Clarea]

I believe Royal is really missing out not selling a case of water at a reasonable price. We would pay $15 ($12 profit) to not have to drag a case onboard. I think 30% of the cabins would take Royal up on it????

 

Or do y'all believe Royal makes more selling it at full price?? Or enticing passengers to buy drink packages that includes expensive (but cheap) bottle water.

 

Not Paying that crazy price for the Evian water.....

 

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

Maybe they just don't want to take the space stocking the water.

[Beachammo]

Maybe they just don't want to take the space stocking the water.

Maybe?

 

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

[gerif]

Maybe they just don't want to take the space stocking the water.

That makes sense. I just bring a couple of insulated bottles and fill them (from glasses of water) with ice water to carry around. At meals, I drink the ice water they serve.

[Clarea]

Maybe?

I thought again and realized they must be stocking a bunch of bottled water for the drink packages. I'd be happy if they would sell that to us for a reasonable price. I like it better than Evian.

[Beachammo]

I thought again and realized they must be stocking a bunch of bottled water for the drink packages. I'd be happy if they would sell that to us for a reasonable price. I like it better than Evian.

They seem to never run out of bottle water. They always run out of bananas.

 

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

[kateg]

My husband got this on our last cruise (booked beforeeveryone in the cabin had to have the same beverage package). We thought it would be fun and relaxing notto worry about buying drinks and figured he would at least break even. Nope. He didn't like the included coffee drinks from Cafe Promenade andeveryday he wanted to go to Starbucks, but he begrudgingly drank his"free" coffee. Fresh squeezedjuices were never convenient for him. Bottledwater wasn’t that easy to get either. And once you add in the sun, the wind andport days he just wasn't up to drinking THAT much. Sure, a day or two he could have had 4drinks...but not 7 days in a row.

[ScottVV]

your beverage package includes the bottled water (I believe it's spring water). If you drink 5 of those a day, that would run you a little over $10 a day. Add in any coffees (not Starbuck's) or fresh squeezed OJ, then you wouldn't have to drink so many alcoholic beverages.

 

... Also... I've never had an issue getting a bottled water with an adult beverage with the Deluxe Bev Pkg... so if you get a cocktail for $12 and a water, you're spending well over 15 with the auto grat w/o the beverage package. Do that 4 times, you're pushing over $60 a day.. and that's just for 4 drinks and 4 bottles of water... Get the Bev Pkg, no worries.. But again, to each is own....

[psumother]

Water is available out of the soda machines without having the 'soda cup' with the chip. Can use any cup/bottle/glass to get plain water and ice. Always figured that water is the same as served in the dining rooms.

[MkeCruzn]

I'd say no, because of the reasons mentioned above, plus the limitations (drinks over $12 are not included). We got the premium coffee card ($30 in advance for 15 coffee beverages from Latte-tudes / not Starbucks) and it was good for almost anything you could order, including extra shots, flavors, etc. You can share this between 2 people, so one coffee per day on a 7-night and you're in great shape! I think this is the best bargain on the ship.

[Merion_Mom]

"

To beverage package or not to beverage package?"

"That is the question asked at least once a day on Cruise Critic."

 

Here's another from today:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2651535

 

And yesterday:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2651036

 

And last week:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2649181

 

 

And so on:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2587398

[Merion_Mom]

I'd say no, because of the reasons mentioned above, plus the limitations (drinks over $12 are not included). We got the premium coffee card ($30 in advance for 15 coffee beverages from Latte-tudes / not Starbucks) and it was good for almost anything you could order, including extra shots, flavors, etc. You can share this between 2 people, so one coffee per day on a 7-night and you're in great shape! I think this is the best bargain on the ship.

 

1. The covered amount means that if you buy a drink that costs more than the maximum, you pay only the difference. So, if a drink is $13 and the maximum amount covered by the package on your sailing is $12, you pay $1.18, $1 plus 18% gratuity.

 

2. I believe that the coffee card is $31 plus 18% gratuity.

[Zach1213]

The amount you pay has everything to do with it. Recently, we got it at $42/day and had OBC to use, so in the end we only had to spend about $30/day (incl gratuity) to make it worthwhile. That was easy, even on port days.

 

Two things I found hugely beneficial:

 

1) It includes GOOD sparkling water...not the crappy "I'll take a bottle of sparkling water", which was awful, but GOOD sparking water. In this case, Pellegrino. I had a few of those each day.

 

2) Although I've had many cocktails in my life, there's always stuff I haven't tried, and this gave me the option to do it without fear. If I didn't like it, oh well, toss it and try again. Only happened once, but it was a risk I was willing to take.

 

Also, I never, ever had a problem getting a regular bottle of water with my alcoholic drink. Always just asked for "xxx drink, and a bottle of water", and either drank it with my alcohol (I'm a stickler to the 1:1 alcohol:water ratio), or saved it for a later time (including going ashore). Worked every single time.

[bayou cruiser]

All the talk of coffee, is there no longer free coffee in the Café and dining room?

[Clarea]

All the talk of coffee, is there no longer free coffee in the Café and dining room?

Yes, regular coffee is still one of the beverages included in your basic cruise fare.

[SeeTheSeas18]

Royal is pretty flexible on their deluxe package. If you enjoy particularly premium liquor or wine by the glass that is priced over the package allotment ($12 for smaller/older ships and $13 for newer ones), you only pay for the amount over the included amount. So a $16 glass of wine would cost you $3.54 (including gratuity) on the plan. It’s actually easier to get your value from the plan drinking things priced over the limit than it is drinking draft beers, as you’d be paying $18.88 for that glass of wine anyway!

 

While Royal’s official policy is that you aren’t allowed to bring on outside drinks, most people report being able to just put a luggage tag on a case of water and not having a problem.

 

So...this is going to be way too many words, but there are a number of factors involved in whether a package is worth it for you:

1) Do you drink a lot of bottled water? If you prefer bottled to tap, it is included in the package. This is only really relevant if bringing on a case proves prohibitively difficult or inconvenient. Or if you drink so much bottled water that you’d need multiple cases!

 

2) Do you drink specialty coffee? Lattes, cappuccinos, americanos, etc are included with the drink package. Without the drink package, these can add up. The only time coffee is not included is at the actual Starbucks locations on the Oasis class ships. It is included at various locations throughout the ship and with meals (including at specialty restaurants).

 

3) Do you like juices? Fresh squeezed orange juice is available with breakfast on the package, however glasses of basic from-a-bottle or concentrate-based juices are included in your cruise fare. If you’re on an Oasis class ship, squeezed to order juices with your choice of fruits and vegetables are included at Vitality Cafe. Vitality Cafe smoothies are also included. They can be a good way to feel like your getting in something healthy!

 

4) Do you drink soda? Soda is available by the can out of pocket. With any package, you get soda by the glass from any bar or restaurant. You also get a mug to use with the Coca-Cola Freestyle machines with any package - you cannot use these machines without a package, if they matter to you.

 

The four above are before you even get into the alcoholic options. If you drink a lot of soda, but no juice, bottled water, or coffee, the soda package might be worthwhile. I believe it costs about what 2-3 cans of soda per day would cost. If you like all those other options, plus mocktails and blended non-alcoholic drinks, you can often find the refreshment package on sale for $18 per person per day.

 

So if coffee, juice, smoothies, water, and non-alcoholic cocktails are worth $18/day to you, depending on the sale you get on the drink package you might get it for $48 per day. That’s $30 more, or a little over two specialty cocktails/blended drinks.

 

I actually purchased the package for $42/person/day, so sometimes you can find even better deals.

 

What would you want your port days to look like? Do you grab the fastest meal you can in the windjammer or get continental room service breakfast, then rush off the ship and not come back till the last minute, at which point you have just enough time to change for dinner, get a glass of wine with your meal and a cocktail with the show afterward? Then a drink package wouldn’t be close to worth it. Do you wake up early enough or leave the ship late enough that you’d want to start off the day with a latte or two, have fresh squeezed orange juice with breakfast (or a mimosa, it’s vacation!), grab a couple bottles of water to bring into the port, come back to a carrot orange ginger juice or a smoothie from vitality cafe, grab a blended drink poolside before sail away, a cocktail to take to your room before you change for dinner, a glass of wine or two with dinner, and another cocktail (or more) during the evening show or at the dance clubs? Then the drink package would more than pay for itself even on port days, and allow a lot more flexibility with what you order. It’s really up to what you want to do while on vacation, and how much money that is worth to you.

[Smiley525]

I bought the drink package on our last cruise and will again. I enjoyed the fresh squeezed juice in MDR for breakfast (best I’ve ever had) and I’d have a speciality coffee in am and in afternoon and cappuccino after dinner. (Yes I’d still sleep :-)) I also drink a lot of water! I’d only drink 3-4 or so drinks a day but usually the $12 ones.

[hellsop]

They seem to never run out of bottle water. They always run out of bananas.

 

Have you checked near the ketchup?

[Coolhand]

Does anyone know when the package will be on sale the present price I see on the RCL site is 53USD per day.

[Clarea]

Does anyone know when the package will be on sale the present price I see on the RCL site is 53USD per day.

Not predictable.