Drink package pricing

[irishgal432]

3 hours ago, CruisingNole said:

There’s no rhyme or reason to anything. Here’s what I’ve paid recently:

 

Oasis December 2017 - $55

Oasis December 2018 - $45 

Independence December 2019 - $56 (there hasn’t been a “sale” on this one yet, but if it’s at $56 now, I doubt it will drop below $50).

 

Either way, $45 or $56, it’s a good deal for me.  🙂

Do you remember when the Independence became available to book. We are on Jan 24th and it’s not there yet. 

[Robo1098]

I just got $52 for Mariner, July 26th. Hopefully it will be lower between now and then. Even at $52 it works for me but It would really be nice lower. I'll just keep an eye out.

[CruisingNole]

19 minutes ago, irishgal432 said:

Do you remember when the Independence became available to book. We are on Jan 24th and it’s not there yet. 

 

I just booked the cruise a few days ago, so I’m not sure. But it was available the day I booked it.

[ShillyShally]

26 minutes ago, irishgal432 said:

Do you remember when the Independence became available to book. We are on Jan 24th and it’s not there yet. 

I expect you may just have to wait a month or two but also be sure to check back often, especially if they do another black friday special at Thanksgiving since you have a 2020 cruise!

[irishgal432]

Thanks!  Its a good idea for the Black Friday sale,

[Sherri914]

I have never had the package.  We may try it on our next cruise.  Can anyone tell me if you can use it while in port?  Meaning, are the bars open while you're docked at Ports of Call?  Reason being -- our cruise has 4 stops planned, one being Coco Cay.  I know we can use the package on the island.  But we don't plan on getting off the ship at least at one, possibly two other ports of call as we've been there before.  So with the drink package, can still drink on the ship while in port?

[Clarea]

1 minute ago, Sherri914 said:

I have never had the package.  We may try it on our next cruise.  Can anyone tell me if you can use it while in port?  Meaning, are the bars open while you're docked at Ports of Call?  Reason being -- our cruise has 4 stops planned, one being Coco Cay.  I know we can use the package on the island.  But we don't plan on getting off the ship at least at one, possibly two other ports of call as we've been there before.  So with the drink package, can still drink on the ship while in port?

 

If the bars are open on the ship, you can use the package.

[Sherri914]

Just now, Host Clarea said:

 

If the bars are open on the ship, you can use the package.

 

Thanks!  I knew we could use it if the bars are open -- i didn't phrase my question right.  I'm asking ARE the bars open when the ship is docked.

[Clarea]

1 minute ago, Sherri914 said:

 

Thanks!  I knew we could use it if the bars are open -- i didn't phrase my question right.  I'm asking ARE the bars open when the ship is docked.

 

Yes, there are bars open when the ship is docked.

[jessed]

$49 for 7-12-19 Adventure of the Seas.

[TravisP]

On 3/26/2019 at 10:41 AM, nanowerx said:

The price has bounced between $52 and $56 for my June Harmony cruise ever since I booked it over a year ago (though, it may have went down on Black Friday, I didn't check at that time).

 

I know it aint much, but I am waiting for it to dip into the sub-$50 range before I jump on the Deluxe Beverage, that little bit adds up for two people over 7 nights.

I sail on Harmony in 18 days. The deluxe beverage package has never dropped below $52 for our cruise. 

[TravisP]

4 hours ago, Frankmac said:

A drinks package is a definite requirement for me, but my wife , at most , will drink a max of 3 alcoholic drinks per day. So a full price package for both of us might not be worth it, but a discounted one may be.

 

I will certainly put a request on to the roll calls for the cruises we are interested in.

 

Thanks again.

Beverage Program Calculation.xls

 

Here is a spreadsheet you can use to see if you can justify the cost. 

[nalatrixie74]

17 hours ago, TravisP said:

Beverage Program Calculation.xls 42.5 kB · 30 downloads

 

Here is a spreadsheet you can use to see if you can justify the cost. 

the spreadsheet is nice, can you explain it better? i'm kind of confused. thanks 

[audome78]

On 3/27/2019 at 10:38 AM, katiel53 said:

My Harmony cruise in January dropped to $46.  My upcoming cruise on Allure in June started at $56, went to $52 and now is $49.  

 

I am hoping it will go down to $46, but who knows?  Supposedly the $49 is 30% off and I had thought if it didn't go down more, when I got onboard, I'd try to use my D+ discount, but that's the price shown now, according to the Cruise Planner.

 

Of course, YMMV, but I bought the package for week 1 of a b2b on Freedom thru the cruise planner on Cyber Monday @42.00. The second week, the price on the ship was 60.00. My D+ discount brought it to... 42.00.

[ShillyShally]

20 hours ago, Sherri914 said:

I have never had the package.  We may try it on our next cruise.  Can anyone tell me if you can use it while in port?  Meaning, are the bars open while you're docked at Ports of Call?  Reason being -- our cruise has 4 stops planned, one being Coco Cay.  I know we can use the package on the island.  But we don't plan on getting off the ship at least at one, possibly two other ports of call as we've been there before.  So with the drink package, can still drink on the ship while in port?

Yes, we don't always get off the ship, and have never had a problem grabbing a drink on board while in port 🙂

[nanowerx]

Nice speadsheet. I plan on using this to tab out my drinks next cruise to see how I actually fair vs the package price. My simulation, I have in my head of how much I will drink, definitely has me coming out on top by getting the drink package.

[rockmom]

7 minutes ago, nanowerx said:

Nice speadsheet. I plan on using this to tab out my drinks next cruise to see how I actually fair vs the package price. My simulation, I have in my head of how much I will drink, definitely has me coming out on top by getting the drink package.

I love the spreadsheet--it was created a while ago though, so per drink prices on things like soda, some liquors, etc have gone up in price, so keep that in mind.  I have a copy saved to my computer and increased some things that I know are now a little more, so I could get a more accurate view.  

[TravisP]

5 hours ago, nalatrixie74 said:

the spreadsheet is nice, can you explain it better? i'm kind of confused. thanks 

Look for the red triangle in the top left corner of some of the cells. If you hover your mouse over that triangle a not with instructions for that cell will pop up. Cells b3, i3, b47, b48, b51, i47, i48 and c51 all have the red triangle in them. 

 

But the jest of it is in the i column you change the 0's to the quantity you feel person one will drink in a typical day on the ship. Do the same in column i for the second person if you have to get two packages. Down at the bottom put the number of deluxe packages you will get. I left it defaulted to 2. Then put the price you would be paying per day (Before gratuity) for the package for each person. Like right now on my cruise it is $52 a day. So if I were filling it out I would put $52 there. Also don't forget to put a 1 by either the refreshment or classic soda package if you would be getting those if if you don't get the deluxe. If the amount in cell i51 is less than the amount in cell f51, you are better off getting the deluxe package. If not, you might want to skip getting it. Also cell f51 will turn green if you are better off getting deluxe package. 

 

I tried to make the sheet as easy to follow as I could by adding the notes. 

 

Also I know some of the drink prices might not be up to date, plus it seems like some drink prices might be different on different ships. Seems like I have read someone say that before. But even if they are not completely accurate, it should be close enough for the purpose of the spreadsheet. 

 

If anyone that has downloaded the sheet, if you want to change and of the drink costs on it, I do not pave the sheet password protected. It is just locked with no password. Only reason I locked it was to keep someone from accidentally changing something in the wrong cell and messing up the formulas. 

[TravisP]

1 hour ago, rockmom said:

I love the spreadsheet--it was created a while ago though, so per drink prices on things like soda, some liquors, etc have gone up in price, so keep that in mind.  I have a copy saved to my computer and increased some things that I know are now a little more, so I could get a more accurate view.  

I am happy people are getting good use out of my spreadsheet. 

[rockmom]

2 hours ago, TravisP said:

I am happy people are getting good use out of my spreadsheet. 

I do love a good spreadsheet!  haha.  (and maybe because I work for that little software company with headquarters in Redmond, WA)  

Edited March 28, 2019 by rockmom

[NKLCRUISES]

Initial offer was $49 now it is $46.  27 days out from sailing on Indy. 

[lbfluffy]

Thank you for your suggestions. I bought it at $46. It just went up to $49. Glad I rely on cruise critic members!!

[SakeDad]

We bought at $50 for Spectrum and it went to $47 so we canceled and rebooked. Keeps going back to $50 but never below $47. But for 14 days we saved $100

[lbfluffy]

50 minutes ago, SakeDad said:

We bought at $50 for Spectrum and it went to $47 so we canceled and rebooked. Keeps going back to $50 but never below $47. But for 14 days we saved $100

We are only a four day, but I’ll take any kind of savings.

[RKHOOKER]

Purchased the DBP for my VOTS Mediterranean cruise in July for $46 USD.  Costing me $76.50 AUD inclusive of 18% gratuity.

Happy days on the ship!