Drink package worth it? 2 adults, Symphony of the Seas?

[aimcat]

Just torn on whether to get the drink package. We sail in 10 days. My husband and I will drink maybe 8-10 between the both of us each day give or take depending on what we are doing and how we feel. Definitely not trying to stay wasted our whole trip but we do like some drinks. Are beers and mix drinks still about an average of 10-12 each? For us both its 810 bucks for the drink package. 

[Clarea]

If you each are ordering 4-5 drinks daily on average, including port days, then the package should save you money.

[bgoff60]

1 minute ago, Host Clarea said:

If you each are ordering 4-5 drinks daily on average, including port days, then the package should save you money.

Agreed with Bob.  Typically 5 per person per day is the true break even point.  (Depending on your tastes and level of whiskys and wine)  YMMV.

-Cheers-

[Nhhack90]

I paid $46 per person per day and think that is a good deal.  Considering it includes bottled water, specialty coffee and the average drink is $10+ I think it's a no brainier if you like to drink.  I drink a lot of water, a few espressos a day and enjoy a few cocktails..... it would add up. 

[mac66]

13 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

If you each are ordering 4-5 drinks daily on average, including port days, then the package should save you money.

 

Actually it probably won't save money since one is unlikely to drink that much without a drink package. But if the OP wants to drink a lot, then the drink package is worth it.

[aimcat]

Does it include soda also?

[Clarea]

4 minutes ago, aimcat said:

Does it include soda also?

 

All of the unlimited beverage packages include soda.

[er345]

We found out it was well worth the price of the package.  Easy question.  Drinks on Symphony are expensive! Those $13 pina coladas, Miami vice, frozen mojitos, etc all add up quickly.  

If you like lattes or specialty coffee, get one or two each morning, fruit smoothies at Vitality Cafe are included, plus bottled water.  

[sparks1093]

We bought our package for $46 pp/pd and it was definitely worth it. On our day in Port Canaveral we only had one drink each on board. It was still worth it (we had 3 sea days and a day a Coco Cay also). Drinks of the day were $8, some cocktails were $13. 

[TravisP]

2 hours ago, aimcat said:

Just torn on whether to get the drink package. We sail in 10 days. My husband and I will drink maybe 8-10 between the both of us each day give or take depending on what we are doing and how we feel. Definitely not trying to stay wasted our whole trip but we do like some drinks. Are beers and mix drinks still about an average of 10-12 each? For us both its 810 bucks for the drink package. 

Beverage Program Calculation.xls

 

Here is a spreadsheet to help you decide if it is worth the cost. 

[George C]

As already said water can add up wife will drink at least 4 bottles a day , drinks can go over ten, wine can go above the 13 limit depending on the wine . Also it’s nice that not even think of the cost when you prepay .

[aimcat]

We have only done the drink package one other time on carnival. Are gratuities included and if you want to tip more you can but not required?

[George C]

They will add gratuities when you buy it, yes many tip extra, many do not , we bring lots of singles for drink servers and bartenders.

[Cru1s1ng2009]

totally worth it with the amount you want to drink. that way you can have a little more and not worry about it. The bottled water you can take with you into port are great also. Trust me, it will pay for itself. 

[RickinStl]

2 glasses of cola.. 2 bloody Mary's, a mixed drink, and a few beers per person.. then its paid for  every day of your cruise..

 

I would advise not buying it on this sailing.. Then you can compare for the next time you go.. 

 

 

[aimcat]

We went on harmony and didnt get it then. I am pretty sure we should have gotten it as we ended up drinking more than we thought.

[grandgeezer]

We tried the drink package once. After a couple of days we gave up on getting the moneys worth. We still went to Sky every night and had our drinks. Being Elite Plus we got free specialty coffees, and we don’t do wine, bottled water or soft drinks. Otherwise we never had more than one drink. That’s one more than we normally have.

Lesson learned.

[George C]

16 minutes ago, grandgeezer said:

We tried the drink package once. After a couple of days we gave up on getting the moneys worth. We still went to Sky every night and had our drinks. Being Elite Plus we got free specialty coffees, and we don’t do wine, bottled water or soft drinks. Otherwise we never had more than one drink. That’s one more than we normally have.

Lesson learned.

This is rccl not celebrity, even though we do suites on both cruises lines and have access to suite longes and diamond we buy drink package  , but anyone who drinks one or two drinks should not get package but poster drinks closer to five drinks a day 

[dimepiece18]

The deluxe drink package is definitely worth it. Got off the Harmony on Sunday. My husband was able to get a smoothie or French juice from the Vitality spa everyday after his workout. We got bottle water with every alcoholic beverage. Stored in out fridge and took the cold bottles off the ship at ports. It was hot in Haiti, Jamaica and Mexico so it helped. Got milkshakes for my son at Johnny rockets. Fresh squeezed orange juice at breakfast in the windjammer. Got alcoholic beverages throughout the day. It gave us a chance to try different drinks we’ve never had before. If we didn’t like it then we would get something else. We didn’t have to worry about penny pinching formthe tab for drinks each day.

[tallnthensome]

Why do some people ask other people who aren't them, that have no idea of their drinking habits, if it's worth it and what to do? Decide for yourself, do or do not. 

[dhdelrod]

BUY ! Definitely worth it. 

[fdthird]

4 hours ago, tallnthensome said:

Why do some people ask other people who aren't them, that have no idea of their drinking habits, if it's worth it and what to do? Decide for yourself, do or do not. 

 

Exactly.  Never understand these kinds of questions.  

[sparks1093]

12 hours ago, tallnthensome said:

Why do some people ask other people who aren't them, that have no idea of their drinking habits, if it's worth it and what to do? Decide for yourself, do or do not. 

 

8 hours ago, fdthird said:

 

Exactly.  Never understand these kinds of questions.  

Because other people's experiences can be used as a guide for what your experience might be. Now, if everyone replied "the drink package was worth it for me" or "the drink package wasn't worth it for me" those responses would not be helpful, but if people outline exactly how they used the package to obtain value than those types of responses would be helpful.

 

And to piggy-back off of that to enhance my earlier reply- we enjoyed trying drinks that we had never tried before simply because we knew that if we didn't like the drink we could get another without having to spend more money.

[Sancho_proudfoot]

On our first cruise ever, the drinks package wasn't available, we just paid the seapass bill at the end.

 

Next cruise up, the package was available. We still had the itemised printout from last time, and the drinks part of the bill was higher than the cost of the package.

 

We aren't massive drinkers by any measure, but now always get the package. No fiddly signing slips, no buying ' drink of the day' and feeling obligated to finish it even though its foul..

 

 

 

 

[Tree_skier]

I had it on my last cruise.  I do not consider myself a heavy drinker.  I kept track of every drink I ordered and when I added it all up was amazed at how much it came to.  The drink package was under 50% less than if I had been paying a la carte for the drinks.  At $12 0r $13 a cocktail it doesn't take long at all to crank up the expense.  A fresh OJ in the morning, a few specialty coffee's in Park Cafe, a beers and a couple of frozen cocktails and boom your over the price of the drink package.