Royal Caribbean drink package - to buy or not to buy?

[baelor]

August Symphony varied between $68 and $78, with $73 or $78 being the most frequent prices by far.  Would be worth it for my group at any of those prices.

[Tree_skier]

On 8/4/2022 at 5:12 PM, gizbug said:

What is the range of prices people have seen (and how far out from their cruise date) on the Alcohol beverage package?

Again, $72 a person per day seems high (current rate for me)

 

 

On 8/4/2022 at 6:47 PM, brillohead said:

That's pretty standard for what I've been seeing for the past several months on my upcoming sailings.

 

Sale that ended just a day or so ago had my Aug 26 Ovation of the Seas at $62.99. Just jumped back up to $65.99 now.  We're forgoing it this time and going to pay cash and depend on diamond drinks and then weigh the difference.  

[footzz]

4 hours ago, teaysvalley said:

For our October cruise it went back up to 78 at the end of this past this week, it was 72 for their "sale". I saw it at 67 early one morning and went to buy it, but the price charged when I put it in my cart. I think it was a glitch on their web page as they updated pricing for the sale. We won't buy it until it goes into the 60's range. If not, we'll go a la carte.

Glitch is right. Just went to check prices for the DBP on two upcoming cruises and our names won't populate when the 'Reserve' button is selected in our Cruise Planner.

[gizbug]

Is there a way to see if a drink package was purchased on a previous RCCL cruise and if so what we paid ?

[footzz]

53 minutes ago, gizbug said:

Is there a way to see if a drink package was purchased on a previous RCCL cruise and if so what we paid ?

Whenever you purchase a DBP, they usually send an email confirmation. If you can look back through your emails from RCCL, you'll be able to see the price you paid.

[zackarykeef]

Piggybacking onto this thread…

 

The drink package has always been my hold up with Royal. As you can see, I’ve mainly cruised with NCL, and they “include” the drink package. I recently have also started with X and MSC, who also include the drink packages. We definitely like to have our fair share of drinks on cruises, so a package is a must.

 

Royal never runs included promos, and it seems like it’s around $1000 more on top of the fare to add it, which is crazy. This is why I haven’t sailed Royal, especially when their prices really aren’t cheaper than competing lines who do include drinks.

 

The one ship Royal cruise I did take (Jewel OTS), we added the package, and I still remember so many specialty and signature cocktails weren’t included. This irked me. Is that still the case?

 

I’ve been wanting to sail an Oasis-class ship for the experience, but I’m really struggling to justify it with the drink package pricing, especially since you can’t see it ahead of time and it fluctuates week to week.

 

Any input is appreciated!

[brillohead]

14 minutes ago, zackarykeef said:

The one ship Royal cruise I did take (Jewel OTS), we added the package, and I still remember so many specialty and signature cocktails weren’t included. This irked me. Is that still the case?

Royal used to have two different booze packages -- a mid-priced and an "ultimate".  I don't recall when they dropped the mid-priced one, but IIRC, the top drink price was like $8???

The current Deluxe Beverage Package includes all drinks up to $13, and if you want something that's more than that, you just pay the difference plus 18% gratuity.  (So a $15 drink would cost an additional $2.36.)  Pretty much all the standard drinks fall in the "included" range, including frozen drinks like mojitos, daiquiris, margaritas, etc. 

[Coralc]

29 minutes ago, brillohead said:

Royal used to have two different booze packages -- a mid-priced and an "ultimate".  I don't recall when they dropped the mid-priced one, but IIRC, the top drink price was like $8???
 

They used to have a beer/wine package that was $45/per day. (Select Package) It was probably too difficult for them to keep track of it. 

Edited August 14, 2022 by Coralc

[brillohead]

2 hours ago, Coralc said:

They used to have a beer/wine package that was $45/per day. (Select Package) It was probably too difficult for them to keep track of it. 

Thanks... I couldn't remember what it was called, but remembered it as being "medium" in price.  (I don't get booze packages at all, so I never really paid that much attention, I guess.)

[NotPayinExtra]

I know lemonade and ice water (tap) is free in Windjammer, but what's the deal with ice tea in Windjammer and main dinning? Also in any packages.

[brillohead]

48 minutes ago, NotPayinExtra said:

I know lemonade and ice water (tap) is free in Windjammer, but what's the deal with ice tea in Windjammer and main dinning? Also in any packages.

Iced tea, hot tea, and coffee are also free.  

[AZDivers]

On 8/14/2022 at 4:08 AM, zackarykeef said:

Piggybacking onto this thread…

 

The drink package has always been my hold up with Royal. As you can see, I’ve mainly cruised with NCL, and they “include” the drink package. I recently have also started with X and MSC, who also include the drink packages. We definitely like to have our fair share of drinks on cruises, so a package is a must.

 

Royal never runs included promos, and it seems like it’s around $1000 more on top of the fare to add it, which is crazy. This is why I haven’t sailed Royal, especially when their prices really aren’t cheaper than competing lines who do include drinks.

 

The one ship Royal cruise I did take (Jewel OTS), we added the package, and I still remember so many specialty and signature cocktails weren’t included. This irked me. Is that still the case?

 

I’ve been wanting to sail an Oasis-class ship for the experience, but I’m really struggling to justify it with the drink package pricing, especially since you can’t see it ahead of time and it fluctuates week to week.

 

Any input is appreciated!

 

It's hard to argue this. We are going on Allure in Sept and going to pass on the package. The pricing is just nuts considering how many days we will be off the boat and only having cocktails in the evening when we get back on.

 

[Tiggerontheseas]

1 hour ago, AZDivers said:

 

It's hard to argue this. We are going on Allure in Sept and going to pass on the package. The pricing is just nuts considering how many days we will be off the boat and only having cocktails in the evening when we get back on.

 

 

Crazy, isn't it?  Here is mine for the Odyssey of the Seas TA next October.  Granted, that price is quoted in CAD but that still works out to approximately $98.00 USD (the same that your cruise is showing as the onboard price before discount).  No discounts as of yet for us.   For 15 nights, if we tried to drink enough to cover the cost of the package we'd probably end up comatose.  LOL!   We are definitely planning a la carte unless it goes waaaaay down.  

 

Deluxe Beverage Package

Full Sailing - 15 Days

From $125.42 CAD / per guest per day

 

[klfhngr]

Upcoming Oct NoS cruise we got one DBP and one coffee card. 80 a day for DBP. We're not getting off the ship, so it will be worth it!

[AZDivers]

1 hour ago, klfhngr said:

Upcoming Oct NoS cruise we got one DBP and one coffee card. 80 a day for DBP. We're not getting off the ship, so it will be worth it!

If you didn't have to buy a Drink package for each person in the room that would make more sense.

[AZDivers]

2 hours ago, Tiggerontheseas said:

 

Crazy, isn't it?  Here is mine for the Odyssey of the Seas TA next October.  Granted, that price is quoted in CAD but that still works out to approximately $98.00 USD (the same that your cruise is showing as the onboard price before discount).  No discounts as of yet for us.   For 15 nights, if we tried to drink enough to cover the cost of the package we'd probably end up comatose.  LOL!   We are definitely planning a la carte unless it goes waaaaay down.  

 

Deluxe Beverage Package

Full Sailing - 15 Days

From $125.42 CAD / per guest per day

 

Insanity. 

[zackarykeef]

3 hours ago, Tiggerontheseas said:

 

Crazy, isn't it?  Here is mine for the Odyssey of the Seas TA next October.  Granted, that price is quoted in CAD but that still works out to approximately $98.00 USD (the same that your cruise is showing as the onboard price before discount).  No discounts as of yet for us.   For 15 nights, if we tried to drink enough to cover the cost of the package we'd probably end up comatose.  LOL!   We are definitely planning a la carte unless it goes waaaaay down.  

 

Deluxe Beverage Package

Full Sailing - 15 Days

From $125.42 CAD / per guest per day

 

Yeahhhhhh this is crazy. Looks like I won’t be sailing Royal for a while. It just doesn’t make sense. Even Celebrity, which is nicer…even though the base is higher, at least they include drinks with the always included. I know Royal is geared towards families with kids anyway, so maybe including drinks isn’t such a big draw? Idk…regardless, it can a most double the cruise fare depending on the deal so…I think I’ll pass 🤣

[klfhngr]

3 hours ago, AZDivers said:

If you didn't have to buy a Drink package for each person in the room that would make more sense.

We didn't, we only got one.

[Tiggerontheseas]

2 hours ago, zackarykeef said:

Yeahhhhhh this is crazy. Looks like I won’t be sailing Royal for a while. It just doesn’t make sense. Even Celebrity, which is nicer…even though the base is higher, at least they include drinks with the always included. I know Royal is geared towards families with kids anyway, so maybe including drinks isn’t such a big draw? Idk…regardless, it can a most double the cruise fare depending on the deal so…I think I’ll pass 🤣

Yeah, I understand.  I really like Princess' plus fare.  Once the gratuities are factored in, it makes the drinks portion more than doable for us.   For Royal we'll be okay paying as we go.  It'll probably be good for me to have to think about what I'm ordering for a second first.  Not as much fun, but good for me.  😁

[AZDivers]

7 hours ago, klfhngr said:

We didn't, we only got one.

not sure how. they tell us every of age adult in the room needs to have the alcohol package if 1 does.

[Stealthdog]

We stopped getting the drink packages on all lines.  We went through the numbers and were paying so much more on the packages and also were overdrinking to justify the purchase.

 

Between brining wine on board, discounted bottles in specialty dining (some lines), loyalty perks (some lines), and OBC (some sailings we have over $1k) the drink packages on all lines just seem to be a ripoff.

 

Now we book all our cruises without the drink upcharges (we remove "free" at sea drink package on NCL and remove all in on Celebrity).

[AZDivers]

7 hours ago, Stealthdog said:

We stopped getting the drink packages on all lines.  We went through the numbers and were paying so much more on the packages and also were overdrinking to justify the purchase.

 

Between brining wine on board, discounted bottles in specialty dining (some lines), loyalty perks (some lines), and OBC (some sailings we have over $1k) the drink packages on all lines just seem to be a ripoff.

 

Now we book all our cruises without the drink upcharges (we remove "free" at sea drink package on NCL and remove all in on Celebrity).

Probably smart

 

 

has anyone heard that you can send a gift package to your room with a bottle of booze? I saw one of these YouTubers on a cruise channel that said you can do that.

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

45 minutes ago, AZDivers said:

has anyone heard that you can send a gift package to your room with a bottle of booze? I saw one of these YouTubers on a cruise channel that said you can do that.

Yes, but the selection is limited to only a couple of really cheap boozes and small bottles.  It's not worth it.  We use to order bottles of "gift" wine to the cabin.  But with the 40% off bottles on board with the DBP it's not worth it to pay what they want for the "gift" wine.  They use to let you order "gift" beer to the cabin, but I haven't seen that in a long time.  Now I just stock up during the day and take them to the cabin for later.  

Edited August 16, 2022 by ATSEAMYLIFE

[vjmatty]

Cruise Planner just listed DBP at $90 per day on a port-intensive Enchantment sailing in the Eastern Med October 2023....it's almost like they are trying to scare people away from buying it.

[SDA1125]

So this popped up today