RCI Beverage package increases

[adelaidefc]

I have a 6-night cruise booked for November on Quantum of the Seas. It's been booked a while and I've been following the drinks package prices very carefully in the trip planner over the last few months. 

Generally the daily price has hovered around $80-85AUD, with a claim "25% off RRP" - making the RRP around $105ish. I was hoping for some currency fluctuations and a special to drop the price below $80. 

 

When I checked today, the price has skyrocketed to $107, but still claiming "25% off" with an RRP of $143. 

 

Wondering if others could check their planner and see what RCI are offering to them. I was lucky enough to have a package in my cart at $80ish/day, and that pricing stuck. So I purchased it for now just as an insurance policy. 

I've never sailed Royal before, and from what I've read, depending on the AUD/USD exchange rate, drinks onboard can be very pricey indeed. 

[bazzaw]

OUCH!!! I have been a good steady drinker in the past but these days I only stick to the "2 standard drinks" per day. I can of course drink much more on any one day - but NOT every day of a cruise. Cant imagine paying $80 per day for every day of a cruise. 

[NSWP]

Every cruise line I have been on, you can see from my signature the different lines...prices are high, I thought Cunard - QM2 was very high, irrespective of exchange rate.  Like Barry Bazzaw, two standard drinks does me at home and on the ships.

 

Paying $143 a day for the package is Nutz.   I know people who went on the 107 day worldie from/to Sydney, they took the daily bev package and that was $70 a day, few years ago now, $7500 booze bill.

So if it was today with RCI new price of $143 =, $15000. x 2 for a couple = $30000.  OMG I could buy a pub.

Edited April 19, 2022 by NSWP

[losfp]

Yeah $143 pd for drinks package is insane.

 

We've never taken any packages, but we will for the first time on Majestic Princess to New Zealand in January.  For $30pd, including wifi access, we figure we can at least break even on specialty coffees, soft drinks and maybe a cocktail or two a day.  Can't imagine trying to get your moneys worth on the regular price of the package, not with the amount we drink.

 

We're looking at a couple of Europe cruises on RCL next year and looking at the numbers, I'm not even sure the soft drink package would be worthwhile.  We'd just get a drink with lunch, a drink with dinner and maybe a coffee in the middle. Would be better off just paying as you go.

[GUT2407]

One thing I seriously dislike about RCCL is the always changing pricing of things like drink packages, I only buy the non-alcoholic package, but the price changes constantly, and at it’s lowest seems to be about double Princess, Celebrity, even Cunard. As I book largely based on price factoring in the extras I am likely to add it makes them hard to add into the mix.

[OzKiwiJJ]

40 minutes ago, losfp said:

Yeah $143 pd for drinks package is insane.

 

We've never taken any packages, but we will for the first time on Majestic Princess to New Zealand in January.  For $30pd, including wifi access, we figure we can at least break even on specialty coffees, soft drinks and maybe a cocktail or two a day.  Can't imagine trying to get your moneys worth on the regular price of the package, not with the amount we drink.

 

We're looking at a couple of Europe cruises on RCL next year and looking at the numbers, I'm not even sure the soft drink package would be worthwhile.  We'd just get a drink with lunch, a drink with dinner and maybe a coffee in the middle. Would be better off just paying as you go.

We tracked our drinks spending on a 35 night Princess cruise. We used the coffee package to get a slight discount on our coffees, had a pre-dinner cocktail, a digestive after dinner and wine with dinner including a few expensive bottles. It came to just under $54pp per day, well under the drinks package price at the time, and we'll save even more under the new Plus fares. 

[adelaidefc]

4 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

We tracked our drinks spending on a 35 night Princess cruise. We used the coffee package to get a slight discount on our coffees, had a pre-dinner cocktail, a digestive after dinner and wine with dinner including a few expensive bottles. It came to just under $54pp per day, well under the drinks package price at the time, and we'll save even more under the new Plus fares. 

Yep. I've been on Princess and drinks were reasonable enough price that a drinks package was unnecessary. Especially given they charged in AUD so you didn't have the exchange variable.

 

It was this thread of the Royal ex-Australian drink prices that has made me think $80/day is borderline ok. If you enjoy a coffee/juice in the morning, a couple of cocktails during the day, a wine or two at dinner and a nightcap, plus water here and there. Less so if the dollar reaches parity, but at 75c it's probably ok.

But having never been on them it's still an unknown for me.

[NSWP]

12 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

We tracked our drinks spending on a 35 night Princess cruise. We used the coffee package to get a slight discount on our coffees, had a pre-dinner cocktail, a digestive after dinner and wine with dinner including a few expensive bottles. It came to just under $54pp per day, well under the drinks package price at the time, and we'll save even more under the new Plus fares. 

The drinks package included in the Princess plus fare is decent value. When my wife and I cruised, even as recently as mid 2019 on Noordam Syd-Honolulu we stuck to our $50 a day budget for two, that paid for a few wines, we bought a bottle in MDR and saved half for next night, likewise on Princess.   With Cunard, wine prices were high because from memory in 2017 on QM2 they had mainly high end wines, for the wealthy Brit world cruisers. No De Bortoli, or Jacobs Creek, lol. 

Edited April 19, 2022 by NSWP

[Balsam12]

I kept a spreadsheet documenting the price fluctuations for many things on three RCI cruises.

On one Radiance cruise, the Beverage Package price varied between $90 and $65 per day, and with absolutely no pattern. This was for a cruise that was due to sail a week after Covid shut things down, so obviously prices will probably have gone up now.

You will need to confirm, but the good part with RCI is that if you buy the package, and the next week they drop the price, you can always cancel your purchase and buy it again at the lower price. You will need to stump up the cost of the cheaper package in full, then wait a couple of weeks for the original one to be refunded.

I did this five times:
Originally purchased on 30/8/2019 for $83.57, finally got it at $65.76.

 

It went up and down after that date, but never dropped below $65.76.
 

24/07/2019	$90.42
12/08/2019	$89.05
30/08/2019	$83.57	$83.57
6/09/2019	$89.05
21/09/2019	$78.09	$78.09
4/10/2019	$83.57
8/10/2019	$72.61	$72.61
20/10/2019	$83.57
29/10/2019	$78.09
27/11/2019	$69.87	$69.87
5/12/2019	$75.35
11/12/2019	$65.76	$65.76

 

I've posted about this many times, and each to their own, but I would never cruise without a drinks package. Again, prices may have changed, but you can get value out of a drinks package without having to be rolling drunk for the entire cruise.

 

On  a port day:

Breakfast - Real coffee $4, fresh juice $4
2 bottles of water to take ashore - $6

Back on the ship, soft drink or water $3

Pre dinner cocktail $12

2 glasses of wine with dinner $20
After dinner cocktail $12

Bottle of water to take back to your cabin $3

That's $64 on a port day, with only 4 alcoholic beverages. On a sea day, with a couple of afternoon drinks by the pool, you easily break even.

Finally, a couple of intangibles... RCI don't (or didn't last time I cruised) have a daily limit on the number of drinks you can have with the package. This means if you order a cocktail, take one sip and hate it, you just put it back and order something different. The same goes with wine at dinner. The other one is no bill shock at the end of the cruise... you don't have to keep checking how much you've spent on drinks.

Obviously, if you don't drink at least three alcoholic drinks a day, you probably wouldn't bother... you could get a refreshment package for the coffees and softies, and just pay as you go for alcohol.

[M-H-B]

I've been on two Royal Caribbean cruises and had the package both times. They have good sales around the US traditional discount days - Black Friday and Cyber Monday - which are just after their Thanksgiving so probably too late for your cruise OP.  I paid about $76 per day but that was the package that is the Deluxe + Wifi so worth it for me on shortish cruises. I don't think I would purcase on anything over an 8-9 day cruise at most, or one with lots of port days.

 

You need to be checking it almost daily to catch any other good fluctuations.

[Chiliburn]

They are $US 80 billion in debt.

[Balsam12]

Just now, M-H-B said:

You need to be checking it almost daily to catch any other good fluctuations.

I used to check it twice a day 🙂

It was actually one of the enjoyable parts of booking with RCI... I had something to do between booking and boarding. Now booked with P & O with package included, and it's a very boring wait.

[M-H-B]

5 minutes ago, Balsam12 said:

I used to check it twice a day 🙂

It was actually one of the enjoyable parts of booking with RCI... I had something to do between booking and boarding. Now booked with P & O with package included, and it's a very boring wait.

I have a Carnival one next and a ton of OBC to spend but they either don't sell things in advance normally or are just holding off while things restart but likewise nothing to do 🙂

[springaussie]

23 hours ago, Balsam12 said:

I used to check it twice a day 🙂

It was actually one of the enjoyable parts of booking with RCI... I had something to do between booking and boarding. Now booked with P & O with package included, and it's a very boring wait.

I disagree.

I think it should be all one price when booking. In AUD also. Too confusing for new cruisers. 

[Cruisers47]

We are going on a RC cruise in July around the UK.  

 

We are now diamond and finally can use our 4 drinks a day.   We will buy a coffee card and will just buy water and soda drinks as we go.  May buy the odd bottle of wine.   
 

having done 40 odd cruises wish we had done more on the same cruise line.   We usually book for the itinerary!

 

will really enjoy 4 free drinks.

 

Eileen

[Chiliburn]

You can take 2x 750ml bottles of wine per cabin,per cruise.

Also 12 soft drinks.

The diamond lounge still has the coffee machine for your coffee.

[plettza]

On 4/19/2022 at 2:52 PM, adelaidefc said:

 

Wondering if others could check their planner and see what RCI are offering to them. I was lucky enough to have a package in my cart at $80ish/day, and that pricing stuck. So I purchased it for now just as an insurance policy. 

I've never sailed Royal before, and from what I've read, depending on the AUD/USD exchange rate, drinks onboard can be very pricey indeed. 

 

My 19 night cruise is showing a bit over $1700 or about $89 per day and it claims 25% off  (AUD for a cruise in September on Ovation).  This price is about $100 cheaper than when I checked last week or the week before.

Edited April 20, 2022 by plettza

[arxcards]

Just looking at the numbers. You and your other could pay the same for your inside cabin as for your drinks packages.

 

[adelaidemay1]

I think I'm on the same sailing and in my planner today it is $107.47.  I think I have definitely seen it cheaper previously but like other people have said, there is no pattern or reason for the fluctuations so it is best to keep checking.  I would think that if it goes much lower than $80 you would be really lucky!

 

[plettza]

Edited April 20, 2022 by plettza

[Hammer61]

19 hours ago, plettza said:

My 19 night cruise is showing a bit over $1700 or about $89 per day and it claims 25% off 

Mines showing the same for a 19 day Transpacific in October, but what I don’t understand is that 25% off is the same no matter what the price???? So meaningless to pay any attention to it!

 

As much as I want to get the package, my wife does not drink any alcohol and you cant get the package unless both people in the cabin have it, can understand why they do this now and I can also call up and as long as I buy a non alcoholic beverage package for my wife I can get the premium, but even getting her the refreshment package is not cheap and its not going to get much use, water and 1 or 2 cups of coffee each day and black tea is about the only thing she drinks! So the cheaper soda package that doesn’t include water or tea or coffee is non starter, Great in all other walks of life except when it comes to cruising with RCCL, Princess on our last cruise, getting the beverage package just for me wasn’t a problem.

 

On the plus side I wont drink half as much paying as I go, I do tend to drink far more than usual or should with the package, try all the cocktails, wine with lunch and dinner, beers by the pool or on the balcony, if a week or 10 days maybe not so bad, but a 19 day transpacific crossing with all those sea days!!!!!

 

[Aus Traveller]

23 minutes ago, Hammer61 said:

Mines showing the same for a 19 day Transpacific in October, but what I don’t understand is that 25% off is the same no matter what the price???? So meaningless to pay any attention to it!

 

As much as I want to get the package, my wife does not drink any alcohol and you cant get the package unless both people in the cabin have it, can understand why they do this now and I can also call up and as long as I buy a non alcoholic beverage package for my wife I can get the premium, but even getting her the refreshment package is not cheap and its not going to get much use, water and 1 or 2 cups of coffee each day and black tea is about the only thing she drinks! So the cheaper soda package that doesn’t include water or tea or coffee is non starter, Great in all other walks of life except when it comes to cruising with RCCL, Princess on our last cruise, getting the beverage package just for me wasn’t a problem.

 

On the plus side I wont drink half as much paying as I go, I do tend to drink far more than usual or should with the package, try all the cocktails, wine with lunch and dinner, beers by the pool or on the balcony, if a week or 10 days maybe not so bad, but a 19 day transpacific crossing with all those sea days!!!!!

 

I think that pay as you go would work better for you.

[MicCanberra]

On 4/19/2022 at 2:52 PM, adelaidefc said:

I have a 6-night cruise booked for November on Quantum of the Seas. It's been booked a while and I've been following the drinks package prices very carefully in the trip planner over the last few months. 

Generally the daily price has hovered around $80-85AUD, with a claim "25% off RRP" - making the RRP around $105ish. I was hoping for some currency fluctuations and a special to drop the price below $80. 

 

When I checked today, the price has skyrocketed to $107, but still claiming "25% off" with an RRP of $143. 

 

Wondering if others could check their planner and see what RCI are offering to them. I was lucky enough to have a package in my cart at $80ish/day, and that pricing stuck. So I purchased it for now just as an insurance policy. 

I've never sailed Royal before, and from what I've read, depending on the AUD/USD exchange rate, drinks onboard can be very pricey indeed. 

It is price gouging, pure and simple

[Aus Traveller]

40 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

It is price gouging, pure and simple

I agree. The fluctuating prices are very puzzling and the price of the RCI drinks package makes the $40 one for Princess that also included wi-fi, a real steal.

[MicCanberra]

26 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

I agree. The fluctuating prices are very puzzling and the price of the RCI drinks package makes the $40 one for Princess that also included wi-fi, a real steal.

Or Xs inclusive package worth while