Ways to Save on Drinks without a Drink Package

[ISABELLA]

Seems like a lot of work to save on drinks. If you spend $$$$ in the casino, that will pay for your drinks. But it's me...

[mauimary]

I thought the title of this thread was How to save on drinks W/O a drink pkg?    This thread has gotten way off topic.  

We have had drink pkgs in the past but on this next cruise next week we have decided to go at it with no perks.  So no drinks other than Elite Happy Hour.   We did however purchase the non alcohol pkg for coffees teas  and water.  We will cover off our tips. We are Elite so will settle with those benefits and purchase what we would like.    We are trying this out to see if it can work for us. We are planning to maybe take one bottle of wine but in the past we have dragged that back home.  So May not do that.  
 

Nice to hear how others are making this work for them w/o an alcohol pkg.  

🍻 cheers
 

 

[drakes2]

33 minutes ago, mauimary said:

I thought the title of this thread was How to save on drinks W/O a drink pkg?    This thread has gotten way off topic.  

We have had drink pkgs in the past but on this next cruise next week we have decided to go at it with no perks.  So no drinks other than Elite Happy Hour.   We did however purchase the non alcohol pkg for coffees teas  and water.  We will cover off our tips. We are Elite so will settle with those benefits and purchase what we would like.    We are trying this out to see if it can work for us. We are planning to maybe take one bottle of wine but in the past we have dragged that back home.  So May not do that.  
 

Nice to hear how others are making this work for them w/o an alcohol pkg.  

🍻 cheers
 

 

The last 2 out of 4 cruises I opted not to take the drinks package and did not miss it in the least. Being Elite I get drinks between 5 to 7 also mimosas in the morning.  There were plenty of events held to quench your thirst and I took advantage of most of them. Keep in mind that on a port intensive itinerary you're not onboard a good part of the day.  

[Ex-Airbalancer]

About the only nice thing about RCL was the Diamond peck , you have 4 drink coupons up to $14 that you can use anytime during the day 

[drakes2]

3 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

About the only nice thing about RCL was the Diamond peck , you have 4 drink coupons up to $14 that you can use anytime during the day 

Thats pretty good maybe I'll book an RCCL cruise. Looking for something short in the New Year.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

3 minutes ago, drakes2 said:

Thats pretty good maybe I'll book an RCCL cruise. Looking for something short in the New Year.

Don’t book the voyager , that ship need a major upgrade 

[aggiejd2000]

We will be on Solstice over Thanksgiving week in Aqua class on a cruise only fare because we got the cabin through BCC.  If we bring two bottles of wine on board, can we take them to Blu and have them serve some of it each night to us?  If so, what would the corkage be and would it be charged per night?

[drakes2]

5 hours ago, aggiejd2000 said:

We will be on Solstice over Thanksgiving week in Aqua class on a cruise only fare because we got the cabin through BCC.  If we bring two bottles of wine on board, can we take them to Blu and have them serve some of it each night to us?  If so, what would the corkage be and would it be charged per night?

You can take them to Blu but corkage fee is $25. They do not always charge all depends. 

[Mchupp]

On 10/10/2022 at 5:32 PM, Georgia_Peaches said:

I only recently learned what ROFL means.  I thought it meant the person was sick...as in rolfing their brains out...my DD helped me see the light...I feel certain it would have been next to never before I learned the meaning of YMMV...  Anyway...all good things to now.

I have been wondering all morning what YMMV means.  Glad I’m not alone

 

can your designated driver explain to me why my mileage may vary, and what in the world it has to do with this topic?

 

 

[KY Deb]

YMMV means that a situation could have a different outcome for you than it had for me. 

[drakes2]

On 10/12/2022 at 7:38 PM, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Don’t book the voyager , that ship need a major upgrade 

I'm looking at the sky princess for end January 2023.  I just need a quick getaway to break up our cold canadian winters but flight prices over the roof.  I'm already booked on a 15 night Western Europe TA for April. 

[Ex-Airbalancer]

22 minutes ago, drakes2 said:

I'm looking at the sky princess for end January 2023.  I just need a quick getaway to break up our cold canadian winters but flight prices over the roof.  I'm already booked on a 15 night Western Europe TA for April. 

Hotels in FLL for the spring are crazy ! , 

most hotels per night are price out more than  Celebrity per night ! 
All inclusive to the Caribbean might be less money for a quick get away to warm 

[drakes2]

58 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Hotels in FLL for the spring are crazy ! , 

most hotels per night are price out more than  Celebrity per night ! 
All inclusive to the Caribbean might be less money for a quick get away to warm 

I need a hotel for my TA on April 21st and one night is almost as much as my return flight from YYZ to AMS.  I usually stay at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale marina or Renaissance both on 17th Street but now out of my reach. 

[Ex-Airbalancer]

45 minutes ago, drakes2 said:

I need a hotel for my TA on April 21st and one night is almost as much as my return flight from YYZ to AMS.  I usually stay at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale marina or Renaissance both on 17th Street but now out of my reach. 

We are on the Reflection TA , looking for hotel on April 22 

[drakes2]

2 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

We are on the Reflection TA , looking for hotel on April 22 

I hope we find something soon

 It's the weekend and many ships sailing from the ports. I'm looking at a 1 night stay upwards of $400 CAD. 

[AnnaNicole]

1 hour ago, drakes2 said:

I need a hotel for my TA on April 21st and one night is almost as much as my return flight from YYZ to AMS.  I usually stay at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale marina or Renaissance both on 17th Street but now out of my reach. 

Have you tried an Express Deal from Priceline or Hotwire?  You can select cruiseport area.  I saw some great deals for our FLL December cruise.

[Guppy99]

On 10/10/2022 at 4:01 PM, Ex-Airbalancer said:

You can bring has many bottles as you like , but be prepare to lose them in the  naughty room 😁

put 2 in each of you check bags , 2 in your carry on 😀

Yes. This is a way to cheat the rules. Stupid. If you can't afford the drinks, you can't afford the cruise.

[drakes2]

4 minutes ago, Guppy99 said:

Yes. This is a way to cheat the rules. Stupid. If you can't afford the drinks, you can't afford the cruise.

I don't agree with putting 2 bottles of wine in checked luggage and taking 2 on-board in carry on but to say that one should not cruise if they can't afford the drinks just makes no sense at all. 

[Dar & Bob]

On 10/10/2022 at 3:45 PM, Georgia_Peaches said:

Most of the OP's list is news to me.  I thought bringing wine on board was limited to 2 bottles per stateroom, not person.  The discounts on 6 packs of beers seems like a good deal.  Someone mentioned that liquor purchased in port was allowed to be carried back to the room.  In the past, it was collected and returned the evening before disembarkation.  Sounds like X has changed some of its policies.

Per the FAQs 

Guests are only permitted to bring alcohol onboard under the following circumstances

1.) Embarkation day when each guest is permitted to bring onboard with them up to two (2) bottles of wine (which are subject to a corkage fee) per guest. A corkage fee does not apply to guests with the Classic Beverage Package or Premium Beverage Package. Security may inspect containers (including water bottles, soda bottles, mouthwash, canteens, etc.) at any time and will dispose of alcohol concealed in such container.

2.)Alcoholic beverages that are purchased from onboard shops or in ports of call (which must be presented to security upon re-boarding), will be secured by ship's personnel. Alcohol secured by ship's personnel will be returned to guests just prior to the conclusion of their cruise vacation. 

[Ex-Airbalancer]

43 minutes ago, drakes2 said:

I hope we find something soon

 It's the weekend and many ships sailing from the ports. I'm looking at a 1 night stay upwards of $400 CAD. 

On April 23 2023 only the Reflection and Beyond are in port

so that really isn’t very many , I thought the price would be lower 

[drakes2]

10 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

On April 23 2023 only the Reflection and Beyond are in port

so that really isn’t very many , I thought the price would be lower 

I'm on the Apex 15 night TA April 22nd.  I really don't understand why prices are so high 6 months in advance.  I booked FBC at a great price so may have to bite the bullet on this. 

[Guppy99]

1 hour ago, drakes2 said:

I don't agree with putting 2 bottles of wine in checked luggage and taking 2 on-board in carry on but to say that one should not cruise if they can't afford the drinks just makes no sense at all. 

If you have to try to get away with breaking the rules...then you cannot afford the cruise. I stand by that comment.

[Georgia_Peaches]

26 minutes ago, Guppy99 said:

If you have to try to get away with breaking the rules...then you cannot afford the cruise. I stand by that comment.

Have to agree with you on this.  Back before drinks packages became common, we never had one and paid for our drinks each time.  We factored in extra money to cover our drinks and if we couldn't comfortably cover them, we didn't cruise.  This is totally a non issue for a non drinker...which we are not.  We enjoy our drinks on vacation very much.  If I have to sneak booze on board to save money, then I don't need to be cruising until I've saved enough to do so comfortably.

[kathynorth]

47 minutes ago, Guppy99 said:

If you have to try to get away with breaking the rules...then you cannot afford the cruise. I stand by that comment.

 

Bringing 4 bottles of wine onboard is not breaking the rules. As indicated in post #69, the rules now allow for 2 bottles per guest. Celebrity doesn't care if these are brought on ship as 2 in luggage plus 2 in carry on. We've been on 2 sail only cruises within the past 3 months and brought 4 bottles for our cabin on each cruise. On our cruise out of Bayonne we had a grandson with us and the attendant joked that we could have brought 6 bottles. On our recent cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale the security screener said we were only allowed 2 bottles until we showed them the new allowance in the cruise contract. There's lots of confusion amongst the screeners and even ship crew, so it's understandable that there's confusion on cruise critic. 

[drakes2]

5 hours ago, Guppy99 said:

If you have to try to get away with breaking the rules...then you cannot afford the cruise. I stand by that comment.

You can  stand by it till the cows come home but it doesn't mean you're right.