Beverage package Viking Ocean Cruises

[Usherfam]

We are booked on Viking Bergen to New York in August 2023. .. 28 days.Trying to work out whether to purchase beverage package for  cruise. Understand both wife and I required to buy it. Do you get a better selection of wines, rums, gin and beer.

first time with Viking and normally buy on Azamara

thank you

[duquephart]

Selection same for everybody. Package is just one way of paying.

[Clay Clayton]

1 hour ago, Usherfam said:

We are booked on Viking Bergen to New York in August 2023. .. 28 days.Trying to work out whether to purchase beverage package for  cruise. Understand both wife and I required to buy it. Do you get a better selection of wines, rums, gin and beer.

first time with Viking and normally buy on Azamara

thank you

With the Silver Spirits package you get a larger selection of wines by the glass at meals than the included wines that everyone gets.  I believe that all the beers are available at meals so having the package won’t make any difference for those. 

[duquephart]

8 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

With the Silver Spirits package you get a larger selection of wines by the glass at meals than the included wines that everyone gets.  I believe that all the beers are available at meals so having the package won’t make any difference for those. 

 

With or without package.

[Peregrina651]

After doing the math, people choose to buy the package for two reasons: 1) it will save them money and 2) whether they break even or not, for the convenience -- not having to keep track of the bar bill and to be able to try new drinks without the worry of "but what if I don't like it."

 

A description of the package is available on myvikingjourney.com under "OnBoard Experience."

 

When doing your figuring, keep in mind everything that you do not have to pay for:

-- any variety of coffee (except those prepared with spirits), tea and hot chocolate 24/7 -- whether it is from one of the bars or at meal time

-- soft drinks, fruit juices, bottled water, beer and the wines of the day at meal times

-- Viking has a liberal BYO policy and encourages guests so inclined to shop in port to check out the local favorites. There is no corkage fee. Beverages can be consumed anywhere on board. Bartenders will provide glasses (but you must pay for mixers, unless you grab it out of the minibar and carry it with you). Your room steward will also provide glasses upon request.

--The contents of the minibar in your cabin, which is replenished daily in all categories except V. (Note: having the drinks package does not cover the contents of the minibar)

 

While wines of the day are included at meal time, any wine on the wine list is available to purchase with your meal.

 

 

[millybess]

It’s a very personal choice. We enjoy dry red wine and we have found that the included wines at lunch and dinner aren’t dry enough for us.

 

I also like mojitos, particularly after an excursion, and DH likes beer.  

 

We often spend evenings in the Explorers Lounge and occasionally in Torshavn.

 

For us, the SSP is worth the price. Our next trip is a Trans Atlantic so we probably won’t purchase the SSP until we board so we can use up some OBC. 

[Flgreg]

Are the minibar contents complimentary in the Penthouse Junior Suites?

[LindaS272]

Yup. See Vikingcruises.com for what’s in this stateroom.

[Flgreg]

Thanks.

[janetcbl]

39 minutes ago, Flgreg said:

Are the minibar contents complimentary in the Penthouse Junior Suites?

Yes

[Clay Clayton]

30 minutes ago, Flgreg said:

Are the minibar contents complimentary in the Penthouse Junior Suites?

Minibar contents are complimentary in all Viking staterooms.  The stateroom category determines what is in the fridge drawer and how often it is replenished. 

[broker1217]

5 hours ago, Usherfam said:

We are booked on Viking Bergen to New York in August 2023. .. 28 days.Trying to work out whether to purchase beverage package for  cruise. Understand both wife and I required to buy it. Do you get a better selection of wines, rums, gin and beer.

first time with Viking and normally buy on Azamara

thank you

To clarify- you get no included spirits and only a limited selection of wines at lunch and dinner without purchasing the package.

$20 per day gives you included hard spirit drinks, extended wine list and waters such as Perrier at any time of the day.

It is worth it for us since we like choosing nicer wines to pair per course with our meals, and my husband enjoys scotch drinks. Plus we get the 15% discount on wines by the bottle.

It really depends on your drinking choices. If you are fine with the offered red or white wine or beers at lunch and dinner-then you don't need the package. If you want to drink cocktails before dinner (or at any time) or have a bigger choice of wines then the package may be worth it.

[Twitchly]

Penthouse Veranda rooms and up get a selection of spirits in their minibar, which are replenished daily. (I think DV rooms also get alcohol in their minibar but I don’t know if it’s replenished.) You can request which blend of spirits you get, up to a point: for example, you can request another mini bottle of vodka rather than the rum. Or you can request a bottle of house wine rather than spirits. You can also request specific soft drinks or mixers (such as tonic water) daily. 
 

Between that and the fact we don’t drink much, we normally wouldn’t be tempted by Viking’s drink package. But we had to use up some leftover voucher money on our last cruise, so we got it. We ended up drinking a good deal more than we usually do, and I must say it was a lot of fun! We tried nearly every red wine on offer by the glass and about a third of the whites. And we enjoyed playing around with various cocktails, too. It was very pampering to just order whatever we wanted and not think about the tab. 

Edited November 17, 2022 by Twitchly

[Clay Clayton]

DVs do not get alcohol just sodas which are replenished daily along with the little bags of snacks and chocolates. 

[LindaS272]

2 hours ago, broker1217 said:

It really depends on your drinking choices. If you are fine with the offered red or white wine or beers at lunch and dinner-then you don't need the package. If you want to drink cocktails before dinner (or at any time) or have a bigger choice of wines then the package may be worth it.

We have never found it worth it (but wouldn’t turn down a free offer 😄). To further clarify here—even if you aren’t fine with the included wine at meals, you can buy ala carte. Which is what we do, and on our last cruise of 15 days our bar tab was only about $100, and that was with cocktails. A lot cheaper than the SS package.

[molymoo]

Just one more … wine or other spirits tastings (a great sea day activity) are often included if you have the package.  The occasional “premium” tastings might incur a charge but the ssbp will get you a discount z

[TayanaLorna]

If you have 2 premium wines and 1 cocktail per day, it justIfies the $20.00 per day SSP cost.  The wine is now $8.00 per glass and the cheapest cocktail is $6.00.

[Hobson1754]

If you’re not a regular/big drinker of alcohol but, during your cruise want to try different wines and cocktails I think the SSP is the way to go - try what you want and, if you don’t care for it, try another 👍

[duquephart]

1 hour ago, TayanaLorna said:

If you have 2 premium wines and 1 cocktail per day, it justIfies the $20.00 per day SSP cost.  The wine is now $8.00 per glass and the cheapest cocktail is $6.00.

 

That's both of you. Every day.

[Hockeyump]

1 minute ago, duquephart said:

 

That's both of you. Every day.

& your point is?

[MikeyB]

21 minutes ago, Hockeyump said:

& your point is?

There is never a point, is there?

[TayanaLorna]

22 minutes ago, duquephart said:

 

That's both of you. Every day.

My husband and I can easily consume 3 cocktails/premium wines/aperitifs per day.  So 2 wines and 1 cocktail cost $22 a la carte vs $20 for the SSP.

[Clay Clayton]

5 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

My husband and I can easily consume 3 cocktails/premium wines/aperitifs per day.  So 2 wines and 1 cocktail cost $22 a la carte vs $20 for the SSP.

LOL-I CAN easily consume much more than that…..the question that we always ponder is should we? And of course with the generous allowance of bringing on our own do we need to have SS.  I have to admit that I’m much more social when we have it. Imbibing sitting at a bar is much more conducive to meeting new friends than having a drink in our room.  

[duquephart]

18 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

My husband and I can easily consume 3 cocktails/premium wines/aperitifs per day.  So 2 wines and 1 cocktail cost $22 a la carte vs $20 for the SSP.

 

Good for you.

[Mich3554]

1 hour ago, TayanaLorna said:

My husband and I can easily consume 3 cocktails/premium wines/aperitifs per day.  So 2 wines and 1 cocktail cost $22 a la carte vs $20 for the SSP.

So DH and myself, but we normally don’t drink this way on 15 or more consecutive days.  
Our 54 day back to back we took last year, there were only 10 days where both of us hit or exceeded the cost of the package.

My concern is that I do not want to be drinking because I don’t want to waste the money we have spent on the package.  That is a lousy reason for a drink.