drinks package - wowzers

[Pandamonia]

1 hour ago, seb530 said:

yes we normally do P&O and the difference for drinks (both single and package) is staggering at the moment.  I dont think they bother about the 15 drink limit on p&o providing you are not showing too much signs of being the worse for wear.  I definitely cant see us shelling out £85 per person per day for drinks and , ill be honest, its making me reconsider RCL at the moment  as we have already spent more than i would expect even for an inside. We wanted to try the biggest ship but some of the other lines arent too much smaller so will need to have a think at this £££age  We really want to try RCL but everything has a price.
WHat i dont also get is it looks like we are being charged 1:1 USD:GBP from other comments when the rate is 1.2 USD per 1GBP - id like to pay in USD please!.

From other posts the gratuity is prepaid in the drinks package - im hoping that is the case but then it does make otehr drinks very expensive. Ive seen beet at $8.50 which makes it $10 after tips  which is £8.30 in GBP - I've never paid that for a pint in my life 😉

 

I'll be honest the big ships are nice for a week but everything on them is worse than the mid sized ships. Service, food and overly busy in places you want to be. Don't kill yourself just to get on one imo there will be more deals once the global economy hits the skids.

[little britain]

@seb530 with a drinks package - you need to do approx 8 drinks a day to make the drinks package pay for itself (not a problem for any true Brit lol). However remember it isn't only booze, it covers fresh squeezed juice, posh coffees, waters to take ashore too.  Not sure if you are on Wonder (you mentioned the biggest) but if you are then she is truly incredible, mind blowing,  has some amazing venues (namely the Mason Jar) where it is great to sit in a rocking chair listening to music and not worry about the cost of drinks. Or sit in Central Park under the stars.

 

RCI is far superior to P&O in everyway. You will not be disappointed.  And if you pay for the drinks package in advance then it is out of the way and you can forget about it!  It will be much more expensive to buy the package on board.

Not sure when you are sailing but there usually is a sale around 4/7 weekend.  You can buy the package now and if it is cheaper in July you cancel and rebook it at the lower price. Caveat is that it can take a few weeks for the refund to appear.

Edited March 6, 2023 by little britain

[Denversail]

20 hours ago, sailor05 said:

FYI-Norwegian offers the package with their cruises.

I’d call NCL’s offer false advertising. We still paid a few hundred in gratuities and fees. Then we realized we would still need to upgrade to premium plus to get the drinks we would want. Ends up being just as expensive as just buying the deluxe package from Royal.  

[Pandamonia]

4 minutes ago, little britain said:

@seb530 with a drinks package - you need to do approx 8 drinks a day to make the drinks package pay for itself (not a problem for any true Brit lol). However remember it isn't only booze, it covers fresh squeezed juice, posh coffees, waters to take ashore too.  Not sure if you are on Wonder (you mentioned the biggest) but if you are then she has some amazing venues (namely the Mason Jar) where it is great to sit in a rocking chair listening to music and not worry about the cost of drinks.

 

RCI is far superior to P&O in everyway. You will not be disappointed.  And if you pay for the drinks package in advance then it is out of the way and you can forget about it!  It will be much more expensive to buy the package on board.

Not sure when you are sailing but there usually is a sale around 4/7 weekend.  You can buy the package now and if it is cheaper in July you cancel and rebook it at the lower price. Caveat is that it can take a few weeks for the refund to appear.

 

Food and drinks service both worse on Royal than P&O based on last two cruises I've been on. Drinks service on royal is basically the worst I've seen it since they moved to all packages which means they really don't care if you get a drink or not since they have been paid already. Compared to P&O they actually come over and asked if I wanted another just as I run out. Royals ships are better and their customer service does seem to care when you complain unlike P&Os which seem to just go blank faced when complaining about a problem. 

 

Royal might have been superior in every way once upon a time now they are just more expensive all of the time. 

[icsys]

1 hour ago, Deeliteful said:

Current drinks package price on RCI is £58.46 per day which reflects buy one get 2nd at 50% off.

 

I won’t be buying as a)I’m travelling solo and b) with my diamond vouchers I just buy a couple more drinks if I want them. As I’m on a 14 day cruise in October  I certainly won’t be paying for a package.

 

Have a P&O cruise in June, get 7.5% discount on anything I buy and the drinks are great prices anyway.

 

 

Price is dynamic and depends on the cruise. They are all priced differently:

 

Symphony April 23 .... £71 pppd price reflects BOGO 50% off discount

Explorer June 23 ....... £73 pppd price reflects 20% discount off ship price 

Anthem October 23 ... £58 pppd price reflects BOGO 50% off discount

 

 

.

Edited March 6, 2023 by icsys

[alex_gregor]

7 hours ago, Cayman1 said:

 

You are still paying a hefty tax and gratuity on this though, yet still cheaper than buying it outright. NCL fails because they say it's FREE, yet most people don't realize the additional gratitudes that get added automatically, so technically it is not free like they say. More like a reduced rate.

 

 

1 hour ago, Denversail said:

I’d call NCL’s offer false advertising. We still paid a few hundred in gratuities and fees. Then we realized we would still need to upgrade to premium plus to get the drinks we would want. Ends up being just as expensive as just buying the deluxe package from Royal.  

 

You see, NCL calls their promotion "Free at Sea" because you pay for it prior to embarkation. Technically, they are not lying...

[Cayman1]

40 minutes ago, alex_gregor said:

 

 

You see, NCL calls their promotion "Free at Sea" because you pay for it prior to embarkation. Technically, they are not lying...

Oh you are paying for it somehow or another. Nothing in the cruise industry is "free". LOL

 

 

[Mum2Mercury]

On 3/5/2023 at 3:16 PM, seb530 said:

Drinks package has just become available for our cruise in Caribbean next year at £81.86 pp per day - nearly $100 and they state thats a 20% discount - seems insane!... anyone know the USD normal for pre-cruise package? i wonder if we are getting stiffed on exchange rate/20% VAT or something or if this is what our UA friends pay also.

I realise to keep an eye on discounts  but it really is quite eye watering as it will amoun to 2260 GBP for our B2b Cruises - $2700!

Multiple thoughts: 

- Keep watching the price.  It may go down (or up -- yikes!). 

- Ignore the 20% discount; pay attention only to the final price. 

- Remember that you'll need to add 18% mandatory tip to whatever cost you see, and that adds up to real money.  

- Since you're looking at B2B cruises, I'd ask if you'd really drink heavily enough to justify the cost for two weeks in a row ... I say this because a lot of people "burn out" on drinking that much after a couple days.  You might "win" by opting to buy the drink package for the first week, then paying for individual drinks for the second week.  

[icsys]

On 3/5/2023 at 11:09 PM, sailor05 said:

FYI-Norwegian offers the package with their cruises.

 

10 hours ago, Cayman1 said:

 

You are still paying a hefty tax and gratuity on this though, yet still cheaper than buying it outright. NCL fails because they say it's FREE, yet most people don't realize the additional gratitudes that get added automatically, so technically it is not free like they say. More like a reduced rate.

 

 

2 hours ago, alex_gregor said:

 

 

You see, NCL calls their promotion "Free at Sea" because you pay for it prior to embarkation. Technically, they are not lying...

 

If you still have to pay a gratuity on every package drink served onboard it is clearly not 'Free at Sea' so technically you could say its a lie.

[icsys]

6 hours ago, Pandamonia said:

I just got back from a P&O cruise which was so cheap i couldnt believe the price. 40 quid a day drinks package but limited to 15 alcoholic ones at 7 quid max spend. Peroni was 5.25 a pint cocktails 6.95 GBP. Best bit was that i NEVER went to the bar as a waiter fetched every drink for me and best bit NO STUPID 18% TIPS!  How amazing that the staff are paid a salary by the company and not the customer directly! Contrary to my last 5 Royal cruises where i mostly found myself stuck in a queue for a drink and then had to pay 18% for someone to pass me a bottle from the fridge. 

 

Thanks for the feedback. We have friends who have just tried P&O for their first time after several with royal and they rated it highly.

We have three Royal cruises already booked for this year but intend to give P&O a shot.

[ksadonnab]

I agree - very expensive.  This will be my first cruise in many years without the drink package.  

I'll determine if I won or lost .  

[Deeliteful]

4 hours ago, icsys said:

 

Price is dynamic and depends on the cruise. They are all priced differently:

 

Symphony April 23 .... £71 pppd price reflects BOGO 50% off discount

Explorer June 23 ....... £73 pppd price reflects 20% discount off ship price 

Anthem October 23 ... £58 pppd price reflects BOGO 50% off discount

 

 

.

Yes I know, I should probably have worded it that the prices currently showing for my TA cruise on Symphony in October are . …. 

[Miloomar]

On 3/5/2023 at 6:09 PM, sailor05 said:

FYI-Norwegian offers the package with their cruises.

FYI Norwegian cruises cost more when they include things like drinks

[Magicat]

5 hours ago, little britain said:

@seb530 with a drinks package - you need to do approx 8 drinks a day to make the drinks package pay for itself (not a problem for any true Brit lol). However remember it isn't only booze, it covers fresh squeezed juice, posh coffees, waters to take ashore too. 

We have done a couple of experiments with this.  We are D+ and get 5 free drinks.  Our last couple of cruises we purchased beers during the day.  With a morning Cesar and mixed drinks in the evening, we still only averaged about $33. US per day.  If the drink package was around $48 we would purchase it otherwise we will pay as we go.

Edited March 7, 2023 by Magicat

[ace2542]

15 hours ago, little britain said:

Who said anywhere that you will be asked for more money? You have bought a package and that is it!

Well I am ready for those games if they are. Haven't check my royal or whatever they call it for a while. You know my cruise booking where I can buy stuff. But I did notice when I was on it a few times before christmas the priced moved despite my paying. So yeah I am ready for that game if they try something or some kind of error has happeneed

[Mark_UK]

I'm a long term D+ Royal Cruiser (also UK based) and refuse to pay the £80+ a day. Given the high fares and constant upcharging am Sailing Virgin Voyages this year instead with a free $600 Bar Tab and lower overall fare. Looking forward to breaking free from my 'loyalty' and trying something new. 

 

Edited March 7, 2023 by Mark_UK

[little britain]

8 hours ago, Magicat said:

We have done a couple of experiments with this.  We are D+ and get 5 free drinks.  Our last couple of cruises we purchased beers during the day.  With a morning Cesar and mixed drinks in the evening, we still only averaged about $33. US per day.  If the drink package was around $48 we would purchase it otherwise we will pay as we go.

I haven’t bought a drinks package since I became D. Now P. If I really want a 7th drink I can buy it.
Ashamed to say I sometimes go to bed with unused vouchers  🤫

[Pandamonia]

2 hours ago, little britain said:

I haven’t bought a drinks package since I became D. Now P. If I really want a 7th drink I can buy it.
Ashamed to say I sometimes go to bed with unused vouchers  🤫

 

Once you hit that D then it feels much better because you can avoid being ripped off completely by royals terrible pricing system. I calculated that id need to save 200 per person per week on the cruise fare on another line to be in the same position as sailing royal with the loyalty benefits. So on a 12 or 14 day cruise there is 800 per couple which isnt a small sum. 

 

This is further complicated by the fact i usually do ultimate dining because my partner loves her sushi and that gives 40% off bottles of wine. A bottle of red at $33 less 40% isnt to bad even by royals standards its actually then cheaper than P&O and the rose wine is even cheaper at $29. I then plan to combine this with the coffee card and i think i can get soft drinks from Johnny rockets on the ultimate package in the 20$ budget to eat there per day.  

 

Now royal has added 40% off wine as an alternative use on its vouchers its even easier to do by the pool. 

 

If that fails then i still have the currently 140GBP per day that im NOT spending on the package to dip in to after the 4 vouchers are exhausted. But i think im finally at the point where i no longer want to drink on a cruise for the sake of drinking so i think i wont miss it. 

[seb530]

13 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Multiple thoughts: 

- Keep watching the price.  It may go down (or up -- yikes!). 

- Ignore the 20% discount; pay attention only to the final price. 

- Remember that you'll need to add 18% mandatory tip to whatever cost you see, and that adds up to real money.  

- Since you're looking at B2B cruises, I'd ask if you'd really drink heavily enough to justify the cost for two weeks in a row ... I say this because a lot of people "burn out" on drinking that much after a couple days.  You might "win" by opting to buy the drink package for the first week, then paying for individual drinks for the second week.  

Cheers - i read some posts that suggests that the 18% tip is included int he price that we see in the UK hence the higher amount but i havent gone through the checkout to find out!  We arent big drinkers but cocktails at $14 doesnt take many to get near the package - may need to switch to beer 😉

[sgmn]

1 hour ago, seb530 said:

Cheers - i read some posts that suggests that the 18% tip is included int he price that we see in the UK hence the higher amount but i havent gone through the checkout to find out!  We arent big drinkers but cocktails at $14 doesnt take many to get near the package - may need to switch to beer 😉

Yes as far as I know the 18% tax/gratuities is included the upfront price per day for UK sites. 

I miss the old wine/beer package we use to have for around £25 pppd.  It was great before we reached Diamond.  Now I'm happy with my four Diamond drinks  a day and if we want extra we'll pay as we go.  Happy with ships water, coffee, tea etc, not bothered with juice and with lots of long port days there's no way I could make a DP work even if we didn't have the diamond drinks

[Sigyn]

17 hours ago, alex_gregor said:

 

 

You see, NCL calls their promotion "Free at Sea" because you pay for it prior to embarkation. Technically, they are not lying...

NCL's is really bad if you try to travel with someone under 21 as the second passenger in your room. You know the Free at Sea isn't really Free - it's clearly a hidden cost built into the cruise fare - and yet the person under 21 doesn't get the benefit of the free drinks. They don't even get the soda package as a substitute. All they get is about $150 of gratuities taken off their bill. 

 

We did an NCL cruise as a family of three - myself, my husband and our 15-year-old son in December. Then it worked out since my husband drinks 5-7 drinks a day on a cruise and I wanted 3-4 a day on that cruise for the holidays. But my son and I are cruising alone in April for spring break, and NCL was way too expensive due to the "Free at Sea" package tacked onto the cruise fare. It's not really free. Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Holland America...everyone else was $1,500 to $2,000 less for two people in a balcony room because we didn't have to pay for drinks since I decided I'd just pay for mine as I go since I will probably only have one or two a day max without my husband to drink with me.

Edited March 7, 2023 by njsmom

[alex_gregor]

18 hours ago, icsys said:

 

 

 

If you still have to pay a gratuity on every package drink served onboard it is clearly not 'Free at Sea' so technically you could say its a lie.

Obviously, my joke went over your head. You do not pay a gratuity on each drink covered under the package. You pay gratuities for the whole package up front. In this way, it is "Free at Sea" because you pay the costs before you leave land. It's disheartening to need to explain a simple joke...

[emdia43]

9 hours ago, Mark_UK said:

I'm a long term D+ Royal Cruiser (also UK based) and refuse to pay the £80+ a day. Given the high fares and constant upcharging am Sailing Virgin Voyages this year instead with a free $600 Bar Tab and lower overall fare. Looking forward to breaking free from my 'loyalty' and trying something new. 

 

We are trying MSC this year. Drinks and WiFi included in cruise fare. 

[So_Tweetie]

We buy 375ml bottles of gin, rum or vodka from Royal Caribbean and they are delivered to our cabin on embarkation day with 4 (usually 6) cans of soda. The price is about $50 per bottle but is far less expensive than getting drinks at the bar or paying for a full drink package.