Ultimate drink package

[tcgary]

What is the average final price? For the past seven years we have only done Carnival. However, recently booked a cruise for the vision of the seas and after booking went  to check the price of the drink package it was $74.95 plus tip. My question is how low does these packages normally go? I will continue to cruise carnival as long as the drink package is this much money, kinda takes royal Caribbean out of our plans.

 

Thank you.

[firefly333]

It varys higher and lower. Dynamic pricing not fixed at 59 plus tip, $70ish on carnival.

 

If this is your only consideration then book carnival. 

 

I personally wish I'd booked more royal and less carnival as at 80 pts on royal at diamond you start getting free drinks which is enough for me. Royal has the best perks at higher loyalty levels. Carnival has a cheaper drink pkg. Ok. 

 

Black friday sales can be good, hard to predict. 

[Lakelife4me]

We got a BOGO for Wonder in March. Booked back in April. $77.99 a day per person. Curious if royal offer a better black Friday deal?

Edited September 14, 2023 by Lakelife4me
LOL...just saw firefly's reply!

[ShillyShally]

Carnival limits drinks to 15 a day. Royal does not.  

[ShillyShally]

1 minute ago, Lakelife4me said:

We got a BOGO for Wonder in March. Booked back in April. $77.99 a day per person. Curious if royal offer a better black Friday deal?

If you see 30% off that's the one better than BOGO

[firefly333]

32 minutes ago, ShillyShally said:

Carnival limits drinks to 15 a day. Royal does not.  

Also out of Galveston the pkg starts day 1

 

The pkg is good on private islands, carnivals is not.

 

On the other side ...carnivals is good up to $20 so you can order premium brands, rcl good up to $14. Then again they both treat drinks over the minimum very different.

 

Wine, royal has german wine, carnival does not. More choices. Carnival is full of complaints about wait time for drinks, not enough waiters unless you book a special area of cabins. People often wait for 20 minutes on carnival lined up just to order a drink. 

 

Lots of differences. 

[smokeybandit]

Prices range from $60-$80, but there's really no such thing as an average since it can be different for every cruise.

[tcgary]

I was not complaining, as usual people can’t just answer the question. My question was what does the average price go down to since you can not check it on the website 

[Jerseygirl1416]

For my upcoming October 7 night cruise the price has bounced back and forth between $72.99 and $77.99 over the last year depending on which bs sale they were running. It’s hard to give an overall average price because pricing is dependent on a number of metrics like number of nights, occupancy, number of pkgs purchased, itinerary and who knows what else.

[fsjosh]

30 minutes ago, tcgary said:

I was not complaining, as usual people can’t just answer the question. My question was what does the average price go down to since you can not check it on the website 

 

Who knew saying something was too expensive and you'd stop cruising with Royal if they didn't make things cheaper wasn't complaining.

 

 

But the reason you can't get the answer you are looking for is no one knows. It varies, by ship, itinerary, and cruise length. No one can tell you the lowest yours might get down to. We can all give anecdotal pricing that will do you no good though. 

 

And you can check prices on the website. Follow a link from one of the emails they send you trying to buy packages, but don't log in. 

[tcgary]

46 minutes ago, Jerseygirl1416 said:

For my upcoming October 7 night cruise the price has bounced back and forth between $72.99 and $77.99 over the last year depending on which bs sale they were running. It’s hard to give an overall average price because pricing is dependent on a number of metrics like number of nights, occupancy, number of pkgs purchased, itinerary and who knows what else.

Thank you so much for answering without being a jerk!

[tcgary]

19 minutes ago, fsjosh said:

 

Who knew saying something was too expensive and you'd stop cruising with Royal if they didn't make things cheaper wasn't complaining.

 

 

But the reason you can't get the answer you are looking for is no one knows. It varies, by ship, itinerary, and cruise length. No one can tell you the lowest yours might get down to. We can all give anecdotal pricing that will do you no good though. 

 

And you can check prices on the website. Follow a link from one of the emails they send you trying to buy packages, but don't log in. 

Please read it again! 

[HaveWeMetYet]

4 hours ago, tcgary said:

What is the average final price? For the past seven years we have only done Carnival. However, recently booked a cruise for the vision of the seas and after booking went  to check the price of the drink package it was $74.95 plus tip. My question is how low does these packages normally go? I will continue to cruise carnival as long as the drink package is this much money, kinda takes royal Caribbean out of our plans.

 

Thank you.

Explorer of the seas 7 night early December is now 68. That is the low price over the last 6 months. High was 78.

 

Brilliance OTS mid March is now 58 down from 72 but it is an 11 night so you tend to see larger price swings on some 9 plus night cruises.

 

Black Friday does not offer much on drink package. Some minor discounts from the current lows on a few sailings. Mainly those 9 months or more out.

[ngrund]

15 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Also out of Galveston the pkg starts day 1

 

The pkg is good on private islands, carnivals is not.

 

On the other side ...carnivals is good up to $20 so you can order premium brands, rcl good up to $14. Then again they both treat drinks over the minimum very different.

 

Wine, royal has german wine, carnival does not. More choices. Carnival is full of complaints about wait time for drinks, not enough waiters unless you book a special area of cabins. People often wait for 20 minutes on carnival lined up just to order a drink. 

 

Lots of differences. 

Yes, Royal has a better selection of wine and beer, and if I recall correctly the $20/$14 amount differences s not that meaningful as it looks-the menu prices are also lower on Royal

[Monk86]

Am I right in saying most cocktail offerings are now $15 and the drinks package only goes up to $14 which would mean paying a dollar on all those drinks?

[ShillyShally]

1 hour ago, Monk86 said:

Am I right in saying most cocktail offerings are now $15 and the drinks package only goes up to $14 which would mean paying a dollar on all those drinks?

No, it includes the now $15 drinks, it just hasn't updated the language.

[ShillyShally]

18 hours ago, fsjosh said:

It varies, by ship, itinerary, and cruise length. No one can tell you the lowest yours might get down to.

This.  We can't tell you it may go down to $XX because your cruise may be completely different.  A 12 night in Asia is going to have a much lower price per day than a 7 night in the Caribbean.

[Monk86]

7 minutes ago, ShillyShally said:

No, it includes the now $15 drinks, it just hasn't updated the language.

Great...thank you

[volk904]

The drink package is now at 30% off which is better than the 25% off or buy one get one 50% off sales they have be running. 

[S.A.M.J.R.]

9 hours ago, volk904 said:

The drink package is now at 30% off which is better than the 25% off or buy one get one 50% off sales they have be running. 

Ignore the % off or BOGO language.  Look at the total price.  25% ( or BOGO1/2 off) off a $90 package is better than 30% off a $100 package.