Anyone cruised without drinks package?

[Frapaccino]

Hi we are sailing RCI anthem of the seas, the Deluxe drinks package is £2154 for 2 of us for 14 days, that’s  £76 per day! It’s a lot, we may have 5-6 alcoholic drinks each day, some soft drinks and water but wondering if pay as you go will end up costing us more? 
 

Thoughts or experiences much appreciated 

 

thanks so much 

[firefly333]

Im D+ so get 5 a day. That's plenty for me but I drink the free stuff as well. I'm not much of a drinker. 

 

Probably why rcl is catering to the young new cruiser who will spend more. 

[gumshoe958]

11 minutes ago, Frapaccino said:

Hi we are sailing RCI anthem of the seas, the Deluxe drinks package is £2154 for 2 of us for 14 days, that’s  £76 per day! It’s a lot, we may have 5-6 alcoholic drinks each day, some soft drinks and water but wondering if pay as you go will end up costing us more? 
 

Thoughts or experiences much appreciated 

 

thanks so much 

Depends what you drink. Cocktails are $14 each. A glass of wine around $11. A beer $8. Water, soft drinks or nice coffee $3-$5. All plus 18% gratuity.

 

So if you drink 6 cocktails a day the package will save you money. 6 glasses of wine and you’ll roughly break even. Anything less and you’re probably best off paying as you go.

 

Edited March 10 by gumshoe958

[smokeybandit]

1 minute ago, gumshoe958 said:

Depends what you drink. Cocktails are $14 or $15 each. A glass of wine around $11. A beer $8 and water, a soft drink or nice coffee $3-$5. All plus 18% gratuity.

 

So if you drink 6 cocktails a day the package will probably save you money. 6 glasses of wine and you’ll roughly break even. Anything less and you’re probably best off paying as you go.

Throw in a couple bottles of water per day, too.

[orla56]

Hi,It depends how many port days you have when your off the ship not drinking.I think you sometimes drink more because you don't worry about the price or trying new things. If you don't take the package you can take 2 bottles of wine per cabin and water or soft drinks on to drink aswell.It'll cost you about 10$for a spirit and mixer  14$ for a cocktail and same if not more for wine plus gratuities.You could keep checking for a sale on the drinks package if don't want to pay that.

Edited March 10 by orla56

[neverbeenhere]

Yes, consuming beers (and the like) and drinking in ports would cut your onboard cost. 

[sgmn]

 

We find on the European cruises they have a lot of ports and not many sea days, so we are off the ship most of the day. We usually get a couple of beers on land with lunch. Otherwise I'm happy with their free water, flavoured water, teas and coffees during the day and just get a couple of glasses of wine during the evening. Like @firefly333I get a few free drinks because of my diamond level so I recommend you join their loyalty scheme.

 

You can bring one bottle of wine per adult on board with you and also pre-buy bottles of wine and some spirts through their gifts and gear catalogue. 

If you have a specialised dinning package, I think you can also get 40% off bottles of wine under $100

[cruiseguy1016]

The magic number to "break even" on the package is usually about 5 or 6 alcoholic drinks. So, if you're going to drink 5 or 6 alcoholic drinks + some soft drinks and water, I think you would come out ahead by buying the package.

[SG65CB]

You can calculate your break-even number, but then you're going to have to hit that number every single day for 14 days. Can you keep up with that? It will become a chore after a while. If you buy the package it might not be to save money so much as it is to have the peace of mind to just order whatever you want whenever you want without thinking about the additional cost. 

[Harrisonkid]

 i like the package for convenience and i probably even break. Remember you get specialty coffees ,unlimited Water (sparkling too), beers, and booze (up to 14 buck limit).

I guess   like other say just do the math and see if you works. Travel Safe 

[Arya23]

Hi everyone,

 

If I have the refreshment package and would like to get a cocktail, would they charge me the full price or would they only charge for the alcohol shot?

[Harrisonkid]

They charge you for the shot...but often it's the same price as a mixed drink 

[Arya23]

5 minutes ago, Harrisonkid said:

They charge you for the shot...but often it's the same price as a mixed drink 

 Thank you!

[mac66]

BYOB, bring wine and find other ways to drink.

[shipgeeks]

We have never bought a drink package; not tee-totalers, but would never find it worthwhile for our few evening drinks.

We do enjoy many of the free drinks, coffee, tea, iced tea, lemonade, Arnold Palmers, juices, and most importantly, the ship's water, from bathroom tap and from dispensers. Much nicer than any bottled water.

I have to agree with the point about being off the ship many days, and not being able to sit around the pool with Pina Coladas all day.

[oddly excitered]

Just off Anthem a couple weeks ago, the cheapest we saw on the package would have cost $1190 for our 8 day cruise for 2 people. 

We brought on 2 wine bottles and pre purchased the case of water for the room, 25 bucks, 6pack of beer with the cooler at 39 bucks,(the new cooler is really good quality) and our total bar bill at end of cruise was $600. We drank what we wanted, when we wanted and that was plenty!

I do not enjoy being totally inebriated during vacation but enjoy afternoon drinks. The package always makes me want to "get my moneys worth" and actually detracts from the relaxing enjoyment I am looking for.

[Harrisonkid]

I too would never spend $1190..most of our cruises are 6 or 7 dayers...

[Another_Critic]

2 hours ago, Frapaccino said:

Hi we are sailing RCI anthem of the seas, the Deluxe drinks package is £2154 for 2 of us for 14 days, that’s  £76 per day!

For my upcoming 14 night cruise, the drink package is more that what I paid for the cruise fare (OV balcony).  😱

 

With that said, I've never bought a drink package (47 past cruises + 2 booked).

[asomante]

Not worth it unless you are borderline alcoholic.  lol. 

 

i love to drink, but never get it.  I pay as a go and always do better that way.  I do bring two bottles of wine with me.  

[Sunshine3601]

Maybe you want to look at purchasing the Refreshment package that includes, bottled water, specialty coffees & teas, mocktails, soda and fresh squeezed juices.     Then bring onboard your own wine and pay for beer or cocktails as you go.   

 

All cabins on Anthem have a tea kettle in the cabin and you can grab free tea bags from several different venues (windjammer, solarium bistro, cafe 270, etc etc).

 

How many port days?   

[BND]

Pay as you go never cost us more than a drink package.  We're D+ and get 5 free drinks per day.  Most people do not get their moneys worth out of a package.  A lot report they start out strong but by day 4 or 5, they just can't keep up.  Plus, port days it's harder.

[grandgeezer]

We never get the drink package. We are Diamond on RCL and Elite+ on Celebrity so we get more drinks, for free, than we normally drink. It’ll be a cold day in h - ll before we change our habits just to get “our moneys worth”.

[KLMB]

We are D+ and sometimes buy the drink package depending on the ship. Since we fly to the port,  it's harder to bring cokes, water and wine on board.  Besides the 5 drinks/day, we drink specialty coffee, fresh juice, lots of water, soda, shakes and I like to sip a silly martini and then order something else. If my diet coke gets watered down, I can order another can with fresh ice.  I've calculated the costs, and either break even or come out ahead, depending on the itinerary and ship.  Of course the price is always top consideration, each cruise is different.

[cruiseguy1016]

1 hour ago, Arya23 said:

Hi everyone,

 

If I have the refreshment package and would like to get a cocktail, would they charge me the full price or would they only charge for the alcohol shot?

 

In my experience, a shot is the same cost as a mixed drink. If you're spending $14 on a mixed drink, the don't care about the 20¢ cost of the soda.

[George C]

We always bought drink package until they started giving diamond plus 5 free drinks, that combined with our suite 3 happy hour has allowed us to skip drink  package on last couple of cruises.