Is the Cruise Beverage Packaging Value? Everything you need to know

Is the Cruise Beverage Packaging Value? The short answer is that it depends.

How expensive is the cruise alcohol packaging on any given boat compared to the cost of a separate purchase. These two things vary from line to line.

It also depends on how much you drink on any day and what drinks you usually order.

Also, it depends on whether you can use any free drinks on board before purchasing the beverage packaging. For example, on many river cruise ships, wine and beer serving lunch and dinner are included in the base fare. You only pay an additional fee for alcoholic beverages other than meal time.

In some ways, the problem is not even relevant, as they include all or most alcoholic beverages in the base fare. On some other routes, drinks are usually spent extra, but are often invested for free as part of the reservation promotion.

Are you considering buying cruising beverage packaging or are you wondering how much drinks you should budget for when cruising? Here we discuss everything you need to know about whether buying an alcoholic beverage pack while cruising is right for you.

What is cruise drink packaging?

One of the biggest temptations of many vacationers’ cruises is that the fare includes a lot, including rooms, most meals and extensive entertainment. Alas, on many rows, drinks are not part of the packaging – they can be expensive. For heavier drinkers, it’s easy to run on the huge bar label when ordering drinks in a glass.

Enter the drink package, which is a pure, drink packaging you can drink, and these products have been added over the years. For a fixed daily rate, the beverage package lets you order as many alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages as possible every day.

Prices for such packages vary by line, from just over $80 per day at the Cruise Giant Carnival Cruise Line (if booked in advance) to $105 per day in the Royal Caribbean, up to include. For more information on what is included in such packaging and its segmentation of its costs, see TPG’s ultimate guide to the Cruise Line Beverage Package.

Benefits of cruise drink packs

If you are the one who usually orders a large number of personal drinks on cruise ships, especially higher-priced drinks such as high-priced cocktails and wines in cups, you can buy a drink pack. It is not uncommon for quality cocktails to be $15 or above on some lines, and wine in glasses may also cost at least $15 on some lines.

The first thing you should do when thinking about beverage packaging is through careful consideration of the drinks you usually order (and what type) you want to order during your vacation.

As mentioned above, cruise drink packages on board are often expensive. They only make sense if you are the huge creator in the drink – real Large Creator. For example, Carnival charges $82.54 per person per day! If booked in advance ($88.44 if booked on board). Royal Caribbean beverage packages sometimes cost as much as $105 per day. These packages only make sense if the daily expenses cost more than these amounts per day.

If you are a beer drinker, these packages are usually not a lot. It’s better to just pay for beer. On Carnival boats, for example, many beers cost between $7 and $7.95. You must order over 10 beers at that price every day to make the carnival cheers! The packaging begins to pay off.

These packages make more sense for wine drinkers, as wine on a cruise ship is often expensive. The wine on the Carnival boat ranges from $10 to $15. At the high end of this spectrum, you have to order five glasses a day to start paying off.

Related: 8 Best Beverages to Use Cruise Drink Packs (and 3)

In addition to alcoholic beverages, passengers who purchase cruise line drink packs can often order unlimited amounts of non-alcoholic beverages, such as specialty coffee and soda, often incur additional costs. So, for holidaymakers who like to order large quantities of lattes, cokes and other non-alcoholic beverages during the day, these packages may be a good value, as well as a variety of alcoholic beverages.

Again, using the example of Carnival, a person who ordered two or three lattes in the morning, had a few sodas during the day, and three or four glasses of quality wine at night would be welcomed by purchasing beverage packaging.

For some cruisers, beverage packaging has also proven to be a valuable budget tool. Usually, you can buy drink packaging ahead of time and know exactly what drinks you will spend throughout the cruise, even on your stomp. Having a drink package also makes it easy for the boat on board as you don’t have to worry about going to buy a drink.

Having a drink package also allows you to try new drinks you don’t usually order without worrying about making the wrong choices yourself. If you don’t like it, just order something else.

Disadvantages of Cruise Drink Packs

The biggest downside of buying a drink bag while cruising is that you may not get value from it.

One thing to remember is that lines usually sell beverage packages By cruising, Not during the day. This means that when you want to barhop on board, you can’t just buy packages on a specific day. If you are going to make a 7-day cruise, you have to pay for all seven days of steep daily fees – even for days that don’t plan to drink a lot.

Even if you think you use a drink bag every day, remember that you may spend a lot of time on your cruise on Port Day. On most days when you get off the boat, you won’t order almost as much as a sea drink at sea. Some cruise lines don’t even allow you to use drink bags on their private islands.

These packages make the most sense for passengers who keep ordering drinks every day (even in the port days).

Related: Can I drink on a cruise ship? Guide by point

On many boats, you also need to consider your travel companion’s drinking habits. Several lines including Carnival, Dutch America and MSC Cruises have a rule that if one adult in a cabin orders a drink bag, all adults in the cabin must order the packaging. This is to prevent two people from sharing a drink bag in the cabin.

In this case, it is usually meaningless to buy cruising beverage packaging unless everyone in your cabin is an important drinker. If one of you drinks and the other drinks, you will save money by purchasing a drink through a glass.

Especially the two lines without such rules are Princess Cruise and Wind Star cruise.

Another downside of many cruise beverage packages is that they often have unexpected exclusions and price caps. For example, even the most expensive beverage packages may not include your favorite whiskey or vodka brands, and many beverage packaging only applies to menus on the menu, such as $15. Note that in some cases, the Line offers multiple beverage packages that are priced at a higher price, giving you a wider brand and higher daily cost limits.

Meanwhile, if you are a picky person with wine, you may find that the wine contained in your beverage packaging doesn’t meet your expectations. Typically, cruise beverage packaging can only be used for wine on glasses that are available in bars and restaurants on board, rather than bottled wines in cruise cellars. That is, signing a drink bag will bring you discounts when buying wine in a bottle.

Related: 17 Best Cruise Bars

How to get free cruise drink packaging

When you get a package for free, the decision about whether to get a cruise drink package changes. During the limited-time booking promotion, some large cargo lines will pay for drink packages at no extra cost.

For example, Norwegian Cruise is now promoting more ongoing in the maritime promotions, which brings free drink packages, professional dining, tour credits, and other privileges with new bookings.

Other lines that have historically been promoted with free drink packages include Princess Cruise and the Netherlands United States, although both lines are now touting the new all-inclusive powder bundle, which includes drink packages and other perks.

Related: Best Cruise Booking Allowances – Which are Actually Free

Please note that sometimes the free cruise beverage package offered through booking promotions is not always its top-notch beverage package. For example, the Celebrity Tour includes a drink package that includes one of the fare courses, called All fares. But this is not a top quality drink package for celebrities. The included packaging covers only beverages up to $12 and does not include premium brands of liquor and beer. For extended coverage lists of brands and drinks up to $19, you will need to pay to upgrade the package.

Another downside of the free cruise drink packages offered through booking promotions is that they are not really free drinks. Cruise companies usually charge customers for free drink packaging to receive a remuneration fee, i.e., 15% to 20% of the usual fee for that packaging. This can result in your “free” drink package actually spending over $100 a week.

Bottom line

Buying a drink pack on a cruise ship instead of paying for a drink alone is a great way to save on cruising, but it is not for everyone. Beverage packaging usually only makes sense for cruisers who usually order large amounts of drinks or particularly expensive drinks (such as quality cocktails). For cruisers who only drink one or three drinks a day or order low-cost beverages, such as beer, it usually makes no sense to cruise beverage packaging.

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