Best Time to Buy A Royal Caribbean Drink Package

The best strategy for when you should jump on buying a Royal Caribbean drink package.

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[justinfusco]

Just a word of warning regarding unlimited alcohol. You might feel the need to drink as much as possible to "get your moneys worth". Let me tell you... when I got home after a 7 day cruise on Allure, I started to feel kind of anxious sitting home the first day after the cruise. I thought I was sick but I was actually experiencing alcohol withdrawal. That's right, after 7 straight days of countless drinks, my body was actually craving it. I made myself a drink at home and felt instantly better. The next day I made another drink with half the amount of alcohol and weaned myself down to zero. So if you going to go hard be prepared for the consequences when you get home. And I was like 25 at the time so if you're older, it might hit you different. Drink lots of water too.

[brianinscotland]

I drink a good amount on the cruise but the real place I get value is bottled water. I find myself drinking so much more water when I can quickly grab a bottle at any bar compared to hunting down a glass of water somewhere. Not having to worry about keeping track of how much I spent on alcoholic drinks is just icing on the cake.

[Ariadne]

I get the drink package because I don’t want to worry about what I’m spending! It includes water which I drink a lot of too! I can just get anything I want all day from a breakfast Mimosas to a specialty coffee to a glass of champagne or martini before dinner and not have to keep track of what I’m spending. It adds to that feeling of being free from worry during vacation. I’m a light weight and it’s still worth it.

[reathannklaers]

I checked my cruise planner everyday and I don't know how I got so lucky but I got it for $56.99 per day. Just keep checking on the daily and late at night to very early morning😂

[sethfriedman]

I would certainly spend less without the package - because I'd constantly wrestle with whether or not i want to spend my money on each and every drink.

I enjoy drinking; i don't enjoy mental anguish. So i spend the money up front and know that I'm now free to drink whatever i want, whenever i want.

It's not about breakeven points or getting my money's worth. It's about paying for the vacation that allows me to enjoy myself. .

[Volcomsd]

For two years in a row, Black Friday week has been the best day for me to add the package.

[kimkirksey]

I am going on my 1st cruise with my daughter. She has been on a few cruises already. She says "Get the drink package!" Really just to have everything paid for in advance is her rationale. I plan on having 2-3 mimosas for breakfast...2-3 afternoon drinks...2 dinner drinks and 2-3 club night drinks...lol lol lol

[georgelomarro]

Going on Vision of the Seas in June and I just canceled my drink package, after I thought about it for a while. It was going to be $1500 for a 9 day cruise for two, and that was after the buy one get one 50% discount and gratuity. S%!t that is a lot of money. I'm sure between us both we *could* get enough drinks to make it worth it, but at what cost? We would have to get 7 mixed drinks + 1 beer + 2 glasses of wine + 2 special coffees every day just to break even. We'd be getting drinks just "because we can" and drinking too much in the end. Gluttony, bloating and a lot a calories we really don't need.
Sooo... I canceled the drink package, and formulated a new plan. We are both ok with the majority of the complimentary drinks, and don't drink soda, so everything else we drink on the ship is because we really want it. To save some $$$ I bought pre cruise - two $30 coffee cards (30 specialty coffees at $2 each) so the wife can have her specialty coffee. I'm not into the special coffee, so I know I'll be fine with the complimentary coffee and she can use my coffee card for her coffee fix. Bought the beer cooler gift package (comes with 6 beers) for $42 to keep in the stateroom fridge. I will bring two bottles of inexpensive (but good to me) wine and 12 bottles of water with us on embarkation day. Everything else will be drinks a-la-cart, and I've already put money aside to pay the tab at the end of the cruise. I'm sure with this tactic, I'll come out well below what I would have paid for the unlimited package, and still have a great time drinking what we want when we want it.

[thGen]

Lots of people focus on “I have to drink 6-7 alcoholic beverages to break even”but forget that it covers literally everything, start your day off with a premium coffee, and a fresh squeezed orange juice (best I’ve had) then for pool time, 2-3 beers and a shot and you break even lol. Then the rest of the day isn’t too bad no need to binge drink! Take it easy with a Powerade and for dinner a nice cocktail and boom over break even 👍🏼. I tried cruising without the drink package once, never would do that again. The package is well worth it!

[khronick]

We paid 72.99 a day for our cruise in April. Was the best purchase we made. Ended up drinking over 194 cocktails by Thursday.

[TotesMAGoats]

I bring my own on board now. Rum and coke is $14 and Margaritas are $17. The package has gone up since the restart. Used to be $800 on black friday for 2 people. Now it's $1000. I've also noticed they charge 30% more for 4 nights or less itineraries. Just took a 4 nighter. Deluxe was$95/d. 7 nighters are usually $60/d.

[shans.]

I really wish they had a package inbetween the regular drink package and the deluxe drink package. like maybe something that only offers beer and wine with soft drinks.

[Eeeekamouse]

Another thing to consider is the number of port days and whether the package works there, i.e. Coco Cay, Labadee. If you're planning to be off the ship 4 of the 7 days and the drink package doesn't work there, it might not be worth the extra expense.

[gagesutton]

I drank 90 drinks in four days on my cruise. The drinks were priced around 14 each without the drink package. Which is around $1300 for 90 drinks if you do the math. I payed $600 for the drink package for 2 people which is $300 a piece. Soooo $300 for $1300 worth of alcohol is definitely worth it if you drink a lot lol

[nickmccallon]

I paid $1404.00 for a drink deluxe drink package with voom for my wife. We will easily see the value in the package and feel better knowing it doesn’t matter if we spend $500 or $2500 on drinks when the cruise is over.

[petergitz]

I paid 22 $ for the refreshment packages, it was on sale during black Friday and was 40% discounted of the normal prices of almost 38$. I think that is a good deal, as we can drink what we want, however no alcohol. Furthermore we will bring 2 bottles of wine per stateroom as well. If I want an cocktail or beer during the day we will drink it when we are at a port anyway. In the case I want a drink at the ship I will buy it separately.

[jayterry]

If I don't buy the drink package I just go dry a month before embarkation day that way my tolerance Is super low on the ship. Then I can get sloshed with 4-5 drinks a day and it costs less than the drink package

[davva]

There are a bunch of arguments for and against getting a drink package but at the end of the day the main factors you consider should be what price are they offering the drink package at, and how much do you spend on drinks on average. If you have cruised before look at your past bill to see what you spent. You can also factor in peace of mind knowing its paid for upfront but you should also ask yourself what is that worth to you. I have cruised with and without a drink package, I have done 4 cruises just since the restart and on two I had it and on two i did not. I did not get it on one because the price was just too high ($86), and on the other I was cruising with my son who does not drink alcohol. Other factors to consider, how much does your partner drink because you probably need it for both of you (I factor this in because my wife does not typically drink much). How many port days are there and are you a person that gets off the ship in port or not? You have to remember the cruise company is not going to offer the package if it loses them money on average. If they find the average person spends $40 on drinks per day they are not going to offer the package at $35. They would offer it at $50 or more because they are trying to make more money not less. So remember it may make sense for you to get it but not someone else. I went on the Mardi Gras in April 2023 and came off with a $420 bill. $130 of that was Casino so we spent less than $300 on mainly alcoholic drinks. I would have paid $1000 to get the drink package on that cruise so clearly I made the correct decision. It just depends on your own situation. Its not hard to spend $60 in a day if you are buying cocktails at $14 each and a couple of coffees, so you don’t have to be alcoholic for it to be of value, but you do have to drink things that would cost extra pretty consistently all week to get your moneys worth. If you think its going to save you money get it, if you know it wont, dont.

[mr-vet]

For my upcoming cruise on Wonder in June, the price just dropped to $70.99 (plus 18% gratuity) for the Deluxe Bev package; the refreshment package is currently $27.99 plus gratuity. In my opinion, even with the discount, they’re not worth it for most people. If it was per stateroom, it’d be a decent deal.

[DBerkowitz]

The best price I have ever gotten was the Fall of 2021 when RCL was restarting post-pandemic .. $40/day. I'll never see that price again!