Royal Caribbean Drink Package Guide for 2024 cruises

What is a Royal Caribbean drink package, how does it work, and how do you get the best price? We've got all the tips you need for a beverage package in 2024!

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[geoffreystevens]

I normally prepay gratuities, excursions, flight tickets, the cruise itself, and the ultimate deluxe drink package all at least three months before my cruise starts. There is no better feeling, imo, then going on the vacation knowing that you can have anything you want and have all this fun stuff to do, and not worry about cost for an entire week. Even If I don't "break" even on my package, it simply doesn't matter with the peace of mind that I have knowing if i want it I can have it.

[diannebrideson]

I save about $60 by buying the Refreshment Package and paying at the bar for 2 drinks per day. Since I know I won't be drinking more than 2 alcoholic beverages per day, this works for me. With the refreshment package I can get lots of mocktails, waters, etc.

[Vickix]

My friend and I have one booked for our Oasis 7 night Med sailing in May 2024. We're from the UK and got it for £64 (around $81) per person, per day during the Black Friday sale. For us it's convenience, but also, we know our drinking habits. A couple of specialty coffees in the morning, some bottled waters to take ashore, a couple of pre-dinner drinks, wine with dinner and then a drink or 2 in the evening - it makes sense for us. He's never cruised before and wanted as much paid for upfront as possible so we could just relax and go with the flow once we board.

[DarthMucky]

Good to know all this, confirms it's free water and lemonade for me all the way!

[jordanmt]

If drink packages were just a SMIDGE lower, or revised their packages, then I’d consider purchasing. Recently went on a 4 night on Independence and the cruise planner (months ahead) prices reflected $425 pp ! On the ship it increased to $500. To put this into perspective, we paid $400 pp for our sailing. To us, it seemed like we were paying for an extra trip.
RC should explore an alcoholic beverage package with a cap of 3-4 drinks per day. That would likely attract more passengers to pay.

[MTabitha]

Another benefit of the refreshment and the deluxe beverage package that not many talk about is that, at least on the Wonder, the drinks at the cafe in the Vitality Spa are included in your package. There is a good selection of smoothies, fresh fruit squeezed right there, Gatorade bottles, Red Bull, etc. They also have protein powder available, and you can add those to your drinks. You can also make a concoction of whatever is right in front of you. My partner and I are avid gymmers, so we would use the gym, grab a protein smoothie (usually chocolate protein with banana and orange), and walk the track. It was a great added bonus to our drink package that we were not expecting and do not hear about it in reviews.

[roobaseball]

I'm part of the convenience crew! Not having to sign for every drink is great and if you go to the same bar often they won't even ask for your room number!

[TheDevilishHusky]

done 4 cruises, 3 of them I did deluxe and regretted not doing it the 4th time. and you're right Matt, the magic number to "break even" is 6 cocktails but because the package is so encompassing you don't really need to just drink cocktails. the convenience factor of A: hand server card B: receive drink and card. C: DRINK with no paperwork is marvelous.

[jerrysimpson]

I love the fact that Royal will work with us on drink packages. My wife is on medication and cannot drink alcohol. Royal will allow me to get the deluxe and her to get the refreshment package. Others, like carnival, won't even consider it. What i dont like is the dynamic pricing that Royal uses! Why is alcohol more expensive on one of the new/large ships, than it is on one of the old/small ships! Why can it not be standardized? I like getting the drink package for the convenience, but have passed on a couple of cruises, because of the inflated cost.

[schamber]

I bought deluxe drink package for us for December! The convenience of not worrying about it on the ship is worth it for me!

[bobbykitchensjr.]

Already bought canceled and. Re- bought twice for a better price. Expensive but probably worth it. Also saved almost $150 watching the prices. 😊

[TheMaxRebo]

One reason I like having the drink package is it makes it easier for me to try new/different drinks - if I don't like it, oh well, leave it and get something else. Or if a drink is just poorly made, oh well, just get another. Whereas if I was paying by the drink I would make "safer" choices. Obviously I still want to at least come close to breaking even, but this aspect makes it feel a bit more "vacationy" to me

[Poofer]

Just got off a 7 day Western Caribbean on Harmony and after doing the math, the drink package had paid for itself after 2 days. Granted, my wife and I started our days with Fresh Squeezed OJ Mimosas at the Wind Jammer in the morning and had drinks in our hands pretty much all day until a night cap at Boleros on a regular basis during our trip. But if you are a heavy drinker, $14 per drink adds up real quick and that was the price almost universally for cocktails ($12 for the drink of the day).

[anadominguez]

Matt, love your videos, thank you! My husband and two boys recently went on Harmony to the Caribbean and we purchased 2drink packages and 3 refreshment packages. Totally worth it! Not having to worry about prices and how much we have consumed provided us with no stress. We drink a lot of water on land and being on the Caribbean we increased making it about 6 water bottles per person, my husband and had on average 4 drinks. Some nights more than 4 since we ventured into trying other cocktails and if we didn’t like them we ordered something we did like. Every morning I had a specialty coffee and they had freshly squeezed orange juice. They also got a smoothie every morning after working out. We all got milkshakes every evening. Totally worth getting it!

[sharikmarius]

Right now the package for the cruise I've booked for this summer is $79.99. I'm fine with drinking lemonade from the Wind Jammer, water from the bar (put it in the TermoFlask), and I couldn't care less about specialty coffee. Maybe I'd be interested in the smoothies from Vitality, but that's a stretch. So basically, the only thing I'd be interested in would be the booze. Point being, I'd have to drink a minimum for 5 cocktails daily to break even, and that's assuming I'm buying the $15 dollar drinks each time. At my age, I'm not sure that I'm still capable of subjugating my body to that much drinking over the course of 7 days.

[kuffala]

For every Royal Caribbean cruise, we have chosen a deluxe drinking package and we will continue to do so... it makes things a little easier + an easy way to test new drinks. 😁

[jessicahill]

Always worth it for me :) I love getting the drinks package on a cruise and being able to try new drinks and cocktails I normally wouldn't.

[BurntToast]

I'm ok with the Refreshment package... the mocktails are delicious and if I want an alcoholic drink I'll just buy it but maybe will have one a day (if that).

[chuckmiller]

The last 3 days of our cruise on Vision of the seas was a $99 card for 10 drinks. My girlfriend and I used that to enjoy a few drinks. Normally we drink 1-2 a day on cruise but this card worked for us. We will make diamond on the next cruise so that will go away for us, because we will get 4 drinks a day for the cruise.

[bigguy]

The package dropped for seniors on the wonder sailing for February 5th- 18th. Started at $83 then $77 and now it's $67 I've redone it 3 times now.