All Inclusive drinks?

[Mikepy]

Hi all

We are going on our first ever cruise soon, thinking of two weeks on the destiny in the Caribean in late January :)

We cant make up our minds if the all inclusive drinks package is worth it? it works out at about £48/day for the two of us which seems a lot to us who are relatively small drinkers.
A couple of glasses of wine with dinner and a few cocktails maybe plus orange juice /coffee etc
In some ways I would just prefer to pay up front and have no hassles but it does seem rather a lot. or am i just being tight LOL

what would you recommend?

thanks

Mike

[steelerannie]

We've been on 3 Thomson cruises and have always booked early to get the free all inclusive upgrade. BUT we've just returned from a 2 week caribbean cruise on Ventura (Absolutely fantastic:):)) and we had to pay for all our drinks. We didn't spend anywhere near the amount Thomson's are asking from you. We had a bottle of wine with dinner nearly every night and had loads of soft drinks during the day. We also had a cocktail each most nights, or a bacardi and coke and DH had a bottle of Magners or a pint of Stella. Personally I wouldn't pay £48 per day.

Ann

[Swerve]

We cant make up our minds if the all inclusive drinks package is worth it? it works out at about £48/day for the two of us which seems a lot to us who are relatively small drinkers.
A couple of glasses of wine with dinner and a few cocktails maybe plus orange juice /coffee etc

On average the cocktails cost £3ish each as does a glass of wine, beer about the same maybe little cheaper. How does that compare with your sums, have you allocated for those hot days when a cold beer/cocktail would be welcome relief or meeting other cruisers for drinky poo's over the yardarm etc etc ?

Going on what you say and if you stick to that I would suggest not having the AI, you'll probably save upto £100 - 150 for the whole cruise.

Hope you have a great cruise.

[Mikepy]

Thanks :D

It seems it pretty marginal - maybe ill try to negotiate a lower price before i book :eek:

I wonder what there bookings are like?:)

Mike

[SwissLe]

Other than getting it free or paying £60pp I can't think how people save money with AI. However my girlfriend and drank like fishes for a week, did a £40 trip in Morocco and walked away with a bill of £200. That was made up of Captain Morgans, champagne and bottled water - not included in the AI programme. We also enjoyed selecting wine with dinner rather than having to have glasses of house.

[Mikepy]

Ah do you mean £40/person/week?

if so thats a no-brainer, friends got a £30/person/week deal earlier this year in the med!

But we are being told £168/person/week :eek:

is this normal?

Mike

[smiffy1951]

Hi there:D

Not sure if Thomson's have increased the AI on the caribbean as we are booked on for 2 weeks on the 22nd March and our AI was £298 each for the 2 weeks which is only around £20 each per day which I think is good value, taking into account soft drinks, cocktails during the day and then spirits and beers in the evening as well as speciality coffees after dinner.

Smiffy1951:rolleyes:

[nuskett]

We have just come back from a great first cruise with Thompson on their ship Celebration on the Colouful Coasts cruise. Couple of things for people to be aware of that wasn't really told to us when buying the holiday.
Drinks package - Dont bother, we drank every day and would never have spent that amount, plus please note; Even if you buy the package, you will still have to pay a supplement on quite a lot of the drinks. We did not find them any more expensive than ordinary UK pubs. The wines however, are considerably more expensive, I did the wine tasting hour which was overpriced and there they informed us of the ships prices.
The trip to Marrakesh is not very good 4 hours each way and hassle when you get there from over zelous lazy traders who pester you. We went on the one of the other trips around Agadir which was better. On the whole the cruise was brilliant. Be aware that this is a cashless ship so everything is put on your room and has to be settled before leaving. This did cause quite a few problems for some passengers. Expect to pay an additional £200 to 400 for trips and drink and other extras over and above spending money and the cost of the holiday and we were not as extravagant as some.:)

[capasamari]

Tropical Transatlantic December 2008


Pay As You Go Bar Prices:

Cocktails £3.40, cocktail of the day £2.95, non-alcoholic cocktails £1.90, aperitifs £2.85, house spirits £2.30, whisky £2.85-3.70, branded spirits £2.85-3.70, house wine (150ml) £2.95, brandy £2.85-6.20, port & sherry £2.55, shooters £3.40, draught Stella/Boddingtons £2.70 (pint), 330ml cans beer £2.70, Breezer £3.05, fruit juice (200ml), cola etc (330ml) £1.25, tea/coffee (in bars) £1.40-1.65, liqueur coffees £3.15.

All-Inclusive Package:

Supplements of 95p-£1.05 apply in addition to A.I. package for 3 cocktails (out of a choice of 31), for 5 whiskies (out of a choice of 11) for Absolut vodka (but not Smirnoff), for Southern Comfort and Captain Morgan (but not Bacardi or Malibu), for Baileys (but not Tia Maria, Cointreau, Drambuie or Sambuca), for 3 shooters (out of a choice of 4).

Supplements of 45p-£2.95 for 6 brandies (out of a choice of 9).

Supplements of £1.75 for canned beers (Heineken, Budweiser, Corona, Guiness, Becks, Stella, non-alcoholic).

Supplements of £2.00 for Bacardi Breezer, Smirnoff Ice.

Supplement of 95p for liqueur coffee.


Tea, coffee and water available free with restaurant meals and 24 hours at Lido self-serve as is juice at breakfast.


We had A.I. free as we booked the cruise early, other people paid less for the cruise but paid up to £348 each for the A.I. package, or else built up a pay-as-you-drink bar bill. The cost of the A.I. varied depending on when you booked the cruise.

The A.I. means you just have a drink of whatever, whenever within the constraints of the supplements, but bar staff always pointed these out before you ordered. It meant we tried cocktails we probably wouldn't have otherwise! We found there was plenty to choose from without paying a supplement. Starting with a mid-morning cappuccino, it is not difficult to get through a dozen or so drinks a day each, alcoholic or otherwise.

[vwgolf]

I certainly wouldn't pay the full asking price for an AI upgrade. We've just booked a Thomson's cruise online for Summer 2009 and only paid £49 for the upgrade - that's £7 a day which is pretty good value. To be honest, the drinks aren't that expensive on Thomson's ships although the cost does add up after a hectic week!

[kate52]

Hmm- swings and roundabouts!! The AI price has come down from £170 to £49, and the cruise price has gone up about £100. I think I'll hang on a bit longer and see what happens!
kate

[vwgolf]

The prices have been going up and down like a yo-yo! I've been checking over the past 4-5 weeks and the prices are different every time I look. We decided to take the plunge and book over Christmas as we want a 4 berth outside cabin and the choice is rather limited.

[Booze Cruiser]

We went on the Celebration over Xmas & New Year on a "free upgrade" on the drinks package & did we go for it or what. :) There were 2 families including 3 teenagers & I reckon my mate & I alone had about £1300 -£1400 between us. So I think it is well worth it even if you have to pay for it.

[davecttr]

Last September on Celebration my weeks drinks bill was less than £100 so paying full price for a AI would be a bad idea. I did get a free upgrade for Greece this summer though:)

[jilljoy]

we have just got back from a carribbean cruise on the destiny and we didnt have all inclusive.
there were 6 of us in our party in 3 cabins and if you added all the drinks bills up it came to £460 for 1 week,we had the choice of paying AI when we booked for £169pp,so for us it was not worth it

[pujro]

It's obvious to say it but I suppose anyone can do a reasonable estimate of what they drink on holiday. On our last two cruises the drink bills were enormous, so we have no problem with the current cost of AI, though clearly would love to get it cheaper! I'll be doing a tally to see how it works out, assuming I'm sober enough to add up......:D

[Booze Cruiser]

We have booked up for a Caribbean cruise on the Destiny for Feburary 2010 and got a free upgrade for the drinks package, which I think Thomson's are now charging £329 for 14 nights at Xmas & New Year. I would still pay this amount as I don't want to start counting the pennies when I'm on holiday & the thought of having pre paid for drinks makes perfect sense to me. The kids can go off & drink what (soft drinks only Kid's!!) :D & when they like without coming back to ask us for a drink. It's so much more relaxing & Thomson are great at the friendly atmosphere they create on their ships, mainly due to the hard working staff throughout. Everyone is so friendly even the maintenance crew. I think us customers could learn a thing or two from the staff regarding manners etc. Wouldn't it be nice if the customers said hello to each other, rather than just the staff. I think I'm making it my New Years resolution to say hello to 20 different people on each day of the cruise next year & see if it catches on, You never know. :rolleyes: