Brand new. Advice needed

Hi. It's our 40th anniversary, and we are going to Norway with MSC this September on our first cruise.. Can anyone tell me if the drinks are expensive enough to opt for the £22.00 a day "all inclusive drink" package. Probably a load more questions coming, but this is quite an important one!

Thanks for your help,

Steve

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

The value of these packages will depend on how much you drink. So only you can figure if it is worth it to you. You can probably get the cost of drinks from someone on the MSC section of these boards.

There may be a spreadsheet available there that helps with the calculation. There is one on the Princess section, but it is based on the Princess drink prices.

Thanks for that, but the MSC web-site is not very detailed. We are not alcoholics(Yet) but don't mind a pint or two!

On most lines, the "break even" point on packages is about 6-8 drinks per day...depending on your drink of choice!

Thanks for that, but the MSC web-site is not very detailed. We are not alcoholics(Yet) but don't mind a pint or two!

I think poster paul929207 was suggesting you both read Cruise Critic's MSC board and post your question there. It can be found at:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=80

Posters there should be able to give you an idea of what drinks cost on MSC.

Hi Steve,

Off the top of my head, MSC's bar & wine prices are higher even than on US ships, plus the same 15% service charge as US ships - I suspect the break-even is around half-a-bottle of wine each at dinner plus a drink or three.

Most folk would rate £22 per day reasonable - on the likes of Royal Caribbean its more like £40, and its about £33 per day on Thomsons - even though Thomson bar prices are about the same as my local, and no service charge.

But is £22 an all-inclusive price?

Or, for instance, does your cruise price include wine at dinner and the £22 is actually an upgrade from that?

JB :)

I think poster paul929207 was suggesting you both read Cruise Critic's MSC board and post your question there. It can be found at:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=80

 

Posters there should be able to give you an idea of what drinks cost on MSC.

Yes, I was suggesting that OP go to the MSC section of Cruise Critic.

Thanks for giving him the link.

Wish the OP would more completely fill out their profile so that others trying to give them the best advice would know easily they are from.....??? The UK?? Advice would be very different for them based on location and consumer protection laws and travel advice than for cruisers from North American (the U.S. Or Canada). JMHO

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@ Steve

If MSC is like the larger "mainstream" cruiselines, you need to purchase the beverage package for EACH day of your cruise (except for the last disembarking day, usually), and each person in a cabin must purchase the equivalent package. So days that you are in a port/off the ship, you are still accruing the 22-pound x 2 persons fee. A day you might be under the weather and not drinking much or anything -- still paying. Etc.

It may be different on MSC but that is the general way it works on other lines, and what the line is counting on!

The cruiseline is not offering the package to lose money, but to make it. This can be seen by when the mainstream lines sailing off Florida during college spring break, do NOT offer drink packages at all!

Multiply the 22-GBP by the number of days (and number of people) and give yourself an "allowance" for drinks, both alcoholic and non. It is my wager you will come out ahead! Then have a pint for me!

Wish the OP would more completely fill out their profile so that others trying to give them the best advice would know easily they are from.....??? The UK?? Advice would be very different for them based on location and consumer protection laws and travel advice than for cruisers from North American (the U.S. Or Canada). JMHO

 

 

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The use of £ instead of $ tells me this OP is a Brit.

But I wish the same so many times with questions on CC, though its more relevant to issues such as visas. In which case advice for someone from "Pacific north-west" could be different if that were USA or Canada. Touche ;)

A couple of years back I actually started a thread suggesting that all posters should include at least a vague idea of their location for those reasons.

Ouch - wished I hadn't. :eek:

I was flamed by several members claiming that to be an invasion of privacy, a risk of burglary etc. Folk with screen names like, say, "cruise-lover" who don't want their privacy invaded by quoting their address as, say, "Texas". Pathetic, but I guess different folks, different ideas. ;)

BTW folks, am I not right in saying that an all-inclusive drinks package at £22 ($33) per day is better value than on most cruise lines?

JB :)

Yes, I was suggesting that OP go to the MSC section of Cruise Critic.

 

Thanks for giving him the link.

Good advice.

@ John Bull

Hey JB, here's a pint to put out the flames!

I hadn't checked the currency exchange rate before I answered above; I just wanted to supply the OP (obviously an Englishman or at least from the UK, I do not even know how to make the pound sterling symbol OR Euro symbol on my one language keyboard!) with a few other aspects to consider.

US$33/day is a better rate than most, but limitations would also need to be known, which the OP might indeed find out on the special board for MSC. But I hate just sending a new member SOMEWHERE ELSE, without some added value! After all, the section name is First Time Cruisers... not expected to know their way around immediately.

Hi. It's our 40th anniversary, and we are going to Norway with MSC this September on our first cruise.. Can anyone tell me if the drinks are expensive enough to opt for the £22.00 a day "all inclusive drink" package. Probably a load more questions coming, but this is quite an important one!

Thanks for your help,

 

Steve

Hi Steve. The Allegrissimo package on MSC is great value. It only takes about 4-6 drinks to break even. It also includes coffee at the specialist coffee bar, wine by the glass(it's only OK) and all the bottled water you need. As sterling is rising in value, there may be a way to get even better value if you can pay in Euro. Ken

Hi Steve. The Allegrissimo package on MSC is great value. It only takes about 4-6 drinks to break even. It also includes coffee at the specialist coffee bar, wine by the glass(it's only OK) and all the bottled water you need. As sterling is rising in value, there may be a way to get even better value if you can pay in Euro. Ken

Good to know about this. Thank you.