Does anyone regret buying a drink package?

[SConnolly]

We are first time cruisers and trying to figure out if a drink package(s) is the way to go for us. I read that coffee, tea, tap water, and juice (not fresh-squeezed) is included. Couple of questions I need clarification on please...

 

1. Is sweet tea available? And if so, is it any good? (We are from the South and love our sweet tea :cool:)

 

2. How much do sodas and bottled water cost?

 

3. Average price for a beer: $6.00 Average price for a cocktail: $8 to $9. Is that correct?

 

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

 

Drink prices

 

Iced tea is free! I guess add sugar and you have

 

http://cruisewithgambee.com/royal-caribbean-drink/

 

Other FAQ's

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.co.uk/_images/Royal%20Alcohol%20Beverage%20FAQ%20All%20Ships%20Web%20Nov%2013_tcm16-27947.pdf

Edited February 5, 2014 by SConnolly

[AeroBaldness]

Great thread and helped my wife and I make the decision to go with the Premium Package in April. Reviewing Royal's description: http://www.******************.com/royal-caribbean-beverage-packages

 

Along with what you can get at what price: http://www.shipcruise.org/royal-caribbean-alcohol-policy-drink-prices/

 

made it an easy choice.

[30thbirthdaygirls]

Following, I'm wanting to pre purchase the ultimate package as I love juice, water, coffee and cocktails. My friend travelling with me wasn't going to get the package as she didn't think she would drink that much and doesn't drink coffee, but loves juice and drinks incredible amounts of water. She has agreed to purchase it with me as I thought we both had too, can anyone post a pic/link to show where it says that not all people over 21 in cabin have to have the package? And do you both have to purchase the same package eg. 1 gets premium and 1 gets ultimate? We are probably going to hang out on the balcony a lot for the peace and quiet do they monitor where you carry around your drinks, do you think I could get away with slipping her a few of my drinks in the cabin? It's both of our first cruise so we are complete newbies to it all and I don't want to end up feeling guilty making her have to pay for something she wasn't planning on getting. Thanks in advance this is great thread :)

 

 

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[jackie101]

Starbucks and bottled waters are not included in the RCCL package unless you get the Ultimate package that includes Replenish. That will give you bottled waters. Starbucks isn't included in any of the packages.

 

thanks

[Jobeth66]

Again sorry but what your saying is Not accurate.

 

Bottled water is included in both the Premium package and the Ultimate package.

 

I apologize, You are correct. Somehow I missed it in the Premium!

[SConnolly]

I apologize, You are correct. Somehow I missed it in the Premium!

 

No worries just want folks to know what's available.

 

 

In Dec they tried to tell us it was not included so it's still fresh in my mind :-)

 

Hot topic..... All good intentions

[NH Sox Fan]

This has been very helpful, I'm pretty sure that both me and my husband are going to get purchase the premium package. My husband just wants to make sure that he will be able to get Jack Daniels. I have seen many other premium alcohol and beer listed but I have not seen anyone say that Jack Daniels is part of the package.

[30thbirthdaygirls]

Does anyone know how much or if you can buy the packages once on board and does this have to be done only on the first day?

 

 

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[30thbirthdaygirls]

Thanks for that link very informative

 

 

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[cruzn fun]

No regrets, will do drink package on every cruise available :) Cheers

[SNJCruisers]

I apologize, You are correct. Somehow I missed it in the Premium!

 

No worries just want folks to know what's available.

 

 

In Dec they tried to tell us it was not included so it's still fresh in my mind :-)

 

Hot topic..... All good intentions

The difference is that the sparkling 375 ml water is included in the Ultimate package as well as the Royal Replenish, but not with the Premium. The Premium only includes the 500 ml still water.

[SNJCruisers]

I'm really considering the Premium...or possibly the Ultimate package, as our bar bills on previous cruises have been scary. So, I'm "sorta" trying to justify a package for our next FOS cruise. Just typing this makes me salivate thinking about a Mojito at Bolero's. Anyway, I can't remember if the price of an alcoholic beverage includes the gratuity or if it's added to the price of the drink?? Anybody help me?? Thanks so much.

If you buy an individual drink, an extra 15% tip is added to the price. If you buy the drinks package, the 15% is already factored in. The only difference between the Ultimate and the Premium is that with the Ultimate you get 375 ml sparking water, fresh squeezed OJ, and premium teas and coffee. (for an extra 10.00 per day)

[SNJCruisers]

Does anyone know how much or if you can buy the packages once on board and does this have to be done only on the first day?

 

 

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You can buy the packages any day with up to only 4 days left in your cruise and yes, you can do it on board, but you do purchase it for each day that is left in your cruise. The ultimate is 65, the premium is 55, the select is 40 and the royal replenish is 20.

[dwoz2012]

For you that are getting your moneys worth are you in short cruises? we for the most part take 10 or more night and back 2 back cruises. so $65 X 10 night cruise is $650. I do not think I would drink that much coffee, water, Juice, or booze to even break even.

[SNJCruisers]

For you that are getting your moneys worth are you in short cruises? we for the most part take 10 or more night and back 2 back cruises. so $65 X 10 night cruise is $650. I do not think I would drink that much coffee, water, Juice, or booze to even break even.

It's not mandatory to purchase it for the entire cruise. You can purchase it with as few as 4 days left, but on whichever day you do purchase it, you purchase it for each and every day that is left on your cruise. So, on your 10 day cruise, you could do nothing for 6 days and just purchase the premium package for 4 days @ 55, so it would cost you 220. If you had 150 in OBC, that would reduce it down to 70.00.

[The_Big_M]

For you that are getting your moneys worth are you in short cruises? we for the most part take 10 or more night and back 2 back cruises. so $65 X 10 night cruise is $650. I do not think I would drink that much coffee, water, Juice, or booze to even break even.

 

It's quite easy to not get your money's worth.

 

But some people buy a lot as well to make it worthwhile.

[LilLady]

Thank you for the links. They were very informative and helped us further along in our decision process.

 

Does anyone know how much a soda and bottled water go for at this time?

[Jobeth66]

For you that are getting your moneys worth are you in short cruises? we for the most part take 10 or more night and back 2 back cruises. so $65 X 10 night cruise is $650. I do not think I would drink that much coffee, water, Juice, or booze to even break even.

 

We did a 12-night Med cruise in 2011 with a package on Celebrity, port-intensive, and off the ship for 8-12 hours/day for most of the trip. We got our money's worth, easily. Pricing was about the same for their premium and RCI's premium at $55/nt. I just checked my invoice for that, we paid $1,352.40 for the 2 packages on that cruise. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Just the convenience of getting what we wanted when we wanted it and not worrying about anything was more than worth it. Having it completely paid for months before we even boarded the ship was fabulous. My only pet peeve was that the wine machines in Cellar Masters on the Solstice weren't part of the package (and I believe the same holds true for Vintages on our upcoming Allure trip).

[reney313]

I wanted to clarify a few things that were incorrect with the "new" packages recently introduced and answer some questions I didn't see answered.

 

1. Not all passengers over 21 in a stateroom need to purchase any plan (NEW with the new packages)

 

2. The Premium and Ultimate plans both include bottled water. The $10 difference between Premium and Ultimate is basically the additional items in the Replenish Plan (premium coffee, tea, etc). (Also NEW with the new packages) The alcoholic drinks are exactly the same. Note: The Select plan has a lesser amount for wine allowance.

 

3. Not all beers are available on the package. Most are...but the $19.95 Chimay, etc. is not. I think it is up to $8 for beer. I'm trying to remember the specific ones on the pub menu that were not....maybe 4 or 5 of them. Foster's Oil Can, Chimay and a few other super duper premium were not.

 

4. Wine from package can be used in all Specialty and MDR's with no issue. If you are on Premium or Ultimate package, up to $12 allowance per glass of wine.

We, personally, had no issue and no attempts at upsells. If you do want a glass for more than $12, you would pay the difference only.

 

5. Jack Daniels is included. As a matter of fact, nearly every liquor was included. i'm sure there are a few that are not (thinking JW Blue). We never encountered a liquor that we requested that was not included. My boyfriend primarily drank Elite Stoli and Basil Hayden's. Both are premium liquors. Note: A few bartenders tried to tell him Elite Stoli was not included, but it is under the $$ amount listed so he politely explained it was and they gave it to him. I think they try to dissuade from some of the more super premium's that are still under the dollar limit. My dad drank primarily Jameson and no issues there. I drink foo foo drinks and beer so I never had a problem. Of course, I do count Patron Margarita's as a foo foo drink, and they always used patron.

 

6. The need to sign a slip varies from ship to ship. We were on Allure of the Seas in January 2014 and we did have to sign. I did tip extra each time on the slip and just crossed through the duplicate so I didn't carry it with me. This helped to determine how many drinks we had throughout the course of the cruise.

 

7. Back to tips--you can tip cash or on the slip. If you are on a ship that doesn't automatically provide a slip, I imagine you can ask for one. Otherwise, I would recommend providing a larger bill to the few bartenders you know you'll frequent the most often. They WILL take care of you. I did ask one of the bartenders how the gratuity that was included in the price was divided up. i thought "maybe" it was based on how many drinks they served to the package plan folks (why they swipe the card?). He said it did not matter. The amount of gratuity in the plan was added up for all participants on the sailing and then divided among ALL bartenders and servers. That means literally very little individually. The extra tips are very important for them, as you can imagine. I'm not sure if that is 100%, but that is what the one bartender I asked communicated. I have no reason to not believe that explanation.

 

8. I was worried about service with the package. I have to admit, I found 0 difference and maybe even better service. Again, I tipped well.

 

9. The price is the same if purchased online pre-cruise or Day 1 of the cruise. (For US Domestic sailings--I think some European sailings may have additional VAT tax or something that I am not familiar). You will have a sticker on your card if purchased online pre-cruise so you can use immediately when you board. You will also pay ahead of time. If you purchase Day 1 onboard, you will have to line up and buy before your first drink! But you can use OBC if you have it. You can purchase onboard up to 4 days left on the cruise and be prorated.

 

10. You can purchase one package (including non-alcoholic) and be prorated to upgrade between the # of day's left and include the original price paid. Example: My dad's wife had the soda package. She upgraded to the Select plan on Day 2. She was prorated the cost on a 7 day cruise for 6 days for Select and then reduced the price by the amount of the soda package since it is included in the alcohol packages

 

11. On that note, the soda plan with the freestyle cup is included in all the alcohol plans.

 

12. I missed going into Vintages on the cruise--I do believe the self service wines are not included based on what I've heard, but I have not confirmed.

 

I think that covers the questions I have seen here as well as some that I encountered onboard from other passengers asking me questions :)

Edited February 5, 2014 by reney313

[long_shot45]

WELL DONE reney313.......

[Wildcat Guy]

My response was to someone getting an alcohol package - bottled waters are only included in the Ultimate package. Otherwise, the Replenish package and the Bottled Water package have bottled water.

 

 

I thought bottled still water is included in premium pkg but to get sparkling you had to get ultimate.

 

 

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[printingchick]

...once you use it in the MDR the bar staff, if on top of it, will keep your information and there is no need to keep digging out your seapass.

 

 

On my last cruise (2012 Voyager), the MDR staff made a note of my seapass number after day 2 and my wine just appeared at the table each night. I did not have the package and I still had to sign. But I didn't have to order. Just like my son's after-dinner tea and our preference for the "tasty bites" in the bread basket, they learned and reacted to our preferences. Just one of the many things I LOVE about cruising!!:D

[Wildcat Guy]

On my last cruise (2012 Voyager), the MDR staff made a note of my seapass number after day 2 and my wine just appeared at the table each night. I did not have the package and I still had to sign. But I didn't have to order. Just like my son's after-dinner tea and our preference for the "tasty bites" in the bread basket, they learned and reacted to our preferences. Just one of the many things I LOVE about cruising!!:D

 

 

I was on allure last year with the old premium pkg and they had me sign a receipt on every drink. I did tip on the receipt almost every time. We are going on oasis (2nd time) in march and I'm going to bring cash tips instead. Would love not to sign every time. Anyone with info on how oasis is handling the premium Pkg and receipts?

 

 

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[niko40]

The only people that regret the drink package is the security staff speaking to the security supervisors and the chief of security after a drink related issue on a recent cruise they said the amount of drink or should I say drunk related incidents had increased significantly they wish they were stopped .:eek::eek:

[DCPIV]

Great thanks to everyone for all the information in this thread (reney313, you rock!)

 

 

D

Edited February 5, 2014 by DCPIV