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WOW - bar drinks prices increased by up to 40%

icsys

By icsys,
in Royal Caribbean International

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Clarea

Clarea

Posted
Posted
Going on a cruise next year on Indy. Very tempted to get the ultimate package. Trying to work out if is it value for money. I would normally have 3 double spirits and mixer a night?

I don't believe the beverage packages include double alcohol.

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uksimonusa

uksimonusa

Posted
Posted
Hi All,

 

On the Anthem of the Sea on the 27th October Honeymoon, crossing the pond. Was going to purchase the unlimited drinks package. But note in my booking the exchange rate works out at 1.46 which is poor, as I receive bank rate of 1.53 at present, so my question is the price in GBP an estimate or do RCL rip you off for the exchange rate and bill you in sterling. If this is the would it be better if I purchased on board.

 

Many thanks,

 

Stew

 

The price is actual, not an estimate, RCI only change their exchange rate 2 or 3 times a year, depending on the actual bank rate, it does sometimes appear that you are getting ripped of, but other times you can score really big. There was a thread a few weeks ago about the RCI Canadian exchange rate being favourable, so Canadians were buying OBC and getting a very good deal.

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Diplomacy

Diplomacy

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Seems silly. It used to be that I would only drink while on vacation... and last time I cruised I think my bar bill was over $200. I definitely was able to enjoy myself, bought rounds for friends... tipped.

 

Now that they have increased their alcohol prices, I can basically guarantee that my bar bill will be at or near zero.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Fat Bastard

Fat Bastard

Posted
Posted

I have 3 cruises b2b in Dec, and just checked the package prices.

$60 AUD for the beer package, or $95 AUD for the unlimited.

Even the Royal Replenish is now $40 a day.

The Aussie dollar is crapl at the moment, but I am pretty sure the prices have gone up since I last checked a month ago...

24 nights cruising at those prices, Royal Caribbean, you have lost another drinks package cruiser.

Complete and utter Ripoff

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RadioRob

RadioRob

Posted
Posted
I have 3 cruises b2b in Dec, and just checked the package prices.

$60 AUD for the beer package, or $95 AUD for the unlimited.

Even the Royal Replenish is now $40 a day.

The Aussie dollar is crapl at the moment, but I am pretty sure the prices have gone up since I last checked a month ago...

24 nights cruising at those prices, Royal Caribbean, you have lost another drinks package cruiser.

Complete and utter Ripoff

 

Let's look at this for a second...

 

According to Google the conversion rate for AUD to USD is .70 on the dollar. So 60 AUD * .7 is 42 per day for the beer package. That matches the rates listed on the Royal Caribbean site. See the following URL for confirmation:

 

http://media.royalcaribbean.com/content/shared_assets/pdf/menus/beverage_packages.pdf

 

That cost includes 18% gratuity.

 

I just dug out a post from 2014 where the cost for the same package was 45 bucks. So this is actually $3 (US) cheaper than before.

 

How is this a ripoff?

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RadioRob

RadioRob

Posted
Posted

By the way... for giggles, I've also done the conversion for the other rates noted.

 

Ultimate @ 95 AUD = 66.50 USD. According to same PDF, the price is 67 per day. The same post from 2014 says the price back then was 65 per day, but only factored in 15% gratuity per day.

 

Royal Replenish @ 40 AUD = 28 USD. This is somewhat odd to me as the official pricing for Replenish is $22 per day. So I don't know if you're over-exaggerating that rate or if soda packages are more expensive.

 

But overall, the cost of the LIQUOR packages is not significantly higher by any means.

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OTownNick

OTownNick

Posted
Posted

Well in some cases, it's better for some people to NOT get drink package. Three seems to be more drink "specials" onboard and there's the drink of the day. Finally, it still ends up cheaper if you have 3-4 drinks max per day, and if you're off the ship a lot, you may end up drinking only 2-3 onboard so it's better in those cases NOT to have the package

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Clarea

Clarea

Posted
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Another disadvantage to having the drink package is you can't "buy a drink for someone else." I am traveling with friends often and I want to buy them a drink and I can't when I have the package.

I don't understand that. You are saying you cannot tell the bar server you must pay full price for a drink?

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  • 4 months later...
metchie55

metchie55

Posted
Posted

We are cruising November 19, 2016 on the Rhapsody of the Seas 13 night Transatlantic from Malaga to Miami. The agency had group pricing and our outside stateroom is only costing $499.49/pp including taxes. (Great pricing!)We considered purchasing a drink package since we will be at sea quite a bit. The

Beer wine and soda package price looks like it is $42/day (not sure if that included the 18%gratuity) and that will cost us more than the cruise @$546/pp.

I can't see paying more for drinks than the cruise! Drinks have really gone up! We are not big drinkers but do enjoy having drinks when we cruise!

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The Fun Researcher

The Fun Researcher

Posted
Posted (edited)

The price increase hit us May 2015 on the Oasis. We were shocked. We thought that maybe it was an Oasis thing.

 

Having been on three RCI cruises in the 3 years prior, the drink prices had been pretty stable. It really killed the vibe when we found out that we would need to shell out (if my memory is correct) $9.50 for a simple rum and coke... versus just $6.50 or so six months earlier.

 

Our bar tab ended up much lower that cruise. Just didn't feel right. I couldn't justify the price. (and we love to drink on a cruise) I remember chilling at the pool (we were a group of 6 adults), and one of our group decided to get a round of frozen drinks. The bill came to around $80! The drink just didn't taste right knowing that...

 

Dan

Edited by The Fun Researcher
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Denice and Annalise

Denice and Annalise

Posted
Posted
We are cruising November 19, 2016 on the Rhapsody of the Seas 13 night Transatlantic from Malaga to Miami. The agency had group pricing and our outside stateroom is only costing $499.49/pp including taxes. (Great pricing!)We considered purchasing a drink package since we will be at sea quite a bit. The

Beer wine and soda package price looks like it is $42/day (not sure if that included the 18%gratuity) and that will cost us more than the cruise @$546/pp.

I can't see paying more for drinks than the cruise! Drinks have really gone up! We are not big drinkers but do enjoy having drinks when we cruise!

 

Hello Metchie.

 

My Daughter and I did 2 back to back cruises on RCL November and December 2015. The prices of drinks were very high and coming from Australia, we had the low AU$ to US$ to contend with. We were at sea for 28 days. The first cruise we were lucky enough to have a Premium Drinks Package included in the fare. The second not. We purchased the drinks package onboard on the 2nd day of the 2nd cruise.

 

A couple of things to think about. It really doesn't take many drinks to reach the $42 mark each. It is very expensive and you are surrounded by drinks all day every day. It truly is a different environment. The other thing is, if you find you are not using your drinks package as much as you thought you would and it is not value for you, you can cancel it. We did. I became ill on the second cruise and after day 5 of a 16 night cruise I just called Guest Services from my cabin and said I wanted to cancel my drinks package. They didn't ask why, they just said they would send it through and have it processed. They did exactly that and the credit was put back onto my account for the balance of the days. I had the option to go and re-purchase the package if I chose to at a later time. I didn't but the option was there. My Daughter kept hers the whole cruise. We however had the Premium Package which is more expensive than the Beer, Wine and Soft Drink one. Wine will sent you back about $9-$12 glass.

 

Look for me, I would buy the drinks package and if you find that it is not value for you, cancel it.

 

A MUST DO for anyone contemplating a Drinks Package particularly if you are a cocktail drinker, is to print out a copy of the Royal Caribbean Drinks Menu (mentioned and supplied much earlier in this thread). Not sure why, but Royal Caribbean ships now only have very limited drinks menus and even on the scarce one you can get your hands on, they only list about 6-8 cocktails and to me they were very boring. Had I not taken the print out drinks menu, we would have been struggling to think of drinks very early on. Whenever we ordered a particular cocktail off the print out drinks menu they knew what is was and made it up no trouble but it was never printed on any drinks menu onboard. Guess they want Passengers to just choose the ones they want you to. So many people came up to us and asked what we were drinking as they had not seen it on the ship before. They had no idea they could order the drinks we were. I took a couple of extra copies with us and gave them out to a few newly formed friends onboard. It was suggested to us before we went on this site actually and I thanked that person every day as it really did make a big difference.

 

There is free lemonade (made with real lemons - American style) (we call our Sprite lemonade) available in the Buffet Restaurant which many people seemed to enjoy.

 

What a great deal you have. I have looked at those Transatlantic cruises and they look awesome. I am not sure that they go to too many ports though and have lots of days at sea. This is generally when drink consumption onboard goes up.

 

With the price per day of your cruise even if you add the drinks package, you are up for $80 per day. That is still an awesome all inclusive price.

 

Hope some of this info is helpful and I wish you an amazing cruise. Travel safe.

 

Regards

 

Denice :)

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Denice and Annalise

Denice and Annalise

Posted
Posted (edited)
What a great message Denice! It answered my questions even before a I asked them. Never assumed that it could be cancelled. You know what they say about "assume"...

 

Thanks for all the info.

 

Betty

 

Thanks Betty. Have a wonderful cruise. My policy is everything in moderation with the exceptions of love and laughter. :) D

Edited by Denice and Annalise
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Coastalrap

Coastalrap

Posted
Posted
I have 3 cruises b2b in Dec, and just checked the package prices.

$60 AUD for the beer package, or $95 AUD for the unlimited.

Even the Royal Replenish is now $40 a day.

The Aussie dollar is crapl at the moment, but I am pretty sure the prices have gone up since I last checked a month ago...

24 nights cruising at those prices, Royal Caribbean, you have lost another drinks package cruiser.

Complete and utter Ripoff

 

I believe that at least compared to my local prices, RCI drinks are expensive.

 

BUT, I just returned from Australia and from what I saw in Melbourne and Sydney (except for wine) the RCI prices are pretty good, even at liquor store prices. I know my comparison is not scientific but for example, at 2 package stores, one in each city, a fifth of fireball was over $50. I pay less than $15 here. harveys bristol cream was about twice what I pay.

 

I don't know why but besides the exchange rate, you guys must have some hefty taxes on alcohol. Your law makes must be wine drinkers since those prices were pretty good.

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