The "Real" Cost of Alcohol Packages

[mfs2k]

For the last 6 years, my wife and I have given up cruising in favor of all inclusive Caribbean vacations where we didn't have to think twice about the cost of drinks.  It was so nice compared to our 11 previous cruises where we'd drink when we wanted, but we'd constantly be wondering what our drink bill was adding up to...

 

We decided to go on a 20th Anniversary Celebrity cruise next month.  I was happy to see that I could select 2 perks for an added fee, and one was the Classic Beverage Package.

 

I valued the "cost" to me of the Classic Beverage Package for 7 nights as equivalent to the alternative $150 per person on-board credit I could have chosen, or $21.43 per day. (prepaid tips had a cash value of $105 per person).  (I also selected the internet package, which seems worth more than the cash equivalents)

 

Today, I upgraded online to the Premium beverage package for $11.80 per day, so the total cost for me  for Premium is $33.23 per day per person, or $232.61 per person. ($465.21 for 2 ppl) 

 

10-20 years ago, before beverage packages, the liquor bill for my wife and I on a 7 night cruise was about $500 so $465 now seems more than reasonable. 

 

If we didn't have the beverage perk option, and we still wanted the Premium beverage package, it would have cost $69 per person per day, or $966.00 which is WAY more than I'd be willing to spend for coffee, soda, smoothies, glasses of wine and drinks.  I would have gone the ala carte route. 

 

I realize everyone has different scenarios and many don't drink much, or at all.  

 

This definitely worked out for us.

 

Thoughts?

[Ma Bell]

The math works but what most people fail to take into consideration is that the cost of the perks has already been figured into the fare. You are already paying for these things to be included. There's no free lunch.

[mfs2k]

9 minutes ago, Ma Bell said:

The math works but what most people fail to take into consideration is that the cost of the perks has already been figured into the fare. You are already paying for these things to be included. There's no free lunch.

 

Except you can often decline the perks, so you know what it's worth. 

[Bo1953]

25 minutes ago, mfs2k said:

For the last 6 years, my wife and I have given up cruising in favor of all inclusive Caribbean vacations where we didn't have to think twice about the cost of drinks.  It was so nice compared to our 11 previous cruises where we'd drink when we wanted, but we'd constantly be wondering what our drink bill was adding up to...

 

We decided to go on a 20th Anniversary Celebrity cruise next month.  I was happy to see that I could select 2 perks for an added fee, and one was the Classic Beverage Package.

 

I valued the "cost" to me of the Classic Beverage Package for 7 nights as equivalent to the alternative $150 per person on-board credit I could have chosen, or $21.43 per day. (prepaid tips had a cash value of $105 per person).  (I also selected the internet package, which seems worth more than the cash equivalents)

 

Today, I upgraded online to the Premium beverage package for $11.80 per day, so the total cost for me  for Premium is $33.23 per day per person, or $232.61 per person. ($465.21 for 2 ppl) 

 

10-20 years ago, before beverage packages, the liquor bill for my wife and I on a 7 night cruise was about $500 so $465 now seems more than reasonable. 

 

If we didn't have the beverage perk option, and we still wanted the Premium beverage package, it would have cost $69 per person per day, or $966.00 which is WAY more than I'd be willing to spend for coffee, soda, smoothies, glasses of wine and drinks.  I would have gone the ala carte route. 

 

I realize everyone has different scenarios and many don't drink much, or at all.  

 

This definitely worked out for us.

 

Thoughts?

For us, it would be well worth to have the PBP even if we do not reach the threshold of drinking 'the equivalent value' as there are so many other benefits i.e. not having to sign for each purchase, not having to check the billing daily to insure that everything is properly charged, or trying to track how much, accumulated, we have drank to compare the 'perceived' value of the package.

 

We do drink. For those who do not, it is quite possible that the option to pay as you go is the best approach.

 

Thank you for your thoughts, regardless.

 

bon appetite

[Ma Bell]

1 minute ago, mfs2k said:

 

Except you can often decline the perks, so you know what it's worth. 

People can only decide what the perks are worth to them.

 

Some people don't drink much, some people don't use the internet much. Some people think the convenience of not having to sign for a drink is valuable. Some people have a lot of loyalty perks but have to pay inflated prices for perks they don't need. Bundling perks and getting everyone to pay for them is great for the provider, especially when they don't always provide the premium product to those who pay the premium price. There's a lot of game playing involved in trying to get the best value for our dollar in today's world of cruising.

 

Does anyone really believe they would be offering drink packages if they were not going to make more money by offering them?

 

If someone is a big consumer of beverages and internet time the packages probably balance out for them. If not, everyone is just paying more than they need to but it's easier for them than having to figure it out.

 

 

[Tourist1292]

It saved us around $500 per state room for a 7 night cruise by not choosing the two "free" perks. So it may still worth that $500 if one really needs the perks like drinking and internet package.

Edited February 27, 2019 by Tourist1292

[jagoffee]

56 minutes ago, mfs2k said:

For the last 6 years, my wife and I have given up cruising in favor of all inclusive Caribbean vacations where we didn't have to think twice about the cost of drinks.  It was so nice compared to our 11 previous cruises where we'd drink when we wanted, but we'd constantly be wondering what our drink bill was adding up to...

 

We decided to go on a 20th Anniversary Celebrity cruise next month.  I was happy to see that I could select 2 perks for an added fee, and one was the Classic Beverage Package.

 

I valued the "cost" to me of the Classic Beverage Package for 7 nights as equivalent to the alternative $150 per person on-board credit I could have chosen, or $21.43 per day. (prepaid tips had a cash value of $105 per person).  (I also selected the internet package, which seems worth more than the cash equivalents)

 

Today, I upgraded online to the Premium beverage package for $11.80 per day, so the total cost for me  for Premium is $33.23 per day per person, or $232.61 per person. ($465.21 for 2 ppl) 

 

10-20 years ago, before beverage packages, the liquor bill for my wife and I on a 7 night cruise was about $500 so $465 now seems more than reasonable. 

 

If we didn't have the beverage perk option, and we still wanted the Premium beverage package, it would have cost $69 per person per day, or $966.00 which is WAY more than I'd be willing to spend for coffee, soda, smoothies, glasses of wine and drinks.  I would have gone the ala carte route. 

 

I realize everyone has different scenarios and many don't drink much, or at all.  

 

This definitely worked out for us.

 

Thoughts?

Your logic looks solid to me related to the drink package.  The cost of Celebrity’s individual drinks have increased, since you last cruised.  So it is probably even a better deal for you.

Since  you are past the final payment date, it is probably to late to change.  But you can use multiple devices with one purchased unlimited internet package, so the $300 OBC might be a better deal than two unlimited internet packages.  Unless of course you both need to be using the internet at the same time.  Personally I would always get at least one unlimited packages, because worrying about logging out is a big hassle IMO.

3 minutes ago, Tourist1292 said:

It saved us around $500 per state room for a 7 night cruise by not choosing the two "free" perks. So it may still worth that $500 if one really needs the perks like drinking and internet package.

$500 for two perks per person is a great deal for most people.  $300 OBC leaves $200 for a Classic Drink package for 2.  If the savings for no perks was $1500 total, it might be different.

[justcrusn]

For us, its not a “spreadsheet” decision. We are on vacation, we want to enjoy it and if someone walks by the pool with a tray of “drink of the day” we grab one. 

If we have to pay by the drink we think about whether we should and sometimes don’t have that drink.

Also, NO RECEIPTS to sign! Yay!

[Jim_Iain]

Your math looks pretty sound with the exception of assuming the cost of drinks 10-20 years ago are equal to drinks of today.   I don't have any comparison to that time frame from the cruise ship, but can remember that a bottle of beer at our local watering hole was about $2.00 about 20 years ago and it is now close to $6.00.   

 

Interesting analysis of the cost of a beer over the past years

https://www.cheatsheet.com/culture/a-historical-look-at-the-price-of-beer.html/ 

[grandgeezer]

4 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Your math looks pretty sound with the exception of assuming the cost of drinks 10-20 years ago are equal to drinks of today.   I don't have any comparison to that time frame from the cruise ship, but can remember that a bottle of beer at our local watering hole was about $2.00 about 20 years ago and it is now close to $6.00.   

 

Interesting analysis of the cost of a beer over the past years

https://www.cheatsheet.com/culture/a-historical-look-at-the-price-of-beer.html/ 

 A bottle of beer at our watering holes is $3-$3.50. The high end places are in the $5 range. If I drink it at home it's $.65 tax included. I stock pile it when in's on sale. We are not big drinkers, we survive on the free drinks from being Elite and drinks we find in port in the at home watering hole prices.

Although money is no object, we would not pay the ship's price for drinks even if we won the lottery.

[PTC DAWG]

Every scenario is different....myself being, my Bride and I couldn't afford to get off the ship without a drink package.  Will not sail without one.  No surprises at the end are good.  🙂

[mfs2k]

24 minutes ago, justcrusn said:

For us, its not a “spreadsheet” decision. We are on vacation, we want to enjoy it and if someone walks by the pool with a tray of “drink of the day” we grab one. 

If we have to pay by the drink we think about whether we should and sometimes don’t have that drink.

Also, NO RECEIPTS to sign! Yay!

 

Yes, Exactly!!  I hate the thought process should I/Shouldn't I when I'm on vacation.  

 

And I have to assume Celebrity isn't watering down their liquor like I've found at high-end All Inclusive resorts in Riviera Maya over the past few years.  It's terrible what they are doing.  

[mfs2k]

23 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Your math looks pretty sound with the exception of assuming the cost of drinks 10-20 years ago are equal to drinks of today.

 

Oh I agree.  In fact, 10-20 years ago, drinks on the Carnival ships I were on were less than on land, because their liquor was cheaper (no taxes) and they passed the savings on to guests.  (Hello FUN Ships)  I remember Specialty cocktails passed around the pool for $5 to $6 each. 

So I'm sure our drink bill would be much higher priced ala carte now, compared to then. 

[DaKahuna]

 The last three times we sailed on Celebrity and were not on in a Suite with all four perks, I elected the Classic Drink Package and OBC as our two perks.   I then used the OBC to upgrade to the Premium Drink Package as my wife is not as selective with her drinks as I am. 

 

 

[chemmo]

On 2/27/2019 at 6:28 PM, mfs2k said:

 

Yes, Exactly!!  I hate the thought process should I/Shouldn't I when I'm on vacation.  

 

 

 

agree!

[4774Papa]

On 2/27/2019 at 11:47 AM, mfs2k said:

For the last 6 years, my wife and I have given up cruising in favor of all inclusive Caribbean vacations where we didn't have to think twice about the cost of drinks.  It was so nice compared to our 11 previous cruises where we'd drink when we wanted, but we'd constantly be wondering what our drink bill was adding up to...

 

We decided to go on a 20th Anniversary Celebrity cruise next month.  I was happy to see that I could select 2 perks for an added fee, and one was the Classic Beverage Package.

 

I valued the "cost" to me of the Classic Beverage Package for 7 nights as equivalent to the alternative $150 per person on-board credit I could have chosen, or $21.43 per day. (prepaid tips had a cash value of $105 per person).  (I also selected the internet package, which seems worth more than the cash equivalents)

 

Today, I upgraded online to the Premium beverage package for $11.80 per day, so the total cost for me  for Premium is $33.23 per day per person, or $232.61 per person. ($465.21 for 2 ppl) 

 

10-20 years ago, before beverage packages, the liquor bill for my wife and I on a 7 night cruise was about $500 so $465 now seems more than reasonable. 

 

If we didn't have the beverage perk option, and we still wanted the Premium beverage package, it would have cost $69 per person per day, or $966.00 which is WAY more than I'd be willing to spend for coffee, soda, smoothies, glasses of wine and drinks.  I would have gone the ala carte route. 

 

I realize everyone has different scenarios and many don't drink much, or at all.  

 

This definitely worked out for us.

 

Thoughts?

We only did the drink packages once, out of 20 cruises.  That was back when NCL first added perks without the awful gratuity.  We didn't care for the overall price going up, but mainly, we didn't like the choice of wine on the package.   

Prior to becoming Elite and enjoying the happy hour, we would spend about $500 total for both of us for a 14 day cruise.  We always purchased a wine package and then had a  few drinks on the side.  After becoming Elite, our alcohol expenditure would run about $300.

 

When I look at the cost of these packages for the cruise lines, they can cost half one third of what the cost of the cruise is.

People say on these boards, well, if I buy 7 drinks a day, I break even.  Geeze, 7 drinks a day!  I am not in that league.

 

We don't drink coffee after breakfast, or sods or bottle wine, so that part of the drink package means nothing to us.

Different strokes for different folks.

[waggie]

 I have been searching CC for the last few days and have read so many different responses to my particular issue.

We are sailing out of UK to Spain and Portugal and as we have the benefit of Elite gatherings had decided to select the no perks deal - and just enjoy the drinks on offer there and buy water for tours and the occasional soft drink or beer /wine(I don't recall recently having the choice of no perks). Purchasing the 2 perks deal will cost us £650 for the cruise or put the way we are saving £650 by going sail only.

BUT, this itinerary is predominantly Spain and I understand we will not only pay gratuities per drink (as expected) but also Spanish VAT. Can someone confirm if this is throughout the cruise or only in Spanish waters.  I can then try to do the maths and see if it would be better to buy the drinks package and one other perk rather than watch each  drink  go up by 18% and then 21%.

 

When I asked our Celebrity cruise agent she replied -" you always say that CC people have the answers - let me know"!!!!

Thanks in advance - and Happy Healthy New Year to you all!.

[Mark_T]

You should be seeing Spanish VAT added to food and drink related charges (all bar purchases, speciality dining charges and room service charges) which you incur while you are in Spanish territorial waters, but only at the rate of 10%.

 

For calculation purposes, you should add the 20% 'gratuity' then add 10% to the total. (yes it went up, now 20% not 18%)

 

Since the gratuity is not optional it will be considered as a service charge and hence liable to VAT.

 

 

Edited January 1, 2020 by Mark_T

[yorky]

6 hours ago, 4774Papa said:

We only did the drink packages once, out of 20 cruises.  That was back when NCL first added perks without the awful gratuity.  We didn't care for the overall price going up, but mainly, we didn't like the choice of wine on the package.   

Prior to becoming Elite and enjoying the happy hour, we would spend about $500 total for both of us for a 14 day cruise.  We always purchased a wine package and then had a  few drinks on the side.  After becoming Elite, our alcohol expenditure would run about $300.

 

When I look at the cost of these packages for the cruise lines, they can cost half one third of what the cost of the cruise is.

People say on these boards, well, if I buy 7 drinks a day, I break even.  Geeze, 7 drinks a day!  I am not in that league.

 

We don't drink coffee after breakfast, or sods or bottle wine, so that part of the drink package means nothing to us.

Different strokes for different folks.

It’s what works for each individual and it works for us. Too many people think of the alcohol packages as how many alcoholic drinks they consume but around half of ours is other drinks. Premium orange juice, speciality coffee, smoothies, soft drinks. Start adding in cocktails, a couple of beers during the day, and wine with our meal and we definitely save money.

Edited January 1, 2020 by yorky

[4774Papa]

2 hours ago, yorky said:

It’s what works for each individual and it works for us. Too many people think of the alcohol packages as how many alcoholic drinks they consume but around half of ours is other drinks. Premium orange juice, speciality coffee, smoothies, soft drinks. Start adding in cocktails, a couple of beers during the day, and wine with our meal and we definitely save money.

I suppose the non-alcoholic drinks do factor into the decision to pick the drinks package.  We never drink coffee after breakfast, haven't consumed diet or other soda for over 15 years and are fine with the tap water and orange juice in the buffet.

If you have ever done an NCL cruise, their drinks packages don't include bottled water, specialty coffee, and soda.  At least Celebrity does.

[molemaui]

Besides doing all the math, I just don't the bother of having to review a several page bill counting drinks. i.e. did I have that or did I not! Too much hassle. 

 

On a recent Oceania cruise, I took a perk which offered a diluted beverage package. You basically had to add $20 p/p per day to make it decent. I figured I needed 6-7 drinks a day to break even. Spent little time on board because it was a port intensive itinerary. I probably did not even break even on this trip but didn't really care. We all obsess about different things. I'll think nothing about paying $18 for a glass of wine but complain when the bottle costs $60 at the store! 

[chaps612]

We get the drink packages as a prerequisite to any celebrity cruise. It’s  no hassle and gives us ultimate freedom. If we order a new drink and don’t enjoy it then we hand it back and order something else. I have zero guilt with throwing away drinks. We also factor in drink prices pre-cruise as opposed to tracking them after the fact. The only down side is when celebrity runs out of Evian which has happened two years in a row by day 5. 

[NoWhiners]

This is a tricky area, as others have noted. We like having the bev package on any cruise and have been getting it as a perk a lot lately. While it is true that the "free" perks add more to the cruise fare, it has always worked out OK for us. We drink a lot of wine, before, during, and after dinner and get bottles of water as we get off the ship in ports.

 

Our next X cruise will be to Antarctica in January 2021 for 14 nights; we have no status with X. When we booked, our TA was offering all 4 perks (including premium bev package), for an additional $1K. I did a some quick math and decided that we were saving a little on the cost of the 4 perks if purchased individually. Plus, we are getting a $1K store card after the cruise. So for us, for this deal, it worked out to our benefit.

 

It all comes down to what each person wants. What works for one person may not for the next. I think it's kind of a good system that way.

Edited January 1, 2020 by NoWhiners
typos

[farawayatsea]

Drink up!!!  If you consume enough you can neutralise the cost of your cruise!  Big win.

[jjsnonna]

On 2/27/2019 at 12:17 PM, Bo1953 said:

For us, it would be well worth to have the PBP even if we do not reach the threshold of drinking 'the equivalent value' as there are so many other benefits i.e. not having to sign for each purchase, not having to check the billing daily to insure that everything is properly charged, or trying to track how much, accumulated, we have drank to compare the 'perceived' value of the package.

 

We do drink. For those who do not, it is quite possible that the option to pay as you go is the best approach.

 

Thank you for your thoughts, regardless.

 

bon appetite

Agree, we wouldn't sail without a drink package, so convenient and I don't have to think twice about drinking what I want when I want.