Better to book alcohol package ahead of cruise or wait until onboard?

[quicklabs]

Currently, they seem to be offering 20% off alcohol package.  It would be $50 a day before the added 18% gratuity.  Is this a deal, or will they offer a better one onboard?  Ship is Majesty of the Seas.

[Clarea]

Unpredictable what will be offered on board, but typically it's less expensive pre-cruise.

[zdad59]

If you are going to get it for sure, its almost always better to get it before.    On embarkation day its usually $70 for the first person, 50% off for the 2nd ($35).   Plus 18%gratuity of course. That's exactly how it was two weeks ago on Symphony.   You can usually do at least that good before boarding.   And keep an eye on it.   IF the price goes down, cancel and rebuy.   That's exactly how it was two weeks ago on Symphony.

[dswallow]

Pretty safe to say they never offer a deal onboard that isn't available online. And the deal they may offer onboard will be whatever any ongoing discount is available online at that time, and only available for purchase on the first day of your sailing. After that onboard it's full price.

 

What's full price? Generally you can determine the onboard price by dividing out the current online deal ($X / 0.80 = $50 in your case, rounding up), so it's likely the onboard price is about $63 for your sailing.

 

What is available online in advance? Almost always one of 3 possible deals: 20% off the onboard price, 25% off the onboard price (they'll always call it "Buy One get One at 50% off"), or 30% off the onboard price. All depends on whatever RCCL decides, however they decide, whenever they offer some discount deal on Cruise Planner purchases. It happens very frequently.

 

Now, all that said, you can always cancel a Cruise Planner purchase and buy it again at the then-current price. So buy when you're comfortable with the price to lock it in, and then watch for it to drop and if it does, just cancel what you previously purchased and buy it again at the new lower price.

 

If you're Diamond Plus or Pinnacle level Crown & Anchor members, you get a 30% or 40% discount, respectively, off the onboard price all the time, so usually there's no incentive for Pinnacle members to buy in advance, and minimal incentive for Diamond Plus members to do so.

 

You may see an extra dollar or two savings overall on the package if you buy a combo Drink package + VOOM SURF+STREAM. While there's a handful of exceptions, the VOOM internet packages are almost always cheaper in advance, and if you're buying for 2 devices/people or more, it most certainly will be cheaper in advance. Again, prices in advance vary depending on sales, and the same thing will apply: buy when you're comfortable, cancel/re-buy if the price drops.