Drinks galor...or not?

[AmyNcutt]

Hi all

 

We have a cruise booked for late February. We made the mistake of not ordering the drink package on the night we booked when it was 52$. Now it has gone up to 61$ a day! So now I am trying to figure out if it's worth it, and yes we like our beer. We are Texans! So will that price keep going up, do they have any type of drink sales on the ship? I know i don't want to drink everyday, but dang I feel like I'm being pressured into with this package vs the price on the ship. What's a beer drinking Texan to do???

[Clarea]

Price trends are not predictable, not are sales on the ship predictable.

[MandyMooToo]

Pay what you are willing to spend and watch the pricing after that. You can always cancel and rebuy if the price drops. 

[Sail n Snow]

Beers avg $7-9 per.  I’ve seen bucket specials on board 5 for $30.  
 

so depending on how much you truly intend to drink per day. It may make more sense to not get the package. 

[brillohead]

Or do the math and figure out if you're better off just setting money aside to pay by the drink.

 

Especially since you say you won't want to drink every day.... and figure in your drinking in port when you're not on the ship....  just do the math.

If you're going to have six beers a day on sea days but maybe only two beers on board on port days.... it's going to be way cheaper to just pay as you go.  

 

[FireEMT978]

I just found out on ship. A Miller Lite with the 18% gratuity, is $10.00

OUCH!

[time4u2go]

1 hour ago, AmyNcutt said:

Hi all

 

We have a cruise booked for late February. We made the mistake of not ordering the drink package on the night we booked when it was 52$. Now it has gone up to 61$ a day! So now I am trying to figure out if it's worth it, and yes we like our beer. We are Texans! So will that price keep going up, do they have any type of drink sales on the ship? I know i don't want to drink everyday, but dang I feel like I'm being pressured into with this package vs the price on the ship. What's a beer drinking Texan to do???

I think you answered your own question.  Unless you are going to drink 8 beers a day, every day (based on the price quoted above), including port days, it doesn't sound like the drink package is worth it.

[time4u2go]

1 minute ago, FireEMT978 said:

I just found out on ship. A Miller Lite with the 18% gratuity, is $10.00

OUCH!

Which ship?

[Rach Kev]

21 minutes ago, MandyMooToo said:

Pay what you are willing to spend and watch the pricing after that. You can always cancel and rebuy if the price drops. 

so do the beverage packagers get cheeper closer to the cruise or more expensive

[Clarea]

2 minutes ago, Rach Kev said:

so do the beverage packagers get cheeper closer to the cruise or more expensive

 

Yes.

[Balsam12]

9 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

I think you answered your own question.  Unless you are going to drink 8 beers a day, every day (based on the price quoted above), including port days, it doesn't sound like the drink package is worth it.

Or, if you actually think about, nowhere near that many beers....

Based on $10.00 per beer (inc grats), if the only think you drank was beer, you would have to average 6 beers per day to break even.

If you have a couple of bottles of water, a soft drink or two and a decent coffee with breakfast each day, you only need to average 4 beers per day to break even.

If you manage to get the package at the original price of $52, then you only need to average 3 beers per day to break even.



 

[Rach Kev]

1 minute ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Yes.

cheeper?

[Balsam12]

Just now, Rach Kev said:

cheeper?

What Bob is saying is that the prices will go up and down like a yoyo between now and your sailing date.

As an example, here is what the price has done for our Radiance sailing in March (prices in AUD):

 

Beverage
27/04/2019	$87.68
24/07/2019	$90.42
12/08/2019	$89.05
30/08/2019	$83.57
06/09/2019	$89.05
21/09/2019	$78.09
04/10/2019	$83.57
08/10/2019	$72.61
20/10/2019	$83.57
29/10/2019	$78.09
27/11/2019	$69.87
05/12/2019	$75.35
11/12/2019	$65.76
20/12/2019	$69.87
08/01/2020	$65.76
13/01/2020	$68.16
17/01/2020	$72.42

 

 

[Clarea]

1 minute ago, Rach Kev said:

cheeper?

 

Both cheaper and more expensive.

 

In other words, no discernabile pattern.

[FireEMT978]

14 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

Which ship?

It was on the Harmony. I about crapped myself. 

I wanted an "Early" beer on sailaway. But, the casino wasn't open. So, I couldn't get a free beer yet.

 

[DeeDee316]

I would definetly say go for it. It includes bottled water (4 bucks a pop), all kinds of alcohol, soft drinks, specialty coffee, and fresh squeezed juice. If you have a drink or 2 by the pool (daquiris are a must for us on vacay), 1 or 2 at dinner, and one out at night you use it. That's not including coffee or juice at breakfast / meals or bottled water. Drink of the day is like 12 bucks.. I am a beer drinker myself, but I love being able to just try as anything... if you don't like it, get something else! Plus you can always do virgins mixed drinks by the pool! Well worthy it IMO.

Edited January 20, 2020 by DeeDee316

[Balsam12]

2 minutes ago, DeeDee316 said:

I would definetly say go for it. It includes bottled water (4 bucks a pop), all kinds of alcohol, soft drinks, specialty coffee, and fresh squeezed juice. If you have a drink or 2 by the pool (daquiris are a must for us on vacay), 1 or 2 at dinner, and one out at night you use it. That's not including coffee or juice at breakfast / meals or bottled water. Drink of the day is like 12 bucks.. I am a beer drinker myself, but I love being able to just try as anything... if you don't like it, get something else! Plus you can always do virgins mixed drinks by the pool! Well worthy it IMO.

I feel the same way, however I always tell people to work out the value for themselves.

For someone the drinks only beer, and will have say four on a sea day and two on a port day, it would probably be cheaper to pay as they go. That's assuming they are happy with the included non alcoholic beverages on board.

It also depends on the ports they are visiting. From what I read, at many of the ports in the Caribbean, people just get off the ship, taxi to a resort or bar somewhere and fill up on cheap drinks. If that's the case, then you possibly would want to drink much more when you get back aboard.

If you're visiting ports with lots of sightseeing and you've had a busy day doing a tour with limited opportunity to drink, you'll possibly want a few when you get back on the ship.

[paul1815]

...or wait for another $18/day "sale" like some of us nabbed.  😄🤩

[HBE4]

1 hour ago, FireEMT978 said:

I just found out on ship. A Miller Lite with the 18% gratuity, is $10.00

OUCH!

 

Just came home from a NY Ranger game at Madison Square Garden in NYC. Beer was $14 before tip. Granted, it was a 20oz cup but still!!

 

Love going in a cruise to get cheap beer! 😀

[DeeDee316]

16 hours ago, Balsam12 said:

I feel the same way, however I always tell people to work out the value for themselves.

For someone the drinks only beer, and will have say four on a sea day and two on a port day, it would probably be cheaper to pay as they go. That's assuming they are happy with the included non alcoholic beverages on board.

It also depends on the ports they are visiting. From what I read, at many of the ports in the Caribbean, people just get off the ship, taxi to a resort or bar somewhere and fill up on cheap drinks. If that's the case, then you possibly would want to drink much more when you get back aboard.

If you're visiting ports with lots of sightseeing and you've had a busy day doing a tour with limited opportunity to drink, you'll possibly want a few when you get back on the ship.

All very valid points! Well said.  It depends on the person.  Like said I am a beer drinker 90% of the time.. but it gets old and very filling on vacation, so I like to mix it up. Plus I love having something cold (besides beer) when at the pool. I like having the package so I can try different things and not worry about it.  Plus it works on Labadee and Coco Cay, so it is a win for me! 🙂

[Tulsacoker]

If your going to order Miller Lite why not just get bottled water... same thing and a lot cheaper 😄 

Edited January 20, 2020 by Tulsacoker

[voyager70]

14 minutes ago, Tulsacoker said:

If your going to order Miller Lite why not just get bottled water... same thing and a lot cheaper 😄 

 

Was going to post something similar.  That cheap crap beer is awful.

 

[megr1125]

If, perhaps Royal would set ONE price, fleetwide, per person, per day, THEN maybe run sales and stop this ridiculous "FROM $XX.xx per day", which, per their twitter team TODAY, ALREADY has the "sale" price included, people would be able to determine whether or not it's actually a good deal, good value or actual savings.  

 

I'm considering buying it for an upcoming 3 day cruise.  Banner says buy 1, get 1 50% off, FROM $65.  Added to the cart, (I'm sailing solo) it says, 'price is 25% off per guest'...the total is actually 65 per day PLUS tip.  So, there's no real savings. BUT the twitter team said "it's already at the sale price."  Um. Wrong.

 

[Baowen]

I agree that it would be so helpful is Royal would just pick one  consistent price as a starting point.  I always buy it because I want to know what my bill will be.  Once you add in water bottles, fresh squeezed orange juice, drinks by the pool, wine with dinner and drinks at the show, I feel like I come out way ahead.

[not-enough-cruising]

2 hours ago, megr1125 said:

If, perhaps Royal would set ONE price, fleetwide, per person, per day, THEN maybe run sales and stop this ridiculous "FROM $XX.xx per day", which, per their twitter team TODAY, ALREADY has the "sale" price included, people would be able to determine whether or not it's actually a good deal, good value or actual savings.  

 

I'm considering buying it for an upcoming 3 day cruise.  Banner says buy 1, get 1 50% off, FROM $65.  Added to the cart, (I'm sailing solo) it says, 'price is 25% off per guest'...the total is actually 65 per day PLUS tip.  So, there's no real savings. BUT the twitter team said "it's already at the sale price."  Um. Wrong.

 

Compared to the $81 PPPD price on board, the $65 is indeed a roughly 25% sale price