Are soda packages worth the cost?

[Vacationdreamer<><]

1 hour ago, WheresWalter said:

22/day for the refreshment package on our upcoming Symphony OTS

Is this a fairly average cost? 
we are booking a VOTS today and I am trying to get some ideas. 
Thank you. 

[The Fun Researcher]

50 minutes ago, 4774Papa said:

I stopped drinking soda of any kind 20 years ago.  I have read that soda is not good at all for your health.

You’re no fun.  😊

[CruisingWalter]

59 minutes ago, Vacationdreamer<>< said:

Is this a fairly average cost? 
we are booking a VOTS today and I am trying to get some ideas. 
Thank you. 

 

Like I said, I've not seen the standard drinks package lower than $65/pp per day in a while. The Refreshment package will vary from $19 on sale to $29/day depending on the ship and itinerary.

Edited December 12, 2022 by WheresWalter

[Biker19]

59 minutes ago, Vacationdreamer&lt;&gt;&lt; said:

Is this a fairly average cost? 

For refreshment with some discount, yes.

[Vacationdreamer<><]

4 minutes ago, WheresWalter said:

from $19 on sale to $29/day

Awesome. Thank you. 

[rebeccac]

Personally, the only time I would consider a soda package on any cruise line is on Royal ships that have the Freestyle machines.  I am not a big soda drinker, but I do like the flavored waters and flavored iced teas that you can get.  

[resetjet]

I always get the soda/voom combo package.  On my next cruise its $22.99 and the soda alone is $8.99.  The internet is $15.99.  The way I look at it, is since I must have internet, the soda only really costs me $6.99 that way.

[The Fun Researcher]

The "convenience factor" comes into play for us with the soda package.  So nice to just flash your card at any bar or at dinner and get your soda of choice without having to do receipts, etc...  It only takes 2-3 per day to break even and like I said, it's one of the few times I'm willing to pay a bit for convenience and not have the hassle or to worry about it.  We're talking ~$10 per day with tax and gratuity so it's not a huge investment unlike the normal drink package 🤑

Dan

[ldubs]

On 12/6/2022 at 8:18 AM, Tntt said:

For our upcoming 7 night cruise on WOS , a basic soda package is 8.99 a day it will be about 75.00  total. In my opinion this price is a little steep. We normally just drink the free beverages when we cruise but this will be our 1st 7nt cruise and i dont know if I can just drink free lemonade and tea everyday for 7 days. I thought about maybe just buying sodas when needed but sodas on the ship are like 4$ a can..... will it be cheaper to just buy the drink package? is the basic soda package worth the cost? 

 

If will be cheaper and worth the cost if you use more than $8.99 sodas per day.  Only you will know the answer to this.   I like to have a soda but wouldn't have enough in a day to justify the package.  

[Mum2Mercury]

Random thoughts, not really taking a side pro or con: 

 

- To be exact, your soda package will not be $8.99/day.  It will be $8.99 + the mandatory 18% gratuity, which means $10.60/day or $74.25/week.  

- I can buy a 12-pack of 12-oz cans for about $5 on sale.  I don't usually buy 16.9 oz bottles, but they're on sale right now at Walmart 12 for $6.56 (making the bottles a better deal than the cans --- but it is a sale).  Anyway, if you drink 1 - 1.5 sodas per day, that's a huge savings.  

- Do consider that Royal ships have coolers (not refrigerators) in the rooms; they don't get your soda cold-cold.  And some of the older Royal ships don't have coolers.  If you like to drink your soda over ice -- like I do -- this may not bother you.  

- No one mistakes soda for a health drink, and juice has just as much sugar.  The lemonade is good, and it has less sugar ... but is still not a health drink.  Honestly, in the Caribbean heat, we all should drink a couple glasses of water each day.  

- I can be quite the schemer, but I have never considered for a single minute that one person could get sodas from the bar with the Ship ID while someone else drank from the soda cup.  Gobsmacked.  

- If you value the soda cup itself /consider it a souvenier, add that to your mental calculations.  Personally, I don't want another mismatched cup knocking about my cabinets.  

- Yes, you're allowed to bring 12 sodas per stateroom; however, as you go through the x-ray machines at the terminal, the staff doesn't really know "who's with whom" -- especially if you and your spouse go through different x-ray machines.  (I did tell you I can be a schemer.) 

- Some of us are super picky about which sodas we drink.  Royal only serves Coke products.  

- You must carry your 12 sodas (or waters, or whatever else) onboard yourself.  You're not supposed to put them through for the porters to haul.  If this is tough for you physically, consider bringing a roll-on carry-on with you ... carry the sodas in the bag or balance the soda on top of the bag.  Or attach it with a bungie cord.

- Royal doesn't have enough machines onboard.  I've been on Explorer and Independence recently, and each had two machines in the Windjammer and two machines in the Promenade.  People were almost always waiting their turn for soda.  For what these packages cost, I'd expect not to wait in line.  The two machines in the Promenade are available 24 hours/day, whereas the Windjammer closes at times.  

 

 

 

[Pellaz]

11 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Random thoughts, not really taking a side pro or con: 

 

- To be exact, your soda package will not be $8.99/day.  It will be $8.99 + the mandatory 18% gratuity, which means $10.60/day or $74.25/week.  

Still breaks even with around 4 sodas, at shipboard prices.  Easily done and there's the convenience factor to consider.

11 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

- Do consider that Royal ships have coolers (not refrigerators) in the rooms; they don't get your soda cold-cold.  And some of the older Royal ships don't have coolers.  If you like to drink your soda over ice -- like I do -- this may not bother you.  

That IS disappointing.  Carnival has installed true mini-fridges on most of their ships and they DO get sodas nice and cold...when they are properly ventilated.  I'm hoping Freedom OTS has something decent in its staterooms for my January charter cruise.  

11 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

- If you value the soda cup itself /consider it a souvenier, add that to your mental calculations.  Personally, I don't want another mismatched cup knocking about my cabinets.  

Mine aren't mismatched; they all hang out together!   And yes, they DO tend to pile up after a while.  

 

11 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

- Yes, you're allowed to bring 12 sodas per stateroom; however, as you go through the x-ray machines at the terminal, the staff doesn't really know "who's with whom" -- especially if you and your spouse go through different x-ray machines.  (I did tell you I can be a schemer.) 

"Nope, don't know that other person at all!"  

11 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

- Some of us are super picky about which sodas we drink.  Royal only serves Coke products. 

I wish Carnival still did.  As an ATLien I am legally and statutorily required to consume Coke products.  However, years of working at Pizza Hut allowed me to build up an immunity to Pepsi products, so I'm okayyyy with (Diet) Pepsi.   (Hey Pepsi, please "invent" a Freestyle-type machine for us.)  

11 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

- Royal doesn't have enough machines onboard.  I've been on Explorer and Independence recently, and each had two machines in the Windjammer and two machines in the Promenade.  People were almost always waiting their turn for soda.  For what these packages cost, I'd expect not to wait in line.  The two machines in the Promenade are available 24 hours/day, whereas the Windjammer closes at times.  

I mean, at around $10/day I'm not aghast at the thought of having to wait in line at a Freestyle machine.  Some of the delay is from people having to choose between all the drink choices...and that's a Good Thing.   

It's disappointing to hear that the number of machines is that limited and the Windjammer ones are often inaccessible.  (Carnival's Lido buffet areas may be designed poorly -- and they are, on older ships  -- but at least they're accessible 24-7.)   

I remember on the Independence in 2020, many of the Freestyle machines were out of various flavors.   Most curious was a complete outage of ALL diet flavors at once...making me wonder if there's some sort of "magic" diet elixir that the machine had run out of.  🙂   

 

[jean87510]

On 12/6/2022 at 11:18 AM, Tntt said:

For our upcoming 7 night cruise on WOS , a basic soda package is 8.99 a day it will be about 75.00  total. In my opinion this price is a little steep. We normally just drink the free beverages when we cruise but this will be our 1st 7nt cruise and i dont know if I can just drink free lemonade and tea everyday for 7 days. I thought about maybe just buying sodas when needed but sodas on the ship are like 4$ a can..... will it be cheaper to just buy the drink package? is the basic soda package worth the cost? 

you can bring soda in cans on the ship.  We have done this in the past and it helps break up the lemonade/water/juice monotony.  If flying into port day of, it may be tricky but doable.  If driving in, easy.  If staying pre cruise, easy as well.  Make sure you have a carryon for the soda.  We have in the past moved our carryon stuff to a bigger suitcase and made sure the soda was in a trash bag in case of leakage in suitcase.  I believe it's 12 cans pp.  We have done it with 24 cans (2 boxes).  We also tried to get the later boarding so we could go directly to cabin rather than lug around a suitcase in the Windjammer or Solarium.  Now we just use our Diamond vouchers so we don't do this anymore.  Even though we spent hundreds on cabins, we still liked to save a buck here and there.  Just part of our nature!

Edited December 13, 2022 by jean87510

[Mum2Mercury]

5 hours ago, Pellaz said:

Still breaks even with around 4 sodas, at shipboard prices.  Easily done and there's the convenience factor to consider.

Breaks even at shipboard prices, yes.  

But I can give up some convenience on embarkation day to save $70 -- that's an excursion!  

1 hour ago, jean87510 said:

Even though we spent hundreds on cabins, we still liked to save a buck here and there.  Just part of our nature!

Yes, I definitely like to save a dollar where I can.  It just makes sense.  

[cruisin from florida]

On 12/6/2022 at 1:18 PM, The Fun Researcher said:

That still stands correct?  Up to twelve 16.9oz (maximum) bottles or cans per passenger of non alcoholic beverages can be brought onboard as long as they are in a separate travel case like a backpack or suitcase?

And can you bring on NA beer? That's my son's goto, so it would be awesome if he can bring a 12 pack.

[Ret MP]

If we don't get the Deluxe Beverage Package (the adult beverage package), we get the Refreshment Package (the none adult beverage package).  The Refreshment Package is a lot more than just Coke (Sodas):

• Fountain soda and refills at any venue
• Coca-Cola Freestyle beverages*
• Coca-Cola souvenir cup
• Non-alcoholic cocktails (mocktails)
• Still and sparkling water
• Premium coffees and teas
• Fresh-squeezed juices

 

The "Sparkling Water" is worth it for me alone.  I drink a lot of it.  If you are a big time coffee drinker, that's probably well worth it alone, as well.  I just wouldn't sail without a package of some kind.  As much as I like the Freestyle soda machines (which on my last cruise (Independence), seemed to be down most of the time), or I should say, the mix and match ability, I hate carrying around that huge tumbler.  So, I usually don't have it with me when in the Promenade.  I do take it to the WJ though.  Bottom line for us, we think it is well worth it as you will probably never see us without some kind of drink in our hands.  

[Stede Bonnet]

Is it a problem to bring a bottle or can of soda back onboard after a day in port?

[Ret MP]

12 minutes ago, Stede Bonnet said:

Is it a problem to bring a bottle or can of soda back onboard after a day in port?

Not sure.  All I can find in the FAQ only talks about being able to bring water, wine, and such, ON BOARDING day.  Nothing about bring something from Ports of Call.  Not about sodas, anyway.  I don't bring anything back on board with me that is considered food/perishable.  So, I have no experience with you question.  However, I really don't think there would be a problem bring a can or bottle of coke on board.  

[Mum2Mercury]

38 minutes ago, Stede Bonnet said:

Is it a problem to bring a bottle or can of soda back onboard after a day in port?

Not a problem at all.

[reallyitsmema]

5 hours ago, Stede Bonnet said:

Is it a problem to bring a bottle or can of soda back onboard after a day in port?

 

Normally not a problem if you bring one or two unopened cans back on the ship.  Anything open will need to be thrown out.  We have had our backpack checked to see if it is a soda though and not a beer.

[jean87510]

12 hours ago, Stede Bonnet said:

Is it a problem to bring a bottle or can of soda back onboard after a day in port?

Pre Covid, I did it in Lisbon as I was on a Transatlantic and we were overnight there.  I was successful since it was around 9am.  We had gone for an am jog then found a convenience store somewhere and bought some cans.  Not sure about nowadays.  Worst that can happen is they confiscate it.

[Stede Bonnet]

Thanks for all your answers 

We are on a 7 day, 7 island itinerary.

A drink package doesn't seem worth it but we are considering the coffee card and paying for other drinks on board as we want them.

Some islands have different brands and flavours of soda and other drinks to try as well

[ReneeFLL]

On 12/12/2022 at 4:04 PM, Mum2Mercury said:

…- Do consider that Royal ships have coolers (not refrigerators) in the rooms; they don't get your soda cold-cold.  And some of the older Royal ships don't have coolers….

 

Which ships don’t have them?

[Mapleleafforever]

On 12/12/2022 at 8:18 AM, 4774Papa said:

I stopped drinking soda of any kind 20 years ago.  I have read that soda is not good at all for your health.

The majority of cruisers aren't too health conscious, a quick glance proves it. Besides, there's always Metformin and Insulin right? 😉

[poocher]

On 12/13/2022 at 10:42 AM, cruisin from florida said:

And can you bring on NA beer? That's my son's goto, so it would be awesome if he can bring a 12 pack.

No, even NA beer has trace amounts of alcohol and is not allowed.

[crzndeb]

On 12/12/2022 at 1:04 PM, Mum2Mercury said:

Do consider that Royal ships have coolers (not refrigerators) in the rooms; they don't get your soda cold-cold. 

 

On 12/13/2022 at 1:05 AM, Pellaz said:

That IS disappointing.  Carnival has installed true mini-fridges on most of their ships and they DO get sodas nice and cold...when they are properly ventilated.  I'm hoping Freedom OTS has something decent in its staterooms for my January charter cruise.  

Some Royal ships do have colder coolers/fridge. On the Ovation, I had a bottle of Pellegrino, freeze and explode. Recently on the Wonder, my beverages were very cold. So it really depends on the ship. I will be on the Navigator soon, and will test that one out.