"All inclusive" .. is it worth it?

[Piaa]

We are booked on the Wind Spirit 11 days in September Papeete to Papeete and wondering if the all inclusive is worth it.  We drink but not heavily but feel like it might be best to just be able to get any beverage, anytime, without feeling "nickeled and dimed" (that is probably the wrong phrase to use to describe a Windstar cruise but you know what I mean) 

 

Might anyone have a photo of available cocktails/wines/spirits please.

 

Thanks so much 

[Strenz]

I think all inclusive is very personal and also depends on your status with WS. You really have to do the math. With our status we get WI-FI ( we rarely use it ) and WS's great laundry. We drink very little: my husband is diabetic so perhaps a beer a day, maybe every other a glass of wine wine or a gin tonic not both on the same day, me a glass of red wine with dinner, maybe a rum punch or a glass of champagne. I can not drink during the day due to headaches. The math does not work out for us. I never feel " nickeled and dimed " on a WS cruise. You can get any drink at any time regardless. I would hate it and not go if WS was all inclusive, I never understood  why I should pay for strangers drinking habits. It would annoy me. I have no problem signing a slip.  We also have to budget for these trips. Obviously we are good budgeters for this week is our 27 th since 1999. Personal preferences, one's pocketbook and simple math, ( former math teacher ) is the determination. Tahiti with WS is beyond great, happy sailing. 

[Piaa]

13 hours ago, Strenz said:

I think all inclusive is very personal and also depends on your status with WS. You really have to do the math. With our status we get WI-FI ( we rarely use it ) and WS's great laundry. We drink very little: my husband is diabetic so perhaps a beer a day, maybe every other a glass of wine wine or a gin tonic not both on the same day, me a glass of red wine with dinner, maybe a rum punch or a glass of champagne. I can not drink during the day due to headaches. The math does not work out for us. I never feel " nickeled and dimed " on a WS cruise. You can get any drink at any time regardless. I would hate it and not go if WS was all inclusive, I never understood  why I should pay for strangers drinking habits. It would annoy me. I have no problem signing a slip.  We also have to budget for these trips. Obviously we are good budgeters for this week is our 27 th since 1999. Personal preferences, one's pocketbook and simple math, ( former math teacher ) is the determination. Tahiti with WS is beyond great, happy sailing. 

 

Thank you - unfortunately we do not have any status with Windstar (this will be our first and very excited) so I have no reference as to cost of drinks etc so I'm a bit clueless - I assume drinks are in the $15 range?

[schmidlapp]

Agree with Strenz,

Worth it for some, not all.

I think Windstar is spot on with offering all in as an option. 

For us, a few beverages in the afternoon and a few in the evening make it a good value.

The bartenders know almost right away who has the package

and what your preferences are.

Very easy and convenient as well.

 

 

[Lvwindstar007]

Every time we have been on Windstar or other ships without included drinks, I have calculated we saved a fair amount by not getting the drink package. We have cruised on PG twice and also on a long Regent cruise and perhaps drank a little bit more.  Either way you will have a great time in French Polynesia.

[Host Jazzbeau]

I don't know if the pricing calculations have changed, but when I was debating this on our (cancelled) Windstar 2021 cruise the all inclusive package turned out to be a money saver even though DW doesn't drink at all.  The package cost was about the same as the non-drink components, so that made my drinks free.

[madrick]

We will be back on Windstar in 2023, our 5th.  We do like a cocktail or two and wine with dinner. Do not care about the internet, so no value there.  I figure after the fixed gratuity, we would need to spend about $145.00 a day!  Not worth it for us.  Hope they have a wine bottle package!

 

[new_cruiser]

On 12/10/2022 at 6:58 AM, Piaa said:

 

Thank you - unfortunately we do not have any status with Windstar (this will be our first and very excited) so I have no reference as to cost of drinks etc so I'm a bit clueless - I assume drinks are in the $15 range?

Most drinks are much less than that. Most of the wines are between $8 and $11 a glass (our most recent trip was August so inflation may make some changes in that, but presumably not up to $15). Cocktail of the day is something in the single digits - can't remember exactly at the moment - maybe $8. Most other cocktails are $12 or less. 

 

When I've calculated the trade off, it takes more than 5 drinks per person per day to break even on the drink package. And that's if the drinks are at the more expensive end of the range so really that probably applies to the all inclusive package as well. (I've only personally calculated for the drink package as I'm 4 star so get internet free and my husband does fine without the internet package, so the All-Inclusive would never benefit us. After our next trip, he will be 4-star too.)

 

If I have more than 2 drinks a day, I don't feel well - not a hangover, just feel sort of uncomfortable right away, and at sea, my tolerance goes down. Usually there are a few occasions during the cruise with free drinks - something when you board while you check in, wine at the captain's welcome (usually the second night), Yacht Club cocktail party for anyone past their first Windstar cruise (servers go around with wine but you can also get a cocktail if you ask for one), sometimes as a welcome to the Beach BBQ. So my usual bar bill for a cruise is less than a few days of the beverage package. 

[Piaa]

16 hours ago, new_cruiser said:

Most drinks are much less than that. Most of the wines are between $8 and $11 a glass (our most recent trip was August so inflation may make some changes in that, but presumably not up to $15). Cocktail of the day is something in the single digits - can't remember exactly at the moment - maybe $8. Most other cocktails are $12 or less. 

 

When I've calculated the trade off, it takes more than 5 drinks per person per day to break even on the drink package. And that's if the drinks are at the more expensive end of the range so really that probably applies to the all inclusive package as well. (I've only personally calculated for the drink package as I'm 4 star so get internet free and my husband does fine without the internet package, so the All-Inclusive would never benefit us. After our next trip, he will be 4-star too.)

 

If I have more than 2 drinks a day, I don't feel well - not a hangover, just feel sort of uncomfortable right away, and at sea, my tolerance goes down. Usually there are a few occasions during the cruise with free drinks - something when you board while you check in, wine at the captain's welcome (usually the second night), Yacht Club cocktail party for anyone past their first Windstar cruise (servers go around with wine but you can also get a cocktail if you ask for one), sometimes as a welcome to the Beach BBQ. So my usual bar bill for a cruise is less than a few days of the beverage package. 

 

Thank you 

[floatplan]

I was on Pride in October and had the all inclusive drink package. 

 

I would say I found it hard to get drinks, only drank beer and wine so nothing complicated. Be prepared to be proactive flagging down staff to get drinks. Best to go to the bar and get your own, especially 2nd.

 

At dinner the server usually took the wine order so you can get 1 glass. Trying to get 2nd glass was much harder, I think I never got a 3rd. 

 

Cuadro 44 was excellent with the best service, because it is so small. It served Spanish wines that were always refilled.

 

You have to sign paper receipts for all your drinks, an annoyance. They will track you down to your cabin the next day.

 

So I cannot recommend the drinks, but if you do be assertive to get served. The espresso based coffee drinks are excellent.

Edited December 13, 2022 by floatplan

[marinaro44]

Had the all-inclusive package 10/23 to 11/3 on Pride and never signed anything.

[Misty Morning]

I was on Pride in November and did not have the package and had to sign for the drinks.  Those on package did not sign anything.  However the bartenders did run tabs and you would only sign once at the end and we also drank a lot of wine by the bottle (better selection than drink packages) which minimized the signing

 

[Donald]

Is buying a Ferrari “Worth it”? 

Is flying First Class “Worth it”?

Are Champagne and Caviar “Worth it”?

Are Limousines to the Cruise Terminal “Worth it”?

 

NOBODY but YOU can answer those questions for YOU.

[new_cruiser]

On 12/12/2022 at 6:50 PM, floatplan said:

I was on Pride in October and had the all inclusive drink package. 

 

I would say I found it hard to get drinks, only drank beer and wine so nothing complicated. Be prepared to be proactive flagging down staff to get drinks. Best to go to the bar and get your own, especially 2nd.

 

At dinner the server usually took the wine order so you can get 1 glass. Trying to get 2nd glass was much harder, I think I never got a 3rd. 

 

Cuadro 44 was excellent with the best service, because it is so small. It served Spanish wines that were always refilled.

 

You have to sign paper receipts for all your drinks, an annoyance. They will track you down to your cabin the next day.

 

So I cannot recommend the drinks, but if you do be assertive to get served. The espresso based coffee drinks are excellent.

 

I've never had the package, but I've often been at dinner or in the lounges/bars with others who did have it and find your experience is unusual. The people with the package were well attended to, got ample wine refills at dinner and attentive bar service. If I drank enough to make the package worth it, I wouldn't hesitate to get it. 

[new_cruiser]

21 hours ago, Donald said:

Is buying a Ferrari “Worth it”? 

Is flying First Class “Worth it”?

Are Champagne and Caviar “Worth it”?

Are Limousines to the Cruise Terminal “Worth it”?

 

NOBODY but YOU can answer those questions for YOU.

 

Your comment isn't helpful and doesn't apply to the question the OP is asking. It isn't whether a luxury good is worth the extra price. Where the break point is that makes it cheaper to get the drink package than buy individual drinks is a reasonable question. It doesn't have an exact answer because the drink prices vary but one can give a ballpark number - if one is a 2 or 3 drinks a day person, the drink package doesn't pay. Break even is somewhere around 5 or 6 drinks a day.

[ridethetide]

On 12/12/2022 at 9:50 PM, floatplan said:

I was on Pride in October and had the all inclusive drink package. 

 

I would say I found it hard to get drinks, only drank beer and wine so nothing complicated. Be prepared to be proactive flagging down staff to get drinks. Best to go to the bar and get your own, especially 2nd.

 

At dinner the server usually took the wine order so you can get 1 glass. Trying to get 2nd glass was much harder, I think I never got a 3rd. 

 

Cuadro 44 was excellent with the best service, because it is so small. It served Spanish wines that were always refilled.

 

You have to sign paper receipts for all your drinks, an annoyance. They will track you down to your cabin the next day.

 

So I cannot recommend the drinks, but if you do be assertive to get served. The espresso based coffee drinks are excellent.

In 10 cruises, never have I been asked to sign a drink receipt when on the drink plan. They know who you are, what you drink, and are amazingly attentive. Your experience certainly differs from my observations.

 

[schmidlapp]

We've always experienced excellent bar service on Windstar.  We normally get the all in package and regularly tip extra.  

One of my my favorite stories is on our last Legend cruise we came ashore for the beach bbq. As we walked towards the lounge chairs one of the bartenders saw us and ran down the beach with ice cold bottles of our favorite beer for us. With a big smile on his face he announced they don't normally bring this brand ashore but he knew we would be there.

 

On the same cruise we were sitting at the Star Bar and I casually mentioned to my wife that I hadn't had potato chips in over a week.  Next thing you know, a bowl of chips magically showed up.

I really didn't think anyone was around to hear my comment. 

These are a couple of small reasons why we keep coming back.

 

[Piaa]

4 hours ago, new_cruiser said:

 

Your comment isn't helpful and doesn't apply to the question the OP is asking. It isn't whether a luxury good is worth the extra price. Where the break point is that makes it cheaper to get the drink package than buy individual drinks is a reasonable question. It doesn't have an exact answer because the drink prices vary but one can give a ballpark number - if one is a 2 or 3 drinks a day person, the drink package doesn't pay. Break even is somewhere around 5 or 6 drinks a day.

Thank you New Cruiser - having never sailed with Windstar (have many times on celebrity, SeaDream and Azamara) I have no point of reference as to what drinks cost - our last cruise on Azamara in August of this year,  all martini's/manhattan's etc were around $15 each so it was easy to calculate if it was worth it for us.

[mysparky]

We did the all inclusive and found it well worth it.  One day had mimosas with breakfast, but we usually had pre and post-dinner cocktails.  I really liked not having to think about it, not caring if my drink wasn't great, etc. 

 

Beyond the drinks, I also liked the idea that wifi was included (I needed to check in back home a few times) as well as tips.  We still tipped extra (in cash) because service was that great, but I liked having the basic tip amount included. 

 

Bottom line, once we deducted what we'd pay for WiFi as well as tips, we calculated that we'd break even around 5 drinks/day.  That was close enough for us to purchase it ahead of time.  The convenience was well worth it (and we never had an issue getting drinks).

[SunnyNy]

12 hours ago, mysparky said:

We did the all inclusive and found it well worth it.  One day had mimosas with breakfast, but we usually had pre and post-dinner cocktails.  I really liked not having to think about it, not caring if my drink wasn't great, etc. 

 

Beyond the drinks, I also liked the idea that wifi was included (I needed to check in back home a few times) as well as tips.  We still tipped extra (in cash) because service was that great, but I liked having the basic tip amount included. 

 

Bottom line, once we deducted what we'd pay for WiFi as well as tips, we calculated that we'd break even around 5 drinks/day.  That was close enough for us to purchase it ahead of time.  The convenience was well worth it (and we never had an issue getting drinks).

And when evaluating all inclusive vs. purchasing a la carte, am I correct that all Inclusive already includes 18% gratuity and possibly VAT, but with a la carte purchases it would be additional?

[milepig]

On 12/12/2022 at 8:50 PM, floatplan said:

I was on Pride in October and had the all inclusive drink package. 

 

I would say I found it hard to get drinks, only drank beer and wine so nothing complicated. Be prepared to be proactive flagging down staff to get drinks. Best to go to the bar and get your own, especially 2nd.

 

At dinner the server usually took the wine order so you can get 1 glass. Trying to get 2nd glass was much harder, I think I never got a 3rd. 

 

Cuadro 44 was excellent with the best service, because it is so small. It served Spanish wines that were always refilled.

 

You have to sign paper receipts for all your drinks, an annoyance. They will track you down to your cabin the next day.

 

So I cannot recommend the drinks, but if you do be assertive to get served. The espresso based coffee drinks are excellent.

We had bad wine service exactly once, in 20 itins.  They just never came and were uncooperative. When leaving Amphorae we complained to the maitre-d, who we knew from previous trips. He not only apologized and said they had a lot of new staff, but the next night he flagged us down and we had perfect service with never ending wine, and all was back to normal the next night. WS pays attention to details and handles things. No drama.

[Strenz]

We are very happy WS gives us the option. We get laundry and WI-FI with our status, 27 cruises, we drink maybe 2 glasses of either wine/beer/rum punch a day. I can not drink in the sun or during the day. The package for us so not worth it. We never use WI-FI, like to get away from it all. So giving passengers a choice is critical for us. Hope WS continues with the choice. Happy Sailing. 

[ryndam]

On Star Pride last summer, as others have mentioned, we calculated the "break-even" at about 5 beverages/day. The all-inclusive package also includes anything in the cabin mini-bar; our mini-bar was meticulously restocked every day. For us, a glass of wine/beer at lunch, an occasional indulgence from the mini-bar, a pre-dinner cocktail, 2 glasses/wine at dinner, and 2 (or 3) libations after dinner more than paid for the all-inclusive package. The staff knows who is "on the package"; we never signed for any drinks, our wine glasses always remained filled, and the servers were all very attentive.

 

Based on our casual/un-scientific observation of other guests, I would guesstimate that half the guests opted for the all-inclusive package and the other half of the guests did not.

[bebtwice]

We just completed our first Windstar cruise on the 11th. We had the AI pkg as it was included when we booked . We wouldn't get it again as we simply don't drink enough to have it be cost effective. None of the people we dined with had problems getting their wine refreshed or my husband getting a second beer. Also getting served on the pool deck was not a problem, but the ship was not full so don't know if that made a difference. We never signed for drinks.

 

The WiFi was terrible so we wouldn't pay separately for that either. We used our own internet data plan, which would probably 

be cheaper than buying a Windstar plan.

 

Having the gratuities pre-paid was nice though. It is now $16/pp/day now but some info still said $14.50.

 

 

 

 

 

.. 

[Nearpost345]

It’s getting harder to give an exact number of drinks as a break even point . But new cruisers five drinks a day estimate is a decent rule of thumb imo. Also, just for the record, the all in package is per passenger, so if one of you hardly drinks, he or she can skip the all in.

Another thing I noticed recently on the Breeze, was a placard by the gangway, stating by omission,  that wine may be brought on board at ports of call. I verified the wording with the security officer and he confirmed that bottles of wine are permitted.