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Hey Deluxe Drink Package, I’m Breaking Up With You

Ukigirl

By Ukigirl,
in Royal Caribbean International

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Ukigirl "Live from...." Rare

Ukigirl

Posted
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Been cruising with Royal for 20 years and always with the drink package, we enjoy trying new cocktails and hey, if I didn’t care for it I’d wait and order something else. Well, last year the husband went in for his physical and discovered he had elevated liver enzymes so he quit drinking alcohol. He’s a healthy guy who works out, eats kind of sort of healthy, not overweight but this scared him so when it came time for our cruise last May, we decided to skip the package altogether. Inwardly I was disappointed (our secret), but I wanted to support him and help him regain his health. Interesting thing is he’s not really a drinker, just a beer or two on weekends, his body just absorbs too much iron. We are diamond so I knew I’d be able to have 4 drinks per day and thought if I wanted more I’d pay for them.  Much to my surprise, most days I didn’t even have 4 and I felt great.  We were up early every day, my energy level was so much higher and I didn’t miss my fruity, sugary cocktails by the pool, mostly had a glass or two of wine with dinner.  Money saved was definitely a plus too.  Goodbye drink package, don’t take this personally but I’m just not into you anymore.

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loman

loman

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Yep ,  i used one of my 4 free drinks to get fresh squeezed OJ in the dining room at breakfast . 

Had a couple of drinks and used the rest for bottled water at cafe promenade . 

You can use them for specialty coffee also . ( if you dont want a trip down to the D lounge )

Between the two of us , we had plenty of water and they chilled quite nicely in the room fridge.

 

The Diamond benefit is quite generous , over 400.00 USD per week , per person if you factor in a few coffees from the Diamond lounge every day along with 4 alcoholic drinks  .

 

 

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SAS21

SAS21

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How much are drinks like Jack Daniels and coke? My brother is cruising on his first RCI cruise and asked me. We are diamond and get our vouchers so I wasn't sure.

 

Edited by SAS21
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Ukigirl "Live from...." Rare

Ukigirl

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19 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

Doesn't sound like you ever really needed the drink package. I'm glad you shed that bill.

We more than got our $$ worth over the years, I’ve probably tried every frozen cocktail possible, I like icy cold beer by the pool so once it got warm I’d just order another, 2-3 glasses of wine with dinner and then after dinner drinks. No wonder we slept in, we don’t miss it.

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lovesthebeach2

lovesthebeach2

Posted
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I never drank a lot and DH only got the package once many years ago before we were Diamond and before I had to get the package too. He didn’t feel it was worth it, he didn’t drink enough for it to pay to get it again.

 

Now we’re Diamond + and I never drink all 5, especially when we’re on long cruises. I dont want that much alcohol in my liver either… if I can’t use them towards the end of the cruise, I get things for the room steward 😁. 

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LilBlackDress

LilBlackDress

Posted
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17 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

46 cruises and counting (27 on Royal) and I've never bought a drink package.

I only bought the DDP when it was $18... 
I used to get the refreshment package but the value for that is not there anymore. 

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BND

BND

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Posted (edited)

Did they have a drink package 20 years ago?  I don't remember seeing it until the last 10 years or so.  We have never bought it because having done cruises before it was offered and buying what we wanted when we wanted we never spent anywhere near what a package costs, and that included coffee, water, soda as well as alcohol.  And, now we get 5 drinks a day which is plenty.  We even use one a day for specialty coffee.

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maggieq

maggieq

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Since they count bottled water and club soda as a “drink” I weigh this into my decision to get the drink package.  Based on that consumption and a couple cocktails during the day and in he evening, I would far exceed the cost of the drink package given cost charged per drink these days.  I would blow right through my 5 d+ drinks without alcohol. 

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BND

BND

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58 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

 

Yes.  20 years ago Royal offered a Beer/Wine package, a Deluxe alcohol package, and a soda package.  

 

 

 

I remember the beer/wine and soda, but not the deluxe.  I remember after we'd been cruising on Royal for a few years and we were on Allure or Oasis I think noting that with the new package, people were slamming drinks back like crazy when we were in the Solarium.  I seemed to remember that the package was new.  I just googled and there is a blog post from 2016 about the revamped packages.  That's what I remember.

 

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2016/09/06/royal-caribbean-revamps-its-unlimited-drink-package-offerings

 

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Mum2Mercury

Mum2Mercury

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1 hour ago, BND said:

I remember the beer/wine and soda, but not the deluxe.  I remember after we'd been cruising on Royal for a few years and we were on Allure or Oasis I think noting that with the new package, people were slamming drinks back like crazy when we were in the Solarium.  I seemed to remember that the package was new.  I just googled and there is a blog post from 2016 about the revamped packages.  That's what I remember.

 

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2016/09/06/royal-caribbean-revamps-its-unlimited-drink-package-offerings

 

We started cruising in 2003, and I definitely remember a beer /wine package.  Might not've been Royal Caribbean, as we "poked around" with other lines for a while.  

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BND

BND

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50 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

We started cruising in 2003, and I definitely remember a beer /wine package.  Might not've been Royal Caribbean, as we "poked around" with other lines for a while.  

They definitely had a beer and wine package.  We started cruising in 2005 and with Royal in 2009.  Something else that a lot of people miss is the wine bottle package where you could buy bottles of wine.  On a 7 night you could buy like 4 or 5 bottles for the dining room.  Anyway, they will make more changes in the future.  The cost has to hit a breaking point where it's too costly for cruisers and not profitable for Royal.  As I've said before, the only reason Royal offers it is because they make money on it.

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mark290

mark290

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Posted
9 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

We started cruising in 2003, and I definitely remember a beer /wine package.  Might not've been Royal Caribbean, as we "poked around" with other lines for a while.  


I had purchased the beer and wine package more than once on RCCL. It was always $35 a day. No price fluctuations during the couple years I bought it. 

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