Worth It? Princess Cruise Drink Packages Explained Prices, Whats Included, and More

Table Of Content

• Read Next: Park & Cruise Hotels for Every Port in America
• Carnival Drink Package Calculator
• What If I Buy a Drink Above the $10/$17 Price Limit?
• The Value of the Drink Package Decreases Every Time You Add Someone Else to Your Cabin
• Royal Caribbean Cruise Line Drinks Packages
• MSC Cruises
• How much do you have to knock back to justify a drinks package?

For those who plan on drinking more, Disney's bundles may be purchased onboard throughout the voyage. Instead of having to worry about paying for each drink — and keeping track of the bar tab — you can simply head up to the bar whenever you want something and order. So whether you have five cocktails or six beers, or a mix of coffee in the morning, wine in the afternoon, and margaritas at dinner, you’ll pay one flat fee. This varies but you may be allowed to bring 1-2 bottles (750ml) or a six-pack of beer on board.

Read Next: Park & Cruise Hotels for Every Port in America

The Premium Beverage Package covers nearly every onboard drink up to $15 per drink, while the Premium Plus Beverage Package covers all drinks served by the glass, with no limit on the drink price. If you wait until you’re on the ship to purchase the package, prepare to pay full price. But, there is one scenario where purchasing a drink package makes sense even if you won’t save money. If you get off the ship during port days, you won’t be using the beverage package.

Carnival Drink Package Calculator

I was travelling solo on this cruise, which made adding the drink package a no-brainer. If there are three adults in a cabin, it becomes $795 – and that’s likely more than most people paid for a cruise of this length in an entry-level stateroom. It’s to keep one person from buying the package and then sharing drinks with another person. Below, we’ve rounded up some of the best tells whether or not a drink package is a good idea for your situation.

What If I Buy a Drink Above the $10/$17 Price Limit?

For alcoholic beverages, specialty coffees and other premium nonalcoholic drinks, guests may purchase drinks a la carte or buy a Bar Tab to cover drinks. In all cases, crew gratuities are already included so the price guests see is the price they pay. Even if you don’t use the wi-fi service at all, the cost of gratuities is something you’d pay for no matter what.

The Value of the Drink Package Decreases Every Time You Add Someone Else to Your Cabin

Holland America drink packages: What to know before you buy - The Points Guy

Holland America drink packages: What to know before you buy.

Posted: Tue, 19 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

The best way to determine if a drink package is right for you is to calculate how much you would spend on drinks. When calculating, remember to factor in port days, where you won’t be on the cruise ship for the whole day. Your beverage package will cover a glass of wine if it is below the maximum price per drink. While it is excellent for most people, wine connoisseurs won’t be satisfied by the limited selection of wine by the glass.

Celebrity Cruises’ Classic Beverage Package has limited options compared to the Premium package and only covers drinks served by the glass, up to $9 per drink. The limit only applies to alcoholic beverages, so feel free to order unlimited soda, juice, and specialty coffee. Is one of the lowest-priced drink packages of the mainstream cruise lines. Below, we’ve listed the cost of drink packages for some of the mainstream cruise lines to give you an idea of what you can expect to pay. Holland America's main alcohol package packs in quite a bit for the money, allowing you to enjoy a nice combination of nonalcoholic and alcoholic drinks.

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line Drinks Packages

So the Classic Drink Package at $89 per day actually costs a total of $106.80 per day after this charge. The Premium Drink Package comes out to $130.80 per person, per day. You should also look at your loyalty status in Celebrity's Captain's Club.

However, you can usually wait for a day or two after boarding to purchase the drink package, depending on the cruise line. Some cruise lines have private islands or resorts owned and/or operated by the cruise line. For example, Royal Caribbean’s CocoCay island, MSC’s Ocean Cay, and Virgin Voyages Beach Club at Bimini allow you to use your beverage package for drinks on land. Many cruise lines will allow you to use the drink package on their private islands.

The caveats are that you can't get these free drinks from the bar, and catching a server in a busy casino can be challenging. Even better news is that Elite members and up drink free at most bars between 5 and 7 p.m., the official Captain's Club cocktail hour. You aren't limited to sitting at one bar, but you are limited to the choices on a special menu. It's possible to grab a glass of wine or a cocktail on your way to dinner and another on your way to a show. The $35 per person, per night upgrade to All Included to get the Classic drink package in my example above was during the Black Friday Kickoff sale, a full two weeks before actual Black Friday.

In my experience, over more than a dozen cruises, cruise line drink packages are not worth it for most passengers because you’ll need to drink 5 to 8 alcoholic beverages per day. Since the package also includes unlimited soft drinks, you can have soda with your hamburger at lunch, followed by a virgin mudslide for dessert if that's what makes you happy. Add in the bottled water, which is the only part of any drink package you can take with you to Half Moon Cay, and it all starts to look quite convenient. As we said before, all Celebrity drink packages include premium coffees and teas like those served at Cafe al Bacio and mocktails. The Zero Proof package also includes drinks such as Red Bull, Vitamin Water, fresh juices and smoothies at The Spa Cafe and premium waters like San Pellegrino or Evian. Passengers sailing Windstar Cruises tend to favor the all-inclusive approach so all drinks, service charges and Wi-Fi is bundled into the pre-cruise fare.

If you want the best rate, definitely do not wait to book once you are on the ship. Even so, if you wait, you'll find tables setup around the ship offering the package. You can also just head to the nearest bar and ask about buying it.

So if a husband wants the package and a wife doesn’t drink at all, then they still both have to purchase the package. Most passengers will find the all-inclusive Deluxe Beverage Package a valuable option as it covers alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages alike. Debating visiting Labadee vs. CocoCay, Royal Caribbean's private islands? For those without the promotional fare, a drinks package on Norwegian Cruise Line is still a great idea when planning to drink more than a handful of alcoholic beverages each day. Otherwise NCL's craft cocktails can easily add up when purchased individually.

A deluxe drinks package will allow you to experience all of this tasty enjoyment (usually up to a maximum price per drink). Now that you have all the details, you can decide, based on your consumption habits, whether a package is right for you. There are no daily limits on how many drinks you can have on a Celebrity Cruises drink package, but you can only order one drink at a time. The exception to that is that you can usually request a bottle of water at the same time you order an alcoholic drink. The absolute best way to determine if a drink package is best for you is to get out that calculator and tally up how much you would spend without the package. In general, if you think you're going to order five or so alcoholic drinks a day during your trip, a package is worth considering.

Alternatively, passengers can choose the Elevate cruise fare, which includes the Premium Beverage Package and a shore excursion credit for $20 per person per day. Princess Cruises Premier Beverage Package is their top beverage package, which covers various alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. As with the other cruise lines on the list, you will usually get a better deal if you purchase the drink package before you set sail rather than on the ship. Finally, luxury cruise lines such as Celebrity Cruises, Viking Cruises, Regent Seven Seas, Silversea Cruises, and Princess Cruises Princess Plus already include a beverage package with your cruise fare. If you decide that you want to buy a drink package, then you should know that it must be bought for the entire length of the cruise.

There’s no doubt that the drink package can cost a lot of money over the course of your cruise. There is an automatic 20% “service charge” that is added onto the daily cost. Prices for drinks outside of a beverage package can vary widely depending on factors such as the type of drink, the cruise itinerary, and any promotions or packages that may be available. Either way, you'll find a wide range of drink options, both alcoholic and non, from morning to the wee hours of the night. These are part of what makes a cruise vacation fun, no matter how you choose to pay for them. Some like to splurge on other aspects of their cruise by saving on drinks.

You can pay for each drink if you forgo the beverage package. Once you’ve done the calculation, it’s time to decide whether or not the drink package is worth the investment. Before purchasing a drink package, we recommend doing some math to determine if it will save money or be unnecessary. Virgin Voyages tops up the amount when guests pre-purchase the Bar Tab before sailing. At the time of writing, the cruise line is offering a $50 top-up when guests add $300 to their tab.