Royal Caribbean has made a small, but important change to one of its drink packages.
The Royal Refreshment package is the mid-tier beverage package that includes pretty much all non-alcoholic drinks.
However, it omitted one type of drink that baffled some cruisers.
Revised terms of service show the cruise line now includes non-alcoholic beers in it.
Here's what's different about the Refreshment Package
In looking through all the inclusions Royal Caribbean has for the Royal Refreshment package, there's been a new addition.
What's included:
- Coca-Cola Freestyle Machine beverages including sodas, sugar free sodas, Minute Maid lemonades, Powerade, vitaminwater®, iced tea, fruit punch and more
- Can and fountain soda
- Bottled still water, sparkling water, and CocoLove coconut water
- Fresh-squeezed juices
- Smoothies and protein shakes
- Specialty coffees and teas
- Johnny Rockets® Shakes and Desserted Soda Floats
- Non-alcoholic spirits, wines and beers (only available to guests of legal drinking age)
- Frozen drinks (Non-alcoholic pina colada, etc.)
- Coca-Cola souvenir cup
Up until now, non-alcoholic beer wasn't included because it was technically still a beer. If you wanted to order any with a drink package, you had to buy the Deluxe Beverage Package.
The only caveat is you must be legal drinking age to still order one as to avoid minors ordering beer, even if it's non-alcoholic.
The Royal Caribbean drinking age is based on where your ship sails from initially, so cruises from the United States have a minimum drinking age of 21 whereas ships sailing from Europe are only 18.
The cruise line hasn't made any announcement why they made the change. Cruise fans simply noticed the addition.
"Finally!"
Cruisers seemed quite happy to have this change to the drink package.
On the Royal Caribbean reddit, kittycathleen wrote, "I'm so happy. I don't drink a ton of NA beer, but it'll be great to have it included. Now I just need them to improve their selection."
The trend of not drinking alcohol (or low alcohol content drinks) is a big trend currently among millennials.
A recent study showed in April 2023, 45% of no-alcohol beer consumers in the US were Millennials; by April 2024, that figure had risen to 61%.
Today, almost 1 in 2 Royal Caribbean guests are millennials or younger.
To that point, reddit user goinhungryyeah added, "Especially with a gradual change by younger passengers to limit alcohol intake (but still enjoy beverages). The NA beer market has exploded in both quantity and quality as a result."
cocomangas posted, "Nice! Finally have more options than just mocktails. Great for former drinkers like me who miss the taste of wine and beer."
Why this change matters
The difference in price among the drink package tiers can be quite substantial, so those that don't want any alcohol now have more choice in what they can order.
The average price of a Royal Caribbean drink package in 2025 is around 28 to $42 per person per day for the Refreshment package, but $55 to $115 per person per day for the Deluxe Beverage Package.
The cruise line relies on dynamic pricing, which is why we can't give specific numbers.
As an example, the onboard price for the Deluxe Drink Package is $105 per person per day, whereas the Refreshment Package is $42.
Adding more drink options to any drink package offers more ways to "break even" on the package cost compared to ordering the same amount of drinks individually. Plus, drink packages are much more convenient and a top reason why people buy them in the first place.
