Royal Caribbean Blog

You may have heard about Royal Caribbean's drink packages and wondered if a drink package is right for you and which package would be a good fit. There are a few drink packages to choose from, and here is an easy guide to knowing what each package includes and if it will benefit you.

Deluxe Beverage Package

If you enjoy a having a few alcoholic drinks per day on your Royal Caribbean cruise, then the only choice to consider is the Deluxe Beverage Package.

For the person that wants it all, the deluxe beverage package includes virtually unlimited combinations of beverages on their Royal Caribbean cruise.  It includes 

• Cocktails / Spirits / Liqueurs / Beer
• Bottled still and sparkling water
• Wines by the glass
• Fresh squeezed juices
• Non-alcoholic cocktails
• Premium coffees and teas
• Fountain sodas
• Coca-Cola® souvenir cup and Coca-Cola Freestyle® beverages 
• Milkshakes at Johnny Rockets

The cost of the Deluxe Beverage Package varies from ship to ship and sailing to sailing.  That means there is no fleet wide price of the Deluxe Beverage Package, so exact pricing will depend on which sailing you book. At the time of drink package purchase, a service charge (18%) will be added that will cover gratuity on all drinks ordered with the drink package. 

It is important to note that Royal Caribbean requires if one person in a cabin purchases a Deluxe Beverage package, all others in the cabin aged 21 and over must purchase a package. 

It is worth noting that the Deluxe Beverage Package is very commonly discounted when purchased prior to the cruise, via Royal Caribbean's Cruise Planner.  Discounts of 20-30% off are regularly seen, and anyone considering a drink package would be well-served to pre-purchase the package instead of buying them onboard.

Unlimited beverage packages

If alcohol is not your thing or you are just not old enough to be drinking yet, then Royal Caribbean has a number of beverage packages perfect for you.

Refreshment Package - $26.00 per person, per day (plus gratuity)

With the Royal Refreshment package, you will get premium coffee, premium tea, bottled water (sparking or still), fresh squeezed juice, non-alcoholic cocktails and a Coca-Cola souvenir cup.

If the drinks Royal Caribbean provides complimentary aren't enough to quench your thirst, this is the best choice for how much you get.  It especially appeals to coffee drinkers because of the premium coffee and tea benefit.

The cost of $26 may not sound like a lot, but for a 7-night cruise it's still a few hundred dollars.  Just like the alcohol packages, it is ideal for those that enjoy having a number of drinks per day.

Classic Soda Package - $8.50 per person, per day (plus gratuity)

The Classic Soda package is simple, it is all the soft drinks you can drink during your cruise.

Coke, Sprite, root beer and all the other carbonated drinks that are available from the self-serve machines, restaurants and bars are at your disposal. 

To purchase a can of your favorite soft drink onboard otherwise, will cost you about $2, so the package requires the least commitment to get your moneys worth.

One more consideration

The basis for purchasing any drink package is to pay a fixed price for an unlimited amount of drinks, with the plan to drink enough over the course of the cruise to "break even" on the package cost.

When you look at the daily cost of any drink package, you will notice that you will need to drink more than just one or two drinks per day over the course of your cruise. With the  the significant up-front investment of a drink package, this means if you buy a drink package, you need to drink enough to make the packages worth it. 

That up-front investment can actually be a benefit for some, because it allows guests to break up the total cost of their cruise. Rather than end the cruise with a large bar bill, pre-purchasing a beverage package allows for spreading out the cruise cost over different billing cycles.

It's also worth noting these packages work best when you are onboard the ship, so port days when you spend a majority of the day off the ship result in less time to enjoy the package's benefits (excluding Royal Caribbean's private destinations of CocoCay and Labadee, where the drink package benefits work).

At a minimum, the unlimited alcohol package requires around a half dozen drinks per day, every day to be a good value for you.

Top reasons to get a drink package

Convenience of not worrying about drink costs onboard

Having a drink package means not worrying about the cost of individual drinks on your Royal Caribbean cruise.  Since so many cocktails, beers, premium coffees and more are included with the drink package, any concerns of running up a high bar tab are eliminated.  For a lot of guests, this is a very liberating experience.

Breaking up total cost of cruise

If you elect to buy a drink package before your cruise, you will be charged for the drink package at the time of purchase.  This helps reduce the total bill you will see at the end of your cruise.

For those that like to budget their cruise vacation and prefer smaller payments over time, buying a drink package in advance helps spread out the cost of the cruise, since you will not be paying for it (or any individual drinks) along with any other incidental charges to your SeaPass account.

Risk-free opportunity to try drinks

A great perk of having a drink package is being able to try drinks that you have never had previously without the concern of "wasting money" on something you do not enjoy. Royal Caribbean's drink menus offer a good variety of choices, and a drink package allows you to try any of them without any worry of not finishing the drink.

Top reasons not to get a drink package

You do not drink enough per day

If you are not interested in having a few drinks per day, every day of your cruise, than a drink package is likely not right for you.  While you do not need to drink enough to keep up with Bluto from Animal House, you should be having enough drinks per day to offset the daily cost compared to if you bought the same amount of drinks without a package.

Up front cost

When you purchase a drink package, Royal Caribbean will charge you for the full cost of the drink package.  For some guests, this can be a bit of sticker shock, especially with the Deluxe Beverage Package on longer sailings.

While we like the option to purchase a drink package in advance to help with budgeting for a cruise vacation, when you consider two adults on a seven night cruise will cost around $700-800, that is still a big charge.

Other adults in your room do not want a drink package

If there is one thing we hear a lot about from prospective drink package buyers that they struggle with, it is the rule of  if one person in a stateroom purchases a Deluxe Beverage package, all others in the stateroom aged 21 and over must purchase a package.

There is a little bit of wiggle room with this rule, if you call Royal Caribbean and mention your the other adult(s) in your stateroom do not drink (as much) alcohol, they will often let the other adult purchase the Royal Refreshment package instead (which costs significantly less per day).

Port intensive itinerary

Since Royal Caribbean's drink packages work only on their ships or private destinations, if your cruise vacation will take you to a lot of ports of call, that means less time to spend onboard to take advantage of the drink package benefits.  

In general, the less sea days and more days docked in a port, the more difficult it is to break even on the cost of a drink package. 

Every Friday, we ask our readers to send us their favorite Royal Caribbean photos so that we can showcase them here on the blog. After all, looking back on past cruise memories is always a great way to get excited for our next cruise!

We begin this week's edition with a photo of Grandeur of the Seas in Nassau, taken by David Epstein.

Cole sent in this photo of Allure of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas docked in Cozumel.

Next, we have a photo of Anthem of the Seas and Harmony of the Seas docked in San Juan.  Photo by Patrick.

Continuing our unplanned series of ships at a dock, here is Empress of the Seas in Havana, Cuba, taken by Daniel Stober.

Terry Wooten shared with us this photo of the morning view, as seen from his Grand Suite (stateroom 1556) on Brilliance of the Seas.

Here is a look from North Star on Ovation of the Seas when Bob and Kaye Carpenter took the photo at Nha Trang, Vietnam.

Our final photo this week is by Clayton Powell of Ovation of the Seas in Sydney's Circular Quay.

That wraps up this week's edition of Friday Photos. Thank you to everyone that submitted their photos, and if you would like to, please feel free to share your Royal Caribbean photos with us for a future edition. Have a great weekend!

Royal Caribbean is offering up to 30% off shore excursions, drink packages and internet packages this week.

The weekend Cruise Planner sale applies to select sailings departing August 23, 2018 - February 15, 2019. Guests can check which discounts, if any, are available for their upcoming sailing by visiting the Cruise Planner site.  Keep in mind that not all sailings may see the sale applicable, nor are all offers significantly cheaper than previously posted.

The Cruise Planner sale runes between August 9, 2018 – August 16, 2018 and is valid on Adventure of the Seas, Allure of the Seas, Anthem of the Seas, Brilliance of the Seas, Enchantment of the Seas, Explorer of the Seas, Grandeur of the Seas, Harmony of the Seas, Independence of the Seas, Jewel of the Seas, Liberty of the Seas, Majesty of the Seas, Empress of the Seas, Oasis of the Seas, Ovation of the Seas, Radiance of the Seas, Rhapsody of the Seas, Serenade of the Seas, Symphony of the Seas, Vision of the Seas and Voyager of the Seas on select Alaska, Asia, Australia, Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, Caribbean, Cuba, Europe, Hawaii, New Zealand, South Pacific & Transatlantic sailings.

To check if your sailing has this new offer available, log into the Cruise Planner on Royal Caribbean's web site look for any available offers.

Royal Caribbean says beverage packages are discounted up to 30% off onboard prices, shore excursions can be discounted up to 25% off on select tours (discount varies by ship), Up to 30% off onboard internet prices.  In addition, save 20% off lunch at Chops Grille, Jamie's Italian or Hooked.

If you spot a better discount on something you already pre-purchased, you should be able to cancel the purchase and then re-purchase the same item under this promotion.

Royal Caribbean is offering instant savings on cruises booked this weekend, on top of the cruise line's August BOGO 50% off promotion.

Cruises booked between August 9, 2018 – August 12, 2018 on sailings departing on or after September 9, 2018 are eligible for this offer.

Offer now EXTENDED through August 14, 2018.

The offer includes:

• 50% off cruise fare of second guest booked in the same stateroom as fi rst full-fare paying guest
• 25% off cruise fare for third guests and higher booked in the same stateroom as the fi rst two qualified guests.
• Instant savings of up to $150 per stateroom determined by category booked and sailing length 
  • Sailings 5 nights or less
    • $50 savings for Interior and Ocean View
    • $75 for Balconies
    • $75 for Suites
  • Sailing 6 nights or longer
    • $50 savings for Interior and Ocean View
    • $100 for Balconies
    • $150 for Suites

 BOGO and Deck the Holiday Deals are combinable with each other as well as with Back to Cruise Sale, Fall/Winter Sailings Promo Code Driven Promotion, Free Upgrades, NRBD OBC, promotional OBCs, NextCruise offers, Instant Savings, restricted discounts (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military), Crown and Anchor discounts and Shareholder Benefits. Back to Cruise Sale is combinable with Fall/Winter Sailings Promo Code Driven Promotion, Free Upgrades, NRDB OBC, OBC, instant savings, NextCruise offers, restricted discounts (for example, Senior, Resident, Military) but not combinable with Shareholder benefits and Crown and Anchor discounts. All offers are not combinable with any other offer or promotion, including, but not limited to, Standard Group, Interline, Travel Agent, Travel Agent Friends and Family, Weekly Sales Events, Net Rates. 

 Instant savings do not apply to China departures.

Offer available to residents of United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and select countries in the Caribbean.

Our newest podcast episode is out to help give you a quick "audio escape" to a Royal Caribbean cruise!

Episode 262 is available for downloading, where Don from EatSleepCruise joins us to talk about his experience on the newly refurbished Mariner of the Seas.

Mariner of the Seas underwent a big refurbishment, with lots of new additions to the ship.  Don shares what stood out from his quick sailing onboard.

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 262. And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Stitcher or on iTunes!

Take a listen and as always, let us know what you think! Please rate and review the podcast on iTunes and leave your comments below!

Royal Caribbean announced today an easier online check-in process that aims to cut down the check-in process by 25%.

Guests will be asked to enter fewer data fields and can apply information, like credit card data, to multiple parties on their reservation. These improvements help guests move through the check-in process faster and easier.

The new online check-in features:

• Fewer steps needed for check-in completion
• Option to check in one person or your entire party simultaneously
• Ability to edit previously entered information without repeating any steps
• Easy add-guest or remove-guest functionality from check-in process
• The ability to stop and save at any point
• Easily pick up where you left off on either the website or the Royal Caribbean mobile App check in
• Convenient digital SetSail pass for mobile use at terminal

The new online check-in process is already available for sailings onboard Oasis of the Seas, Allure of the Seas and Grandeur of the Seas. Royal Caribbean plans to expand this functionality to other ships "in the near future".

Guests can check-in from 90 days to 72 hours prior to the sail date. If a guest misses the check-in window, the guest has the option to check-in at the Port.

Royal Caribbean announced a new digital experience, powered by artificial intelligence, called SoundSeeker that will turn your favorite photos into musical works of art.

After working on SoundSeeker for more than a year, the cruise line has released the tool publically today.  It is specifically designed to use machine learning to seamlessly create original soundtracks based on the content of each photograph.

By simply visiting the SoundSeeker site, users can upload three photos of their choice, and the AI analyzes them based on color, landscape, backdrop, emotion, body language and facial expression. SoundSeeker then turns them into a shareable and one-of-a kind soundtrack – virtually DJing life’s most brag-worthy moments. Fans can follow along on Royal Caribbean’s social channels, and by searching #SoundSeeker.

Royal Caribbean teamed up with the Berklee College of Music, and technologists from around the world, to create the unique song generator.  Berklee leveraged music theory to create a roadmap for the tool that helps determine the musical pairing to photos, accounting for pitch, tempo and instrumental combinations, among others. 

“SoundSeeker is the latest proof point of Royal Caribbean innovation and how we focus it on delivering unexpected, memorable experiences; whether that is the SkyPad, which uniquely combines bungee jumping with virtual reality or live streaming your favorite shows from the middle of the ocean using VOOM, the fastest internet at sea,” said Jim Berra, chief marketing officer, Royal Caribbean International. “People of all ages crave new ways to share their best experiences on social media. This unprecedented tool allows you to put a completely unique, multisensory spin on sharing those memories – now friends and followers can see and hear your life’s adventures.” 

SoundSeeker uses machine learning, an artificial intelligence technique that enables computers to simulate human intelligence and make decisions on their own without explicit instructions. The learning process entailed more than 600 hours in which Royal Caribbean and a team of musicians and technologists reviewed hundreds of music tracks along with 10,000 photos, matching each of the 2.5 million combinations to one of 10 moods.

The AI in SoundSeeker uses Google Cloud Vision to identify objects, facial expressions and colors in a user’s photo by referencing the roadmap developed by the leaders in music theory at Berklee. SoundSeeker then finds the musical elements corresponding to each mood in the photo to compose a genuinely distinct audio and visual photo album. The Royal Caribbean tool is equipped to generate over one million unique tracks, based on custom base tracks, composed exclusively for the cruise line. The customized tracks take inspiration from a wide variety of music, including 90s hip-hop, rock, modern and electronic dance music. 

Ever since Royal Caribbean spent $120 million reimagining Mariner of the Seas, it has gotten a lot of well-deserved attention for some incredible new changes and improvements.  Chief among them is the new Bamboo Room lounge.

Royal Caribbean calls the Bamboo Room a "laid back Polynesian watering hole with a throwback vibe and kitschy-cool craft cocktails".  We love Royal Caribbean's custom cocktails, such as the wonderful margaritas at Sabor Modern Mexican, so we wanted to share what to look for at the Bamboo Room.

Currently, the specialty cocktails are priced at $14 each.

The Royal Zombie

The signature tiki mug is "Cliff The Parrot", and it is available for purchase for $10. Just let your bartender know that you would like to purchase one.

The Bamboo Swizzle

Buffalo Trace bourbon, Lemon juice, Cinnamon Syrup, Soda, Mint and Angostura Bitters.

The Navy Grog

Saturn Landing

Bobby's Gin, Ginger Syrup, Velvet Falernum Liqueur, St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram, Mango and Lime Juice.

Mariner of the Seas is now sailing short 4-night Weekday and 3-night weekend getaways to The Bahamas, from PortMiami.

Can you believe August is already here? It is the middle of Summer and there is a lot of Royal Caribbean news to catch up from during this week.

The Royal Caribbean news that made the biggest splash this week with our readers was the change that appears Royal Caribbean's drink packages now include milkshakes at Johnny Rockets as part of the package benefits.

Recently we heard reports that guests were being informed that their drink package benefits included milkshakes at Johnny Rockets, and now we see Royal Caribbean's website has been updated to indicate that milkshakes are indeed included.

With this drink package policy change, guests with the Deluxe Beverage Package have the opportunity to enjoy milkshakes that are included with the cost of their beverage package.

Royal Caribbean News

• Royal Caribbean announced it will remove onboard credit offer from non-refundable cruise fares.
• Royal Caribbean's leadership talked about how well Symphony and Mariner are doing, the new app progress and more during an earnings call.
• It looks like 3-night sailings from the United Kingdom will no longer offer alcohol packages.
• The August cruise promotion was released this week by Royal Caribbean.
• Here is a new kind of zip line excursion you can try in Labadee.
• We shared an inside look at the construction progress being made at Royal Caribbean's new terminal in PortMiami.
• Australian comedian Celeste Barber took Royal Caribbean's social media thrill-seeking challenge.
• Royal Caribbean added a new Deals link to its Cruise Planner site.
• A new Netflix movie debuted that features Harmony of the Seas, and Royal Caribbean hosted the largest movie premiere at sea.
• A look at the construction work being done at CocoCay.
• Royal Caribbean Asia opened a contest for youths in Singapore.

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 261st episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available, where we interview someone who just reached the Pinnacle Club level of Crown and Anchor Society.

In this episode, Matt talks with Nick about what it took to reach the top of Crown and Anchor Society and what the distinction means to him.  Nick also shares his review of the newly refurbished Mariner of the Seas.

Please feel free to subscribe via iTunes or RSS, and head over to rate and review the podcast on iTunes if you can! We’d appreciate it.

Royal Caribbean Around the Internet

CNBC spoke to Royal Caribbean's Chairman and CEO about the impact of a trade war on cruising.

Explore with Ed shared must-eat recommendations by cruise bloggers.

Eat Sleep Cruise scored the changes and additions to Mariner of the Seas.

Seatrade Cruise News reported that Susan Bonner has been appointed to oversea the Australasian market.

Royal Caribbean is in the midst of upgrading its private island in the Bahamas as a part of a massive upgrade and we have some brand new photos of the work being done.

Royal Caribbean Blog reader Twangster took these photos earlier today while on a visit on Empress of the Seas.

Here is a look at the new pier being constructed.

Across the tender lagoon these new buildings have popped up.  This is near where the pier ends. In the simulations, if you walked off the pier and verged right this is where these buildings are.

You can see the cluster of buildings in this pier shot through the cranes.

Here is the end of the lagoon.  Glass bottom boats departs from these slips, lots of earth moving behind that barrier.