Refreshment package on sale...should I get it?

[Hoski 371]

6 hours ago, marti314 said:

My personal opinion on these packages is this:

When we pre-pay for something that someone tells us is UNLIMITED we want to "prove" that we can get the value out of it so we do our best to exceed the value by drinking more than the products would cost individually.

When we do not have something we have pre-paid for we analyze the want & cost more closely.  Ive never ever heard someone who didnt have a package say they had a higher bill than with a package.  

This is why these All you can drink packages are soooooooooooo lucrative for the cruise line.  They know you might spend 20 a day on drinks per person if you just buy them as you go.  They LOVE getting 50+ dollars a day out of people because the incremental cost of the alcohol you actually drink is likely 1.00 per drink you consume so they have gotten 30.00 more out of you and say you have 10 drinks a day they are out maybe 10.00 in product cost.

 

 

 

I have to disagree.  We stopped cruising years ago because my husband's bar bill was crazy.  Yes he is a big drinker.  We are on vacation and do not want to limit ourselves.  We switched to all inclusive resorts for 15 years and are now back enjoying the package.  Our adult daughter gets the refreshment package.  She gets her $20 worth plus;  2 special coffees $5 x 2,  2 bottles of water $3 x 2, 2 mocktails $8 x 2 and she is over the $20. 

Even at $50 a day me, the light drinker, gets my money's worth without trying;  alcoholic drinks 3 x $9, water $3 x 2, special coffees 2 x $5, and 1 glass of wine with dinner $9. 

Figure out what what you drink at home in one day, extra you drink on vacation and calculate your need of the package.

[videjuca 3]

Hello,

Does anybody know if bottled juices are incluided on Refreshment package? 

I know fresh-squeezed orange juice is included, but what about any other bottled juice?

Jhonny Rockets's milkshakes are included too?

Thanks!

[JennyB 329]

On 4/5/2019 at 2:18 PM, tiny260 said:

One thing I don't remember seeing anyone mention though is the convenience, I just bought the package for my Wife for the 9 night group cruise, I did it because I didn't want her to have to worry if she wanted a drink, she could just go get it and not think about it.

That's exactly one of the things I will mention.  For me, I don't drink on a regular basis in "real life".  I might have a "special" drink for our anniversary somewhere...but when I'm on a cruise I do enjoy the pretty, fruity, tropical drinks...I do appreciate the convenience, NOT necessarily the COST SAVINGS, of having everything paid for ahead of time.

 

[SLJ 45]

33 minutes ago, videjuca said:

Hello,

Does anybody know if bottled juices are incluided on Refreshment package? 

I know fresh-squeezed orange juice is included, but what about any other bottled juice?

Jhonny Rockets's milkshakes are included too?

Thanks!

I don't think the bottled juices are included. Just like canned sodas are not included but fountain sodas are. And Johnny Rocket's milkshake is definitely not included in the refreshment package.

[WAAAYTOOO 12,132]

I think that on some ships the JR milkshakes ARE included in the refreshment package.  You may, however, have to pay the cover charge and eat in order to get the "fee" milkshakes.

[cobra614 58]

On 4/5/2019 at 4:57 PM, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Here's my two cents on all of this:

I always buy the refreshment package (except for star class).  Does not matter if I am sailing in a suite or not.  For me, I like the convenience of being able to go to any venue (not just the suite lounge) to grab a bottle of water, specialty coffee, etc.  I think I drink enough water alone to cover the cost of the package so it is a no brainer for me.  I purchase it on sale.  Never at $26/day.  The best deal lately was the Black Friday deal at $17/day.  Right now, Symphony for July is sitting at $20/day.  This is USD that I am quoting. 

The deluxe package is a whole other story.  I will sometimes buy and sometimes not.  The first factor I go through is are my kids with us?  If yes, then the deluxe is likely a no as we spend a lot of time with our kids while cruising so, I would less likely be sitting around drinking something. 

The next factor is how long is the cruise?  For example, for the Anthem GC, I am almost certain that I will be #teamnoDX because for 9 nights, that is pretty pricey.  And my kids are with us so double whammy, likely no.

The next factor I consider when debating between Deluxe and Refreshment is what is the difference in cost between the two packages?  For example,  our July Symphony sailing (anniversary just hubby and I) coming up, the price for Deluxe has dropped to $49/day and Refreshment is $20/day.  The total difference between the two packages is $239.54.  That is equivalent to about 2 drinks per day (+$25 left over).  I can easily go through two drinks in one day on a cruise like that so I will be calling Royal right after this post to purchase.

Those are usually the scenarios I run through to make a decision.

I'm glad I saw this post. I purchased the DX package for my July sailing on Symphony for $52 a day and now it's $49. For 2 that is a savings altogether of $45.56. Not huge but if I found it on the street I'd pick it up, lol.

 

To get it I just cancel the purchased ones then buy the new ones? If so, use the cancel option in my purchase section of the cruise planner?

[WAAAYTOOO 12,132]

5 minutes ago, cobra614 said:

To get it I just cancel the purchased ones then buy the new ones? If so, use the cancel option in my purchase section of the cruise planner?

Yes.  Cancel the old one first, ten rebook the "savings" pkg.  I did it the other way once and got SOOO confused about which one to <then> go back and cancel.  Even after I thought I had done it right, I guess I didn't b/c when I got on board, the head waiter in Chops told me that I had paid for 2 pkgs so he cancelled one of them for me on the ship.  This was for a dining pkg, not a drinks pkg but the story is still the same.

[cobra614 58]

I ended up just calling them, took care of it all on the phone and saved $49.56. Worth a free call.

 

Thanks again to all for the info in this thread.

[SLJ 45]

On ‎4‎/‎5‎/‎2019 at 3:11 PM, 12thman said:

Could you let me know please? If I can cancel both refreshment packages then it would be a big savings for us.

@12thman As promised earlier, I'm here to recap our experience with Allure with regards to the refreshment package and whether you need it or not. First of all, we had a BLAST on Allure. She's gorgeous and we didn't feel any impact with the compromised azipod. Now with the drinks. As you know, I didn't buy the package and wanted to use this trip to gauge whether we'll need it for Symphony next year. Our verdict: NO. Definitely no drink package necessary for us. But everyone's different. I consistently bought some sort of a drink at least once a day. Ie: soda, mocktails, etc. and our bill on drinks was around $100 something for 2 adults and that included a few alcoholic drinks in there too. Non-alcoholic cocktails were $8.36 (after gratuities), and a cola was around $3.50. Their cocktails were quite sweet and heavy so I couldn't drink more than one a day if I still wanted room for all the yummy food on board. And never once had I felt stressed about the bill because I knew very early on that it'd come out WAY lower than if we'd bought the refreshment packages. Hope this helps with your decision on your upcoming cruise.

[JLMoran 7,161]

7 hours ago, SLJ said:

@12thman As promised earlier, I'm here to recap our experience with Allure with regards to the refreshment package and whether you need it or not. First of all, we had a BLAST on Allure. She's gorgeous and we didn't feel any impact with the compromised azipod. Now with the drinks. As you know, I didn't buy the package and wanted to use this trip to gauge whether we'll need it for Symphony next year. Our verdict: NO. Definitely no drink package necessary for us. But everyone's different. I consistently bought some sort of a drink at least once a day. Ie: soda, mocktails, etc. and our bill on drinks was around $100 something for 2 adults and that included a few alcoholic drinks in there too. Non-alcoholic cocktails were $8.36 (after gratuities), and a cola was around $3.50. Their cocktails were quite sweet and heavy so I couldn't drink more than one a day if I still wanted room for all the yummy food on board. And never once had I felt stressed about the bill because I knew very early on that it'd come out WAY lower than if we'd bought the refreshment packages. Hope this helps with your decision on your upcoming cruise.

This actually lines up really nicely with what another person here noted on another thread -- the Refreshment Package is almost worse to get than the Deluxe, in terms of being able to break even. With Deluxe, as long as you get 3 alcoholic drinks each day that hit the max per beverage, you just need to get a few non-alcoholic drinks to break even.

I'm not entirely sure that's as true if you get a really good sale price for Refreshment -- I'm talking $18, which is the lowest I've seen since I snagged it for a never-again-seen $17/night on the last Black Friday sale. At that price, as long as you're into the specialty coffees and fresh-squeezed OJ in the morning, you can figure you're already $15 in with one OJ and two grande espresso drinks a day. Just a bottle of water or a Coke with that and you're even. But at the more usual $26, that's a smidge harder to reach.

[12thman 201]

7 hours ago, SLJ said:

@12thman As promised earlier, I'm here to recap our experience with Allure with regards to the refreshment package and whether you need it or not. First of all, we had a BLAST on Allure. She's gorgeous and we didn't feel any impact with the compromised azipod. Now with the drinks. As you know, I didn't buy the package and wanted to use this trip to gauge whether we'll need it for Symphony next year. Our verdict: NO. Definitely no drink package necessary for us. But everyone's different. I consistently bought some sort of a drink at least once a day. Ie: soda, mocktails, etc. and our bill on drinks was around $100 something for 2 adults and that included a few alcoholic drinks in there too. Non-alcoholic cocktails were $8.36 (after gratuities), and a cola was around $3.50. Their cocktails were quite sweet and heavy so I couldn't drink more than one a day if I still wanted room for all the yummy food on board. And never once had I felt stressed about the bill because I knew very early on that it'd come out WAY lower than if we'd bought the refreshment packages. Hope this helps with your decision on your upcoming cruise.

Thank you for the information. It's good to know that one doesn't have to have a drink package. 

[Marlena 176]

I wanted the DBP as it dropped in price. However it would be over 800 usd ( within over 1000 for us in CAD) .

And as much as I can talk myself into thinking I could drink that much considering the price per drink....thinking of it as 1000 for drinks for the week is insane! We plan on not holding back, if we want a drink just order it and go from there. That being said my husband is not a big drinker and as another member mentioned we have our young daughter with us so it's not like we can just sit back and drink all day. 

Also with our dining package we get a 40% rebate on wine so it will help. And I think I'll be bringing 2 bottles on board.

[Yo2slick 191]

My wife and I purchased the DBP on our cruise in August for a couple of reasons...

I didnt want to have to worry about a bill at the end of our cruise and if you price out an all inclusive resort its still cheaper to take the cruise and pay for the beverage package.   We are going to use this opportunity to try lots of new drinks that we otherwise wouldnt have.   

15 years and this is the first time we have went anywhere without kids....mama and I are gonna have some fun! 

[George 7]

I'll be sailing on Ovation in a couple of weeks, and I've purchased the refreshment package.  If I decide I want an alcoholic frozen drink, would I pay full price, or the difference in price?

[JLMoran 7,161]

2 minutes ago, George said:

I'll be sailing on Ovation in a couple of weeks, and I've purchased the refreshment package.  If I decide I want an alcoholic frozen drink, would I pay full price, or the difference in price?

If you buy the regular alcoholic drink, like a Lava Flow or Daiquiri, you will pay the full price.

You have the option to request the virgin drink, which will be covered by the Refreshment Package, and a shot of whatever the normal alcohol is (e.g., Rum for both of the above) on the side. Then you would just be charged for the shot, which you are free to pour into your mocktail and mix up with the paper straw as best you're able. That said, others here have recommended just paying full price for the regular beverage so it's properly mixed and prepped.

[George 7]

9 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

If you buy the regular alcoholic drink, like a Lava Flow or Daiquiri, you will pay the full price.

You have the option to request the virgin drink, which will be covered by the Refreshment Package, and a shot of whatever the normal alcohol is (e.g., Rum for both of the above) on the side. Then you would just be charged for the shot, which you are free to pour into your mocktail and mix up with the paper straw as best you're able. That said, others here have recommended just paying full price for the regular beverage so it's properly mixed and prepped.

Great, that's just what I wanted to know!!

[Txbobbie 0]

How much are the bottles of sparkling water?  Can you just get soda water for free?