OBC and Drink Package

[Jodey]

Leaving on a cruise next week and have found the drink package for a good price online.  As my OBC from the travel agency won't show up on my account until onboard,  I would have to pay with credit card before the cruise.  Is there any way to switch it to pay with my OBC once onboard or am I going to have to wait and pay the higher price?   We also have free gratuities and specialty dinner so would really like to use the OBC on the drinks.

[JLMoran]

Hi, @Jodey. Welcome to the RCBlog forums!

Unfortunately, since the credit won't show until after you've boarded (and then may not show until day 2), you will need to wait until you're on board and pay the appreciably higher on-board rate if you really want to buy it with your OBC.

How many nights is your sailing? Typical on-board pricing for the Deluxe Beverage Package is around $70+ per person, per night, plus an automatic 20% gratuity on the final price (so another $14 per person, per night on top of the base rate); IIRC, passengers with at least Diamond status in Crown & Anchor society get a 20% discount on board, but that's the only discount typically offered. Unless you're on a very short cruise and you've been given a significant amount of OBC, you're still going to be paying at least some of that package with your credit card.

If you're seeing the package offered for anything decently below $55 per person, per night (which would be $66 after automatic gratuity), I would strongly advise buying the package now and putting it on your credit card. Even with a 4-night cruise at the typical "base" online price of $55, that's $18 * 4 * 2 = $144 saved for two people vs buying on board at the typical price.

The other facet to consider is that you can and most likely will absolutely find plenty of other things to spend the OBC on. You can try out a specialty restaurant with the credit, or use it for a massage or facial/mani/pedi at the spa, or join one of the "wines around the word tasting" events they often have on sea days, use it in the onboard logo shop, book a last-second excursion, pay your automatic gratuities with it, etc.

My wife and I have been on two cruises so far -- one 8 nights, one 5 -- that each included around $150-$175 OBC for our cabin; I bought the beverage package and specialty dining online beforehand, and never had a problem using all the OBC and even owing a little on my credit card at the end.

[Ditchdoc]

My thoughts on RCCL ultimate drink package and how to save on the bar bill in general.

We are diamond members so the fee for the alcoholic beverage package is $55 a day per person. That comes to about $700 for a week long cruise. That's a lot of booze money in my opinion. At moderate prices that is about 8 drinks a day per person. We typically just do not drink that much and the price is just not worth it to us. We miss the days when you could get a wine package of 4 or 5 bottles of wine for a price we could swallow We would order them at dinner. RCCL does not seem to offer this any longer. 

There are some alternatives. Especially at diamond level.

Every day there is a 'happy hour' or two at one of the ships bars. Usually between 4 and 6. There you can get a cocktail for $2 or $3. This makes for nice 'before dinner' drink at a reasonable price. Usually there is a note in the Cruise Compass on which bar does this. If you don't see it, ask a crew member or two. You usually will find a small number of people that take advantage of this and you will see them every day.

Look out for drink specials. Almost every day there is some sweet, fruity drink on special around the pools if you are into those. Also you can get a 'bucket of beer' or an ice bucket with 4 beers (I think) for a reduced price.

At Diamond level, some of the ships have a Diamond lounge that will offer free drinks during that same 'happy hour time'. They usually provide a snack or two as well.

RCCL used to provide a coupon book for C&A member that would include a couple of coupons for a free drink. This has evolved into paperless with the 'coupons' embedded into your sea pass card. I have read  that Diamond members get 2 drinks per day at any bar using their sea pass card. I am not 100% on this though. If the ship does not have a Diamond Lounge, this may takes its place.

Next are C&A social events. It seems each level of Crown and Anchor member will get invited to party where crew members and/or the captain will speak about various topics for a few minutes. There is generally live music and of course, free drinks. You may get invited to more than one of these events depending on your C&A level. There is usually one for all C&A members and another for Diamond and up.

There are Captains dinners. Yes, this very limited and rare. There are some tricks I will not reveal here but we have been invited to the Captains table three times. Needless to say, its fun, service and food is spot on and of course, there are free drinks.

Take your allotted 2 x 750ml bottles of wine with you in your carry on. One bottle is about 4 decent glasses of wine. Too bad its limited to 750ml bottles or we could find some big bottles or even some Black Box wine

Finally there is your on board credit or OBC. We will typically get a glass of wine at dinner. Then there is the after dinner drink, maybe at the evening show or one of the music venues. Actually purchasing maybe two full price drinks, per person per day is just about equal to the OBC we get with each cruise.

 

In the end, taking advantage of our Diamond membership, coupons, social activities, happy hours, OBC, limiting our intake to something reasonable while having a good time, we walk off the ship at the end of the cruise with little or no bar bill.

 

 

 

 

[Mljstr]

@Ditchdoc Referring to the above post, Diamond members get three free drinks per night at most bars between 4:30 and 7:30. That along with the unlimited free drinks in the diamond lounge (or concierge lounge) are enough for us. If we want a specialty drink at the pool during the day or before dinner we splurge. Therefore we never buy the drink package.

[Ditchdoc]

Thanks for the clarification Mljstr.