Drinks package

[Thom Cruise]

1 hour ago, ellcee said:

Technically, Nope. No sharing of packages.

Though I hear tales of other passengers using their husbands card to buy drinks "for them",  so I guess its pot luck. 

[ellcee]

14 minutes ago, Thom Cruise said:

Though I hear tales of other passengers using their husbands card to buy drinks "for them",  so I guess its pot luck. 

Do at your own risk. You'll find a lot of us here don't support that.

[marti314]

steal

 verb

\ ˈstēl  \

stole\ ˈstōl  \; stolen\ ˈstō-lən  \; stealing

Definition of steal

 (Entry 1 of 2)

intransitive verb

1: to take the property of another wrongfully and especially as a habitual or regular practice

[Thom Cruise]

 

I'm stealing as we speak. Just ripping a song off YouTube. 

 

I'm comfortable in my skin knowing that I'm paying RC several thousand pounds upfront, and another fortune on board in extras. Any saving I can make, while bending rules, is all good. 

[AshleyDillo]

12 minutes ago, Thom Cruise said:

Any saving I can make, while bending rules, is all good. 

The sharing is why Royal went with the requirement that everyone has to purchase it.  The profit margin is huge on alcoholic drinks and they don't make as big of a profit off of the drink packages.  

Is it allowed?  No.  Do people do it?  Yes.  They also sneak alcohol onboard the ship.

The policy is you can only order one alcoholic drink at a time without having two cards with the package.  Your photo shows when they swipe your SeaPass, so you can't just hand your card off to someone else to go use.  

Royal has the right to revoke your drink package if you are caught "bending" the rules.  It's your personal choice to do so, it's just not condoned on these boards at all.  

Just remember that being nice to bartenders and tipping can often result in them taking great care of you.

[PatsFanBrian]

24 minutes ago, Thom Cruise said:

 

I'm stealing as we speak. Just ripping a song off YouTube. 

 

I'm comfortable in my skin knowing that I'm paying RC several thousand pounds upfront, and another fortune on board in extras. Any saving I can make, while bending rules, is all good. 

It's not just corporate RC you'd be hitting, but the servers and bartenders.  They earn a small wage and depend on the gratuities .  Double dipping on the drink package takes money from their pockets as well.

[twangster]

36 minutes ago, Thom Cruise said:

I'm comfortable in my skin knowing that I'm paying RC several thousand pounds upfront, and another fortune on board in extras. Any saving I can make, while bending rules, is all good. 

Where do you draw the line?  When is stealing okay versus stealing is bad?  Pay hundreds for a hotel room and steal mini-bottles from the bar or refill them will apple juice because you paid for the room?

I'm sorry, stealing is never okay and hopefully you'll remember that when karma bites you really hard in the rear end.  It's because of people like you that causes the rest of us to pay higher rates.  It's not okay to steal, period.

[marti314]

40 minutes ago, Thom Cruise said:

 

I'm stealing as we speak. Just ripping a song off YouTube. 

 

I'm comfortable in my skin knowing that I'm paying RC several thousand pounds upfront, and another fortune on board in extras. Any saving I can make, while bending rules, is all good. 

I am sorry to hear that for your own sake but more importantly because your stealing increases my costs and all the other folks on here who abide by the rules.  

[Thom Cruise]

14 hours ago, marti314 said:

I am sorry to hear that for your own sake but more importantly because your stealing increases my costs and all the other folks on here who abide by the rules.  

I saw you in another thread advocating the storage of water outside of cups. 

Stealing.  How can they sell Evian packages when you advocate this practice of filling bottles? 

[Thom Cruise]

14 hours ago, twangster said:

Where do you draw the line?  When is stealing okay versus stealing is bad?  Pay hundreds for a hotel room and steal mini-bottles from the bar or refill them will apple juice because you paid for the room?

I'm sorry, stealing is never okay and hopefully you'll remember that when karma bites you really hard in the rear end.  It's because of people like you that causes the rest of us to pay higher rates.  It's not okay to steal, period.

I steal mini shampoos and soap. 

I steal teas and coffees. 

Its not stealing. Its a contained expense they can write off due to the bulk they buy this in. I'm assuming RC pay full taxes, otherwise its stealing. I'm assuming they pay a living wage to their staff, otherwise its stealing. 

 

You are not suffering, you just havent got two staterooms. 

[twangster]

56 minutes ago, Thom Cruise said:

I steal mini shampoos and soap. 

I steal teas and coffees. 

Its not stealing. Its a contained expense 

It is stealing.  No matter how you attempt to console yourself, it is wrong and you are stealing.

[MrMarc]

I think a lot of the items in the shops onboard is overpriced, so using the drink package logic, it is ok to steal it.  I am amazed at how people justify what they do.

[VinceC]

I definitely need a DRINK after Reading through this blog topic....  Who is serving one up.....?

[MrMarc]

2 hours ago, VinceC said:

I definitely need a DRINK after Reading through this blog topic....  Who is serving one up.....?

Who's paying?

[marti314]

On 8/24/2019 at 3:33 AM, Thom Cruise said:

I saw you in another thread advocating the storage of water outside of cups. 

Do you mean if you want to fill your YETI or RTIC up with free provided ICE water that is available self service at every bar?  Yes, FREE ice water is available and there are signs instructing you to NOT fill any personal bottles therefore taking the water and putting it in the sanitized cups before filling your bottle / cup is for health reasons.  You are comparing consuming the provided water with buying one drink package and sharing it.

I have found the rules for you from the RCL site regarding sharing of packages and ordering more than 1 drink at a time.

Q    Can I order multiple drinks at a time with Royal Caribbean's all-inclusive beverage packages?

A.No. As this is a personal package, only one beverage per guest will be served.

All packages are for single guest use and cannot be shared by multiple people.

[VinceC]

On ‎8‎/‎23‎/‎2019 at 12:36 PM, Thom Cruise said:

Though I hear tales of other passengers using their husbands card to buy drinks "for them",  so I guess its pot luck. 

If any Royal Staff catches it, they can take away your purchase package without refunding anything to you.

[bretts173]

I think we should just start a pact to report to RCL the people that are sharing as they are pushing the price of our drink packages up.

 

[delerium98]

On 7/31/2019 at 9:59 PM, DES said:

I really want to be able to take a couple drinks with me to sit on the balcony a couple hours without having to go out to get another drink.  Does anyone have any suggestions how I could accomplish this?  Can I immediately go to a different bar and order another drink if I pour the first drink in my Yeti cup then add the second from another bar?  I'm open to any suggestions.

Thank you

I just got off the Liberty and had the drink package for the first time.  I was able to take unopened beer back to the room.  One at a time of course but my bartender didn't have a problem with it at all.  I was tipping so that may have helped.  Had a nice collection in the fridge.  I found that the pub (Hoof and Claw on the Liberty) had the best service out of all the bars.  That became my home base because it was never crowded and the service was just so darned good.

[Thom Cruise]

8 hours ago, bretts173 said:

I think we should just start a pact to report to RCL the people that are sharing as they are pushing the price of our drink packages up.

 

So, logically, I'm the one paying the price for people who have abused the drinks packages in the past. 

A few of you seem to think of the drinks package as a competition to see how many drinks you can get out of your package. So it encourages drinking to excess, daytime drinking, even breakfast mimosas. 

And you wonder why the price keeps rising? 

[twangster]

3 hours ago, Thom Cruise said:

So, logically, I'm the one paying the price for people who have abused the drinks packages in the past. 

A few of you seem to think of the drinks package as a competition to see how many drinks you can get out of your package. So it encourages drinking to excess, daytime drinking, even breakfast mimosas. 

And you wonder why the price keeps rising? 

No.  You are paying for your drink package in the present.  

Prices today in 2019 are virtually the same as they were in 2016 when the deluxe package was first introduced despite rising costs as liquor and taxes have increased over the three years.  

Logically you are benefiting from the fact that they have reduced theft by requiring everyone over 21 to purchase the package.  This has reduced their overall operating cost which allows them to sell the package at the same price as they did when thieves were stealing from them.  Reducing theft lowers costs for everyone.

If they did not take measures to eliminate theft the drink packages would cost much more today,

[marti314]

11 hours ago, delerium98 said:

Had a nice collection in the fridge.

Why did you want lukewarm beers when every bar has nice cold ones?  Those fridges just do not get cold.

[delerium98]

12 hours ago, marti314 said:

Why did you want lukewarm beers when every bar has nice cold ones?  Those fridges just do not get cold.

Our fridge actually did get cold enough.  It took a few days to get there though.  Definitely not ice cold by any means.  If I was craving a beer and I was in for the night it was nice having a few right there in the room.

[Thom Cruise]

22 hours ago, twangster said:

No.  You are paying for your drink package in the present.  

Prices today in 2019 are virtually the same as they were in 2016 when the deluxe package was first introduced despite rising costs as liquor and taxes have increased over the three years.  

Logically you are benefiting from the fact that they have reduced theft by requiring everyone over 21 to purchase the package.  This has reduced their overall operating cost which allows them to sell the package at the same price as they did when thieves were stealing from them.  Reducing theft lowers costs for everyone.

If they did not take measures to eliminate theft the drink packages would cost much more today,

But that's not quite true is it? 

I mean, it's £43.50 for the drinks package right now.  Has it never been under £40? 

What happened prior to 2016, did people just borrow each other's pass?  But, with photo ID's, how was that possible?  Also, I think they used to offer 'select' option cheaper, for just beer and wine.

I don't see why RC don't offer a daily drinks package.  I'll probably drink 5 or 6 days out of the 13 I'm on board the ship.   

[marti314]

2 hours ago, Thom Cruise said:

 

I don't see why RC don't offer a daily drinks package.  I'll probably drink 5 or 6 days out of the 13 I'm on board the ship

You are able to buy drinks at any bar a la carte and if you say you will only drink 5 to 6 days out of 13 then you should not buy that package you will never make up the extra 8 days of no drinking.

[twangster]

1 hour ago, Thom Cruise said:

But that's not quite true is it? 

I mean, it's £43.50 for the drinks package right now.  Has it never been under £40? 

What happened prior to 2016, did people just borrow each other's pass?  But, with photo ID's, how was that possible?  Also, I think they used to offer 'select' option cheaper, for just beer and wine.

I don't see why RC don't offer a daily drinks package.  I'll probably drink 5 or 6 days out of the 13 I'm on board the ship.   

Prior to 2016 there were a number of alcoholic drink packages available, one beer, one wine, one that covered some cocktails and another that covered even more.  It was confusing so they were consolidated into one "Deluxe" package.  Prior to 2016 sharing was not allowed.  

Throughout this period Royal was the only major cruise line of the big three that did not require everyone over 21 to purchase a package if any one in a cabin did.  Carnival and NCL both required everyone in a cabin to buy it if anyone did.  In 2018 Royal followed the others and required everyone in a cabin to buy it if anyone did.   Faced with people stealing and scamming the system they relented and adopted the current policy which is now industry standard.

Pricing models are based on historical trends and average consumption over the length of a cruise.  These differ for short 3 night cruises compared to longer sailings so the price of the package differs for short 3 night cruises compared to longer cruises.  The same would hold true for a one day package.   They would have to increase the price to reflect a general trend of increased consumption for one day.  I believe a one day package would lead to more binge drinking and drunkenness resulting in a lot of security and medical issues on board.  That doesn't apply to everyone but a significant number of people would drink very heavily with a one day package.  For this reason alone I believe they won't offer a one day package.

[JLMoran]

2 hours ago, Thom Cruise said:

I'll probably drink 5 or 6 days out of the 13 I'm on board the ship.

Why not just wait for the 10-drink card to show up, then? Buy a la carte on the days before it appears, and then buy one or two cards depending on when the offer first appears and how many of those remaining days you expect to buy drinks.

Best part is that the cards are completely shareable. They don't appear on every single cruise, but on a 13-night sailing I'm wagering it's very likely they will, since few people in general buy the package on such a long sailing.

[Thom Cruise]

So can you buy more than 1 of the 10 drink cards? 

 

Interesting facts fellas. Thanks. 

 

Can you also do me a favour and check out my comment on the refreshment package? 

 

[Thom Cruise]

57 minutes ago, marti314 said:

You are able to buy drinks at any bar a la carte and if you say you will only drink 5 to 6 days out of 13 then you should not buy that package you will never make up the extra 8 days of no drinking.

But this seems mad, I mean, its crazy to design it based on you NEEDING to drink a lot! 

Bless you all. 

[marti314]

Yep you can buy as many drink cards as you wish and those can be shared with anyone, literally anyone.

I am not sure what post you are referring to as it relates to the refreshment package.  That allows you to get any NON alcoholic drink which does include frozen / blended drinks, fresh squeezed OJ, specialty coffees, vitamin water/powerade, redbulls etc.....

Shots by themselves will run anywhere from 7 - 10.00 USD if you just wanted to add a shot on

 

 

[Thom Cruise]

3 minutes ago, marti314 said:

Yep you can buy as many drink cards as you wish and those can be shared with anyone, literally anyone.

I am not sure what post you are referring to as it relates to the refreshment package.  That allows you to get any NON alcoholic drink which does include frozen / blended drinks, fresh squeezed OJ, specialty coffees, vitamin water/powerade, redbulls etc.....

Shots by themselves will run anywhere from 7 - 10.00 USD if you just wanted to add a shot on

 

 

My question on refreshment package was on the quality of the coffee. 

I'm wondering if the free coffee was excellent or if you really get better coffee with the package. 

 

Can you go anywhere and get any coffee with it, in a proper mug or takeaway? Just not Starbucks, obv. 

[ellcee]

Just now, Thom Cruise said:

I'm wondering if the free coffee was excellent or if you really get better coffee with the package. 

Depends on ship. I've hated on some but Anthem's free coffee was good. I still prefer the Starbucks or Seattle's Best or whatever the specialty coffee because I like non dairy milk options.

[marti314]

6 minutes ago, Thom Cruise said:

My question on refreshment package was on the quality of the coffee. 

I'm wondering if the free coffee was excellent or if you really get better coffee with the package. 

 

Can you go anywhere and get any coffee with it, in a proper mug or takeaway? Just not Starbucks, obv. 

The quality of the free coffee is i would say "Decent".  Its bitter, its brewed in MASSIVE quantities.  Put some milk and or creamer in it and its fine.  

THe specialty coffee will be Seattles Best Brand, ILLY or Starbucks.  Can you grab a mug and get coffee anywhere?  Cafe Promenade always has free coffee & specialty.  Windjammer always has Free Coffee & Specialty (if there is a bar).  Park Cafe also does free coffee and specialty.  Those are about the only 3 places that serve coffee onboard except for the dining rooms/specialty restaurants.

[Thom Cruise]

Is there a centralised document somewhere with all prices for all on-ship coffees/soft drinks/alcoholic drinks/meals?

[CruisinUpinLife]

5 minutes ago, Thom Cruise said:

Is there a centralised document somewhere with all prices for all on-ship coffees/soft drinks/alcoholic drinks/meals?

The short answer is no.  However, many post prices on their live blogs and you can find some of this information possibly in the menus section of this site.  However, that does not mean that is the price for sure as some menus are old and are provided to the Admins by fellow cruisers.  Royal does not post this information-probably so they can change prices as they wish without risk of someone having documented an expected price and find it's different on board.

Someone on here may be able to give you general prices for various things.  Starbucks is not included in any drink package.  Regular brewed coffee is included as well as tap water with your cruise price-no package needed.  Alcoholic beverages vary depending on what they are.  Wines I've generally seeing around the $12-$16 per glass on up.  Mixed drinks are around that price as well depending on what you are wanting.  Beer prices are ??? as I don't often drink beer.  Meals are included unless they are part of specialty dining restaurants.  I say all of this information and it does NOT necessarily apply to cruises in the Asian market such as Spectrum of the Seas or any other ships over there.  From what I've read from others on here is they have an entirely different way of doing things to meet consumer expectations in that area.

[Thom Cruise]

If I was to take a rule of thumb though, a rough guide, would you say that prices for drinks or coffees or sodas or burgers are around about the same price you'd pay in a city, so, on the upper scale of 'normal', or are the prices much higher than normal?

[twangster]

58 minutes ago, Thom Cruise said:

If I was to take a rule of thumb though, a rough guide, would you say that prices for drinks or coffees or sodas or burgers are around about the same price you'd pay in a city, so, on the upper scale of 'normal', or are the prices much higher than normal?

I often travel for business that involves staying in a hotel or visiting a bar in a distant city.  Generally speaking drink prices on board are consistent with hotel and bar prices on land.    If I walk into a local bar a beer is not going to cost the same compared to if I buy a case of beer in a store and bring it home.  The ship is no different.

A mixed drink like a rum and coke is typically around $11 with the automatic 18% gratuity included.  

A glass of wine is $13 to $20+ for table wine to more sophisticated labels including the automatic 18% gratuity.

All posted prices are subject to 18% service charge or gratuity.  There is no escaping this charge.  

If you pay for drinks one at a time each drink will have 18% added to the cost.

If you buy a drink package, 18% is added as you go through the steps of purchasing the drink package.  

[ellcee]

1 hour ago, Thom Cruise said:

If I was to take a rule of thumb though, a rough guide, would you say that prices for drinks or coffees or sodas or burgers are around about the same price you'd pay in a city, so, on the upper scale of 'normal', or are the prices much higher than normal?

I'm in NY. The drinks are actually cheaper on RC.

[Jolly Ogre]

That is crazy prices for drinks.

Drinks here are $1 for draft beer $2 for the bottle.

Mixed drinks are $2.50 -$5.00 depending on what they are, well vs called. 

Shots of top shelf Scotch $6.00.

[ellcee]

11 minutes ago, Jolly Ogre said:

That is crazy prices for drinks.

Drinks here are $1 for draft beer $2 for the bottle.

Mixed drinks are $2.50 -$5.00 depending on what they are, well vs called. 

Shots of top shelf Scotch $6.00.

I'm moving.

 

[marti314]

1 hour ago, twangster said:

I often travel for business that involves staying in a hotel or visiting a bar in a distant city.  Generally speaking drink prices on board are consistent with hotel and bar prices on land.    If I walk into a local bar a beer is not going to cost the same compared to if I buy a case of beer in a store and bring it home.  The ship is no different.

A mixed drink like a rum and coke is typically around $11 with the automatic 18% gratuity included.  

A glass of wine is $13 to $20+ for table wine to more sophisticated labels including the automatic 18% gratuity.

All posted prices are subject to 18% service charge or gratuity.  There is no escaping this charge.  

If you pay for drinks one at a time each drink will have 18% added to the cost.

If you buy a drink package, 18% is added as you go through the steps of purchasing the drink package.  

Choices choices choices......  Yes you can always find the JW or Waldorf charging these drink prices but like @Jolly Ogre Says, you can find on any day of the week here in Austin Texas 1.00 lonestars, 2.00 imports, 3.00 craft beers, 3.00 wells etc either on Happy Hour or a Daily Special.  The difference is the cruise ship is your only choice so they know they can charge ultra-lounge / Las Vegas Strip Casino prices.