Jump to content

Drink Package Price Increase!!


AlexWinters

Recommended Posts

I have two cruises the summer of 2020 (one on Harmony and one on Oasis) and just noticed a pretty significant price increase on the Deluxe Beverage Package.  A couple weeks ago it had 20% off with the price of $56 and now it is 20% off with a price of $65 ?. Price increases are always expected but wow! Are other people seeing an increase in their package prices? #StillLoyalToRoyal #StillGoingToPurchaseLOL

2071C86A-4C3D-42C1-80C0-58FA28FE1083.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 minutes ago, RatedPG said:

Even the Refreshment Package has gone up to $26 per day.  Good thing I purchased it when it was $20 per day.

I've seen the Refreshment package as high as $28 per day in the not-too-distant past, so that's actually not that bad. If your sailing is not until after Black Friday, check then for a better rate. I was able to grab it for $17/night last Black Friday, and it hasn't gone that low since!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, marti314 said:

If you look at the prices that are listed they seem to be the price that all sales are based on.  

Close, but not quite with my sailing. On-board price has been a very consistent reverse-calculated $70/day, vs. the current $65/day that's listed as "20% off".

Believe me, I wish this was a simple glitch where it's showing the on-board price with no discount applied, but that really doesn't seem to be the case.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

If it is, it's purely to make the "sale" price look good when in reality it's still the same or higher than previous pricing has been for the last year. ?

Whatever the reason might be, the threshold for me is 50.00 a day so I personally would be out.  This will just promote more drinking by those that opt to pay 1300 dollars per couple for the week.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, monctonguy said:

hard to justify the drink package or a cruise when it starts getting that high...close to $1000/person for a week cruise....just for drinks??!..come on now....

I'm assuming that's $1000CAD. Really close to the total for a 14-night transatlantic on Celebrity. ? They never discount their beverage packages from what I can see, and even the "classic" package that limits what wines / beers / cocktails you can order is $59 USD (about $78 CAD) a night. $826 USD ($1,098 CAD) for that "Classic" package, $966 USD ($1,284 CAD) for the "Premium" package at $69/night.

And this particular 14-night is port-intensive, with only 6 sea days to make decent use of the package.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, JLMoran said:

Close, but not quite with my sailing. On-board price has been a very consistent reverse-calculated $70/day, vs. the current $65/day that's listed as "20% off".

Believe me, I wish this was a simple glitch where it's showing the on-board price with no discount applied, but that really doesn't seem to be the case.

Yep, same. My base for September Anthem sailing was $70 dollars, the sales were consistent for the last year: $56 for 20% and $52 for BOGO50 and as expected the 30% was $49 just a few weeks ago. Now, the BOGO50 is $61 dollars making the base price $81.3333 (repeat). 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/12/2019 at 3:21 PM, JRT said:

Does this mean onboard drink prices are going up?

How much more than 15.50 (After Gratuity) for a blended drink can they charge?

Anyone ever wonder if they can sell a 1 LITER bottle of STOLI for 10.00 on the ship how much they must be getting it for?  Lets say its 6.00 and there are approx 22 shots in one bottle, YES that 10.00 stoli and soda water is really 35 - 50 cents worth of product itself.  Since RCL is not paying the same US taxes on liquor that bars and restaurants on land there is more profit in these drink packages than people realize, even if you drink 30 drinks a day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, CoupleOfCruisers said:

Im curious at what amount would people stop buying drink packages? As long as people pay the price they will keep pushing price up! ? 

My Max is 50 a day not because I can break even with 5 terribly overpriced drinks but because over 7 days plus 18% I feel that's the max where I personally find value in the benefit.

Drinking to drink because you have a package is a chore and with all of the food its not all that fun. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For me, I guess my threshold is very low.  I have never bought a RCL drink package!  A week ago my October 9N Anthem dropped to $44 but we did not bite.  Currently it is still only $51, but that is over $1K in total for the 9N cruise.  With tax and tip that $51 turns into $60 pppd (per person per day).  We only paid $90 pppd for the total cruise.  When I see the numbers I say NO way!  We will stick with the free Diamond well drinks as people call them.  They work for us!

image.png.4c01059006f0087ec4f99e2c8dd97dbd.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, marti314 said:

My Max is 50 a day not because I can break even with 5 terribly overpriced drinks but because over 7 days plus 18% I feel that's the max where I personally find value in the benefit.

Drinking to drink because you have a package is a chore and with all of the food its not all that fun. 

Yes, agreed.  Having a logically sound plan and sticking with it through all of the price cycling is the way to go.  RCL is just fishing to put more of us on the hook!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, CoupleOfCruisers said:

Im curious at what amount would people stop buying drink packages? As long as people pay the price they will keep pushing price up! ? 

Like @marti314, $50 per day (before gratuity) is my personal limit. I don't drink a huge amount; normally two glasses of wine with dinner, or one glass with an after dinner cocktail, plus a sail-away cocktail on a port day, or a mid-day drink on a sea day. My daily OJ and cappuccinos are enough to "fill the gap" after that so I can hit between $45 and $50 a day in drinks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, CoupleOfCruisers said:

Im curious at what amount would people stop buying drink packages? As long as people pay the price they will keep pushing price up! ? 

Same here. My max will vary on the length of the sailing but given a 7 night sailing, $55 - $60 is pushing it. After 18% $55 - $60 for two turns into $908.60 - $991.20 and I'm not convinced we will hit $1000 dollars in alcohol even if we drank like we had the package.

My wife drinks more now than when we first started cruising (migraine issues that she's finally getting under control) we were hitting about $500 (give or take). I was also drinking a lot of bud lights back then, I've since stepped it up :). So, I think that $900 range is really pushing it for me. I'd only consider that much on Harmony 2020 cruise because 3 sea days and CocoCay, so we will probably drink a decent amount. (Plus we are celebrating her "29th" bday.)

So, think what I am saying is, my range is $55 - $60 but other variables can tweak that. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just new to the forums and really appreciate being able to read your experiences and opinions.  

My first cruise with RCI (Jan 2020) ex Sydney to South Pacific and shocked at the cruise planner package prices.  I can see forum members quoting ideal price points of $50-55 pp/pd for Deluxe Drinks package - with a bit of fluctuation.  That would equate to approx $75 pp/pd AUD.  I have just watched our drinks packages jump significantly in the last week - Deluxe is up to $89 AUD (60 USD) and the Refreshment package jump to $47 AUD (32 USD).

What I would like to ask for anyone experienced with Australian cruising, do RCI offer Australian discounts as often as I’m seeing mentioned in these forums?  The couple of emails we’ve received included discounts for very specific bookings (and of course not mine!).  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Sydney_Cruiser said:

What I would like to ask for anyone experienced with Australian cruising, do RCI offer Australian discounts as often as I’m seeing mentioned in these forums?  The couple of emails we’ve received included discounts for very specific bookings (and of course not mine!).  

I have done some recent cruising around the region, including S Pacific last March. I find there are cruise planner discounts offered, often (but not always) around the same time as they come up in North America. As for drink package pricing -- right now seems to be one of those times Royal is doing an across-the-board increase in prices ? I'm not sure we will ever see $49USD per night again. I hope I'm wrong.

The "new normal" should shake out in the next 3-4 weeks. There is often a sale the first week in September so watch for that!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, KristiZ said:

I have done some recent cruising around the region, including S Pacific last March. I find there are cruise planner discounts offered, often (but not always) around the same time as they come up in North America. As for drink package pricing -- right now seems to be one of those times Royal is doing an across-the-board increase in prices ? I'm not sure we will ever see $49USD per night again. I hope I'm wrong.

The "new normal" should shake out in the next 3-4 weeks. There is often a sale the first week in September so watch for that!

Thanks KristiZ - think I’ll start checking into Cruise Planner on a very regular basis and monitoring a little more closely!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎8‎/‎14‎/‎2019 at 7:45 AM, YOLO said:

For me, I guess my threshold is very low.  I have never bought a RCL drink package!  A week ago my October 9N Anthem dropped to $44 but we did not bite.  Currently it is still only $51, but that is over $1K in total for the 9N cruise.  With tax and tip that $51 turns into $60 pppd (per person per day).  We only paid $90 pppd for the total cruise.  When I see the numbers I say NO way!  We will stick with the free Diamond well drinks as people call them.  They work for us!

image.png.4c01059006f0087ec4f99e2c8dd97dbd.png

how do the free diamond drinks work?  Hit diamond status and then...…?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, DublinFC said:

how do the free diamond drinks work?  Hit diamond status and then...…?

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2019/01/28/spotted-updated-diamond-happy-hour-drink-menu

Do you hit Diamond on your December 2020 cruise?  If so, you have to wait till the next cruise to enjoy Diamond benefits.

If you are already Diamond going into the December cruise, then the benefits will be loaded onto your seapass card.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2019/01/28/spotted-updated-diamond-happy-hour-drink-menu

Do you hit Diamond on your December 2020 cruise?  If so, you have to wait till the next cruise to enjoy Diamond benefits.

If you are already Diamond going into the December cruise, then the benefits will be loaded onto your seapass card.

Oh no I am Gold and have a lot of cruising till I reach the lofty Diamond tier :)  I do look forward to all the cruises it will take to get there!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...