Drink packages increase for 2019/2020 sailings

[Pima1988]

@marti314   Actually the free style machine offers a lot more than sugary sodas.  You can get Dasani flavored water, Powerades, Minute maid juices, etc.

As far as coffee you can get decaf iced coffee or chai tea.  

You can easily hit that 22 per day.

[Jolly Ogre]

1 hour ago, marti314 said:

They make a pregnant woman get the REFRESHMENT package when you request not to buy 2 Deluxe.....

Lets think about that:

Sugary Soda Drinks filled with Caffeine - Perfect for Pregnant Women

Caffeine filled espresso drinks: Perfect

Sugary Mocktails - Lets get that baby dancin

Fresh Squeezed OJ: Better drink 8 a day to make up for the 22.00 a day

Bottled Water: Fine if you force yourself to justify bottled water over the perfectly fine filtered water available everywhere.  

My wife is not pregnant. 

She will not drink sugary drinks.

She will not drink espresso.

She will not drink mocktails.

She will not drink fresh squeezed fruit drinks.

She only drinks water, black coffee and un-sweet tea.

All that is free but if I want a deluxe package for me I still have to pay for the refreshment package for her even though she will not use any of it.

 

[FManke]

Is this policy exclusive to RC? What are the other cruise lines doing? 

[Jolly Ogre]

5 hours ago, FManke said:

Is this policy exclusive to RC? What are the other cruise lines doing? 

I think most all the other lines have this policy, but RCCL just started with the everyone in the cabin over 21 has to have a package 12/31/18.

[Pima1988]

5 hours ago, Jolly Ogre said:

My wife is not pregnant. 

She will not drink sugary drinks.

She will not drink espresso.

She will not drink mocktails.

She will not drink fresh squeezed fruit drinks.

She only drinks water, black coffee and un-sweet tea.

All that is free but if I want a deluxe package for me I still have to pay for the refreshment package for her even though she will not use any of it.

 

Have you called RCL?  The reason I love this company is if you actually talk to a rep they can override the system.  This and other boards are litterd with passengers that got a "pass"  

If your are forced into a refreshment package for her, than I would say Can you really drink 70+  a day in alcohol, specialty coffee. freestyle drinks?  If the answer is no,  than don't buy the drink packages.

You honestly can't blame RCL for tightening their restrictions.  You buy the DBP, she can take the cup to the freestyle machine and get Dasani flavored water.  She can take your sea pass card and get a coffee from Starbucks.  You say that is all  she drinks, but many others can say that too and yet use their partners cup or card.

I also want to say one thing regarding pregnant women.  Basically at 26 weeks you cannot sail with RCL.  Realistically pregnant women are a very small %, there will be more kids than pregnant women.

 

[Jolly Ogre]

45 minutes ago, Pima1988 said:

Have you called RCL?  The reason I love this company is if you actually talk to a rep they can override the system.  This and other boards are litterd with passengers that got a "pass"  

If your are forced into a refreshment package for her, than I would say Can you really drink 70+  a day in alcohol, specialty coffee. freestyle drinks?  If the answer is no,  than don't buy the drink packages.

You honestly can't blame RCL for tightening their restrictions.  You buy the DBP, she can take the cup to the freestyle machine and get Dasani flavored water.  She can take your sea pass card and get a coffee from Starbucks.  You say that is all  she drinks, but many others can say that too and yet use their partners cup or card.

I also want to say one thing regarding pregnant women.  Basically at 26 weeks you cannot sail with RCL.  Realistically pregnant women are a very small %, there will be more kids than pregnant women.

 

I have but it is a choice and not for any medical or religious reasons.

I understand why they do it, and we would not abuse it at all.

I "could" drink that much but I wont. So I just get the refreshment package for me as that is all I am willing to pay extra for. Now if I could have gotten that $18/day SNAFU that would have been great, but I did not find out about that until it was already fixed.

[kuruczpa]

Right now the UDP is $81 CDN a day! How crazy is that. For two people (including tax and gratuities) it comes to around $1,500. We managed to get the deal of the century and saved close to $1,000. Jeeze....

[Katiel53]

I think the prices have risen far more than they should are based on a few reasons.  I do believe the cruise line is trying to make up for their $18 snafu.  They didn't void the purchases because it would have  been a PR nightmare, but no doubt they are going to make up the money one way or another.

 

Secondly, I think there are many cruisers who may or may not have cruised other lines where there was a 15 drink max per day and heard about the unlimited packages on RC, so they are booked and are darned sure going to get their monies worth.  I have seen that posted so many times on another site that it's kind of like a given now.

 

Thirdly, I think so many people have posted to watch for sales and if the price is lower than what you paid, cancel and rebook.  The prices are lower than one line who gives free drinks but charges gratuities that amount to a much higher price than RC.

 

Lastly, the cruise line has new ships on the line and needs to make the money to pay for them and the alcohol package is a great way to do so.  At some point the cruisers will decide the price is too high, but until then, the price will go up. JMO.

[twangster]

58 minutes ago, Katiel53 said:

 At some point the cruisers will decide the price is too high

That's why they can't raise prices to cover the $18 DX mistake.

When they raise prices many people stop buying the package.  You can see that trend in many different posts on the topic. 

If they could have raised prices and had minimal impact to sales they would have raised prices long ago.   

In the end the market (us) indirectly dictate prices.  When they raise them if sales remain the same that is the new normal price.  If they raise prices and people stop buying it, they have lowered revenue, not increased revenue.  When they raise prices and sales fall the natural reaction will be price reductions.  

Until the recent price increases the DX price was largely unchanged from 2016 when the DX was first introduced.  Yet cost of alcohol, beer and wine have increased for all of us over the last 3 years.  Prices of individual drinks have increased on board.  A price hike was due simply because of the cost of inflation and cost of goods compared to years past.  

[Rene Desmarais]

with that pricing,    every reason for me to not buy any of the drink packages.   I'll buy my alcoholic drinks when I'm visiting every port..  much cheaper.

[Sailor_to_Cruiser]

On 8/17/2019 at 1:32 PM, Ogalthorpe Haywood said:

I agree, when gratuity is mandatory and not left to anyone’s judgement it should just be added up front. 

In my humble opinion, a gratuity that is mandatory is not a gratuity.  What are we gratuitous for? Paying the extra 18%?  This is just a tax levied by RCCL and kept by RCCL.

[Pro24]

Problem is, like everything else in life, if people keep buying it - its only going to go higher. Economics 101. A few out way the many. My baseball team will not make the playoffs, but they still sell out every game. Prices go up every year, and because they sell out, they will go up again next year. If people keep buying the product, why not increase the cost? The rich just keep getting richer.

[WAAAYTOOO]

3 hours ago, Sailor_to_Cruiser said:

In my humble opinion, a gratuity that is mandatory is not a gratuity. 

Agree completely with this !!

[Baked Alaska]

I am a generous tipper, minimum 25%, USUALLY. However, a mandatory gratuity. . . Don't better hotels call that a RESORT FEE?

[FManke]

6 hours ago, Sailor_to_Cruiser said:

 Paying the extra 18%?  This is just a tax levied by RCCL and kept by RCCL.

What % of cruisers with drink packages, do you think would tip and how much would they tip? Surely not 18% every drink.  Just about everybody who has weighed in on this site,  that I've seen, recognizes that the beverage staff is hard working and deserves the tips.  They certainly would not be making as much, tip wise without it. 

It's of course a marketing thing, but just change the package cost to say " includes tax and gratuity," give us a final price and be done with it. I think most people are smart enough to know, if you are buying any package, it's going to cost you more than listed with tax and gratuity. 

[GregD]

Odyssey of the Seas pricing

[Orange Crush]

12 hours ago, emsff02 said:

Odyssey of the Seas pricing

($82.00)

Yikes!  For that price, I'd go back to smuggling liquor onboard

[JLMoran]

2 hours ago, Orange Crush said:

Yikes!  For that price, I'd go back to smuggling liquor onboard

Shhh! You have to do like @Jolly Ogre -- bring on your two bottles of "wine". 

[Jolly Ogre]

2 hours ago, JLMoran said:

Shhh! You have to do like @Jolly Ogre -- bring on your two bottles of "wine". 

Well? avast me mateys its 9/19....yarrrr!

[JLMoran]

3 minutes ago, Jolly Ogre said:

Well? avast me mateys its 9/19....yarrrr!

Ummm... Might t'day be National Talk Like a Pirate Day... Me matey?

[Hoski]

Onboard prices on the Anthem just went up by $5 per day in the last month according to the compasses.  We typically tip $1 minimum per drink with or without the package.  A lot of people do not tip so the only tips from those people are from the 18% if they bought the package.

[JLMoran]

11 hours ago, Hoski said:

Onboard prices on the Anthem just went up by $5 per day in the last month according to the compasses.  We typically tip $1 minimum per drink with or without the package.  A lot of people do not tip so the only tips from those people are from the 18% if they bought the package.

Not true; if you don't buy the package, all a la carte purchases have an 18% gratuity automatically added to each drink you buy. So a $13 drink is really $15.34.

That said, the bartenders still appreciate the single wrapped around the Sea Pass card because they can directly pocket that for themselves, whereas the automatic 18% is split among all bar staff.

[IRMO12HD]

Thanks for revealing the technique, @JLMoran!!

[Skatepunk]

We are on Navigator at the end of October, before they announced two cococay stops it was $49, the day they announced the two stops it suddenly jumped to $65 a day.. I think they are factoring the extra cococay day BUT it replaced a sea day that anyone who purchased the package would be using it anyway, I can’t imagine drinking more at cococay vs being at sea.. at least on Navigator. Sadly we missed the lower price so we purchased on sale and hoping there is a lower price.

We have another on Jewel in July 2020 and it has not gone up still $52 per day and has not changed. 

[DublinFC]

On 9/19/2019 at 7:50 AM, Orange Crush said:

Yikes!  For that price, I'd go back to smuggling liquor onboard

deffo not paying that.  I think buying the package is great for piece of mind, but not for that price.  drinking in port and drinks of the day will be the ticket.  For 2 ppl that is equivalent to the cost of some cruises.  RC getting greedy with that price.

[AJM]

*Sigh*

I remember the days... on my first 11 day cruise we got 25% off the original deluxe drink package price of $55. . .  now $55 is the "sale" price (and I'm going on a smaller ship!). I got it this time (the deluxe beverage package with the 1 device Voom surf + stream as it's actually saving me a WHOPPING $2.40/person/day doing it this way) but I suggested to my spouse that we should go a la cart next time as I can only foresee prices rising even more by the time we cruise after next. 

[KathyC]

My Empress next August is $69 a day.  Ridiculous.  Empress?!??  Not happening. LOL