nhilding10 Posted September 20, 2019 Report Share Posted September 20, 2019 We are sailing in January and my mother-in-law and her friend are booked in a cabin together. My mother-in-law is diabetic and sticks to just water, but her friend would like to get the drink package. I know usually they try and force the refreshment package on the other person in the cabin, but with a medical issue such as that, would they allow her not to purchase anything? Would we need a medical waiver or anything like that from her doctor? Just want to be armed and ready when we call to make the purchase for her friend, and know how to handle it. Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted September 20, 2019 Report Share Posted September 20, 2019 15 minutes ago, nhilding10 said: We are sailing in January and my mother-in-law and her friend are booked in a cabin together. My mother-in-law is diabetic and sticks to just water, but her friend would like to get the drink package. I know usually they try and force the refreshment package on the other person in the cabin, but with a medical issue such as that, would they allow her not to purchase anything? Would we need a medical waiver or anything like that from her doctor? Just want to be armed and ready when we call to make the purchase for her friend, and know how to handle it. Thanks in advance! In the early days of "every adult in the same cabin must purchase the same deluxe package" they would let the other person waive it completely for medical reasons. However, soon after that, all sorts of people caught on and were likely taking advantage again and they switched it to make the refreshment package the allowed exemption. I have not heard of any people getting luck getting out of that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PG Cruiser Posted September 20, 2019 Report Share Posted September 20, 2019 34 minutes ago, nhilding10 said: We are sailing in January and my mother-in-law and her friend are booked in a cabin together. My mother-in-law is diabetic and sticks to just water, but her friend would like to get the drink package. I know usually they try and force the refreshment package on the other person in the cabin, but with a medical issue such as that, would they allow her not to purchase anything? Would we need a medical waiver or anything like that from her doctor? Just want to be armed and ready when we call to make the purchase for her friend, and know how to handle it. Thanks in advance! On the Ovation (August 30-September 6 sailing), I overheard a crew member and his supervisor asking a guest for a medical certificate to have an exemption from the drink package rule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted September 21, 2019 Report Share Posted September 21, 2019 if you get the right customer service rep when you call Royal, they will allow it with an official medical excuse (doctor's note). It's easier to get it taken care of by pre-purchasing over the phone than attempting to argue this when trying to purchase onboard. And I say right customer service rep because you should never take no for an answer as they will honor a doctor's note stating you can't drink the options in the packages for medical reasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhilding10 Posted September 22, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2019 Thank you all for the information and help! We have the note and are definitely able to send it to them so hopefully we'll get a good rep. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted September 22, 2019 Report Share Posted September 22, 2019 34 minutes ago, nhilding10 said: Thank you all for the information and help! We have the note and are definitely able to send it to them so hopefully we'll get a good rep. Thanks! If you absolutely can't get anywhere with them waiving a purchase, see if you can barter with the water package. They have a 12 bottle package that's only $36 and it will be delivered to your cabin. They are 1L bottles of water, so not a terrible compromise compared to the $20/day refreshment package. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhilding10 Posted October 1, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2019 Kind of off-topic for the original intent of this post (and thank you to everyone for their answers!) but I just noticed on the 9/15/19 sailing of Harmony Eastern Caribbean Cruise Compass that is posted on this site, on Day 1 they offered a buy one deluxe drink package for $70 and get 50% off the other. This means that you would pay $105/per day, or $52.50 per person, per day. The cruise planner for months, and months, has never dropped below $61, usually hovering at $65, and claiming that's 20% off the onboard price. Can anyone confirm if this the buy one for $70 and get the second for $35 is still going on? And if so, how can RCCL claim that $65 is 20% off the onboard pricing? That makes no sense to me. At that rate, I'd be WAY better off waiting and buying it day 1 on the ship, and getting two packages for $867.30 with 18% added, than to pay $65 each and spend $1,073.80. That's crazy. And seemingly very deceptive! Am I missing something??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marlena Posted October 1, 2019 Report Share Posted October 1, 2019 RC math never makes sense! And the calculation is already done so the price pp per day is it. The same price per day will be BOGO one day, and then 20% off the next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted October 1, 2019 Report Share Posted October 1, 2019 22 minutes ago, nhilding10 said: Kind of off-topic for the original intent of this post (and thank you to everyone for their answers!) but I just noticed on the 9/15/19 sailing of Harmony Eastern Caribbean Cruise Compass that is posted on this site, on Day 1 they offered a buy one deluxe drink package for $70 and get 50% off the other. This means that you would pay $105/per day, or $52.50 per person, per day. The cruise planner for months, and months, has never dropped below $61, usually hovering at $65, and claiming that's 20% off the onboard price. Can anyone confirm if this the buy one for $70 and get the second for $35 is still going on? And if so, how can RCCL claim that $65 is 20% off the onboard pricing? That makes no sense to me. At that rate, I'd be WAY better off waiting and buying it day 1 on the ship, and getting two packages for $867.30 with 18% added, than to pay $65 each and spend $1,073.80. That's crazy. And seemingly very deceptive! Am I missing something??? The drink package on Allure when I sailed in early September was $82 per day + 18% gratuity. That does make $65 be just about 20% off the onboard price. You never really know what the onboard price is actually going to be. You can go to Guest Services and cancel the drink package when you get onboard. They will refund it as OBC. Then you can go ahead and repurchase the package onboard if it is a lower price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhilding10 Posted October 1, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2019 11 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said: The drink package on Allure when I sailed in early September was $82 per day + 18% gratuity. That does make $65 be just about 20% off the onboard price. You never really know what the onboard price is actually going to be. You can go to Guest Services and cancel the drink package when you get onboard. They will refund it as OBC. Then you can go ahead and repurchase the package onboard if it is a lower price. Oh, I have read a ton of these posts and somehow missed that fact about canceling once onboard and getting it as OBC. Thanks! That will play into it very well, figuring I can now get a better deal onboard at the $70 with BOGO 50%, but that also assumes it stays at that rate until the end of January. Thank you so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted October 1, 2019 Report Share Posted October 1, 2019 14 minutes ago, nhilding10 said: Oh, I have read a ton of these posts and somehow missed that fact about canceling once onboard and getting it as OBC. Thanks! That will play into it very well, figuring I can now get a better deal onboard at the $70 with BOGO 50%, but that also assumes it stays at that rate until the end of January. Thank you so much! Yep..just keep on top of it so you make sure that you get the refund and then the sale purchase price and everything adds up. I noticed that my beverage package prices dropped in the few months leading to the cruise. For example for that same Allure sailing I referenced I saw the package for $48 online a few weeks before the sailing. The $82 price was likely because it ended up being a 4-day sailing due to the hurricane and shorter sailings have higher per day prices. I believe the drink packages are going to be increased in 2020 when you look at the bottom line, though. So while Harmony may currently be priced onboard at $70, it may jump up to the $82 a day starting for 2020 sailings. Two of my 2020 sailings currently have 20% off at $55 and then one has zero discount at $82. But then Thanksgiving 2019 sailing is running $52 at BOGO50% and NYE sailing is 20% at $56. Sooooo all over the place! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahrnemtp Posted October 1, 2019 Report Share Posted October 1, 2019 (edited) This is really not a good deal. The CC was very misleading. I too thought that it was a total of $70 for the entire cruise. Wishful thinking I guess. But no....ours is $429 apiece with the BOGO 50% off. Edited October 1, 2019 by ahrnemtp forgot info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S0nny Posted October 14, 2019 Report Share Posted October 14, 2019 On 9/21/2019 at 11:50 AM, AshleyDillo said: It's easier to get it taken care of by pre-purchasing over the phone than attempting to argue this when trying to purchase onboard. Great advice! What's nice about this response is if you don't like their answer, you can call again on a different day and hope for leniency. On the cruise ship, if you don't like their response, you will not get so lucky to have an exemption. WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marti314 Posted October 14, 2019 Report Share Posted October 14, 2019 9 hours ago, S0nny said: Great advice! What's nice about this response is if you don't like their answer, you can call again on a different day and hope for leniency. On the cruise ship, if you don't like their response, you will not get so lucky to have an exemption. They can add notes to your account so be careful if you get someone who does take notes, make sure your stories are not changing each time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Va4fam Posted October 22, 2019 Report Share Posted October 22, 2019 We've done the drink package for cruises with lots of sea days, and we've done the drink cards for port intensive itineraries. How many days into the cruise do they continue to offer the drink package? If it's day 2 of an 8 day cruise, do you pay for the remaining days left? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted October 22, 2019 Report Share Posted October 22, 2019 9 minutes ago, Va4fam said: How many days into the cruise do they continue to offer the drink package? If it's day 2 of an 8 day cruise, do you pay for the remaining days left? Varies by ship and itinerary. On a recent 10 night Hawaii cruise as well a handful of shorter Caribbean cruises they have stopped DX sales on day two. Recently they have been offering a BOGO50 on day one only so it seems the thought is to get people to commit early or withdraw it. In reality if your particular sailing has slow pre-cruise DX sales and few people grab it on day one, who knows, they might keep it around a few more days. It is prorated so if you buy it on day two of an eight night sailing you buy it for the remaining seven nights. They still require everyone over 21 in a cabin to buy it if any one person in the cabin buys it on board. Va4fam 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinceC Posted October 22, 2019 Report Share Posted October 22, 2019 On 9/20/2019 at 5:03 PM, nhilding10 said: We are sailing in January and my mother-in-law and her friend are booked in a cabin together. My mother-in-law is diabetic and sticks to just water, but her friend would like to get the drink package. I know usually they try and force the refreshment package on the other person in the cabin, but with a medical issue such as that, would they allow her not to purchase anything? Would we need a medical waiver or anything like that from her doctor? Just want to be armed and ready when we call to make the purchase for her friend, and know how to handle it. Thanks in advance! Have the person who is a diabetic get a note form their doctor specifying that they are a Diabetic and cannot drink Alcohol, or any Sweetened drinks or Fruit Juices. Then once you have it in your hand, call Royal and tell them you are looking to get an exemption from any beverage package due to on passenger being Diabetic and that you have a doctors note. Take a photo of the doctors note or scan it and then attach it to the email address that customer service gives you, and then once they receive it they should give you the approval. Once the approval is given you have to be ready to purchase the drink package for the other person. IMPORTANT, make sure the doctors note specifies that the Patient's Name is under their care and it includes the Patients DOB on the note. Just had this done for my Mother and one of my sons who is traveling is her cabin wanted the drink package. It was approved immediately and then my son had to purchase the package right away, which I did for him since he was not home. Also, something to note, you can make changes to the package if the price goes down but you will have to call in to customer service because you will not be able to do it online. The details of the exemption will be in the passengers records so you will not have to provide documentation again. JLMoran 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted October 22, 2019 Report Share Posted October 22, 2019 I'm not certain Royal wants or will accept medical information communicated to them. It can make them subject to HIPAA compliance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinceC Posted October 22, 2019 Report Share Posted October 22, 2019 14 minutes ago, twangster said: I'm not certain Royal wants or will accept medical information communicated to them. It can make them subject to HIIPA compliance. They do this all of the time. I just completed this process with them yesterday and I did this for clients in the past. This is what they require to enable the exemption for the passenger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Va4fam Posted October 22, 2019 Report Share Posted October 22, 2019 Thanks @twangster for the clarification. Probably pull the trigger on the drink package this week and hopefully get a better deal on Black Friday. 2 adults and 2 kids (regular drink package) is going to add up quickly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AfVet Posted November 15, 2019 Report Share Posted November 15, 2019 DO NOT wait till your on the ship to get the drink package, it is soooo much more. Last year we paid $45 a day and when we got on the ship they were selling it for $70 a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaryCS62 Posted November 18, 2019 Report Share Posted November 18, 2019 On 10/22/2019 at 2:11 PM, twangster said: I'm not certain Royal wants or will accept medical information communicated to them. It can make them subject to HIIPA compliance. HIPPA means that your doctor, hospital, pharmacy, etc may not give out your private medical information (except to designated other medical professionals) without your explicit permission. You can waive your right to privacy & have the information given out to certain other people -- it's your right to do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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