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Deluxe Alcohol Package Prices on Mariner


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2 hours ago, Termin8or13 said:

All I see are “price ranges” because prices vary ship to ship. I would like to know the actual price for my cruise for planning purposes. My cruise is still a year out!

Mariner of the Seas.

If you've booked the cruise already you can check your Cruise Planner.  If the package isn't available yet, it will be soon.  I've booked DBPs more than a year ahead of time.  Nobody will know what the exact price is for your sailing unless they've booked the same sailing, and then they'd just know what you know.

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3 hours ago, Termin8or13 said:

All I see are “price ranges” because prices vary ship to ship. I would like to know the actual price for my cruise for planning purposes. My cruise is still a year out!

Mariner of the Seas.

You can always purchase at a price you're comfortable with and if it goes down, call and cancel and then rebuy at the lower price.

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Ok, I have purchased the DBP for my cruise in August.  Question, the price includes gratuity which is fine.  My question is, Since I am paying for gratuity up front does that mean I do not pay any additional gratuity for any of my drinks?  I know I will get more drinks then what I paid for in the drinks package.

Thanks

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37 minutes ago, Tim S said:

Ok, I have purchased the DBP for my cruise in August.  Question, the price includes gratuity which is fine.  My question is, Since I am paying for gratuity up front does that mean I do not pay any additional gratuity for any of my drinks?  I know I will get more drinks then what I paid for in the drinks package.

Thanks

You are not obligated to pay additional gratuity. Some do anyway.  

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You are not paying for an item that has a flat rate that always costs x dollars. None of the packages really work like that. It fluctuates based on how far ahead your cruise is, how many people have purchased the package and other factors. So no one can give you it costs x dollars for your ship and sailing exactly. The biggest thing is to buy it at a price you think you can afford and wait to see if it comes down and cancel and rebook. I've seen it fluctuate from $55 (pre covid)  per person per day to like $75 (post covid)   per person per day and then varying prices in between those. Maybe for budgeting go as high as you're comfortable paying for  and then watch the cruise planner.

Personally, I think it's not a "this will save you money" purchase its more of a purchase of convenience. I just wanna budget and pay x dollars ahead to avoid playing drink calculator later. If you really math it out it's cheaper to just budget a drink budget on your own but I don't wanna do math on vacation and I'm able to spend that because I'm not cruising with kids.

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16 hours ago, Bean79 said:

I'm booked on Mariner 2/12-2/17/22. The drink package for my wife and I was a total of $755.00!!!  OUCH! It was advertised at 63.99 per person per day.

This is about average to low-average. On-board Anthem in December it was $88/day BOGO 50% off. That's what it's currently offered on Oasis in October, with the "sale" price at $69/day (no BOGO50)

Keep in mind, the DBP is not JUST alcohol - it's also milkshakes at Johnny Rockets (if available), smoothies at Vitality Cafe (if available), premium coffees, fresh-squeezed juices, bottled water, and all the soda you want. Make sure you're tapping ALL of these available options to make best use of your DBP. 

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17 hours ago, Bean79 said:

I'm booked on Mariner 2/12-2/17/22. The drink package for my wife and I was a total of $755.00!!!  OUCH! It was advertised at 63.99 per person per day.

Thats for the deluxe package, right? If so, I hope it gets that low for my Mariner sailing in August! Right now its $92 pp BOGO 50% off. Thats still $1300 for the two of us. 

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I feel like these beverage packages really encourage excessive drinking. Not necessarily in a bad way, but probably a little past each person's comfort zone.

My wife and I both enjoy drinking on our vacations, but with kids we probably max out at 3-4 drinks per day. It's only natural to do the math on these packages and every time we've discussed whether to spring for it, we talk about how averaging 5-6+ drinks per day (particularly on days when we're at a port much of the day) is probably more than we need. Sure, it'd be great to just order without thinking about it, but it's only natural to try to get your money's worth, right? 

 

 

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I barely drink any alcohol and we still almost always get the DBP.  I realize it's not a prudent plan from a budget standpoint.  I do it for the convenience of knowing that I can have whatever I want whenever I want it without any concern about a final bill.  It is a convenience thing for me, not a money issue.  I want to drink fresh squeezed orange juice with my breakfast, have a mimosa from time-to-time, get my specialty coffee without having to run up to the suites lounge, drink a glass of champagne while watching a show and get a bottle of water whenever the mood (or need) strikes.  I'm too lazy to do the math.  I just get what I want and don't worry about it.

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39 minutes ago, jeffmw said:

I feel like these beverage packages really encourage excessive drinking. Not necessarily in a bad way, but probably a little past each person's comfort zone.

My wife and I both enjoy drinking on our vacations, but with kids we probably max out at 3-4 drinks per day. It's only natural to do the math on these packages and every time we've discussed whether to spring for it, we talk about how averaging 5-6+ drinks per day (particularly on days when we're at a port much of the day) is probably more than we need. Sure, it'd be great to just order without thinking about it, but it's only natural to try to get your money's worth, right? 

 

 

Then the drink package isn't for you, and that's okay. I can say with our kids, we don't actually leave the ship while in port, except Coco Cay. My break-even was 5 cocktails/day, which was easy if I did two during the day, one at dinner, and two after dinner. Sometimes more, sometimes less.  Plus coffee and fresh-squeezed juice at breakfast, plus a milkshake or two, and we made out like bandits.

Also remember, the drinks on-board aren't as heavy of a pour as anyone normally does at home.

 

Here's how I budget it out: i'm a spirits drinker, so $13/drink. On vacation, I like to drink, so average 5/day ($65/day), plus 10% on top for all the other items included in the DBP, now i'm at $71.50/day. Any time DBP is under $70/day, i'm in. 

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14 minutes ago, MattG said:

Then the drink package isn't for you, and that's okay. I can say with our kids, we don't actually leave the ship while in port, except Coco Cay. My break-even was 5 cocktails/day, which was easy if I did two during the day, one at dinner, and two after dinner. Sometimes more, sometimes less.  Plus coffee and fresh-squeezed juice at breakfast, plus a milkshake or two, and we made out like bandits.

Also remember, the drinks on-board aren't as heavy of a pour as anyone normally does at home.

 

Here's how I budget it out: i'm a spirits drinker, so $13/drink. On vacation, I like to drink, so average 5/day ($65/day), plus 10% on top for all the other items included in the DBP, now i'm at $71.50/day. Any time DBP is under $70/day, i'm in. 

Oh, I totally agree. That's not unreasonable drinking by any means, even with your family. It is heavily affected, though, if you do get off at the ports. Then you're packing those 5 or so drinks into dinner and evening. Still not unreasonable, but more of a push in a smaller period of time. 

Either way, I guess to me it's the feeling that I NEED to do that each day of the cruise to make it worth it. If you have a day where you feel less like drinking or, again, get off at a port, you feel like you're falling behind! 

My point is that, by nature, a structure like this pushes people to have 1 or 2 (or 3) additional drinks past someone's comfort zone to make sure they feel like they're getting a value from the package. That to me, isn't an ideal way to structure things. 

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33 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I barely drink any alcohol and we still almost always get the DBP.  I realize it's not a prudent plan from a budget standpoint.  I do it for the convenience of knowing that I can have whatever I want whenever I want it without any concern about a final bill.  It is a convenience thing for me, not a money issue.  I want to drink fresh squeezed orange juice with my breakfast, have a mimosa from time-to-time, get my specialty coffee without having to run up to the suites lounge, drink a glass of champagne while watching a show and get a bottle of whatever whenever the mood (or need) strikes.  I'm too lazy to do the math.  I just get what I want and don't worry about it.

Same with respect to convenience and no concern for the bill.  Royal definitely makes money off of me, but it's the convenience.  One big plus for me, is reading what's in a specific mixed drink or a new wine and being able to give it a try without worrying if I'll like it or not.  If we pay per drink, then I will just stick to drinks that I know I like.

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1 hour ago, WannaCruise said:

Same with respect to convenience and no concern for the bill.  Royal definitely makes money off of me, but it's the convenience.  One big plus for me, is reading what's in a specific mixed drink or a new wine and being able to give it a try without worrying if I'll like it or not.  If we pay per drink, then I will just stick to drinks that I know I like.

This! I never felt like I wouldn't try something at least once. It was absolutely not just alcohol that made it worth it for either. There lovely non alcoholic drinks at Jamie's that I loooooved.

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4 hours ago, MattG said:

This is about average to low-average. On-board Anthem in December it was $88/day BOGO 50% off. That's what it's currently offered on Oasis in October, with the "sale" price at $69/day (no BOGO50)

Keep in mind, the DBP is not JUST alcohol - it's also milkshakes at Johnny Rockets (if available), smoothies at Vitality Cafe (if available), premium coffees, fresh-squeezed juices, bottled water, and all the soda you want. Make sure you're tapping ALL of these available options to make best use of your DBP. 

My wife and I stock up on water bottles besides the cocktails we consume.   Every time we return to our cabin we always stop at a bar on the way to get bottled water.  We ask nice and can usually get 2 each.  When bartenders see the drink package code on our Seapass card they rarely ring them up.   Pop, coffee drinks and juice are nice perks as well.

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23 hours ago, WannaCruise said:

Same with respect to convenience and no concern for the bill.  Royal definitely makes money off of me, but it's the convenience.  One big plus for me, is reading what's in a specific mixed drink or a new wine and being able to give it a try without worrying if I'll like it or not.  If we pay per drink, then I will just stick to drinks that I know I like.

This is a big positive to the package. Try new drinks and if you don't like them then get a different one.

On 1/19/2022 at 10:08 AM, SemperMom said:

Thats for the deluxe package, right? If so, I hope it gets that low for my Mariner sailing in August! Right now its $92 pp BOGO 50% off. Thats still $1300 for the two of us. 

Correct the Deluxe beverage package.

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What some people fail to calculate into their beverage packages is the DBP contains alcohol PLUS all the items in the lower tiers (sodas, coffees, water, fresh-squeezed juices, milkshakes etc.).  So when you are calculating if it is worth it, don't forget about those numbers as well.  You don't have to drink x # of drinks per day to get your value if you are also factoring in the other items you get.  And take advantage of it.  I would never naturally order the "fresh squeezed orange juice", but I do on the cruise.

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2 hours ago, FF86 said:

What some people fail to calculate into their beverage packages is the DBP contains alcohol PLUS all the items in the lower tiers (sodas, coffees, water, fresh-squeezed juices, milkshakes etc.).  So when you are calculating if it is worth it, don't forget about those numbers as well.  You don't have to drink x # of drinks per day to get your value if you are also factoring in the other items you get.  And take advantage of it.  I would never naturally order the "fresh squeezed orange juice", but I do on the cruise.

Some people might fail to calculate them, but others are purposely leaving those drinks out because they have no value to them.  For example, I avoid soda, drink plenty of black coffee (the free stuff), and simply don't understand why anyone ever pays for bottled water.  If I've already bought a package, I might grab a couple bottles of water for the convenience but because I would never pay for them, I cannot count them as there is no savings.  That leaves fresh juice and milkshakes which I might get once or twice a cruise. But again, if I haven't already purchased the package, I'm perfectly happy to skip them.

So that's why I only use alcohol when considering a beverage package.  Even then, it's a good thing I prefer mixed drinks and wine.  If I drank beer, I could never break even on a package.

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3 hours ago, FF86 said:

What some people fail to calculate into their beverage packages is the DBP contains alcohol PLUS all the items in the lower tiers (sodas, coffees, water, fresh-squeezed juices, milkshakes etc.).  So when you are calculating if it is worth it, don't forget about those numbers as well.  You don't have to drink x # of drinks per day to get your value if you are also factoring in the other items you get.  And take advantage of it.  I would never naturally order the "fresh squeezed orange juice", but I do on the cruise.

Yeah, that is certainly one way to look at it—and if you are enjoying all the "extras" that you normally wouldn't order, you are certainly getting value out of getting the drink package.  And that isn't even counting things that many others have mentioned, like convenience, being willing to try new things (and abandon them if they aren't to your liking), and not having any bar bill surprises.  You can't really assign a price to those, but there is certainly some value there too.

However, the other way to look at the drink package is if it's saving you money.  If it's something you wouldn't order unless you had the drink package, and you are trying to figure out if the package is actually saving you money, then you shouldn't include it in your calculations.  I think this is where the discrepancy in opinions about the drink package comes from.

I've never bought the drink package on an RCL cruise; it won't save me money, and I prefer to explore the full wine list at dinner, instead of being limited to the wine by the glass menu.  However, on my last Celebrity cruise, the fare included the base drink package, and I even paid to upgrade it to the 'better' package.  I can certainly see why people enjoy having the drink package.  I certainly made good use of it!

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