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Dear RC, gimme a break with the Soda package!


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If I don't get the refreshment package I usually stick to iced tea and whatever the other free flavored item is. Breakfast it is juice and the rest of the day I usually see some sort of flavored water in the machines. I used to bring drink packets like Crystal Lite but found them to be more trouble than they were worth. I also bring a water bottle (knockoff yeti sort of thing) and cold brew mint tea which is my everyday go to in normal life.

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It's provided for free. It should be available in various locations depending on the ship. There's a strawberry one, mango, lemon-lime, you get the idea.

One helpful tip... my wife has a very large aluminum water bottle that keeps beverages cold even without (much) ice so each day she fills that and makes sure it's full at the end of the day so she has something besides tap water on hand in our cabin at night.

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I don't think this package is too much to ask.  But then, I'm a capitalist and believe a business can charge what ever they want on what they want.  The market will dictate the success or what people are willing to pay or not.  This is my opinion, yours may be different.  You said what you wanted, I said what I wanted.  

CLASSIC SODA PACKAGE 

Quench your thirst all cruise long — and get all the fountain soda and Coca-Cola® Freestyle beverages you want on the go with your souvenir cup. For an unbeatable value, you can cool off with carbonated favorites throughout your entire adventure. Onboard pricing is currently $12.99 - $15.00/per day for 2021-2022 sailings.

  • Fountain soda and refills at any venue
  • Coca-Cola® Freestyle beverages*
  • Coca-Cola® souvenir cup included
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@smokeybandityes, i saw that's an option.  12 cans per stateroom?  and 2 bottles of wine per stateroom?  is that correct?  If you carry your own soda cans onboard, can those be consumed openly anywhere or only in the stateroom? I ask because the carry-on wine has to be consumed in the stateroom or in dining room (for a corking fee).  Well back to the soda - carrying it on is a pain, i have to buy it somewhere in Rome, etc. I wish RC would just include it for all and make this a no-brainer.  Oh well. 

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2 hours ago, SunnyDays said:

@smokeybandityes, i saw that's an option.  12 cans per stateroom?  and 2 bottles of wine per stateroom?  is that correct?  If you carry your own soda cans onboard, can those be consumed openly anywhere or only in the stateroom? I ask because the carry-on wine has to be consumed in the stateroom or in dining room (for a corking fee).  Well back to the soda - carrying it on is a pain, i have to buy it somewhere in Rome, etc. I wish RC would just include it for all and make this a no-brainer.  Oh well. 

Your assessment of the wine consumption is incorrect. 
Wine and soft drinks brought onboard can be freely consumed anywhere. 

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43 minutes ago, SunnyDays said:

@TXcruzer ok thank you, good to know.  It is not written like that on the RC website, in terms of carry-on wine. 

Officially if you open and/or pour your carry-on wine anywhere other than your stateroom, you are supposed to be charged a corkage fee.  In practice, no one knows whether that wine bottle you are carrying was carried-on or bought on the ship.  If you bring your unopened wine to the MDR or a specialty restaurant and ask the wait staff to open and pour it for you, they may or may not charge the corkage fee.  Anywhere else on the ship, it's very unlikely you will be charged corkage.

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https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/charge-corkage-fee

Does Royal Caribbean charge a corkage fee?

A

Yes. Guests who consume their personal wine and champagne in public areas, will incur a $15 corkage fee per bottle. Guests wishing to bring personal wine and champagne onboard may do so only on boarding day, limited to two (2) 750 ml bottles per stateroom. No beer or hard liquor may be brought onboard for consumption.


Additional bottles of wine beyond two (2) bottles that are brought onboard or any alcoholic beverages purchased in ports of call or from onboard shops during the cruise vacation will be stored onboard and delivered to guest staterooms on the last day of the sailing.

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1 hour ago, SailOR22 said:

So can we bring additional wine or sodas on if we get off in a port? Let's say I take a winery tour and purchase two bottles. Can they come back on with me even though I brought two on at initial boarding? 

Alcoholic (and possibly non-alcoholic too) beverages purchased at a port stop are held by RC when you reboard the ship. They'll get delivered to your room the final night of the sailing.

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2 hours ago, SunnyDays said:

@TXcruzer ok thank you, good to know.  It is not written like that on the RC website, in terms of carry-on wine. 

 

1 hour ago, Atlantix2000 said:

Officially if you open and/or pour your carry-on wine anywhere other than your stateroom, you are supposed to be charged a corkage fee.  In practice, no one knows whether that wine bottle you are carrying was carried-on or bought on the ship.  If you bring your unopened wine to the MDR or a specialty restaurant and ask the wait staff to open and pour it for you, they may or may not charge the corkage fee.  Anywhere else on the ship, it's very unlikely you will be charged corkage.

 

1 hour ago, 10-42 said:

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/charge-corkage-fee

Does Royal Caribbean charge a corkage fee?

A

Yes. Guests who consume their personal wine and champagne in public areas, will incur a $15 corkage fee per bottle. Guests wishing to bring personal wine and champagne onboard may do so only on boarding day, limited to two (2) 750 ml bottles per stateroom. No beer or hard liquor may be brought onboard for consumption.


Additional bottles of wine beyond two (2) bottles that are brought onboard or any alcoholic beverages purchased in ports of call or from onboard shops during the cruise vacation will be stored onboard and delivered to guest staterooms on the last day of the sailing.

Over 500 nights at sea with Royal (56 since Covid restart) I have NEVER been charged a corkage fee, and we bring on 2 bottles minimum every time, and drink it everywhere including MDR and specialty restaurants 

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6 hours ago, 10-42 said:

I don't think this package is too much to ask.  But then, I'm a capitalist and believe a business can charge what ever they want on what they want.  The market will dictate the success or what people are willing to pay or not.  This is my opinion, yours may be different.  You said what you wanted, I said what I wanted.  

CLASSIC SODA PACKAGE 

Quench your thirst all cruise long — and get all the fountain soda and Coca-Cola® Freestyle beverages you want on the go with your souvenir cup. For an unbeatable value, you can cool off with carbonated favorites throughout your entire adventure. Onboard pricing is currently $12.99 - $15.00/per day for 2021-2022 sailings.

  • Fountain soda and refills at any venue
  • Coca-Cola® Freestyle beverages*
  • Coca-Cola® souvenir cup included

@10-42 - you cruise on expensive ships - LOL.  This is the price for the soda package on Allure of the Seas (June 2022 sailing).  And yes, I purchased it for my hubby when it was on sale for just $8.99/day.

Classic Soda Package

Full Sailing - 6 Days

From

$8.99 / per guest per day
$13.50 onboard
(30% OFF)PRE-CRUISE SAVINGS
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58 minutes ago, TXcruzer said:

Over 500 nights at sea with Royal (56 since Covid restart) I have NEVER been charged a corkage fee, and we bring on 2 bottles minimum every time, and drink it everywhere including MDR and specialty restaurants 

And I'm not trying to debate with you or anybody else about it.  But, it's important to know the facts and what COULD happen if a crew member is having a bad day!  Those who don't know about the rule and get caught up in it, possibly, would immediately blame Royal for picking on them.  Whine and cry that they didn't know about it.  Knowledge is King!

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55 minutes ago, FireFishII said:

@10-42 - you cruise on expensive ships - LOL.  This is the price for the soda package on Allure of the Seas (June 2022 sailing).  And yes, I purchased it for my hubby when it was on sale for just $8.99/day.

Classic Soda Package

Full Sailing - 6 Days

From

$8.99 / per guest per day
$13.50 onboard
(30% OFF)PRE-CRUISE SAVINGS

Just information, again.  I didn't look up any particular sailing or ship.  I just posted the question in the FAQ of Royal's site and that is what popped up.

I'm not trying to be uppity, not one bit.  But, I don't pay extra for any drink package or specialty restaurant.  But, I do pay a lot for my cruise.  So, I don't have a horse in this race other than the desire to be as informative as I can.  I go out of my way to provide facts from the horses mouth.  Can I be wrong?  Yes of course and I admit it when I am and move on.  

 

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 Soda shouldn't be free, it's a luxury item. I find the packages aren't that expensive in retrospect. Each soda is like $4, so paying for 3/4 a day to get unlimited isn't a bad deal.

Yes, it cost them pennies but so do a lot of things, at the standard 1.5ounce pours they make a killing on alcohol too. 

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2 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

 Soda shouldn't be free, it's a luxury item. I find the packages aren't that expensive in retrospect. Each soda is like $4, so paying for 3/4 a day to get unlimited isn't a bad deal.

Yes, it cost them pennies but so do a lot of things, at the standard 1.5ounce pours they make a killing on alcohol too. 

Agreed.  My family generally doesn't drink soda, so I'd rather not absorb the cost of it.

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I’m another that doesn't want soda bundled in.  There is a cost and resources to stock it or replenish the fountain machines which themselves require maintenance and frequent cleaning.  

I don’t drink soda and I don’t want my cruise fare to increase so someone else can drink it free.  There are cruise lines like Disney that include it.  Naturally DCL cruises cost 3 times as much as Royal.  So if it’s important to you sail the lines that bundle the cost into the cruise fare.  You pay for it one way or another.  

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17 minutes ago, AlmondFarmer said:

A friend of mine, who is a dentist, thinks that including the sofa package with cruise fare is a good idea.

This is the same friend, who when he worked construction, oddly liked when a hurricane hit his town. 

I assume you'd like to see almond milk included in the beverage package?

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5 hours ago, TXcruzer said:

Over 500 nights at sea with Royal (56 since Covid restart) I have NEVER been charged a corkage fee, and we bring on 2 bottles minimum every time, and drink it everywhere including MDR and specialty restaurants 

Not as many nights as you but we've never been charged corkage fee either. Did Vision 18 APR and MDR wait staff kept our bottles for us until we requested them on a couple of dinner nights 

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19 hours ago, SailOR22 said:

So can we bring additional wine or sodas on if we get off in a port? Let's say I take a winery tour and purchase two bottles. Can they come back on with me even though I brought two on at initial boarding? 

No!  Only on embarkation can you bring sodas onboard and they must be carried on.

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Truth be told I get the soda package on every sailing now.  I try to buy it on the Black Friday sale which is usually the best of the year.  Of course that only works when booking that far in advance.  I am not sure I actually get my money's worth, but I like it when my sea pass card has soda written on it. 🙂

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4 hours ago, AlmondFarmer said:

A friend of mine, who is a dentist, thinks that including the sofa package with cruise fare is a good idea.

This is the same friend, who when he worked construction, oddly liked when a hurricane hit his town. 

reminds me of the joke of the joke about sugarless gum commercials that used to advertise that 4 out of 5 dentists recommended sugarless gum, who was the 5th dentist?  The dentist on their new yacht telling people to consume all the sugar they want.

I prefer they don't price everything in, my travel posse of 3-4 couples that includes two people that don't drink alcohol but they do drink soda and fancy coffees instead. With land based all inclusive resorts they are required to pay for alcohol, on cruises they can opt in to what they want. Same seems to hold true for those who don't like soda, why make them pay for what they don't consume.

I buy the DBX, we are mildly finicky red wine drinkers, my drinks are at or exceed the max allowance, but that's my responsibility not the person who has two beers a day. I see it as splitting a restaurant check evenly but i ordered steak and some one else has a small salad, we shouldn't chip in the same. This way everyone can do their own math.

In fact, one of my favorite things about royal is they allow me to pay the difference between the glass of wine I want and the max allowance per drink, while other lines force you to pay for the entire retail price if you exceed the price, even if it is just a dollar. This customization is one of Royal's strengths, not a weakness.

 

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5 hours ago, Temeculaguy said:

In fact, one of my favorite things about royal is they allow me to pay the difference between the glass of wine I want and the max allowance per drink, while other lines force you to pay for the entire retail price if you exceed the price, even if it is just a dollar. This customization is one of Royal's strengths, not a weakness.

True.  They do this for mix-drinks and spirits too.

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On 5/6/2022 at 11:09 AM, SunnyDays said:

Dear RC, Please just include basic soda without a package!  I mean really! Fountain soda costs pennies, just roll it into the total price!  ugh!  If you do not opt for any additional beverage package, what you find yourself mostly drinking?  (Non-alcohol)

Thank you for letting me vent!  🙂

 

I use the sugar free artificial flavors such as cherry, grape ect., that I can buy from Walmart for $1.60 for 10 packs. And best of all, I only use a half of a single pack because otherwise it is too strong for me. They have many flavors. Way cheaper than a soda package.

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13 hours ago, twangster said:

I’m another that doesn't want soda bundled in.  There is a cost and resources to stock it or replenish the fountain machines which themselves require maintenance and frequent cleaning.  

I don’t drink soda and I don’t want my cruise fare to increase so someone else can drink it free.  There are cruise lines like Disney that include it.  Naturally DCL cruises cost 3 times as much as Royal.  So if it’s important to you sail the lines that bundle the cost into the cruise fare.  You pay for it one way or another.  

or subsidize another soda drinker.  I prefer to pay as I go for what I consume.

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