True Gamut Posted September 21, 2022 Report Share Posted September 21, 2022 I booked a cruise aboard Symphony of the Seas to Mexico for five nights, March 4-9. Stops in Cozumel and Costa Maya. Drink package currently on sale for $67.99 per day per person, $72.99 last week, and $89.99 on board. Would it be best to purchase the package now or will there be anything better as a holiday sale? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted September 21, 2022 Report Share Posted September 21, 2022 Buy it now! ellcee and Mike n Ky 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpeedNoodles Posted September 21, 2022 Report Share Posted September 21, 2022 Buy it now and watch the prices. If they drop, you can cancel and repurchase it at the lower price. But if the price goes up (and it could), you're protected against that. Matt, Neesa and Qeyton Dude 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan79 Posted September 21, 2022 Report Share Posted September 21, 2022 Buy now and if it goes lower later, just cancel and repurchase. $68pd/pp is a good price. I haven’t seen these go much on sale for Black Friday since the glitch a few years ago. I don’t think my last cruise went below $70 for Black Friday Neesa 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotPayinExtra Posted September 21, 2022 Report Share Posted September 21, 2022 I'm holding out for black Friday for my deals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xaa Posted September 21, 2022 Report Share Posted September 21, 2022 30 minutes ago, NotPayinExtra said: I'm holding out for black Friday for my deals. If there wasn't a Black Friday deal and you would want to have it at today's price in that case, you should get it now and then just cancel on BF if the deal comes through. That protects you from the case where the price goes up and BF does not offer a deal. Bill FloatyBoaty 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloatyBoaty Posted September 21, 2022 Report Share Posted September 21, 2022 6 hours ago, True Gamut said: I booked a cruise aboard Symphony of the Seas to Mexico for five nights, March 4-9. Stops in Cozumel and Costa Maya. Drink package currently on sale for $67.99 per day per person, $72.99 last week, and $89.99 on board. Would it be best to purchase the package now or will there be anything better as a holiday sale? Do you need another person to say buy it now? Buy it now! 67.99 is a good price to start with - I've cancelled and repurchased it and a few other things on my next cruise (and my last). I regret not getting the UDP on my last price when I first saw it because it never got anywhere close to that price again over a 6 month period. Have a great cruise! Hutcherl and Okgladgal 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike n Ky Posted September 21, 2022 Report Share Posted September 21, 2022 Ok Matt...I watched your video and the fact we can cancel and rebook is a good point. Also, given Starlink is coming, prices just might be going up and this way I have locked them in. Our three main addons has been the internet, 3 night dining and the non-alcohol bev package. Since we hit diamond we don't do the bev anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Alt Posted September 21, 2022 Report Share Posted September 21, 2022 Don't wait. The prices usually only go up the closer you get to your cruise. if it does go down below what you originally purchased, then buy again and cancel your first one. Trust me, black friday deals are not really deals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hutcherl Posted September 22, 2022 Report Share Posted September 22, 2022 That's the best price I have seen in a long, long time. So here is another BUY IT NOW ! Lol FloatyBoaty 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hutcherl Posted September 22, 2022 Report Share Posted September 22, 2022 Also, Black Friday hasn't been good to me. Only once did I benefit from it. Unfortunately, the deluxe bev package has climbed in price so it's tempting to hold off. But if it's a must have you should bite the bullet at this price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan79 Posted September 22, 2022 Report Share Posted September 22, 2022 Waiting until BF just wouldn’t be smart. There is no guarantee that this would even be on sale then or that the sale price will be any lower than it currently is. You have nothing to gain by waiting and you have nothing to lose by buying it now and waiting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ampurp85 Posted September 22, 2022 Report Share Posted September 22, 2022 As other have stated always buy at a price you are comfortable with. BF sales can be great but there is no complete guarantee that what you want, will be on sale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted September 22, 2022 Report Share Posted September 22, 2022 12 hours ago, Hutcherl said: Also, Black Friday hasn't been good to me. Only once did I benefit from it. This. Black Friday sales for Royal just aren't that lucrative. There will be some people who will save money...just like every sale they have. But it's not going to be doorbuster specials across the board. WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnK6404 Posted September 22, 2022 Report Share Posted September 22, 2022 I just saw this posted on a FB group... I cannot confirm accuracy, but allegedly, NCL is raising the cost of their top drink package to $138/pp (before gratuity) effective 1/1/23! Unfortunately, I also don't see Royal offering pre-Covid level pricing for the DBP anymore... Need to get to Diamond fast! https://thepointsguy.com/news/norwegian-cruise-line-drink-package-price-hike/?fbclid=IwAR37rO83Tr6P7bAIXRaCCWMM--9NrQcm1NFbIqaWlQYoyBUuDuUKboC9LeE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karl_nj Posted September 22, 2022 Report Share Posted September 22, 2022 10 minutes ago, JohnK6404 said: I just saw this posted on a FB group... I cannot confirm accuracy, but allegedly, NCL is raising the cost of their top drink package to $138/pp (before gratuity) effective 1/1/23! Unfortunately, I also don't see Royal offering pre-Covid level pricing for the DBP anymore... Need to get to Diamond fast! https://thepointsguy.com/news/norwegian-cruise-line-drink-package-price-hike/?fbclid=IwAR37rO83Tr6P7bAIXRaCCWMM--9NrQcm1NFbIqaWlQYoyBUuDuUKboC9LeE I don't think anyone actually pays the list price for the drink package on NCL though. A lesser one is usually "included", but you have to pay the 20% gratuity as an extra fee. I assume you can also pay the difference in order to upgrade to a better package, like on Celebrity. So the "real" cost of the base drink package on NCL is probably more like 20% of $99 (e.g. $20/day), and I guess you can upgrade for an extra $39+20%/day. JohnK6404 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpeedNoodles Posted September 22, 2022 Report Share Posted September 22, 2022 Black Friday deals are no different than any other sale. And when it comes to Shore Excursions, the best prices I've found have been random drops in price between sales. JohnK6404 and WAAAYTOOO 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike6453 Posted September 22, 2022 Report Share Posted September 22, 2022 On 9/21/2022 at 10:13 AM, Ryan79 said: Buy now and if it goes lower later, just cancel and repurchase. $68pd/pp is a good price. I haven’t seen these go much on sale for Black Friday since the glitch a few years ago. I don’t think my last cruise went below $70 for Black Friday I got that glitch, purchased the drink package for a 9 night cruise with gratuities came to 191 (just for me as i was sailing with my kids who cant drink) best deal ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hutcherl Posted September 22, 2022 Report Share Posted September 22, 2022 3 hours ago, JohnK6404 said: I just saw this posted on a FB group... I cannot confirm accuracy, but allegedly, NCL is raising the cost of their top drink package to $138/pp (before gratuity) effective 1/1/23! Unfortunately, I also don't see Royal offering pre-Covid level pricing for the DBP anymore... Need to get to Diamond fast! https://thepointsguy.com/news/norwegian-cruise-line-drink-package-price-hike/?fbclid=IwAR37rO83Tr6P7bAIXRaCCWMM--9NrQcm1NFbIqaWlQYoyBUuDuUKboC9LeE Reaching Diamond was a game changer for us. We always purchased the DBP but didn't on our last cruise. Still had to purchase a few drinks a day, most days, between my wife and I. We saved several hundred dollars on not purchasing the drink package because of the Diamond drinks. JohnK6404 and WAAAYTOOO 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBC Posted September 22, 2022 Report Share Posted September 22, 2022 I consider myself a big drinker, and I would never buy a drink package if it was $138 a day plus gratuity. I can't imagine many other people would either. That sounds like just marketing on NCLs part, to make people feel like they are really getting something in their promotions when they offer free unlimited drinks, free specialty dining, free internet, etc. The pricing of Royal's drink packages seem to keep pace with general market conditions. 5 years ago they could be had during sales for less than $60 a day, then it went to $60-$65. Now it seems regular pricing is $72.99 with sales dropping it to $67.99. It will be interesting to see what black friday / cyber monday sales bring. A year or two from now I can see it being in the neighborhood of $75-$78. It's all relative. I will say in my last few cruises, the prices of individual drinks on board seem to have held steady at $12-$13 for the more expensive blender drinks and top shelf mix blends, $7-$10 for beers, etc. But the drink packages have crept up. If the drink packages continue to creep up, I would expect the individual prices on board would have to go up as well. Otherwise the drink package math changes. Royal's pricing algorithms are smarter than me though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karl_nj Posted September 22, 2022 Report Share Posted September 22, 2022 32 minutes ago, JBC said: I will say in my last few cruises, the prices of individual drinks on board seem to have held steady at $12-$13 for the more expensive blender drinks and top shelf mix blends, $7-$10 for beers, etc. But the drink packages have crept up. If the drink packages continue to creep up, I would expect the individual prices on board would have to go up as well. Otherwise the drink package math changes. I think the ceiling of $12/$13 has been around for a while, but more of the drinks are hitting that price point. Many of the drinks advertised in the front of the menu were $13, but in the "fine print" there were slightly cheaper drinks. A painkiller used to be $9.50, and was just listed in a boring area near the bottom of the Boleros menu. Now it's at $13 with the rest of the drinks. They are using pussers rum now, not sure if they did a few years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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