Buying Deluxe Beverage Package Since 2017

[marti314]

I know this board has a lot more "Experienced" cruises who talk and analyze things like beverage packages pricing etc but i was wondering how many people have stopped buying the DELUXE package now that it requires both adults in the room to purchase it?  

I now look at 760 - 840+ dollars (for a couple) for a week-long cruise for drinking to be quite a commitment.  I always make sure to get my moneys worth when I have the package but I find myself doing just that, drinking just to drink and being Diamond it now seems even more difficult to justify. 

Anxious to hear if others have changed their thoughts on getting the package as well.

The Liberty of the Seas cruise I was on in March seemed to have a lot less people lining up at the bars (maybe a fluke week) so I am curious if RCCL is seeing more and more people opt out of such a large expense (More than than 1 persons cruise fare in some cases).  

[Matt]

We've largely gotten around that issue because we usually book two rooms, and that means my wife is listed in one room and I am in the other room.  

In situations where we are booked in the same room, I'm not sure that has factored in tremendously into the decision. On our upcoming Brilliance of the Seas sailing, I think we just employed a YOLO Book It mentality towards the package.

[coneyraven]

For us ..... it hinges on the itinerary ..... On our upcoming 7-nighter to Bermuda --- We have 3 Sea Days on top of Day 1- - Sail Away Day, so we bought the package ...

Fast Forward to 2020 when we'll also have a 7-nighter on Freedom, but in this case, only 1 Sea Day (plus Sail Away Day) --- all the other days we're spending in ports.  We're really having a tough time deciding on this one ..... the thing that may sway us to get it is that it's more than just alcohol.  Since it includes bottled water (Major Plus) --- Specialty Teas & Coffees (also a major plus) -- and now the addition of JR Milkshakes ...... hmmmm, this is a tough decision.  Luckily we have plenty of time before we must make a final decision.

[jticarruthers]

For me as a beer drinker that finds the ships water fine and doesn't drink coffee ever ... the package never makes sense for me.

I would probably have bought it for my wife though since she does drink coffee's and mixed drinks ... so she was probably a rough break-even proposition.

Taken together I would say it would have to be a special cruise to make it make sense for us to buy the package now.

 

Throw in the Diamond drinks every night and the answer really comes down on the No side ... couple of beers/drinks and a couple of water bottles for excursions for free every night.

[monctonguy]

It would be tough on a 7 night cruise(which I have never done).....even with the sale you looking at $650 easily...which is almost $1000 in my currency...would be hard to justify that.....but it depends on how much you drink, how much time you will spend in ports and how many port days etc......it does add up quickly each day just have a few drinks and bottled waters etc...so its defn not hard to spend that each day...its just a lot of money all at one time is how I see it.

 

However, if my spouse did not drink at all....might be worth looking into booking rooms separately(spending on what the single surcharge is for the cruise)....I mean you would get double CA points if that matters...much more room for the 7 days and  save $350-$500 on the drink package which may end up being worth it in the long run.

[fonemanbob]

If you have 2 or 3 sea days and are in the Caribbean and  drink then a deluxe drink package is worth it.  We are doing a 9 night 3 sea days in the fall to New England & Canada so we will buy drinks as needed as it will be very cool and no way will we spend $800 on booze.     Being Diamond helps immensely also.  Our cruise in Feb.to Mexico. saw the bars never crowded like we used to see them on past cruises.  We like to hit up the local places and imbibe on the local products.  

[KLA]

So, for our honeymoon (2 B2B weeks on the Allure)... we both bought the drink package for two weeks in a row. THAT was a hard purchase! 

I will say though - since it was a celebration type of cruise and we didn't want to have to think about anything, it was worth it. We both 100% had food AND drink fatigue by the end of the cruise, but the ability to not have to think about going and ordering a drink and running a tally for two weeks was really nice. 

That said - once we hit Diamond in Oct 2019, it will become a more serious consideration whether or not we decide to purchase the drink package. 

[Lovetocruise2002]

I am in the camp that use to purchase a drink package and have stopped since they implemented the new rule. Hubby does not drink anything other than water and Coke so even if we did one deluxe and one refreshment, it would not be worth it. We finally made Diamond so I am almost positive that we will not be purchasing from here on out. 

What we've done the last two cruises is grabbed the Refreshment package for myself. That way I still get all my coffee and bottled water. If I want an alcoholic drink, I will just pay for the shot and add it to my drink or pay for the drink (with more than one shot) out of pocket. 

[marti314]

I booked Allure for March 2019 and it looks like the base price of the DELUXE package is up to 66 a day (showing 60 a day with 10% off).  With the Diamond perks (unless they change) it makes it even more difficult to justify.  

Seems like we are chasing the "value" vs "Do I really want to drink this much or Do i feel i have to after spending 450.00 per person"

[Lovetocruise2002]

12 minutes ago, marti314 said:

I booked Allure for March 2019 and it looks like the base price of the DELUXE package is up to 66 a day (showing 60 a day with 10% off).  With the Diamond perks (unless they change) it makes it even more difficult to justify.  

Seems like we are chasing the "value" vs "Do I really want to drink this much or Do i feel i have to after spending 450.00 per person"

Wait for Black Friday, that will likely yield the best deals. You have time. Then decide at that point. That's what I would do anyway.

[KathyC]

It has definitely changed our buying plan.  We have a 12 night coming up soon, with seven sea days.  The cost for the two of us at the cheapest rate we've seen was over $1500.  We cannot imagine spending that much on drinks, even including coffees or water bottles, that justifies the cost.  We would've bought it for my husband only but to even try to justify the refreshment package for me when I'm perfectly happy to drink the ship's coffee and water.  Neither of us drink soda so there is no benefit there.  If i want an espresso-based drink or two, a bottle of water for two for one of our five port days...still doesn't justify the cost for me.  

For $1500 we can do another cruise. 

[JamesGurner]

I don’t know if it’s different in th US, I know the rules for 2 adults in the same state room rules man you both need to purchase the package. Although I’ve done 3 cruises in the past year and purchased the package for me only. They’ve tried to sell the refreshement package to us for my partner although wouldn’t make the most of it. When I explain the circumstance they quite happily although me to purchase it only.

[marti314]

6 hours ago, JamesGurner said:

I don’t know if it’s different in th US, I know the rules for 2 adults in the same state room rules man you both need to purchase the package. Although I’ve done 3 cruises in the past year and purchased the package for me only. They’ve tried to sell the refreshement package to us for my partner although wouldn’t make the most of it. When I explain the circumstance they quite happily although me to purchase it only.

Thanks for the info.  It seems like for DIamond members they would LOVE to collect 360 - 420 dollars from one guest instead of 0 from both. 

[MaryD]

Does the 20%/40% off bottles of wine on the Deluxe drink package work in Vintages if I wanted to buy a bottle from their assortment?

[JLMoran]

13 hours ago, MaryD said:

Does the 20%/40% off bottles of wine on the Deluxe drink package work in Vintages if I wanted to buy a bottle from their assortment?

It does, and if it's a wine you really like you can actually come out better than buying four individual glasses (which is what a 750ml bottle typically pours). Just looking at this example menu from @BrianAlt:

You can see that the bottle price is within a dollar or two of four individual glasses; sometimes a couple bucks higher, sometimes a couple lower. With the 40% discount for bottles of wine under $100, you can buy a bottle of almost anything on this list and come out much lower per-glass. Just using the "Luce della Vite" Tuscan (disclosure: my favorite wine on the ship):

• 4 glasses at $17 each = $68, just shy of the bottle cost
• Bottle with 40% discount = $41.40, cutting the per-glass price to just over $10

Here's the catch -- When you buy a bottle, that discounted price is charged to your SeaPass card in full, so you're going to have that $41.40 charged to your credit card at the end of the cruise. When you buy it by the glass, you only pay for the overage past $12 ($13 on Quantum and Oasis class ships). So those four glasses only cost you $20 ($16 on Q or O class) when your cruise ends.

It's because of this that I chose to never buy a full bottle, even when it was an awesome wine like the "Luce della Vite". I already shelled out several hundred up front for the drink package, so I really wanted to minimize my final out of pocket.

Now that said, there's one situation where buying a bottle on board probably does make sense: If you liked the wine enough that you want to take a couple of bottles home with you. If that's the case, take advantage of that discount and get a bottle or two on board. Reason I say that is that after getting home, I looked up that Tuscan wine I gave as the example in my local wine store; much to my surprise, a bottle there cost more than I would have paid if I'd bought it on board with my package discount!

Granted,  you'll need to be sure you can safely transport those bottles back home, so it's still a bit of a judgement call, but if you're driving to and from the port and not flying, this can be a pretty good option to get some awesome wines at a modest discount over the local land rates. For sure I'll be thinking about this when I'm on board Anthem in just over 7 more weeks.