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I have booked the Classic Soda package because I really dont plan on drinking 5-7 drinks a day, every day, especially with off ship activities planned.

BUT, can the Deluxe Beverage package be added for just ONE day? I was thinking the day at sea as a great day to enjoy it.   

Thanks for your insite. This blog is AWESOME to get questions answered. 

next cruise Mariner of the Seas 10/22/18

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9 minutes ago, catinthehat300 said:

I have booked the Classic Soda package because I really dont plan on drinking 5-7 drinks a day, every day, especially with off ship activities planned.

BUT, can the Deluxe Beverage package be added for just ONE day? I was thinking the day at sea as a great day to enjoy it.   

Thanks for your insite. This blog is AWESOME to get questions answered. 

next cruise Mariner of the Seas 10/22/18

Sorry, you have to purchase for the whole cruise. Cannot buy only 1 days :(

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You can purchase the deluxe package onboard at any time; however once you purchase it, you must keep it for the duration of your cruise, and you will be charged the daily rate for each remaining day.

You'll be paying at least $56 per day plus gratuities if you book onboard, but if you choose to buy the package for the last few days of your sailing, that pricing may work out in your favor depending on how much you drink.

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8 hours ago, catinthehat300 said:

I have booked the Classic Soda package because I really dont plan on drinking 5-7 drinks a day, every day, especially with off ship activities planned.

Keep in mind that you don't have to drink 5-7 alcoholic beverages a day to break even, especially if you catch the drink package on a good sale ($42-45 pp / pn). You get bottled water covered by that, all sodas, fresh-squeezed OJ if you want it with breakfast, all premium coffee beverages, etc. I'm not a huge drinker either, and I was on a cruise with four consecutive port days, but I had no real trouble "breaking even" (or at least coming close enough for government work) just having those beverages plus my typical sail-away margarita, a glass of wine with dinner, and maybe one more wine or other alcoholic drink before / after dinner (say, at a show).

10 minutes ago, Matt said:

While you cannot buy the drink package for just one day, the next best thing to keep an eye out for is the drink card 

This is definitely the best option for you, but it's a bit of a crap shoot as to whether your particular sailing will actually offer it.

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6 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

Keep in mind that you don't have to drink 5-7 alcoholic beverages a day to break even, especially if you catch the drink package on a good sale ($42-45 pp / pn).

Exactly, I feel people almost always get the math wrong on the drink packages.  As you mention, assuming someone books their cruise well ahead and keep an eye on the Cruise Planner it is very likely they will get a sale package.  For reference I have seen it several times at $48pppn, so that's not even the biggest sale.  Now, if you are someone like me (or OP) who is choosing between the soda package or deluxe package (rather than deluxe package or no package) then we should factor in that it is between an $8.50 package or $48 package.  So now we can consider the deluxe package to actually be $40 (rounding for simplicity).  Now, coffee or fresh squeezed OJ?  So if we get a single glass of OJ and a single premium coffee, we are talking another $10.  Feel like some bottled water?  Three would be another $10.  Now we are looking at needing to buy $20 worth of drinks.  That's 2 mixed drinks or 3 beers (wine somewhere in between).

The point is not to encourage anybody to get a drink package they don't want, rather make sure you are factoring in the complete value of the package as it's much more than booze.  The Refreshment Package might make sense as well if all of those things sound good but the 2 drinks average per day still seems excessive to someone.  Just know that the 5-7 drink estimate people come up with is leaving a lot out of the equation.

As to the actual question of the thread: you can't just get a package for one day for the reason you can't just sign up for a week at the gym.  RCCL knows many people won't take full advantage of the package throughout their cruise, rather it is a convenience for them.  So those people essentially subsidize the package for those taking plenty of advantage.  Much like all the people signing up at a gym in January are subsidizing it for those still working out in March.  It's all a numbers game and RCCL has the numbers down to a science.

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I'll be on that cruise and drink package is a no brainer...between bottled water...Cpl beers around the pool deck...glass of wine or two at supper.....your almost even...and you get the soda package with it so yeah..not hard to break even..

 

I wont get into the details but the drink package is usually "paid" for after my first day on the ship...lol

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For the Refreshment Package, the entire room does not have to order it if one person does. That only applies to the Deluxe Beverage Package. Be aware that the Refreshment Package only covers non-alcoholic drinks like soda, virgin cocktails, espresso-based coffee drinks, etc. These drinks will typically run between $4 and $7 each. Bottled water is about $2.

You also get a refillable travel cup with the Refreshment Package that can be used at any of the ship's Freestyle soda machines; there are two in the Windjammer and one by Sorrento's Pizza on Freedom. Getting soda from these machines costs nothing extra, but they can only be used with the cups from the Refreshment Package as the cups have an RFID sensor that activates the machine.

Alcoholic drinks typically run about $7 or $8 for a beer; $12 for a cocktail or mixed drink; and $13+ for a shot of your favorite spirit, a glass of wine at Vintages, or a cocktail made with a super-premium spirit. If you want a beverage package that covers alcoholic drinks, you'll need the Deluxe Beverage Package; many here have seen and purchased it as low at $42/day on recent sailings, but it typically ranges between $45 and $65 a day, depending on the specific sale that's going on, how far away from your cruise date, etc.

The Deluxe Package will cover all beverages, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, up to $12 per drink on Freedom. If a drink costs more than $12, you just pay the difference.

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13 hours ago, Sioux Hockey said:

Question 1, Does everyone in the room have to order it?

No, that rule is only for the unlimited alcohol package

13 hours ago, Sioux Hockey said:

Question 2, about how much are ordering drinks without a package? Beer, non alcoholic cocktail, soda? 

Beers are around $7 each, soda is around $3 and non-alcoholic cocktails I believe are in the $6 range.

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4 minutes ago, jgiardulli said:

@Matt @JLMoranIf you're travelling with young children (4 & 7) and mom and dad buy a refreshment package, and kids want some of your fresh squeezed OJ in the morning (as an example) or some bottled water...Is that frowned upon??  I don't really want to buy a drink package for the kids...

If you want to share your OJ with them in the morning and not get them a glass, then yourself a glass, that's fine. I think it would be declined if you asked for fresh squeezed OJ for the kids and yourself at the same time.

Now, if you're in the Windjammer and not the MDR, there's a bit of a workaround that avoids the frowny-face. In WJ, you have to go to the bar yourself and request a glass of the OJ. So you could do that once for your kids, walk back to your table, wait a couple of minutes, and then walk back and ask for another. The guys manning the juicer won't be any the wiser, as far as they know you just guzzled that OJ and want another.

As far as bottled water, you can get a bottle of water at the same time as another beverage (coffee, soda, etc.) with no problem. Not sure if you could get two bottles of water at once from the same venue, but if they declined you for that you could just go to two different venues, or do the same buy-and-wait-a-couple-minutes thing at the one venue.

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44 minutes ago, jgiardulli said:

@Matt @JLMoranIf you're travelling with young children (4 & 7) and mom and dad buy a refreshment package, and kids want some of your fresh squeezed OJ in the morning (as an example) or some bottled water...Is that frowned upon??  I don't really want to buy a drink package for the kids...

The rules say you may not share any drink package benefits with guests who do not have a drink package. So technically speaking, your example would be against the rules.

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  • 4 weeks later...
31 minutes ago, yaya luvs to cruz said:

Late to the show. Is Vintages included in the Deluxe Drink Package? Thank you. 

Vintages offers a few glasses of wine that would be included in the Deluxe drink package.  Anything under $12 (Or $13 on Quantum and Oasis class)  will be covered.  If there's a glass you want that is more than that, you can pay the difference in cost.  The bar is also stocked with most of the standard liquors you'll find at any other bar that should be covered under the drink package.

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Vintages is definitely included, but depending on the ship's stock and your preferences in wine, you may find that there are very few options that are sold by the glass and fall within the $12 or $13 limit. I'm almost exclusively a red wine drinker; while Freedom's Vintages had a huge menu with a pretty decent selection of my preferred styles of reds around $14 to $17 a glass, along with a couple of what I call "red water" table wine options at the $12 mark, I found that Anthem had a far smaller menu with almost nothing that was offered by the glass, at least in any varietal I cared for. Anthem was very much pushing buying entire bottles, not just at Vintages but also in the dining rooms.

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