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Day 3+ Drink Package Purchase Strategy for Longer Cruises


twangster

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If any one has followed my posts on Voom you may have seen my 'Day 2 Voom Strategy' that involves waiting until day 2 to purchase Voom on board.  Since the price for the 'full voyage' Voom plans drop with each day passing you can save money if you can wait a day or two.

As I sit here on a 10 night cruise it has occurred to me the same strategy can be used with a drink package on longer sailings.

I've often avoided drink packages on longer sailings due to:

  • High cost of packages on longer sailings.  More nights equate to higher package price.
  • Drink fatigue.  Fix or six (or more) alcoholic drinks every day, day after day, gets old.
  • Itinerary.  Depending how many days are port days and times in port the drink package may be less desirable.

On this 10 night sailing they offer the drink package on board up to day 5.  Onboard prices are higher than cruise planner advance purchase prices but under the right circumstances, it might make sense to buy it onboard but waiting a few days.

Let's look at this cruise.

Using $48 as a typical price the cruise planner deluxe drink package:

  • 10 nights x $48 = $480 plus 18% gratuity = $566 per person.  That's too much for me.  

If you wait until day 4 of a 10 night cruise there are 7 nights left. 

  • With an onboard price of $57 x 7 nights = $399 plus 18% gratuity = $471 per person.  
  • A savings of $95 per person

Not only do you save $95 but you avoid drink fatigue and depending on itinerary you might avoid paying for a few port days.

Where this really becomes realistic is if you are Diamond or higher because of the Diamond Happy Hour drinks each evening.  

Where it becomes even better is if you are Diamond Plus or better.  Diamond Plus receive 30% off onboard drink package pricing.  $399 less 30% is $280 plus 18% gratuity = $330.  That's a whopping $236 per person savings all by not drinking a lot for the first few days.  

How does it look for a 7 night cruise?

  • Cruise Planner 7 x $48 plus 18% = $396
  • Waiting for day 2, 6 nights x $57 plus 18% = $403
  • Waiting for day 3, 5 nights x $57 plus 18% = $336, a savings of $60 per person. 
  •    For Diamond Plus the day 3 price is $235 for a savings of $160 per person.

At just $60 savings it's not really a great strategy for 7 night cruises, you'll save a little, but on longer cruises it can save you quite a bit more.

You do need to ask onboard which day the drink package sales will cease because that can vary from cruise to cruise.

The other gotcha could be onboard pricing which has been as high as $63 on some cruises recently.  By following live blogs here in the message boards we can perhaps get an idea for any given ship.  

When looking at a 14 night transatlantic next year there is just no way I am going to drop $826 for the cruise planner drink package.  Waiting until mid-cruise for a partial drink package might just be affordable though.  

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Just now, rjac said:

What bars offer "Diamond Happy Hour" drinks, other than the Diamond lounge and what time is Happy Hour? :27_sunglasses:

That varies by ship.  Diamond happy hour used to be pretty consistent at 5-8:30pm but that has shifted to 4:30pm-8pm on many but not all ships.

In 2018 I've had great success using my happy hour coupons in the MDR even thought that is not the written policy.  Vintages on Serenade is one of the bars that does not participate.  Bionic bars do not participate.  Some specialty bars such as Wonderland on Harmony & Symphony do not on paper but if you ask nicely sometimes they do.  

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  • 2 weeks later...

I can't thank you enough for this post @twangster!  Have a 7 night on Rhapsody coming up in Jan., and was wondering about this very topic.  I sucked it up and did the cruise planner on sale price of $47/day.  Very pleased with that price especially given the recent price increases elsewhere, but still all the while wondered if it wouldn't be cheaper to do as you described.  Even I (probably) can't keep up the 6-7 drink/day break even rate, but I also don't enjoy spending my vacation with the 10 key in my brain whirring away each time I head to the bar.  So using your math for the on board price, it cost me just over $52/pp for me and the missus to go with the website price over waiting.

Taking your example a bit further, I predict that we would easily drink over $50 each worth of a la carte priced drinks over the first 3 days given the on board prices.  So at worst, I will still probably break even and maybe even save myself $20-$30 rather than waiting.

I owe you thanks for allowing me a bit of financial peace of mind for my upcoming cruise.  I will be sure to hoist a drink or 3 in your honor!

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  • 3 weeks later...

We have struggled with the drink package on the long sailings as well.  The 12 night Serenade got as low as $39 a day and we grabbed it.  There was a bundle for $47 a day with 1 device Voom and we grabbed that as well.  By calling I was able to get one package for me, and the other for Tony. 

For 12 nights at those prices, with tax & gratuities it came out to $644.37 & $552.24 for a total of $1,196.61.  Yes, I fainted at that total price but once I wrapped my head around that it was 12 nights worth of coffee, water bottles, drinks and internet for both of us...I just was light headed instead of passed out.  LOL  

At the beginning of the cruise, I was watching my drink habits, counting my beverages to make sure I got my $39 worth each day...and boy was it easy.  I am embarrassed to say that drink fatigue never set in...but food fatigue sure did for those last couple of days.   We definitely got out money's worth.  We had 7 days at sea and 5 in port, and while two of the port days we were out long enough that we didn't really drink that much on board, we made up for it on the sea days. ? 

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I was looking at the drink pkg for our 12 day vision greek/med cruise and i just couldn't pay it.  We have 4 sea day's and 7 port day's.  I hadn't even considered the buy late on the ship idea because I'm so indoctrinated on the buy sale cruise lanner.  How late in the cruise do they sell the drink pkg?  I'm wondering because our first sea day isn't even until day 5.  With florence and Rome day's 3 and 4, we won't even be on the ship at all.  I'm also wondering about the drink card...does it show up on European cruises or is it usually just a Caribbean thing?  Jane 

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On our 12nt Vision sailing in Europe the drink card was available from day 4 or 5 for several days. It worked out to $8.50 a drink which is good if you're a cocktail drinker but not as a beer drinker. The beverage package was available until the last 4 days of the cruise I believe. We were also able to purchase a wine package in the MDR. I believe it was $99 for 4 bottles.

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11 hours ago, 41m33 said:

On our 12nt Vision sailing in Europe the drink card was available from day 4 or 5 for several days. It worked out to $8.50 a drink which is good if you're a cocktail drinker but not as a beer drinker. The beverage package was available until the last 4 days of the cruise I believe. We were also able to purchase a wine package in the MDR. I believe it was $99 for 4 bottles.

Thank you!! All good info to have!!! Jane

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Using the example with the drink package...that would assume that you didn't drink at all the first 3 days.....so for the $95 savings..it would only have cost you $32/day to have the drink package..which is the equivalent to about 3 drinks......

 

And I think that for the first day or two is usually when ppl would tend to maybe drink more than the later days....so it would cost you more in the long run unless you were NOT going to drink at all the days you didn't have the drink package...

 

 

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49 minutes ago, monctonguy said:

Using the example with the drink package...that would assume that you didn't drink at all the first 3 days.....so for the $95 savings..it would only have cost you $32/day to have the drink package..which is the equivalent to about 3 drinks......

And I think that for the first day or two is usually when ppl would tend to maybe drink more than the later days....so it would cost you more in the long run unless you were NOT going to drink at all the days you didn't have the drink package...

Drink fatigue is real for most people (apologize to my Scottish and Canadian friends with iron livers).  Buying a full voyage drink package then not using it as much on days 6+ is no bargain either.  

As offered:

On 11/16/2018 at 5:35 AM, twangster said:

Where this really becomes realistic is if you are Diamond or higher because of the Diamond Happy Hour drinks each evening.  

Once you are Diamond and boarding at noonish means you just have to wait 4 hours until you can get free drinks with Diamond Happy hour.  The problem with the Diamond Happy Hour menu is that it is very boring.  Cheap wine, cheap booze, no frozen drinks.  It's hard to enjoy a full cruise with cheap wine every night.   However if you can contain your day one drinking this strategy can save some people money.  Granted no strategy works for everyone, Voom or drink packages.  

Also as stated this strategy works better on longer cruises.  On short cruises, 7 nights or shorter, this strategy doesn't do much for you.  On longer cruises, 9, 10, 11 nights and longer when the drink package price approaches the cost of another cruise this introduces a method to obtain a partial voyage drink package that doesn't break the bank.  

Also as offered: 

On 11/16/2018 at 5:35 AM, twangster said:

Where it becomes even better is if you are Diamond Plus or better.  Diamond Plus receive 30% off onboard drink package pricing. 

I used this strategy on a 9 night cruise this month on Navigator to the ABCs.  

Cruise Planner price $52 per day for 9 days plus 18% = $552.24  

Onboard $62 per day for 8 days - 30% plus 18% = $409.70 (with D+ discount)

I saved $142.54 by simply waiting until 8am the morning of day 2 and enjoying diamond happy hour drinks on day one evening. 

I was the only person over 21.  Had there been two of us that would be $285 in savings.

We boarded at 1pm.  By the time we unpacked, explored the ship and did the muster drill it was nearly 4:30pm.   For $143 savings (each) I can limit my day one drinking to diamond happy hour. 

14 night TA - drink package @$50 pppd is $826 per person.  

13 night snowbird @$50 pppd - $726 per person.  

9 Night ABC @$52 pppd - $552 per person

So yeah, it's not for everyone but on those longer cruises it can save.  If you are D+ or higher it can save even more and you don't have to deal with the crowded diamond lounge.  

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yeah..I get it...even me with my newfie/Canadian liver a full 7 days of full on drinking would be tough....however.....based on my experiences the first couple days is where you get the best "bang for your buck"....and I tend to "pay" for the drink package for the whole cruise based on my consumption the first day or two.....I would defn not enjoy a cruise where I had to wait 2-3 days in to  drink to see some savings...

 

Now if only you could pay for it each day that you wanted it...that would be the real winner!

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On 11/16/2018 at 6:35 AM, twangster said:

If any one has followed my posts on Voom you may have seen my 'Day 2 Voom Strategy' that involves waiting until day 2 to purchase Voom on board.  

I have searched and searched and searched ... do you have a link to that discussion? 

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This post has been very helpful so thanks! I do have a question about 7 day cruises. Do they offer the drink package also until a certain day on these cruises? I am going on Liberty of the Seas out of Galveston Jan 6. Also does anyone know what the cost on board would be? Right now it is 50/pp per day. Thanks!

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1 minute ago, nikibron said:

This post has been very helpful so thanks! I do have a question about 7 day cruises. Do they offer the drink package also until a certain day on these cruises? I am going on Liberty of the Seas out of Galveston Jan 6. Also does anyone know what the cost on board would be? Right now it is 50/pp per day. Thanks!

The day they pull it varies by ship.  I ask as soon as I board, they usually have a table setup on the embarkation deck.  $63 per day has been common recently (on board).  Hopefully someone who has sailed Liberty recently can reply.  

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13 minutes ago, nikibron said:

This post has been very helpful so thanks! I do have a question about 7 day cruises. Do they offer the drink package also until a certain day on these cruises? I am going on Liberty of the Seas out of Galveston Jan 6. Also does anyone know what the cost on board would be? Right now it is 50/pp per day. Thanks!

Something to consider purchasing the drink package ahead of time (besides the cost savings) - if your itinerary includes either Coco Cay or Labadee (Royal Caribbean's private islands), you'll be able to use the drink package on the island which helps make it a little bit more worth it. 

Another note on drinks since you're sailing from Galveston - the FULL list of available drinks won't be available until you're a distance away from the port in Texas, due to liquor taxing there. While in port in Galveston you'll have a limited menu selection to choose from. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 12/28/2018 at 9:25 AM, tdcackler said:

I have searched and searched and searched ... do you have a link to that discussion? 

 

6 minutes ago, KathyC said:

I can't locate it either.  I do have the pdf saved, so here is that at least.  

Voom Comparison Cruise Planner 15.99.pdf

New twist...

On Vision this past week the on board price for Voom Surf and Stream on day one only was reduced from $19.99 to $17.13 per day (full voyage plan).  The effect was that the price to purchase on day one for the full voyage was the same as it was on day two for the full voyage when the price was back up to $19.99.

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4 hours ago, twangster said:

 

New twist...

On Vision this past week the on board price for Voom Surf and Stream on day one only was reduced from $19.99 to $17.13 per day (full voyage plan).  The effect was that the price to purchase on day one for the full voyage was the same as it was on day two for the full voyage when the price was back up to $19.99.

Looks like they read your book !

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