Deluxe Drink Package now?

Ray4Fun

Earning My Ears
Joined
Aug 30, 2017
If you have to purchase the Deluxe package for all adults in cabin. Say 2 where 1 does and 1 does not. Is it worth it? Or is my math correct and I'll gust al a cart it all?
 
I have done a lot of figures- based on the costs of cocktails and beer- I wouldn't get it if only one of us drank and/ or we were going with family or by ourselves! We are going with friends, therefore, I am really hoping for sale on the package! I think with a sale I would break even and my husband would be close to breaking even. If no sale we will hope for buckets of beer and drink cards!!
 
If one of you doesn’t drink then it’s definitely not worth it. That said, if you price it out and the one that does drink gains value out of having the package, you can try calling Royal and getting an exemption for the non-drinking companion.
 
So lets say both my husband and I buy the Refreshment package which includes the non-alcoholic drinks, can we just buy individual shots of liquor as we want? I don't think we would want to do that very often, as we don't drink alcohol all that much but if I know this is an option, I would more inclined to just buy Refreshment and purchase the occasional shot for myself.
 


yes

and in most cases a rum and coke costs the same as a shot of rum alone - to put in your 'package' soda .... may be different for a shot to float on a virgin foo-foo drink tho
 
Calling Royal is how you get an exemption if one doesn't drink.

Yes you can buy individual shots. I did that with baileys to put in my package-included iced lattes.
 
If you cannot get an exemption, only 1 drinker would not be worth the price IMO. You're essentially paying what, $88 per night? Most common drinks are $7.50-$10 right? That seems like a lot of punishment over a 7 night period, but I'm a lightweight. I have seen where they continue to sell the drink packages during the cruise. If you save your partying for the second half, maybe you can catch a deal.
 


If only one person drinks alcohol the other person would need to drink alot of bottled water and specialty coffees to get their moneys worth. Personally I woudnt do it but as others have said, call RC and they will give you an exclusion if you explain that not all travelers in the stateroom drink alcohol. This policy is very loose right now and they are banking on most people not actually calling.
 
Another thing to consider, depending on ages and size of your traveling party, would be to consider booking two connecting rooms rather than just one single room. Sounds crazy right? I know.

For us, 2 adults (DW doesn't drink much so the beverage package would have been a waste for her) and 2 children, it was only about $100 more to book two connecting rooms with 1 adult and 1 child in each room, then it would have been to book all 4 of us in a single room and the beverage package for both adults.

This allowed me to purchase the beverage package only for myself. After applying what we would have spent on DW's beverage package toward the additional cost of the second room it was only about $100 more. To me, just the second bathroom alone is well worth that extra $100.

Another happy accident: we can now bring 4 bottles of wine onboard (2 per stateroom)!

We even managed to find a balcony room that connects to an interior room on Adventure deck 9 aft!
 
Another thing to consider, depending on ages and size of your traveling party, would be to consider booking two connecting rooms rather than just one single room. Sounds crazy right? I know.

For us, 2 adults (DW doesn't drink much so the beverage package would have been a waste for her) and 2 children, it was only about $100 more to book two connecting rooms with 1 adult and 1 child in each room, then it would have been to book all 4 of us in a single room and the beverage package for both adults.

This allowed me to purchase the beverage package only for myself. After applying what we would have spent on DW's beverage package toward the additional cost of the second room it was only about $100 more. To me, just the second bathroom alone is well worth that extra $100.

Another happy accident: we can now bring 4 bottles of wine onboard (2 per stateroom)!

We even managed to find a balcony room that connects to an interior room on Adventure deck 9 aft!


This is exactly what we do. Even before the new rule. Two bathrooms is worth it! If you can't find the balcony/interior connecting rooms, Royal will also let you do a balcony with the interior right across the hall, depending on your comfort level of course! My kids were 16 & 12 when we did this so we were okay with them being by themselves at night. YMMV

Once you get on board, just get extra keys to all of the rooms, that way you can move people around however you want and parents can get into all the rooms.
 
We are booked on the Oasis in May 2018, 3 couples (one with a 10 yo), 3 staterooms. DH and I took advantage of the Black Friday sale on the deluxe drink package but the other 2 couples only had 1 drinker per stateroom. They each called RC and were excused from buying the deluxe for the 2nd adult but had to buy the refreshment pkg for the adult that doesn't drink alcohol (about $200 savings). Now we are trying to decide if the 10 yo needs a soda package. I know her drinks are covered at meals but what is available for her to drink without extra cost?
 
We are booked on the Oasis in May 2018, 3 couples (one with a 10 yo), 3 staterooms. DH and I took advantage of the Black Friday sale on the deluxe drink package but the other 2 couples only had 1 drinker per stateroom. They each called RC and were excused from buying the deluxe for the 2nd adult but had to buy the refreshment pkg for the adult that doesn't drink alcohol (about $200 savings). Now we are trying to decide if the 10 yo needs a soda package. I know her drinks are covered at meals but what is available for her to drink without extra cost?

Not sure what you mean by "her drinks are covered at meals." Only water, tea, lemonade and flavored waters are available free of charge...assuming the 10 yo doesn't drink coffee!! That is true at meals as well as outside of meal time. If she wants to drink soda at all, meal time or otherwise, she will either need to buy one or have the soda package. I have always gotten my kids the soda package as their treat since they don't really drink soda any other time and they view their Shirley Temples as their "vacation drink."

Hope this helps! I snagged the Black Friday drink package for my June 2018 cruise as well! Gotta take the savings when you get them!
 
Thanks so much Crabbymom! This is our first RC cruise and I wasn't aware she would not be offered soda at meals. This may help her family decide on package for her.
 
Thanks so much Crabbymom! This is our first RC cruise and I wasn't aware she would not be offered soda at meals. This may help her family decide on package for her.
She will be offered it at meals, but you will have to pay for the soda (charging to your room).
Denise
 
Our issue came a dinner time. I had the soda refreshment package and my wife the full drink package. I like to have a wine with my meal and the first two nights the waiter said, "You do not have the drink package and I can't get you a wine." I explained to him, I will have my wine charged to the room. By day three, they got it. It was a bit frustrating the first couple of nights with them acting like we were trying to pull a fast one on them.
 
We just got of a RCCL cruise this morning and it was one of the last ones where you could vary the package by passenger. It's too bad they changed this option because it worked out great for us. We bought one deluxe package (for me), two royal refreshment packages (for the teens) and one soda only (for my husband who doesn't drink and is diabetic so the non-alcoholic fruity drinks are useless to him). Everyone was able to get what they wanted.....in the future, we'd probably get the Royal Refreshment package for everyone and call it done. It is fun to be able to order drinks whenever...but honestly, I can take or leave the alcohol for that price difference. But I have to say, since NCL offers a drinks package upgrade on most cruises as a standard free upgrade (and we like the quality of NCL better)...I don't see us rushing back to RCCL unless the itinerary is incredibly unique or its a group thing with other families and we are just going along for the fun of it (but I would imagine that kind of thing would be on DCL again as that's what we've done in the past).
 
We just got of a RCCL cruise this morning and it was one of the last ones where you could vary the package by passenger. It's too bad they changed this option because it worked out great for us. We bought one deluxe package (for me), two royal refreshment packages (for the teens) and one soda only (for my husband who doesn't drink and is diabetic so the non-alcoholic fruity drinks are useless to him). Everyone was able to get what they wanted.....in the future, we'd probably get the Royal Refreshment package for everyone and call it done. It is fun to be able to order drinks whenever...but honestly, I can take or leave the alcohol for that price difference. But I have to say, since NCL offers a drinks package upgrade on most cruises as a standard free upgrade (and we like the quality of NCL better)...I don't see us rushing back to RCCL unless the itinerary is incredibly unique or its a group thing with other families and we are just going along for the fun of it (but I would imagine that kind of thing would be on DCL again as that's what we've done in the past).

We looked so closely at the NCL due to the upgrade to include the drinks. We booked RCL so DS did not have to get the drink package like previous cruise ... but we booked Harmony. First to convert to new rule. We did hit a 25% off sale so booked all three and I have a request in to try to get him a waiver. He is disabled and functions as a young child. I don't know what I'll do if they refuse .... the price for all three with discount is just about what DH and I would have paid full price. If we do cancel it, I won't drink at all, I'm not paying those prices for single drinks. DH will get drinks but I doubt many.

I think unless they keep up some great offers, NCL will give them some real competition with as much as they offer for free upgrades.
 

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