Do you purchase drink packages on cruises?

[#1hoosierfan]

We have been on 4 cruises. Dh and I get the drink package. We buy the non-alcohol drink package for the boys. We just went on an Alaska cruise with Holland America in June. The boys enjoyed the mocktails.

 

[Stargazer65]

We didn't, we just had the free drinks, and bought occasional special drinks when we felt the urge.

 

[easyas123]

We've only been on two cruises, both Viking river cruises. Both times we got the drink pkg., and it's worked out better for us then paying by the drink.

 

[hardcorestitch]

This thread can include any cruise line since I'm assuming drink packages are the same or very similar. I just booked my very first cruise for July 2027 to Alaska on Princess. DH and I will be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary. I'm looking at the various drink packages available. My DH and I don't drink alcohol,so the Premier drink package is a definite no. Have any of you purchased the zero alcohol package? What did you think of it,and would you say it's worth it? Though I avoid sodas as much as I can, I plan on enjoying myself on the cruise. I'm looking at the soda package, but then what if I'm in the mood for hot chocolate every day?Please tell me your experiences with all drink packages from all cruise lines. Is it something you get everytime you go on a cruise? Or do you purchase them al la carte?

Drink packages are exactly why I will be considering Disney for my first cruise in the future. Royal, NCL and other cruise lines charge for non alcoholic drinks (except water and coffee).

 

[LoveDaisy]

Drink packages are exactly why I will be considering Disney for my first cruise in the future. Royal, NCL and other cruise lines charge for non alcoholic drinks (except water and coffee).

How much soda do you drink that you are able to cover the price difference between DCL and other cruise lines with the cost of soda?

 

[hardcorestitch]

How much soda do you drink that you are able to cover the price difference between DCL and other cruise lines with the cost of soda?

Lots. In fact, I recently stopped drinking Coke from outside of Disney. I will literally splurge on Coke when I’m on that ship (within pace of course).

 

[disykat]

Never. I only drink water with meals and throughout the day. DH is a tea drinker and sometimes likes juice at breakfast. Those things have always been included. I always assume we might have one or two specialty drinks we'd have to pay for, but honestly, we are always so full we never have the desire.

 

[Genie+]

I’ve only taken 1 cruise and bought the drink package. Back in 2022: $55/day + $10 tip/day.

15 alcohol credits daily up to $20/serving, plus the specialty coffee bar, bottled water, etc.

Wow I just checked current pricing in 2025: $70/day + $12.50 tip/day.

Price went up almost 30% over 3 years. Yikes! That’s for Carnival. Not sure I’d buy at that $.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Outside of a Carnival cruise when I was a teen I've only done Seabourn twice which has drinks (wine, liquor, pop, specialty coffee, non-alcoholic, etc) included anyhow as part of the fare. You can however buy high premium wine package if you want but the wide-to-us variety of included wines is perfectly acceptable to us.

 

[robinb]

We bought Princess Plus 3 years ago which included the drink package and gratuities. We also always book our NCL cruises with the drink package. We enjoy our cocktails and wine with dinner. It’s always worth it for us.

 

[HeatherC]

We usually don’t buy the drink package, but I did for my last cruise. I was traveling with my daughter and we decided to splurge and get it. It was great to have and we got to try things we would never try at $14 a pop.. I also love my cappuccinos twice a day so we used it for that as well.

Now I am spoiled. Going on a cruise this November on Royal and purchased it during their Black Friday sale and also purchased one for our February Princess cruise.

Yes, we know we will probably barely break even. But that’s ok. We can afford to do it and it is fun to try new cocktails and juices, etc..

 

[mjkacmom]

Drink packages are exactly why I will be considering Disney for my first cruise in the future. Royal, NCL and other cruise lines charge for non alcoholic drinks (except water and coffee).

NCL provides juice at breakfast, and lemonade, iced tea and flavored waters all day. I don’t drink soda, so free soda isn’t a perk for me.

 

[antmaril]

I am Platinum on Princess. My friend and I always purchase the Plus Package when we cruise. We have three cruises coming up in the next year. The Plus Package includes 15 drinks a day (including alcoholic drinks up to $15), crew gratuities, wi-fi, and four casual dining options. Also included, are specialties coffees, which don’t count toward the 15 beverages and up to 12 bottles of water a day. The price is $65-70 per person, per day, depending on which ship you’re on. I think it’s one of the best values in cruising.

 

[ronandannette]

NCL provides juice at breakfast, and lemonade, iced tea and flavored waters all day. I don’t drink soda, so free soda isn’t a perk for me.

We don't drink pop or specialty coffees. Ever. We've just booked NCL and deleted the drinks out of the More at Sea package because to break even on just what they charge for daily tips, we'd need to do 4 alcoholic drinks/day per person, which we won't.

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

Another NCL cruiser here and love having the drink package. It lets me try different drinks until I find my favorites which I have!

On some ships, they have Rebellious Fish (Vodka, Chinola passion fruit, Cointreau, orange, Prosecco, and fresh berries garnish) and others have Red Bubbles (Vodka, strawberry, guava, cranberry, fresh lemon, Prosecco, dash of lavender bitters) and it's my go-to drink depending on what bars serve them.

Great.. Now I'm thirsty.

 

[snappy]

Yes, we find the current drink package a good value on NCL. If the price of the package goes down, our TA will get us a refund before the final payment dates.

 

[soccerdad72]

Back when my wife drank a lot of Diet Coke, we got the soda package on RCL. Other than that, we haven't purchased a drink package (and she quit drinking soda a long time ago, so we won't even get the soda package either).

Most of our cruises have been pretty port heavy, so we find we're off the ship more than we're on it. Drink packages don't make a lot of sense if much of your time is spent off the ship. If we do a cruise where we plan on being on ship more, I might consider it.

 

[goofyernmost]

I have never purchased the "drink" packages on any cruise. I don't drink all that much in the line of alcohol and when I do, it is usually Dos Equis, sorry wrong thought there, so usually not more than once a day. I've had a number of short cruises where I didn't drink at all and one 14 day Trans-Atlantic cruise and only had two such beverages the whole time. Other than one of the ports of call, don't remember the actual name, but we did an excursion into Tuscany where we went to a family run vineyard where we were given some terrific pasta and participated in a Wine Tasting exercise at no additional cost to us. We did pay in advance for the excursion. I sure hope they paid the vineyard because they were great. I did leave a tip of about 10 Euros though.

 

[jimmymc]

I always do on Norwegian because it's so cheap. Two glasses of wine at dinner and one or two sodas during the day covers the cost.

On Royal or most other cruise lines, I just get a soda package. It's more for the convenience and not having to bring my own cans or count the drinks on board.

 

[pezgirlroy]

We usually don’t buy the drink package, but I did for my last cruise. I was traveling with my daughter and we decided to splurge and get it. It was great to have and we got to try things we would never try at $14 a pop.. I also love my cappuccinos twice a day so we used it for that as well.

Now I am spoiled. Going on a cruise this November on Royal and purchased it during their Black Friday sale and also purchased one for our February Princess cruise.

Yes, we know we will probably barely break even. But that’s ok. We can afford to do it and it is fun to try new cocktails and juices, etc..

Yes this is why I will always get it because I can get fancy coffees and try different types of drinks that I wouldn't normally try.