Views on Drinks packages
 

Hi All

We recently did a cruise with Princess (excellent cruise), but chose on this cruise not to but a drinks package and it worked out well for us, we just needed to keep an eye on what we were drinking. What are other peoples views.

Cheers

John

We've never gotten a drink package as we don't drink enough (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) beverages to get remotely close to enough to break even from a cost perspective. This is even more so for us during cruises that are port intensive as we're typically out all day enjoying the city. For people that are close to the break even point, the convenience factor might be enough to make it worth it for them.

As we climb the loyalty membership ladder, we also find there are more and more events we are invited to that provide free drinks. This and a little bit of OBC pretty much limits our out of pocket drink spend to really make a drink package not worth it for us.

Unless a drinks package is included for super cheap, I don't get one. It's not worth it for me. I rather pay as I go, or buy some beer and liquor at port cities and bring it onboard.

In as much most cruise lines will not let you bring liquor on board that really isn’t much of an option.

The only cruise ships I've been using lately, and will probably continue to use is Cunard and MSC. Both allow off site liquor brought aboard from port cities. Cunard allows you to board with liquor.

We like the ease of it, BUT
 

We only get it when it is a good value--NCL More at Sea ($30/day plus dining tips) & Princess Plus ($60/day for drinks, wifi & gratuities) are a good value for us, MSC drink package is generally reasonable purchased pre-cruise as well. Celebrity can vary.
Carnival & RCCL package prices don't make sense, even as much as DH enjoys his drinks!
Virgin doesn't even offer drink packages. Buying a bar tab worked fine.
I bring 2 bottles of wine on those cruises & look for opportunities for free drinks--VV has quite a few. I'm Elite on Celebrity & Princess & Diamond on RCCL.
Princess is not a great value as DH doesn't drink free in the daily cocktail hour.
Celebrity lets me order 2 drinks at a time, so that works--but we have snagged some good rates with drinks & wifi so have only used that once.
RCCL will get me 4 free drinks/day plus 2 at half price & 20% off the rest. So no need for a severely overpriced package.

We understand this isn't a need for everyone.
As we move to full-time travel, and cruising is a part of that (particularly transatlantics & transpacifics), it won't be vacation, but instead our day to day life...we may find less need for it.

I almost never buy packages that include alcohol, because I won't drink enough. The odd one out is my upcoming Princess cruise, where it financially made sense to buy the Plus package when I'd already be paying for WiFi and crew appreciation and possibly a soda package or non-alcoholic package. On Carnival, I usually don't buy any package because they don't offer a non-alcoholic option aside from the soda package, and I like mocktails and specialty coffee.

I am faced with this decision now. Cunard package is $60 a day. I figure if I have a couple glasses of wine at dinner (maybe $30) and then a drink later at the casino I am already up to $45. Throw in some bottled water and maybe a soft drink and I am close. The package includes Wifi so that is tipping the scales to buying it.
This is my first cruise and I can't believe all of the nickel and diming. Bottled water? Really?
Even if we bring some booze onboard, we would have to buy mixers. I wonder if they would let me bring a bottle of wine into the dining room.

You can bring mixers too. Also, if you are NOT going on a transatlantic cruise, definitely don't get the drinks package. I was on four Cunard cruises late last year and almost every port I purchased alcohol, including beer. The transatlantic ones I bought two large bottles of vodka and two more in the duty free and transferred those to my new cabin for next cruise. I didn't buy any drinks package and didn't have wifi except the free portion that was granted with my membership level. I purchased five bottles of sparkling water twice per week on the first three cruises. The last one was in the princess suite that comes with unlimited bottled water. Next time I will book the Club Balcony cabins that also come with water and separate dining restaurant. Anything else is not worth it to me. But the best thing is to bring your own bottles, in my opinion and use wifi in the ports or buy it for one day. I remember when there was no wifi and I would just send postcards and take pictures and get them developed when I got home. It was more exciting to me to see how the photos turn out and re-live the entire adventure. But I don't think any drink package is worth it. I only drank half of the total amount whenever I purchased a package. Enjoy your cruise.

Drinks in the casino could be comped, too, depending on the passenger's play -- either at the tables, or at the slots.

That's pretty standard for all the cruise lines with the exception of all-inclusive luxury lines (which Cunard is not one). There's not much in the way of complimentary drinks other than treated water (reportedly reverse osmosis from sea water - perfectly drinkable), tea and coffee (often made from syrup) in the dining rooms, and self-serve beverages in the buffet (usually juices. juice drinks, and tea & coffee). I manage to survive quite well on this for intercontinental cruises..

Glad Cunard even allows this as most of the nickel 'n diming lines don't allow anything other than a bottle of wine per pax, maximum of 2 per cabin. Wine in the dining room? Usually have to pay corkage but you may be ahead even if you do. Was on the Holland America Prinsendam and I bought pretty much a bottle of Brunello de Montalcino for every night of the TATL trip. One bottle was a Banfi. The ship's wine list had the same bottle. My cost (bottle in Italy + corkage) was less than 1/2 that of the ship's and that is before the 18% service charge.

Thanks, it's 10 days in Alaska. This is all very interesting & now I am more torn than ever. The logistics of bringing out own booze & wine might be the problem. We are flying into Seattle the night before and won't have a car. We were planning on taking an Uber to the ship from the hotel. So we would have to take an Uber to a store and then schlepp bottles of water, vodka, bourbon and mix. I can't picture us lugging our suitcase and also all those drinks.
We each have a Club Balcony room but AFAIK it doesn't include anything special. I can't go 10 days with no Wifi so I would have to buy a Wifi package. The package also includes 2 special dining ---one is the Verandah which is a steak place & I think the other is champagne tea which I don't care about.

I am a very small fish. Slots but I doubt I am getting any comped drinks. I get rooms comped in Vegas but that's a lot of play.

The Club Balcony cabins do have complimentary sparkling water now and on the QM2 they are on a dedicated deck that was totally refurbished.

Are you flying international? I bought my first two bottles at the duty free and put them in a small dedicated backpack I brought along for the purchase.

Our travel agent didn't mention free sparkling water although I only drink still. This is the QE.
Not flying international. But isn't it a hassle to keep running back to your cabin when you want a refill? Are you allowed to walk into the dining room with your homemade drink? What if you are at some evening entertainment---PITA to go back to the cabin for a drink. Still...$60/day is a lot of $$. I didn't ask how much the Wifi packages were.

From the Cunard website: "Access to the intimate Britannia Club restaurant with a reserved table throughout your voyage.Private balcony with seating and ocean views.Lounge area with seating.Cunarder bed configurable to king-size or two single beds. Bathroom with walk-in shower.Satellite TV with movie and music channels.Feature vanity and desk with hairdryer.UK, USA, and European power sockets.Pillow concierge menu with a variety of types to choose from.Penhaligon’s toiletries. Bathrobes and slippers.Specialty tea- and coffee-making facilities.Complimentary spring water replenished throughout your voyage.A welcome bottle of sparkling wine.Complimentary room service menu.Minibar packages available for purchase.A dedicated steward to keep your stateroom in fine order day and night.Priority embarkation and disembarkation"

*There's a pod coffee maker like in the princess/queens grill. Regular cabins only have the regular coffee maker.

You can take your personal drinks to all the public venues. But not in any area that serves drinks. So basically, outside on the decks, by the pool etc.

I don't drink anything with my meals except water or coffee. In your case since it appears as though you really need the Internet, and bringing your own adult beverages and mixers may be problematic, you may wish to just buy the drinks package and call it a day. But only do so at the last minute in the event there's a sale going on.