CHEERS! Please school me on RC's deluxe beverage package

NOLA_Tink

Jambo, y'all!
Joined
Jul 3, 2008
Where can I use it on Coco Cay (floating bars? swim-up bars?) Can I use it in the main dining room? Can I use it at the 24-hr deli for mimosas or Irish coffee in the morning? Where else can I use it? Thanks!!
 
warning: answers are valid as of my last cruise ... pre-COVID

yes, yes, and I guess yes (never done it tho - a wake up drink - after dinner Irish Coffee YES)


Coco Cay operates as an extension for the ship ..... cashless and your room/key card is your charge card.

You use it 'everyplace' on the ship. There is a $$ per drink cap but I've never hit it. Something like Johnny Walker Blue would be over the top. Typical foo foo drinks are covered as was my Buffalo Trace on the rocks.

In dining room for wine you get a discount on a bottle but wine per glass is included (dollar limit applies again) ... find something you like by the glass!!!! If you do traditional dining and tell them you like the same every night, it will be at your seat . . . if you are gonna change it up I suggest mentioning that so they don't waste pours . . . .

Starbucks is NOT covered ..... fresh squeeze OJ IS
 
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You can use it at any bar on board, the Main Dining Room, the Windjammer, and Coco Cay. The only place it does not work is room service. Yes, you can get an Irish coffee in the morning! Best way to start the day!
 
btw the price cap varies by ship. If you're on one of the newer megaships it's higher, and lower on one of the older ships. You can get top shelf stuff, but if the 20yo single malt is $20 and the cap is $15, you'd pay the difference.

I'm sure that if you ask the barkeep they'll help you figure out what shelf alcohol you can get.

And a final word: every cruise we see people on Day 2 that definitely over imbibed on Day 1. Don't be that person.
 


btw the price cap varies by ship. If you're on one of the newer megaships it's higher, and lower on one of the older ships. You can get top shelf stuff, but if the 20yo single malt is $20 and the cap is $15, you'd pay the difference.

I'm sure that if you ask the barkeep they'll help you figure out what shelf alcohol you can get.

And a final word: every cruise we see people on Day 2 that definitely over imbibed on Day 1. Don't be that person.

Reminds me of that time where I heard a guy bragging about drinking his 15th drink that day. I think it was 1:00 or 2:00 PM. How the guy was still walking and still looking somewhat « normal« is still a mystery to me.

After two drinks I just wanna nap. LOL
 
This is not to encourage additional drinking

but IME on Royal, if two drinks a day is your limit you'll lose money big time with their drink package. Altho the price varies I've NEVER gotten it for less than $45 per person/day (plus 18% tip) .... most drinks are well under $15. Often the price is over $60 per person/day ....
 
This is not to encourage additional drinking

but IME on Royal, if two drinks a day is your limit you'll lose money big time with their drink package. Altho the price varies I've NEVER gotten it for less than $45 per person/day (plus 18% tip) .... most drinks are well under $15. Often the price is over $60 per person/day ....
You hit the nail on the head. Two drinks a day does not make the package worth your while. And I think that if you're a moderate drinker, you can probably get by on the 2 drinks + 2 bottles per cabin + drinking at the ports for the duration of the cruise.

@Capt_BJ What would you say the tipping point is for getting the package vs not? I think conventional wisdom says 4 cocktails/8 Beers but factor in Evian/Espressos/Juices and it's probably a little less?

And I'd also say for a 7+ night cruise you might be asking a lot of your liver to handle all that drinking.

After two drinks I just wanna nap. LOL
Nowadays, yes, for sure. When I was younger, I could handle it better. Maybe.
 


Don't forget that the package includes non-alcoholic drinks too...specialty coffees, bottled water, soda, freshly squeezed juice, etc
 
What would you say the tipping point is for getting the package vs not? I think conventional wisdom says 4 cocktails/8 Beers but factor in Evian/Espressos/Juices and it's probably a little less?

I would not care to make a general statement along those lines. Most people can do the math to their own satisfaction. We like a cocktail b4 dinner, wine with dinner, perhaps an after dinner drink or one with 'the show' ... toss in some sodas (we're not much into the FooFoo coffee). Maybe a beer at lunch. For us $45 is very interesting price and we'll usually grab that if available. $50 is in the "let's think about it" and $60 is NO.

Just for discussion, another cruise line we took for a 2 week England and Norway cruise offered a similar package at $20 per person / day ... I say similar because beer and wine at meals, and a mini fridge stocked with soft drinks (replenished daily) and bottled water and still and sparkling water in your room was included in the base fare .....
 
You hit the nail on the head. Two drinks a day does not make the package worth your while. And I think that if you're a moderate drinker, you can probably get by on the 2 drinks + 2 bottles per cabin + drinking at the ports for the duration of the cruise.

@Capt_BJ What would you say the tipping point is for getting the package vs not? I think conventional wisdom says 4 cocktails/8 Beers but factor in Evian/Espressos/Juices and it's probably a little less?

And I'd also say for a 7+ night cruise you might be asking a lot of your liver to handle all that drinking.


Nowadays, yes, for sure. When I was younger, I could handle it better. Maybe.
I think the tipping point is 5-6 drinks a day including wine, beer, or foo foo drinks, plus bottles of water and soda. I typically don’t drink that much at home, but on vacation it’s fun. I’ll have maybe a foo drink or two during the day, beer/wine with dinner and drinks in the evening, plus the soda on and off all day.
 
I think the tipping point is 5-6 drinks a day including wine, beer, or foo foo drinks, plus bottles of water and soda. I typically don’t drink that much at home, but on vacation it’s fun. I’ll have maybe a foo drink or two during the day, beer/wine with dinner and drinks in the evening, plus the soda on and off all day.
At a good price ($47), even 4 alcoholic drinks breaks even. I'm the same...rarely drink at home...but on vacation, I do like to have a few (but I'm still a light drinker). We had the package once and I broke even on some days, some days I was under. But what I liked was the flexibility and being able to try new things without a second thought. Or I could purchase a drink and not feel like I had to finish it. And one of my favorite things was just getting a coffee and adding Baileys.
 
Y'all are AMAZING!! Thank you for sharing such great insight and experiences! It's great to know that it works pretty much everywhere (except for room service, which we expected would be the norm). My hubby and I both like to enjoy adult beverages on vacations: Irish coffee for breakfast, a relaxing beer or 2 throughout the day, a pre-dinner beverage, a glass of wine at dinner, and trying new and interesting cocktails after dinner. I really like the idea of prepaying for everything and just enjoying ourselves when we get there. (I think the current deluxe package price for our 5-night cruise is around $50/night.) On our Disney cruise, we had a wine package and did 1-2 beverage/wine/liquor seminars every day and part of the fun was just trying new things and socializing with our servers.
This info was super helpful and I really appreciate it! Thanks, DisBuddies!
 
Another thing to note about the package, you can get one alcoholic and one non-alcoholic drink at a time from a bar. For example, I ask for a bottle of water with every drink so that I either slow down the alcohol consumption or I put the water in my stateroom fridge for later. On port days, they usually have big drums of water/powerade on your way out and you can take 2 drinks for every package. This helps us have plenty of water with us on our excursions. At dinner they always have a shot of the day (some of these are really good!) that is included in your package. The smoothies in the spa are included as well. I've had mixed luck in getting milkshakes from Johnny Rockets covered from the to-go counter. Now, post-COVID I've heard rumors of not being able to walk around with drinks, so this may change if the package is worth it or not. Lastly, keep checking the price of your package because you can cancel and rebook if the price drops. Usually, the best price is right before final payment date.
 
We just purchased the drink plan for our cruise next June, hoping cruising will be back in full swing by then, it was over the weekend with black Friday deals. We got it for $43 per person, per day. This price is the best price that I've seen over the last several years, but I don't usually remember to look over black Friday either. We usually take one cruise a year, and I like purchasing the drink plan knowing everything is paid for and we can order whatever we want as long as it's not over the limit.
 
Think about how much (and what) you'd drink each day. Sure 5-6 drinks in a day isn't too much, especially if you add bottled water to that. BUT, remember that is EVERY DAY of your cruise. Easy to do on sea days and private islands, maybe not so easy on port days. And I think they've gone back to everyone over 18 in a cabin needs to get it if one person gets it.

Obviously it depends on the person. I got the drink package on one cruise (when they didn't have the "everyone in a cabin" requirement). I *THINK* I broke even, maybe came out a little ahead. But, I ended up consciously thinking about how much I had to drink that day. By about day 6-7, I was getting burned out on alcohol (I still made sure I made it). YMMV.

There are others who say "I want to know how much my alcohol is going to cost/I don't want a bill at the end of the cruise." IMO, take how much you'd pay for the package, stick it in a special bank account (or bring the cash on board). On the next to last night, go to the desk and use it to pay for your alcohol.

Of course, with Covid and being shutdown for almost a year, who knows what they're going to do with pricing. They can change the package price, they can change the individual drink price (both of which change the math).
 
Another thing to note about the package, you can get one alcoholic and one non-alcoholic drink at a time from a bar. For example, I ask for a bottle of water with every drink so that I either slow down the alcohol consumption or I put the water in my stateroom fridge for later. On port days, they usually have big drums of water/powerade on your way out and you can take 2 drinks for every package. This helps us have plenty of water with us on our excursions. At dinner they always have a shot of the day (some of these are really good!) that is included in your package. The smoothies in the spa are included as well. I've had mixed luck in getting milkshakes from Johnny Rockets covered from the to-go counter. Now, post-COVID I've heard rumors of not being able to walk around with drinks, so this may change if the package is worth it or not. Lastly, keep checking the price of your package because you can cancel and rebook if the price drops. Usually, the best price is right before final payment date.
I’ve heard this recommendation before but I can’t figure out how to do it. When I go into my cruise planner it just shows that we already purchased the drink package - it doesn’t show what the current pricing is so I can’t see if it’s better than what I got!
 
I’ve heard this recommendation before but I can’t figure out how to do it. When I go into my cruise planner it just shows that we already purchased the drink package - it doesn’t show what the current pricing is so I can’t see if it’s better than what I got!
Just click on the picture of the package (above the pink banner). It will open the details with the current selling price.
 

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