Is the drink package worth it

If that is all you drink then it would be not worth it to buy one and might not even be worth it if it was a free upgrade like NCL does often because you have to pay close to $20 a day in gratuities for it.

I do not drink much on a normal basis but on vacation and especially on a cruise I tend to drink quite a bit and found the beverage package to be worth it. Even on port days you are quite often back to the ship by 4:00 and if you stay up until after 10 it is pretty easy to have 6-8 drinks that day.

and remember - on some packages that would include cappuccino, lattes, etc during the day along with sodas. I always get at least one to two (or more) bottles of water before going ashore. Not all drinks included are alcoholic.

LOL I come from the Land of 8 months of Winter hell, and 4 Months of bad sledding...We have to do something to occupy ourselves when we're stuck inside for most of the year!

Either way, the math works out to show whether or not one would save money by investing in the package.

Yep, thats a great formula alright. Especially the "awake for 18 hrs/day at 1 drink per hr" part. If you're gonna write an article, it ought to be on liver replacements. yukyuk

I wrote a formula a few months back to determine if the package is worth it, and I cannot seem to find it. however, the general formula is somewhere along these lines:

[Price Per day of Drink Package] x [number of days of cruise] = (Drink Package Cost)

[Number of hours normally awake] x [1 drink/hour] = (Number of drinks per day)

(Number of Drinks per Day) x [Number of Days of Cruise] = (Number of drinks on cruise)

(Drink Package cost) / (Number of drinks on cruise) = (Z)

Compare (Y) and (Z)

if (Z) is cheaper than the average cost per drink on the cruise line (Y), the package is worth it.

For my last cruise(I cant do my next one, since I got in the RCI "Glitch") on Majesty, we paid $45/day for drinks, and we are awake for an average of 18 hours a day. Average drink price on that particular cruise was $9($7 for beer, $12 for mixed) So:

$45/pp x 5 = $225/pp

18hrs x 1 = 18 drinks(minimum)

18 drinks x 5 Days = 90 drinks

$225 / 90 = $2.50/drink

$2.50 < $9.

even if I had paid full price of $65/day, it would still work out to $3.61/drink.

I should probably see if Simon would like me to write an article. lol

So totally agree.

Like a lot of things cruising, this is a subjective question, but it sounds like it would not be worth it for you, unless you drink a lot more on sea days. Generally, if you average 5-6 drinks a day, it is probably worth it. There is also a convenience factor to consider.

We found it not cost effective for us.

wow great answer I guess I wouldn’t be worth it because I’d only have a max of 2 or 3 drinks a day and on a port day I definitely wouldn’t be on the ship thank you very much

That is a very good question and one that is often asked and it is one that you need to do the numbers on. For some it is and for others it is not.

First look at the price of the drink package. This is a per day per person package and usually all those in the same cabin must purchase. Then figure how much you will drink every day. Keep in mind that on sea days you may drink more than on port days and on port days you may not drink much on ship even though you pay for it. Then do the math.

Figure a drink at $ 9 - 13 depending on what you like, a beer at $ 7 - 9 and a glass of wine at $ 7 - 12 then do the math.

In my case it is generally not worth it as my wife does not drink or drinks minimal but we would both have to purchase the package and at $100 per day per person on NCL or ~$ 65 per day per person on RCL I would have to drink an awful lot for the package to pay for itself. So in our case we usually do not purchase it. We had it once as it was an added perq on booking and even then after adding in the gratuities on the package for 2 we about broke even.