How Much Are Drinks On A Cruise
The great news about drink packages on a cruise is that they vary in cost, with non-alcoholic soda packages starting as low as $9 per day, while an unlimited water package starts at $16 per day.
The important thing to remember is this: cruise drink packages are meant to make your vacation even better. You can choose the package that best suits your tastes and budget.
For example, a cappuccino or specialty coffee from Cafe al Bacio starts at $5.00. Various beers start at $6 or $7 at most onboard bars, with special offers for buckets. A glass of wine starts at $9.
Since the Classic Package starts at $59 per day, if you order a morning coffee, an orange juice, two beers at the pool, and a glass of wine with dinner for yourself, youre already paying almost half of the daily fee when you could easily take advantage of an unlimited selection per day of beers, spirits, cocktails, liqueurs, frozen drinks, and wines by the glass, and get 15% off all wines by the bottle with a beverage package.
What Is Always Included
This program is a new way of doing things from Celebrity Cruises. Under the change, all passengers now receive their gratuities, the Classic Beverage Package, and wi-fi service included automatically with their cruise fare.
Theres nothing to do or extra charges for the service. Instead, you book and youll get the three extras included with your cruise. In cruising, where the extra charges seem to continue to increase, having extras like tips and drinks included is a breath of fresh air.
Does Everyone Have To Upgrade If One Person Does What About Kids
Yes, Celebrity says that if one person chooses to upgrade the Always Included package, then everyone in the cabin will need to upgrade. Keep this in mind when budgeting.
One reason to upgrade is obviously the higher-tier drink package. So what if you have kids or someone else that doesnt drink? In this case, Celebrity points to the non-alcoholic drinks available in the package and suggests that kids will still be charged for the upgraded package, although obviously wont be able to get alcohol.
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Elevate & Indulge Packages
If you want to take your cruise vacation to the next level, book one of our new all-inclusive packages starting on November 17, 2020: Elevate or Indulge.
For just $30 a day per person, with Elevate youll enjoy premium drinks, prepaid tips, and shore excursion credits ranging from $100 to $200, depending on the length of your cruise. You and the second guest in your stateroom also have access to Unlimited Surf Wi-Fi throughout your sailing.
Indulge, which is $60 a day per person, includes premium drinks, prepaid tips, unlimited Stream Wi-Fi for two guests, plus shore excursion credits ranging from $200 to $400, depending on the length of your vacation.
How To Get Cheap Booze Delivered To Your Cabin On The Final Night
At some point during your cruise, go;to the duty-free liquor store onboard and buy a bottle. This tax-free liquor is well-priced and you may even catch an additional sale on alcohol from time to time. Unfortunately, the duty-free shop will not allow you to take those bottles back to your cabin that is, until the last night. On the final afternoon of your cruise, any bottles that you purchased will be;delivered directly;to your stateroom.
Also on the final evening of the cruise, the duty-free store will, in fact, allow you to walk out of the shop with any liquor you purchase. On one cruise, we noticed that an entire liter bottle of vodka at the duty-free shop was actually priced less than two shots of the exact same vodka if you were to purchase it at the bar.
Additionally,;any alcohol purchased while in port will also be delivered to your stateroom on the finalday of your cruise.;So dont hesitate to buy that delicious Jamaican rum;or snag that bottle of tequila while docked in Cozumel. When you return to the cruise ship, you can easily check the bottle with security. Then once the last night of your cruise rolls around, any bottles that youve purchased ashore will be delivered to your room.
So on your last night of a cruise, have a party in your stateroom and enjoy! Just be sure to schedule a late disembarkation time the next day.
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Play To Win Free Alcohol On A Cruise
There are always a number of contests and competitions held on board cruise ships. Youll find anything from karaoke to the newlywed game to craft competitions. Smaller activities like daily trivia may only reward winners with a trinket like a keychain. But the;larger game-show style events dole out much better prizes, and almost always give away free bottles of champagne!
For example, the Newlywed gameshow always rewards participants a free bottle of bubbly. This game is played across every cruise weve been on and even the losers have been rewarded with champagne. Really, theyre rewarding participants for embarrassing themselves on stage. And what better reward than a bottle of bubbly!
Weve also seen champagne be rewarded for progressive trivia competitions and virtually every gameshow style event requiring participants to get up on stage. So participate, bring your A-game, and you just might get rewarded with oh-so-precious free booze on a cruise!
Once youre gifted a bottle of sparkling wine from the cruise, youre welcome to drink it anywhere on the ship without a corkage fee. Personally, weve won a few times and have brought our free bottles, into the main dining room and to drink poolside.
What Types Of Beverages Are Available On A Cruise
From sustainable wines by the bottle to sparkling water, morning coffee to iced tea, Celebrity beverage packages hydrate, delight, and surprise our guests day after day. Fresh-squeezed orange juice, chilled fountain sodas, and charming, classic cocktails are all readily available at nearly every onboard restaurant, bar, or venue.
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Use A Travel Agent Who Loves You
There are few better ways of saying, “Thanks for your business” than with the gift of vino. “Our travel agent buys us a bottle of wine for every cruise we book through her,” writes reader Gloria. Be loyal to your travel agent, and you might find complimentary wine or Champagne waiting in your cabin on embarkation day.
Attend Cruise Drink Tasting Events
Wine tastings, cocktail tastings, martini tastings, and even beer tastings can be some of the best drink deals at sea. Personally, its our favorite tip to partake in for cheap drinks on a cruise.
Specialty drinks, like fine martinis, typically cost $10-$15 , plus gratuity. Five fancy cocktails could easily cost a cruiser $75. But when you attend a tasting event, you often get five full-sized drinks for $25 per person. These tasting events can be incredible drinks bargains on a cruise. Plus you get to try a variety of different cocktails you may have never thought to try before.
During some cruise tasting events that weve attended, the drinks are smaller portions coming in at about 4-6 ounces. Yet other tasting events, weve been pleasantly surprised by full-sized drinks!
Weve found that drinks tastings on NCL to be of particularly good value, as theyve poured some large and strong drinks during their tastings. Norwegian usually does a martini tasting, margarita tasting, a beer tasting, and a wine tasting during their regular cruises. If you dont want to drink all five drinks, consider attending with a partner/friend and sharing the experience.
Tip: If you ever happen to cruise on the Norwegian Bliss, be sure to go the show Happy Hour Prohibition The Musical. It costs $25, but that fee includes five prohibition-era cocktails throughout the entire performance. Its great fun and great value!
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Picking A Beverage Package
Starting on November 17, 2020, our new always included pricing comes with a Classic Beverage Package, which allows you to order an unlimited array of water, beers, cocktails, frozen drinks, and wines by the glass up to $9 per serving throughout your cruise vacation. The Classic Beverage Package also includes a 15% discount on all bottles of wine.
If youre looking to enjoy even more specialty drinks on board, our Elevate and Indulge all-inclusive packages come with a Premium Beverage Package.
Premium Beverage Packages include all of the options available in Classic Beverage Packages as well as premium coffees, freshly squeezed juices and bottled and canned juices, San Pellegrino, Red Bull, Vitamin Water, Honest Iced Teas, craft and artisan beers, premium liquors, Coca-Cola products, premium bottled water, wines by the glass up to $15, and a 20% discounts on bottles of wine.
All of our drink packages can be used in our Main Restaurant, specialty restaurants, casual dining restaurants, and all bars and lounges.
Crush Bar
Stop in to watch the Martini Flair Show at Crush Bar, where our bartenders shake things up with lights, music, and dance. Wine lovers can discover new wines varieties and history at Cellar Masters, while beer lovers can find plenty of options at Craft Social for a stellar cold one.
For cruises booked before November 17, you can purchase a number of different beverage packages for a fun and carefree vacation on board.
Cafe al Bacio
Caribbean
Even More Ways To Save Before You Cruise
Bon voyage! We sure hope this post has giving you lots of ways to save money on drinks during your next cruise. But before you go, here are a few more links to our other money-saving;cruise articles and to our travel affiliate partners that you may find helpful:
Be sure to check out our huge list of cruise tips here:
If you need a hotel before or after your cruise, be sure to book early. All the best hotels in port cities tend to get reserved by cruise passengers in advance. We like using hotelscombined.com;to compare;all the top;hotel sites and score the best deal before its too late.
Never go on an international cruise without travel insurance. Avoid having to shell out for medical emergencies, flight delays, trip cancelation, or lost baggage by getting a quick quote from RoamRight, which weve found to offer;the best coverage for the price during our cruises. Enter your dates for a quick quote to protect your trip.
Lastly, to receive our latest travel tips and inspiration, as we continue this journey around the world, join us and the thousands of other drink-loving travelers over on our;. Every #ThirstyThursday, we post about what were drinking from wherever in the world we currently are. So check out where in the world we are this week and whats on the drink menu!
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The Pros And Cons Of A Drinks Package
Does it make sense to buy a drinks package if you arent offered one as a booking incentive? The quick answer is that it depends.
The first thing you should do when considering a drinks package is carefully think through how many drinks you normally order while on vacation.
Drinks packages on ships often are quite pricey, and they only make sense if youre a big spender on drinks a really big spender. Carnival, for instance, charges as much as $59.95 per person, per day for its Cheers! drinks package. Royal Caribbean drinks packages sometimes cost as much as $89 per day. One Norwegian drinks package is over $120 a day. These packages only make sense if you routinely spend more than those amounts on drinks on a per-day basis.
If youre a beer drinker, the packages generally are not a good deal. Its better just to pay for beer as you go. On Carnival ships, for instance, many beers cost $6.25. Youd have to order more than nine beers a day at that price for Carnivals Cheers! package to start paying off.
The packages make better sense for wine drinkers, as the cost of wine by the glass on cruise ships often is high. Wines by the glass on Carnival ships range from around $8 to $14. At the higher end of that spectrum, youd have to order five glasses a day for the package to start paying off.
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That means the packages make the most sense for passengers who consistently order a large number of drinks from day to day.
Enjoy Free Champagne At The Art Auction
If youd like to sip on a complimentary glass of champagne,;then head on over to the art gallery. Nearly all ships will have multiple art auctions during the cruise, which usually extends a free glass of sparkling wine. Youre not required to bid. So just sit back, learn something about the art, and watch others fight for those limited release prints.
It can be an entertaining experience. But if you get bored, theres no shame in making a quiet exit. So perhaps be sure to pick an aisle seat in case you do want to leave early.
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Be A Loyal Cruiser To Get Rewarded With Free Drinks
If youve come back on the same cruise line for a second cruise, you may be rewarded for your loyalty with a bottle of champagne, a few drink tickets, and perhaps a cocktail party. Cruise a few more times on that same cruise line and you may find complimentary happy hours every single night!
Cruise lines are quite fond of treating their loyal patrons with booze. Even if youve only cruised once prior with the ship, there is usually a loyalty party event that includes complimentary drinks. So if this is your second or greater instance of cruising with the same cruise line, then be sure to check what alcohol perks you may be entitled to.
Weve found that Royal Caribbean and Celebrity have some particularly enticing loyalty perks for cruisers who enjoy free drinks! In addition to exclusive parties with free drinks, Celebrity rewards their Elite Captain Club members with a daily cocktail hour with unlimited free drinks from 5:00-7:00 at most bars and lounges. Meanwhile, Royal Caribbean rewards Diamond members of the Crown & Anchor society by loading free drink tickets onto their SeaPass card.
So it can really pay off for drinkers to be loyal to those lines!
Exploit Cruise Ship Happy Hours
Many cruise lines offer a happy hour at certain bars, at certain times, with reduced priced drinks. Sometimes these happy hours are planned and stated in the daily newsletter. Other instances theyll be listed on the bar menus themselves.
Often such drink deals are only subtly advertised. So passengers must be observant and seek out these drink deals. Keep your eyes peeled for happy hour promotions on table-top signs at cruise bars. And do know that cruise happy hours vary by cruise line, ship, and even each sailing. Cruise happy hours change constantly.
Cruise happy hours even change from from bar to bar on the same ship. On some Celebrity cruise sailings, weve found $3 draft beers and $4 wine pours at most bars during their happy hour. But this Celebrity happy hour does not extend to every bar on the ship. Meanwhile, their martini bar can have an entirely different happy hour with select martinis at half price. Yet the martini bar doesnt honor the beer & wine happy hour. So be sure to check around all the bars and find a happy hour that is best for you!
Also, some cruises will have two happy hour periods: one before dinner and another into the late night. Princess happy hour had formally done this. Although in recent years happy hour has seemed to disappear from Princess ships.
Pro tip: Stock Up During the Best Drink Promos
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Suite Guests Stay Lubricated
Book any suite on a Royal Caribbean ship, and you’ll have access to the Concierge Club Lounge, found on Enchantment of the Seas and all Radiance- and Voyager-class ships. Inside, you’ll find a self-service honor bar . Similarly, passengers staying in Celebrity Cruises’ top suites — Penthouses, Royal Suites, Reflection Suites, Iconic Suites and Edge Villas — receive Premium Beverage packages as well as stocked mini-bars free of charge. The line’s suite lounges, including Michael’s Club and the Retreat Lounge, serve some complimentary drinks; the latter also offers an afternoon tea service with Champagne.
Tips: How To Get Cheap & Free Drinks On A Cruise Ship
February 10, 2020 By John Widmer
Indulging in many beverages can be so much fun when cruising. But as drink prices on cruises hover around $10, those poolside piña coladas will add up before you know it. Splurging every night on costly cruise cocktails can be a blast. But itll also blast your onboard account before you can even say mar-ga-rita.
During the past six years, weve been using budget travel tactics to cruise entirely around the world. So during all this time as passengers on cruise ships, weve been figuring out ways to keep our bar bill extremely low while aboard dozens of cruise ships. As such, weve developed a variety of alcohol hacks, tips, and tricks on how to get cheap drinks on a cruise. Part of this strategy includes getting free drinks on cruises!
As an example of our cheap cruise drink strategy, during a 14-day sailing on the Celebrity, we managed to keep our bar tab under $75 per person. Thats less than $6 per day and we still drank quite well and a lot! During a transatlantic repositioning cruise with Royal Caribbean, we solely used a $100 onboard credit to drink throughout the cruise and we again drank very well during that 13-day voyage.
Meanwhile during a recent cruise, sailing on the NCL Bliss, we didnt drop a dime on alcohol and still drank heavily most nights. But it was on a two week Norwegian Star cruise, that we scored unlimited drinks for free the entire cruise! How did we pull that off?
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