Royal Caribbean drink packages: All the pieces it is advisable know

Royal Caribbean drink packages allow you to drink what you want and when you want without feeling like you are being nickeled and dimed. Isn’t that most cruisers’ dream? The all-inclusive, extra-fee beverage plans aren’t necessarily for everyone, but they are a nice way to enhance your cruise and take some of the stress out of in-the-moment vacation decisions.

Royal Caribbean ships offer a variety of packages, from a simple Water Package that keeps you and your crew hydrated during your cruise to a comprehensive plan that includes most alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. Other than the Water Package, which is priced based on the quantity you order, drink packages on Royal Caribbean are priced per person, per day.

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The most common questions about Royal Caribbean’s drink packages revolve around what each package includes, whether they are worth the price, and when is the best time to buy your package. I’ve tried all of Royal Caribbean’s drink packages, but I’ve also cruised without any package. Here’s what you need to know to decide if a beverage plan is right for you.

Royal Caribbean offers several different drink packages, and the inclusions vary based on your choice. All options include gratuities, and no Royal Caribbean drink package includes room service or minibar drinks. Also, unlimited alcoholic beverage packages may not be available while the ship sails in some locations, so package details may change based on itinerary.

Related: Cruise ship drinks packages: A line-by-line guide

Water Package

Royal Caribbean’s Water Packages are available in 12- and 24-packs of one-liter bottles of Evian water. The bottles will be delivered to your cabin on embarkation day.

If you don’t want to pay for a Water Package, you can find drinking water at complimentary drink stations in the buffet area and often in other locations on Royal Caribbean ships. You can bring your own reusable bottle and fill it from these stations or straight from the faucet in your cabin. The water throughout the ships is not only drinkable but also better than what’s available in many cities. You can also purchase bottles of water a la carte.

So why might you consider a Water Package? If you drink bottled water at home, you may prefer the taste. The package also allows you to have plenty of water on hand in your cabin or to take on excursions.

The downside is that one-liter bottles are not the ideal size for lugging off the ship with you. You must either bring a reusable bottle or purchase single-serving bottles for port days. You can get these at bars or at the gangway as you disembark in each port.

Classic Soda Package

Royal Caribbean’s Soda Package is for the serious soda drinker. On select ships, the package comes with a souvenir Coca-Cola cup with a chip on the bottom to allow the holder to use the Freestyle soda dispensing machines throughout the ship. The “magic” cup gets you all the refills you want 24 hours a day, with your pick of sodas with add-in flavorings. (Orange Coke is my fave.) Freestyle machines are available on 18 ships in the fleet.

You can also order a glass of soda at any restaurant or bar on board. Some venues only serve fountain sodas, but others have cans. One big bonus of the package is that sodas on Royal Caribbean’s private island destinations (Perfect Day at Coco Cay and Labadee) are included in the Soda Package. The only places you can’t get a free soda with this package is room service (because room service other than continental breakfast comes with a $7.95 service fee, no matter what you order) or from your cabin’s minibar.

Related: 8 best drinks to order with a cruise ship beverage package (and 3 to avoid)

You can bring up to 12 cans of soda (or bottles up to 17 ounces) per person on board with you in your carry-on luggage when you board the ship. So why would you want a Soda Package?

It’s a question of convenience. I’ve been known to take a couple of 16-ounce bottles of soda on board with me, but carrying on much more than that is a big hassle. With a Soda Package, you can easily access your beverage of choice anywhere you are on board — including ordering sodas from roaming bar servers at the pool, in the casino or at events and shows — or on Royal Caribbean’s private islands. You don’t have to return to your room to grab a soda. It’s also great for older kids and teens who might be roaming the ship with friends.

Refreshment Package

This is my favorite Royal Caribbean drink package. It includes still and sparkling water, sodas (with the included Freestyle magic cup), mocktails, premium coffees and teas (but not those from Starbucks stand-alone stores or kiosks) and freshly squeezed juices.

With this package, you can order almost anything non-alcoholic at bars and most restaurants on board. The Refreshment Package does not include shakes at Johnny Rockets, which are only included with the Deluxe Beverage Package.

Even the smoothies and protein shakes at Vitality Café are included in this package, as is the sweet tea at Portside BBQ on Oasis of the Seas. Want a strawberry slushy? Order a virgin strawberry daiquiri. Want hot cocoa? Covered. How about a virgin mudslide? A bartender will happily blend up vanilla ice cream, coffee, hazelnut syrup and chocolate syrup blended into a perfect mocha shake.

As with the Soda Package, you can order your non-alcoholic beverages, from sparkling water to fancy mocktails, from your pool lounger or blackjack table.

Plus, with the Refreshment Package, you’ve solved the problem of needing water to take off the ship with you for excursions and what to drink while on the private islands. It’s all included in this package.

Deluxe Beverage Package

This package takes all that’s available in the Refreshment Package (sodas, water, mocktails, premium coffee and tea, fresh-squeezed juice) and adds cocktails, spirits and liquors, as well as beer by the bottle or can and wine by the glass.

There are some limits on brands available with the package, but the list includes imported, domestic and craft beer, an extensive wine list and commonly ordered spirit brands on drinks up to $14. Any bar server can tell you what’s available on your cruise.

You also get a hefty 40% discount on bottles of wine up to $100 and a 20% discount on bottles over $100. It’s handy for sharing a bottle with your travel partner at dinner.

As with the soda and Refreshment Packages, the Deluxe Beverage Package can be used anywhere onboard (except stand-alone Starbucks locations). Use it in restaurants, bars and at any venue where a bar server is present, as well as at either of Royal Caribbean’s private island destinations. The Deluxe Beverage Package also throws in one more bonus — milkshakes at Johnny Rockets.

This package comes with a few caveats. If one person in a stateroom buys this package, everyone of legal drinking age in the stateroom must buy the same package, according to cruise line policy. If someone in your room does not drink alcohol, don’t worry. I’ve encountered many people who have called customer service and downgraded one or more non-drinking adults to a Refreshment Package.

Related: 15 ways that cruising newbies waste money on their first cruise

The package also does not include drinks that come with souvenir glasses. (Don’t worry, you can always order the same drink in a regular glass.)

If your vacation plans include alcoholic beverages, buying this package is a nice way to pay your cruise bar tab in advance rather than deal with the shock of a high bill at the end of the cruise.

Related: How to get free or cheap drinks on a cruise

Is a drink package on Royal Caribbean worth it?

Now that you know your choices and why you might want each package, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of whether these packages are a deal for you or not.

Water Package

The one-liter bottles in the Water Package cost roughly the same as a 12-ounce bottle from a bar. That makes this package a deal, but only if you prefer bottled water over taps or dispensers. It’s also convenient to have the water delivered to your cabin, eliminating the need to bring a case of bottles on board or search for a bottle when you want water on the ship.

Soda Package

When ordering an individual soda on the ship, your charge will be what you’d expect to pay at a land-based restaurant, plus an 18% gratuity added automatically. When you ask a bar server for a soda on the ship, you’ll be charged just over $4 per soda with the tip, regardless of whether it comes in a can or from a fountain.

As the starting point for the Soda Package is just over $15 per person per day with the gratuity, you’ll need to count on drinking a minimum of four sodas a day for it to be a good value.

Refreshment Package

If you prefer nonalcoholic beverages, you can expect to pay around $7 for mocktails and protein shakes, $5 for lattes at non-Starbucks locations and close to $9 for smoothies. These prices are before the automatic 18% gratuity.

Here’s what your daily consumption might look like on the Refreshment Package: You could start with a morning latte ($6 after you add gratuity), grab water for your excursion ($3.84), a soda at lunch ($4), a couple mocktails during the afternoon ($8.25 each), another soda with dinner ($4), and another mocktail for the show or in the casino ($8.25).

That puts you over $40 for the day, making the Refreshment Package a deal at $34 (with tip) per person, per day. Drink much less than that, and it won’t be. The Refreshment Package price varies only slightly between sailings.

Deluxe Beverage Package

For alcoholic drinks, prices vary a lot based on your order. Beer and hard cider average $7-$9. Wine by the glass is $9-$25. Cocktails are $10-$14, except for the drink of the day, which is $8. These prices do not include the 18% gratuity.

When deciding if Royal Caribbean’s Deluxe Beverage Package is worth it, be sure to factor in non-alcoholic drinks you are likely to have, not just those with alcohol. How many premium coffees do you drink each day, including one with your dessert at dinner? How many waters and sodas?

The value of those often adds up to $25 or more per day. That leaves you with somewhere between $30 and $80 per day to spend on alcoholic drinks to break even.

If you’re lucky and can purchase your package at the lowest possible price, almost anyone who drinks a combination of non-alcoholic drinks and a couple of cocktails daily would break even. But if your purchase price is somewhere in the middle of the price range (where most people land), you would need to consume a minimum of $55 per day beyond the average non-alcoholic beverages to break even. That equals six beers or four or five glasses of wine or cocktails.

Related: Are cruise line drinks packages worth the price? What to know before you buy

Whichever package you choose, your value may also depend on your itinerary and activities. On a Caribbean cruise that includes a sea day or two and a stop at CocoCay, you’ll likely drink more – simply because you’re relaxing more than touring, and the hot temperatures will make you thirsty.

But what about a port-intensive cruise in Europe where you are off the ship for long hours and likely to be sampling local beverages? In those cases, the ship’s beverage package might not come through for you.

Additional factors

Before you decide if a Royal Caribbean drink package is worth it, there are two more things to consider: Your Crown and Anchor loyalty status and your Casino Royale player status.

If you are a Diamond C&A member, your SeaPass card will be loaded with four free drinks per day. Diamond Plus members get five drinks, and Pinnacle members get six. Those can be water, specialty coffee or tea other than at Starbucks, sodas from bar servers, beer, wine or cocktails up to $14 (except at Bionic Bar).

As for casino perks, if your status is Prime or higher, you can drink free from the casino bar anytime it is open.

Those free perks could make the difference in which package you choose, if any. For example, a Diamond member might use her free drink allotment on cocktails and wine and save money with a Refreshment or Soda Package for her other daily drinks. Or, perhaps, the free drinks are enough that it’s cheaper to buy a few nonalcoholic beverages a la carte.

Diamond Plus members also have a discount of 30% on Deluxe Beverage Packages when purchased on board. That’s rarely a good deal unless you simply forget to buy in advance, as pre-purchase in the cruise planner or app is almost always at least 30% lower than the onboard price.