If you’re new to cruising or have not cruised with Royal Caribbean before, you’re probably wondering two things - Firstly, are Royal Caribbean cruises all inclusive? Secondly, are Royal Caribbean drinks packages worth it? To answer the first question, accommodation, food and most entertainment are normally included in your cruise fare.

To answer the second question, let’s explore how much value a drinks package gives you, especially when some drinks, such as standard tea & coffee, lemonade (not soda) and juice (not freshly-squeezed) are free at meal times.

Royal Caribbean Crown Royal Old Fashioned Whisky Cocktail — **Crown Royal Old Fashioned**

Drinks package options with Royal Caribbean

Deluxe, Refreshment, Classic Soft Drinks and Water packages are all available both pre-and post boarding. Usually, there are offers on right up until a few days before sailing. If you have booked a package but find it cheaper later on, you can normally cancel and re-add for the cheaper price. But, is it worth it and do all of your party need to have one?

If you want to know before you board that all drinks (up to a certain value) are included in the price you pay for the package, such as beers, cocktails, soft drinks and coffees, then absolutely a drinks package is for you. If you’re also intending to stay on the ship whilst in port or simply drink a lot on holiday, it could be well worth buying. But what if you’re on a cruise with multiple ports, plan to get off in the majority of ports where you usually have around 8 hours to explore, and only want a few drinks on an evening. Is a package for you?

Bionic Bar Anthem of the Seas Royal Caribbean — **Bionic Bar - Anthem of the Seas**

Deluxe drinks package on Royal Caribbean

Beers and wine by the glass, spirits, cocktails, mocktails, soft drinks at any venue are included in a deluxe drinks package with Royal. Add in still water, premium teas and coffees (not ALL Starbucks onboard), fresh juices and a souvenir cup, it all sounds like a lot for your money. But these packages fluctuate in price and the value you’re going to get depends on how much you drink versus the price you pay.

We had the deluxe drinks package on our first Royal Caribbean cruise. As new cruisers, we were unsure of many things. It worked well, for each drink they just scanned your sea pass and handed over the drink. There were no real restrictions and if you went over the drinks price included in the package, you just paid the small difference. Easy, no hassle. It was also a good buy at around £38.00 per person per day for all drinks. We would say this was especially cheap for this option and haven’t seen it anywhere near this price post-covid.

However, on our Spain and Portugal cruise this summer, prices fluctuated between £55.00 and £80.00 per person, per day. That’s a massive £990.00 to £1440.00 (2 adults) for a 9 night cruise with 5 port days.

Does everyone in the cabin have to purchase a Royal Caribbean drinks package?

Royal state that for the premium drinks package, each adult in the cabin must buy it, therefore, if you book online, it will automatically add the package for both adults. However, let’s say one of your party doesn’t drink alcohol - if you call Royal Caribbean you can add the package for only one adult.

So, let’s take the cheapest price from the example above, £55.00 per person, per day. Let’s also remember that prices here are in £ sterling - as we did a cruise departing the UK, prices were quoted in pounds, on the app. However, onboard, prices are in dollars. So let’s assume a rough calculation of £55 = $66.

At the time of writing, a beer is on average $8, a cocktail or a glass of wine $12 (wine range $9-16), so you would have to drink 8 beers, or over 5 glasses of wine / cocktails every single day, to break even. Let’s assume you’re not on the sauce at breakfast and spend 6 - 8 hours in port, that leaves you roughly 5 - 6 hours to get through your package. At the higher prices for the package, you’re going to have to drink considerably more - 8 glasses of wine or 12 beers to get a bang for your buck.

It’s not impossible and we all drink more on holiday but it’s worth asking the question of value, especially at the higher prices we saw this year. If you won't drink that much alcohol but would drink a lot of coffee, then you might balance this out a bit more. Please note though that not all Starbucks on boar Royal Ships are equal - some are franchised and aren’t included in your drinks package and others are Royal branded cafes that serve Starbucks coffee - these are included.

Additionally, if you drinks a lot of bottled water and or soft drinks, it could be cheaper to buy an alternative package or pay as you go.

**From the Royal Caribbean App - some of the bars available with their locations.**

Refreshment & Classic Soft drinks package on Royal Caribbean

The refreshment package includes - fountain soft drinks, Coca-Cola Freestyle, souvenir cup, cocktails, water (bottled), premium coffees and teas, freshly squeezed juices.

The Classic Soft drinks package just includes - fountain soft drinks, Coca-Cola freestyle and your souvenir cup.

Are either of these drinks packages for you?

Possibly. As the prices on the deluxe drinks package were high this year, we didn’t take one but we did purchase one Refreshment Package which cost £387.00 and was useful to get bottles of water for an evening. Then again, you can take your own re-fillable cup and use tap water - t’s filtered and perfectly safe to drink. If you add in some Robinsons Mini juice, do you need bottled water?

As we’re also caffeine junkies, the Starbucks at La Patisserie (Royal Branded cafe serving Starbucks) and in the Windjammer buffet, took a hit. But after coming home I reviewed all the drinks we had and it still would have worked out cheaper not to buy it.

Our kids don’t drink an awful lot of pop or soda so for us, the classic soft drinks package wouldn’t be worth it. For others it might be.

Pay as you go

Finally, it’s also worth remembering if your ship has a licensed Starbucks, they won’t be included in any package so you’ll be paying out of pocket over and above your package. Even the select coffee card won’t cover licensed outlets. And paying as you go is no more difficult than having a drinks package - they simply scan your sea pass and print a receipt - as they do if you have a package - you sign for the amount and add a tip if you want to. It then gets added to your cruise account and when the total billed reaches a certain level (around £500) they will debit it from the credit or debit card you left or added to your account pre-boarding. Remember you can always change the card on your account at any point by going to the guest relations desk.

Team Five’s thoughts

At the right price, the deluxe package covers everything, makes it easy and gives you peace of mind you don’t have to pay more once onboard. It can be very easy to lose track of spend and as your on holiday and tend to drink more, overspend. However, there are other options. Having experienced both a deluxe drinks package and refreshment drinks package across different cruises, we’d only recommend buying it if the price hits the sweet spot. Otherwise, save your money.

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Thanks for reading our blog all about Royal Caribbean’s drinks packages. We hope it helps you decide on the right option for you on your next Royal Cruise.

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Royal Caribbean’s Drinks Packages explained!