I remember my first rc cruise with the alcohol package I got on the ship and asked a bartender what the drink limit was. He looks at me and says *”Your limit or my limit?”* I LOVE royal. 😂

My wife and I went on the ABC & Haiti cruise on Feb 2020, we purchased this package for first time after 7 cruises and it was well worth it. Even if you break even, the sheer convenience is well worth it!

We’ve travelled without and with the deluxe drink package. We did snag it at the BOGO 50% sale, so if you plan on having more than 5 drinks a day (and this includes enjoying the fresh juices, waters and specialty coffees, ie: Starbucks) than the drink package is more than worth it. My wife and I don’t typically drink alcohol unless on vacation and if you’re with friends (or make friends on the cruise)...you will find yourself enjoying more than 5 beverages easily. Just my opinion.

The flat or sparking bottled water at dinner/lunch is fantastic.

You forgot to include all beverages in the spa/gym area. Freshly made fruit/vege juices and/or smoothies (they have menu options or you can make up your own), vitamin water, powerade, ginger shots, etc.

Thank you for getting to the point without a lot of unnecessary talk prolonging the video.

That fresh squeezed orange juice with breakfast in the mornings is one of my favorite bonus features of the drink package.

Going with my family on our first family cruise and def bought the deluxe drink package for the adults and the kids drink package 😊this video confirms I made the good call

I always get the ultimate drink package. It makes it so easy when I am at a bar and want to try multiple drinks and not worry about the price tag. I don’t normally drink coffee but I do get a iced one at least twice and get lots of bottled water and have them in my stateroom. At dinner we will start with a cocktail and then I get ginger ale for the remainder of dinner. Works great at the night clubs too! Just awesome

So glad I saw this before my cruise on the Navigator next year. I'll be getting my package worth by the end of breakfast.

Great info Matt !!! Deluxe beverage package is a great deal if you have at least 4-5 drinks per day.

Souvenir cups are included, I have a bunch of them. More than I know what to do with them all. Also you can have the gratuity removed from the drink package if you choose to pay cash for bartender tips.

Diamond Plus members can wait until boarding and get 30% off....trade off is the Diamond plus guests get three free drinks daily.

I can book a cruise in Oz at the moment in our currency equivalent for $89 a day and the deluxe drink package works out being $143 a day! 🤯 THAT'S clearly where RCI make their money! As I've said before here, booking your cruise is the cheapest part of the holiday, it's all the add-ons that make cruising expensive but I can only speak for RCI and I'm not referring to shore excursions because you can book them independently. If you can stick to just the cruise fare, great, I commend your will power! The cruiser, especially with RCI just needs to be aware that not everything is all inclusive and they need to keep that in mind. The Australian cruiser also has the double whammy of having everything calculated in USD once they get onboard and when our dollar has been very weak against the greenback for some time, you need to factor that in when choosing RCI and brace yourself when you receive the AUD amount show up on your bank statement! So when I'm on board, I'm always figuring out how much that USD30 tee will be in AUD. 😩 Of course it would be nice to have enough money not to have to worry about things like that but for my daughter and I, cruising or any holiday for that matter, is a luxury and we still need to be watching every penny we spend. I'd love to be frivolous like some but our life has dictated that we can't be and I'm sure many others are in our position and have saved up JUST enough to make it onboard! 🤗 I live in hope that one day I will be able to holiday that way but I'm grateful that I get to do so in any capacity and that it's more than many are able to but we save and sacrifice a lot to finally make it on board and never take anything for granted. Edit: Cruise hack! It might actually be more profitable, (I haven't done the maths yet), for you and your traveling partner to book separate cabins at this price to avoid being forced to purchase a deluxe drink package for the 2nd person if one of you don't drink. WITH the added bonus of you both getting double points by traveling 'solo' to help you climb up the Crown & Anchor membership tier faster! I'm a genius! 😄

You answered my gratuity question. Thank you very much. Great video.

The deluxe package is super convenient when you think about all of the non alcohol drinks including juices, espressos and bottled water. If you don't have a package you will definitely feel "nickel and dimed" to death all during the cruise. Norwegian has free deals that include beverages, but the stateroom prices seem to be higher.

Got mine!! Can’t wait to use it.

I think I drank 4-5x the cost of the package with multi-latte mornings, mid day margaritas and night time scotch. With Evian all day long. Great times, can't wait to go again.

My favorite use of the Refresher package (valid for the Deluxe Drinks Package as well though) was the Johnny Rockets milk shakes on Harmony of the Seas. I think I broke even with those alone :-)

You can get multiple drinks at once you just have to have everyone's cards with u for them to scan. And by day 3-4 the bar tender new me and he just needed to see mine.

Another "hidden use" is a smoothie from the Vitality Spa juice bar.

If your spose cannot drink alcohol due to health issues he/she does not have to buy a drink period. The rep will try to push a non-alcoholic package however there is no requirement to purchase it.

Going on my first Royal Caribbean cruise in December. I have never tried the RC package, have tried the package on Holland before. My issue is I drink alcohol but only really beer. Very rarely drink a mixed drink. I do not drink coffee at all, so I would really just be drinking soda or beer on it. Right now it is $50 a day and I do not see me spending that much on beer and soda, especially on port days. Still thinking about it but based on my experience on Holland I did not save money.

A Facebook memory from last year popped up today. 20 days prior to sailing on our last cruise, I snagged a BOGO 50% off 2nd deluxe package which was a major score since it was a 12 night cruise. We sail in 2 months and I’m hoping to snag a sale again.

Benefit of buying drink package on the ship is that you don't have to buy any drink package for all the people in state room. Saved us 50%!

Are drinks timed? Meaning, you order a drink and then have to wait a certain amount of time before you can order another.

This is all facts. On board its almost 100 a night if you by it on the ship..

I bought the deluxe drink package. The fine print says $12.00 but looking at the menus on the RC app all the drinks are $13.00 except beers and shots of liquor. So with every $13.00 drink will I be charged a dollar and add 18% gratuity to that? It was my understanding that the older ships had drinks for $12 and the newer ships have them for $13. I am going on Enchantment of the Seas in May and it's an older ship. Also if I order a vodka cranberry for example how is that charged? The amount of the vodka shot and then add the cranberry juice to that? Is that a $12 or $13 dollar drink or more?

My wife doesn't drink, but RC would not give us an exemption to the rule. They told us unless it was a medical condition and we could prove it, everyone 21+ had to buy the package. Maybe I just got a customer service rep who wasn't feeling too helpful but it's a big reason why we've decided not to go with RCCL.

They usually let u get two drinks at once. Or u can go to 2 different bars.

It needs to be mentioned that you need to consume *at least* 6 or 7 drinks *each day* in order to break even compared to just buying the drinks _a la carte._ For some of us, that is an *awful lot* of booze. So if you're expecting just an after-dinner drink or a night cap, forget the drink package. On-board drinks are hugely expensive, but the drink package is even more so. I'm looking at more than $800 for me and the missus for an upcoming Alaskan 7 night cruise, and there is just *no way* we could drink enough to be worth it.

Always make your quota each day

you can only do 1 drink every 5 mins just an fyi .. but unless you get too hammered/ obnoxious you can get cut off as like any other bar. the big thing is as you mentioned the "others" the difference in cost on the next drink package down is like 30 bux so.. thats basically 2 cocktails a day to "cover" the difference in cost which pretty much anyone on the face of the planet can do if they do drink lol like you mentioned try new things.. if it sucks thats fine .. take a sip.. set it down / give it back 5 mins later try something else

Does it include drinks in the main dinning room?

I am a huuuuuuge fan of the unlimited drink package. My husband and I definitely like the worry free factor of it! I've had a few friends not do it and the sticker shock they get at the end of their cruise is crazy! If you like to kick back, I cannot stress this enough, just save yourself the stress and order it ahead of time! We even got ours on a pretty decent discount for this next cruise since we booked it so far in advance! 233 days until we are back on Symphony of the Seas!

Its difficult to prevent you from sharing your drink package. Unless you're sitting at the bar. But it's easy to just go to another bar and get another drink. Done it many times. Besides I worked for royal for 8 years not difficult to navigate around that

Every time I go to the bar, I order the drink, a bottle of water, and add ice to the cup. It’s a great way to stay hydrated while drinking all day.

74days left to harmony of the seas, have the drink pack, didnt know if i had to pay a tip when using drink pack, but now i know, good video as always

I will be purchasing this on my next cruise. It will save some money.

On our last cruise I forgot to ask my travel agent to add the drink package. I hadn’t added after boarding. The first bar we were at our bartender asked if we had the package and allowed us to purchase it there. It was $300 cheaper than purchasing it online!

I got the package a few years ago... It was far too much alcohol, and I love to drink... Have just paid as I go ever since and always save. I didn't enjoy feeling tipsy the entire holiday.

I have been on alot of RC cruises...there is also a way to get 30 mins of free WiFi a day on the ship as well if you really learn how to use the RC app on the ship.

Hmmm.. that no sharing.. I've seen guests in busy bars (Discos / club bars), tip a bill to a barman and the barman has served him a drink on his package, that the guest then passed to their friend and all was well.. stuff does go on..

My wife and i had 3-4 drinks a day and ended up saving about half of what the drink package price was.

Are all Single Malts & Cognacs included in the deluxe package?

I was told there's a limit - has to be drinks under $12... anything above that is charged

Can you take your drink out of bars? Like could you get a drink from a bar and then bring it back to your room?

Very helpful. Thank you!

I'm going to tell my spouse we have the UNLIMITED "drink of the day" package. It goes right to my CC, lol. If we drank more than 120 x $8.00 drinks of the day in a week long trip, then it would have made more sense to get the official deluxe drink package. I don't know about you, but that is a LOT of drinks! Of course this doesn't apply if you are trying to taste different things.

After the second day the Casino Royale gave me a sticker on my card for free drinks for my wife and I while in the Casino so often we would head down to the bar in the casino and get a couple of beers or drinks and either sit and drink at the bar or take off to the rest of the ship.I always tipped for those free drinks and I remember one night I didn't have any small bills on me so those guys got some nice tips. They made my vacation deluxe!

Been there done that have the T-shirts for it.

Great information. Thanks.

I just want the Volkswagen ball for my yard.

My ultimate relaxing ang refreshing package in cruise ship.

lmao if i'm paying 1k+ for a room and food i'm sharing my drinks fuck out of here lol

Does it work on milkshakes at Johnny Rockets?

Got it! 12 days till we're on the Harmony!

This is a very cunning ad my brilliant marketing friend.

Great info! What ships have Tiki Bars? Thanks!

So drinks like orange juices in the buffet really aren’t available to everyone?

Wow, I've just discovered (and something you should also perhaps include in this list), is that the deluxe drink package only includes beverages up to $13, which pretty much excludes all the cocktails! 🤯 That's a relatively new policy because the package used to include just about all the cocktails bar a few of the frozen ones or what they classified as premium and often the speciality ones of the day. A big part of cruising is enjoying a cocktail by the pool, its part of the culture and they've essentially pulled them from the 'deluxe' package! You REALLY need to factor whether it's worth purchasing it now with that new rule in place, especially if you're mainly going to drink cocktails and not to many of them! Geez, there's nothing much left to incentivise me at this point to stay loyal to RCI anymore and I'm not even a drinker! But it's their overall practices that aren't sitting well with me that's discouraging me from considering sailing with them again and looking to broaden my horizons. They say a sea change can be good, pun intended! 😝

I love your posts. Clear and precise. Has anyone done a video on How to become a live aboard. I am thinking very seriously of becoming one. Would love someone to show the ins and outs of actually doing this.

My has always included a refillable cup for soft drinks as well, and you keep the cup. But in the past it has been chipped or color coded to only work on that cruise.

Question. If me and my family all have drink packages. Can they sit down while I go to the bar and get a round for everyone. Or do we all have to be at the bar with our cards to do this?

The deluxe package on woder of the sea now i think is like $1,200 or more for 2 people. Idk if to buy it 😕

What is a cruise and what is a cruise line? Is that something people did in olden times?

where are all the 99year old cruise passengers?

Never purchased any drink package, never been sober on a cruise. Nice AD by the way

I had 3 drinks just during this video ha ha 😎

25 days till Symphony of the Seas and I will definitely be enjoying the deluxe beverage package. It has been $57 per day at its lowest compared to the $49 I paid on Oasis last year but oh well, it’s vacation

For the deluxe drink package for the wife and I for Rhapsody of the seas in March is $970. And that's pre booking it... no thanks we just got the soda package instead no way were spending a thousand dollars on drinks to brake even. Wast of money.

Time to head to Playmakers.

How can you tell if the drink packages go up or down from what you already purchased

Great way to spend a vacation; drink, drank, drunk! How exciting!

question. what if my mom wants to buy the package for me and her? i’m 18 and i still live with her and i always will. so there’s no way for me to buy it…

Question for you. Are there certain times they allow you to purchase alcoholic beverages? Do they cut off sales at 2am like a domestic establishment or can you purchase drinks around the clock?

Good to know about not having to get delux for my partner he doesn’t drink

When is a good time to find the best deals on drink packages?

The one thing I never understood was a glass of castello muscato can be purchased with the drink package everywhere but the main dining Room. Any insight? I literally had to go outside the MDR to Schooner bar and get a glass and return to my table.

The majority of people have had to take the fall for those that were abusing the system by the mandatory purchase of a deluxe drink package if another does so in a stateroom and RCI had an instant way of making a lot more money in the process. That package is catered towards a certain type of drinker and for RCI to assume you're going to drink like the person you're sharing a room with is utter madness! They're saying, "too bad" if you don't drink AT ALL, we're charging you anyway! It's obnoxious and a hungry money grab disguised as the excuse they gave. Fancy forcing a recovering alcoholic to buy the 'all you can drink' alcoholic beverage package! 😖 It also encourages irresponsible drinking for those who might not ordinarily be inclined to do so. Those who would otherwise have only had a couple of drinks a day or heaven forbid, skip a day, are more likely to drink more to 'get their money's worth'. I can't help but think the bartenders took a hit when this was introduced too. People might be less inclined to be so generous at the bar tipping if they were normally one to do so, once they were forced to order a drink under this package as opposed to purchasing them as they usually would have done voluntarily and pay for them individually because of the extra cost inflicted on them. The disparity between purchasing the drinks for someone forced into this situation and the money lost which they just won't use or consume in equivalent drinks, could otherwise have been put towards tipping the staff. Which is a damn shame! I adore the staff on RCI. They work long hours for very low wages and are away from their families for extended periods of time. I know when I'm on board, I always wish I could give them more cash. But for me it's a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul so I do my honest best but I figure if everyone did their part, like I did, they would be ok and you can't take on the world's problems! (Sorry, going off on a tangent here 🤦🏻‍♀️) Anyway, it definitely put a sour taste in our mouths when RCI brought this rule in. The profits on alcohol for them to begin with are huge, than to introduce this with the excuse given, to me was unnecessary, if they just policed the people who had the packages and were breaking the rules. I think it became too difficult to prove they were sharing and the politics behind actually pulling the package from them, ended up becoming too bothersome having to deal with anymore so it was just easier to introduce a blanket rule like this. Along with a little added bonus of the extra money that would be poured into their coffers but definitely NOT into people's mouths!

Are you allowed to go into the specialty restaurant just for drink?

Can you get a drink and a bottle of water in the same order?

Let me put this simply. If you bring kids, you won’t benefit from the drink package. You just won’t. Between the responsibility as a parent and 3 ports per week, there is just no time to drink the amount needed to benefit from the package.

I don't understand the promotion being emailed saying there is a sale buy one drink package and get 2nd for 50%off. I went to my cruise planner and no discount was shown. False advertising? Or am I missing something. I am an NCL experienced cruiser and first cruise on Mariner OTS this July.

drink package does not cover the drink in a pineapple that they sell near the main pool.

Not worth it for me and my husband. My husband doesn't drink alcohol, tea, or coffee, and we both don't really like bottled water (or rather the waste it creates). We couldn't find "fresh" squeezed drinks on our cruise - only the pitcher served orange juice that was complementary without the drink package anyways. We only used it to get bottled water for our excursion, but we brought our own reusable bottles anyways so that wasn't really necessary. So for me to get 3-4 glasses of strawberry daiquiri, it really doesn't make sense to buy 2 drink packages, I'll just pay full price and save more money that way.

Why are they calling it a "deluxe package" when you can't even get a glass of champagne when you have purchased the package???? On our last cruise we asked specifically if the package covered champagne and the answer was: YES, yuo get it all.... that's a HUGE lie, the package just covers drinks up to 12-13$ per glass! If they sell a package named deluxe it should cover ALL drinks available! Why aren't they selling beverage-packages in different categories and different costlevels like: soda(1), beer&wine(2), regular cocktails(3) and all inclusive number 4???

How far in advance can you purchase the drink package? I have a cruise next March and was wondering when It would be available.

Sounds like a great package to get, however I imagine these packages are SUPER expensive

If we have the drink package and want to just drink at specialty restaurants like wonderland, do we still have to pay the dining fee? Or is it like Johnny rockets where it’s included if we just sit at the bar?

I set sail in about 30 days, on the Explorer of the seas. I was able to snag a great deal of $43 a day Deluxe drink package.

Was there a change in gratuity, you had posted in 2019 stating 18% gratuity added at end of cruise for all drinks consumed...

Not anymore. Deluxe package on my trip is per person is 105 a day. On a 4 day trip it's 795 and my wife will maybe have a glass of wine. Nope.

drink package price is same price as cruise in Canada - not worth it

I’m curious about the Bamboo Room. I know the limit is $13 and with the package I’ll pay an extra $1 (plus gratuity) for the $14 cocktails, but how does the bowl ($35) work? Can my husband and I combine our drink packages to get one and pay $9 more?

11 days to go until Symphony!!!

Again not everyone has to buy the drink package, all you need is a doctor letter stating that you have a medical condition that doesn't allow you to drink alcohol and only on person in a Stateroom can get the drink package.

What time can you start buying alcohol? Can I have a beer in the morning if I wanted to?

sounds like the Royal Caribbean drink package is a better deal than the one Carnival has ....... Carnival's package doesn't kick in until the 2nd day of the cruise, they limit the number of alcoholic drinks you can have per day

So how come on their web site it allows me to select only my husband to buy the drink package and not me which I don't drink so I dont need one.