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Subscribe to RSSWhen you go on a typical cruise ship you pay a standard fare that includes your accommodations, meals and entertainment, but not extras like soda and booze.
Cruise lines have wrestled with the concept of allowing passengers to prepay for more, including drinks. The goal is to eliminate the sticker shock some travelers get at the end of the cruise when they get the bill.
Nearly every line now has a soda package providing unlimited soda from about $42 for adults/$28 for kids (though prices vary by line) for a week-long sailing.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., which includes Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises, has taken a lead in expanding the prepaid concept to alcoholic beverages.
RCCL Chairman Richard Fain tells Budget Travel the packaging has been "hugely successful."
"It's very dramatic how much people like buying the drinks package, for example, and not have to worry about that," Fain says. The idea, he adds, is to give the passenger "a more customized all-inclusive experience."
On Celebrity, up to four days before your trip, you can pay for an unlimited drinks plan such as the Classic Package, from $308 per person for a weeklong cruise. A package that includes premium brands adds another $70. Your savings depends on how much you drink.
On both Royal Caribbean and Celebrity ships you can pre-book wine packages. On Celebrity, these start at $99 for three bottles you choose from a set menu, for a 5 percent savings off regular rates. Competitor Carnival sells wine packages too, but you have to purchase them onboard.
Celebrity has also done programs in Alaska and Europe where you prepay for shore excursions at every port or book a package combining wine and nights at an alternative restaurant (shipboard venues that charge a fee), both for a savings.
Fain hints there's more packaging to come.
More from Budget Travel
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I just spent 4 hours at the DMV, and was thinking a drink sounds nice.
Juliop - Some people do. Clearly if you are the casual drinker paying $308 for unlimited drinks isn't going to work out for you. BTW which rental car company do you use thats no good? I usually go Enterprise, they seem to have the cheapest rates by far. Love the weekend deals!
@ juliop, I didn't mention taking a cruise, but a drink did sound nice. LOL. 4 hours at the DMV can do that
I wonder if this includes mixed drinks. Any mixed drink I have ever had on a cruise ship was very watery and weak as well as overpriced.
Yea, I agree with that. The mixed drinks taste good, but they are weak. I usually just stick to the beers. On my most recent cruise, I noticed they had a much better beer selection (Norwegian Epic) than I had previously experienced on a cruise before. They typically run $5 a beer. Or get a beer bucket, 6 beers for $25.
angel i agree,,watery is being kind to them,,,it was terrible
To hell with them and everyone else that wants 2-3 times the normal price of a drink. I bring my own. I would load up a footlocker with everything I need to drink.
Admittedly, my only experience is with Carnival, but they will only allow one bottle of wine per person in carry-on luggage. Anything stowed in checked luggage or anything more than the one bottle per person is confiscated and you can pick it up at the end of the cruise, therefore you wouldn't be reunited with your footlocker again until the end of the cruise. Booze and the gambling parlors are the two largest income sources for a cruise. Going on a cruise with that knowledge in mind can make things a lot easier all the way around.
Beers typically run around $5 on the cruises I have been on. This is on par with local bars in my area. Unfortunatley majority of cruise lines will not let you bring your own booze, as this is a major source of income for them. It's not the end of the world seeing that the cruise we went on was far cheaper than a week in a decent hotel and having to pay for food every meal, and getting to go to 3 different countries!
Give me $308 to spend on booze for a week and I can pretty much set sail from my own living room. Sea sickness and all. Burp.
good one. I remember about 20 years ago getting a week long booze package at a hotel. I'm embarrassed to admit I got my money's worth. "Could you float a little dark rum on top, please?"
Yeah, I want the Power Drinker Package please. I'm "Leaving Las Vegas".
If they really wanted to serve their customers, they'd throw in a free liver transplant with the deal.
Wow! That's pretty decent of them. They are giving you something for an outrageous price that at one time used to be included in the price of a cruise. They can shove that and the cruise where the sun don't shine.
for $378/week you can be like Captain Jack Sparrow... just bring your own tri-corner (tricorn) hat!
Why go through all the extra promotions and costs to get the passengers to buy these packages - Just make the cruises all-inclusive. The cruise lines can adjust the price accordingly and still make a profit - less hassel from the crew and the customer. More and more main stream hotels and resorts that didn't offer an all-inclusive package are now finally going all-inclusive. Once a main stream cruise line goes all-inclusive, the rest will follow.
No thanks. I do not drink on cruise lines and don't want to supplement the drunkenness of those who do. The drunks are already obnoxious enough as it is.
Drinks have always been a cash cow for the cruise industry. Some suggested to increase the prices and make it all inclusive. It's an idea, but many people I know don't really drink that much, not even soda. For people like that, they are perfectly happy the way it is.
This would basically be a drinking contest.....Royal Caribbean, I accept your challenge.
The government should start program to pay for this booze package for those that can't aford it.
Wow and I bet you thought that was funny.
it was. apparently you don't have a sense of humor.....
What's really needed is an all you can smoke cruise with about 100 different strains of sativa, indica and hybrids. Now that would be fun. No puking, no hangovers, no sloppy drunks. And just think of what damage could be done at those dinner tables and buffets!
thats what i'm talkin about!!!! no obnoxious @!$%#s hitting on your wife, no fights, no puke and pee everywhere in the bathroom....... and all these fun amenities on cruise lines these days- rock climbing, waterslides, oh what fun would be had! lol
The last time I was on a cruise, I think I spent about $200 in booze over 5 days and I drank A LOT! Back in 2005 the average drink was about $4 so a $300 all you can drink package would be a lot of booze. Not worth it IMO
Am I the only one out here that can remember when almost all cruises were all inclusive? Well, they were. Just like almost all the airlines, they took it away and started charging separately for what was usually included at no extra charge. They have the same greed as the airlines. They're the exclusive retailer on these cruises and they can do and charge whatever they want.
hey wood avg joe is right,,u must have voted for obummer
You know what they say; nothing in life is free...or even close to it!!!! The fact is, the cruise lines did away with free booze because of the problems caused by people getting hammered out of their gourds and causing problems. Charging for alcohol at very steep prices is nothing more than a financial mechanism to control how much people consume . Just like at the ballparks . Most people cannot afford too many $11.00 beers. People cant afford it + they dont drink too much= elimination of the potential problems drunks cause.
I too lament the passing of being able to get a cocktail when I want it without having to mortgage my house to do it , but not having to deal with a boat load of loud, slobbering ass drunks on vacation causing issues for everyone else , especially in the middle of the night I guess is a fair trade. Bottom line is the action of the few idiots have ruined it for everyone else.