When you book a cruise on Carnival Cruise Line (CCL) or Royal Caribbean International (RCL) you’re only paying for your room, many on-board activities, most entertainment, basic dining options and a very limited selection of drinks.
Sure, you can cruise without buying any extras, but most passengers choose to pay for things like Internet access, specialty food and soda, premium coffee, and adult beverages.
When it comes to any of these items, you can reserve them before your cruise (which is almost always cheaper), on board, or a la carte as you go. When it comes to specialty restaurants, you can sometimes get a deal that includes multiple reservations (or Royal Caribbean’s Ultimate Dining, which basically gives you unlimited access to premium restaurants).
With drinks, however, you have a lot of choices to make, and there are some big differences between Royal Caribbean and Carnival’s “unlimited” drink packages. And while you might not choose a cruise based on the beverage package, with both cruise lines sailing similar itineraries on many of their ships, it’s at least a small factor in which line you book.
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A look at the royal Caribbean drink packages
Royal Caribbean offers a variety of beverage packages up to its all-you-can-drink Deluxe Beverage Package. Prices for these packages, especially the luxury alcoholic beverage package, may vary slightly based on demand, the length of your cruise, and other factors that the cruise line does not share.
It can be a challenge to find the best price for the luxury drinks package as it can literally drop below $60 per day, per person, and go up to around $100. If you book the package and see it offered for less, you can cancel your original purchase for a refund and buy it again at the lower price.
And, if you buy the deluxe drink package, you technically have to buy it for everyone in your cabin of legal drinking age. On a practical level, if you call the cruise line, you will be able to purchase a deluxe beverage package for one adult, but every other adult in the room will have to purchase a soft drink package.
Here’s a look at Royal Caribbean’s beverage packages:
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- Classic Soda Package: This entitles you to unlimited fountain drinks in Coca-Cola Freestyle machines using an included cup, as well as refills at any seat on board.
- Refreshment Pack: You get the soda pack plus basically every soft drink (including mocktails) served on board. This includes bottled water, fresh juices, specialty coffees and Johnny Rockets Shakes on ships that have that seat.
- Luxury Drinks Package: While there are price caps on drinks (you can pay the difference in most cases), this is a truly unlimited drinks package. You get everything the other two packages offer as well as all the alcohol you can drink responsibly.
Royal Caribbean will shut down visibly intoxicated customers, but unless you’re making a scene or obviously in rough shape, the package really is unlimited.
All beverage packages also incur an 18% pre-paid charge.
Meet the carnival cheers! Beverage package
Happy Carnavals! the drink package has two big differences from its rival, the price and the adult drink limits. Carnival Fares determine pre-cruise and on-board prices for its all-inclusive beverage package based on the length of your cruise. TheStreet covered a price increase the company made to these packages in May:
Beginning May 1, 2022, the pre-cruise price will be $59.95 per person, per day plus 18% service charge and the onboard price will be $64.95 per person, per day plus 18% service charge for all cruise departures.
Basically, Carnival raised prices and eliminated the easy day off it gave people sailing on itineraries longer than four days.
The other difference, and this is a big one, is that Carnival’s “unlimited” drink package actually cuts customers down to 15 alcoholic drinks. When you order your 15th alcoholic drink, the cruise line won’t serve you any more (even if you’re willing to pay extra).
“Sodas and other applicable soft drinks remain unlimited and will not count toward the 15-drink limit, and all other policies and procedures remain the same,” the cruise line shared on its website.
Carnival also offers “Bottomless Bubbles,” an unlimited soda package, but it doesn’t have a package that’s on par with Royal Caribbean’s refreshment package.
