🛳️ Cruise ripoff - drink packages

You could be paying as high as $100 per drink

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There are various ways to get free drinks to bring down drink package cost or avoid the package altogether. See Cruise drinks and beverages. We’re going to focus on the basic math of the drinks package here with an example of a 5 day cruise with 2 port days for 2 people.

7 Tips

1. Another cruise industry dirty secret. Look past the glitzy marketing. The cruise lines sell the highlife of everybody having fun and drinking all day … during meals … at the pool … their private beach … and ship bars and clubs. They push the convenience of drink packages with an individual drink cost that looks reasonable. But it’s not realistic.

2. Our recommendation. The economics below show how expensive those drinks really are. Just buy them a la carte.

3. The cruise ripoff. You’re only on the ship for half your waking day during port days. Then there’s embarkation - another half day on ship. And debarkation when you have to get off the ship early in the morning. That doesn’t even count as a drinking day. As a result, you only can drink 2.5 days or just HALF THE TIME. But you’re paying full-price for all 5 days!?!?!
   Let’s dive deeper with real numbers.

4. Drink package cost. See typical package by cruise line at bottom. Say your drink package for our sample cruise is $75 per person and you drink 5 alcoholic drinks per day. Add a mandatory 20% tip. In total, that’s $900 for 2 people for our 5 day cruise. That works out to 50 total drinks @ $18 each.

5. You can’t drink when you’re sleeping. The cruise lines don’t yet sell an IV drip as part of the package. As above, you’re only on the ship and awake for half of the 5 day sailing. So you’re ordering 25 total drinks that now cost you $36 each.

6. Baby on board. Wait, there’s more. You brought 2 wine bottles on board, which serve 8 drinks. So you’d only order 17 drinks that now cost you $53 a piece.

7. Gambler's special. Still not done. You and your partner like the casino. You spend a few hours per visit and typically consume 2 free drinks. Let’s not get too crazy and say you only gamble 2 days during the sailing. That’s another 8 drinks taken care of, leaving you 9 drinks for your package … a price of $100 per drink. Is that drink package still reasonable?

Cruise drink package prices (early 2006)

US cruise line drink packages generally cost between $60 and $110+ per person, per day, for alcohol.

• Carnival Cruise Line (CHEERS!): $70+ per person/day (pre-purchased) to $75+ (onboard).

• Royal Caribbean (Deluxe): $75–$105+ per person/day, varying by ship and sailing.

• Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL): Premium packages often bundled in “Free at Sea” or cost up to $109+ per person/day for unlimited open bar.

• Princess Cruises (Plus/Premier): Drink packages are often part of inclusive packages, with sodas around $14.99/day.

• Holland America Line(Signature/Elite): Range from roughly $55 to $71 per person/day.

• Viking Cruises (Silver Spirits): $20–$30 per day, often considered the most economical as base fares include beer/wine at meals.