Optional dining, drink plans and upgrades

[DPRincess81]

That is funny as i had been checking the prices of the drinks package for a couple of months and then they did a special offer............. 20% off! I got very excited until i realised the actual difference was only $1. Someone even phoned RC up to ask who did the maths.

Haha - we booked this "sale" and then cancelled it when we realized it was the same price the next day. We were laughing. "OH! You mean the sale was on the OTHER items... got it got it..."

I definitely want to do the alcohol drink package with hubby in the fall for our 7 day Oasis of the Seas cruise (this is called the Deluxe drink package, right?). We won't have the kids, it's our ten year wedding anniversary, and we feel like we could definitely make good use out of it over the course of an entire day. We do NOT drink soda at all, but I definitely think the days are long enough to spread out the wine, cocktails, bottled waters, etc all throughout the day. We also have 3 at-sea days so I pretty much plan to sit by the pool and never move.

Experienced cruisers: Can we order any wine or alcohol to our stateroom with the deluxe drink package? Can we order bottled water to our stateroom? Or do we need to grab it from a bar and bring it back with us? Also, are there only certain bars/locations where you can get certain drinks? I know the drink package (Deluxe?) does not include the Starbucks on the ship.

So sorry for all the questions. We are new to RCL and just beginning to do our research. Any help or opinions will be greatly appreciated!!

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

It must have been a different sale because our drink package was definitely discounted.
I don't know the answer to all of the questions yet as we are only about to embark on our first RC cruise but there is a lot of great info on the unofficial RC blog, look it up.

 

[nkereina]

Experienced cruisers: Can we order any wine or alcohol to our stateroom with the deluxe drink package? Can we order bottled water to our stateroom? Or do we need to grab it from a bar and bring it back with us? Also, are there only certain bars/locations where you can get certain drinks? I know the drink package (Deluxe?) does not include the Starbucks on the ship.

I'm not an experienced cruiser, but on the Oasis we could not order drinks or bottled water to the room without incurring the room service fee. Or at least, this was my understanding. We didn't order wine but I *think* you could order it by the bottle to your stateroom at the discounted rate for the deluxe package. They had bottled Evian water in the room that was for a fee. However, with the deluxe package, every bar we went to allowed us to order a drink and a bottle of water at the same time with no issue. So we'd usually do that when getting our last drink for the night, and took it back to the room with us.

Every bar on the ship accepted the drink package, so we could get a drink anywhere. Restaurants too. That said, every bar had a different drink menu. Many had the same items, but there were a few mixed drinks that were unique to certain menus. I'm not sure whether those drinks could have been made elsewhere, but I assume so. We didn't ask. The deluxe package does not include Starbucks, milkshakes from the ice cream place or Johnny Rockets, and any drink over $13. Most drinks were $13 or less, but a few things were more than that like certain glasses of wine at dinner, bloody mary, and the buckets of beer by the pool. It's my understanding you can pay the difference in price (if a bloody mary is $15, you're charged $2) but we just stuck with drinks $13 or less.

 

[msjprincess]

Haha - we booked this "sale" and then cancelled it when we realized it was the same price the next day. We were laughing. "OH! You mean the sale was on the OTHER items... got it got it..."

I definitely want to do the alcohol drink package with hubby in the fall for our 7 day Oasis of the Seas cruise (this is called the Deluxe drink package, right?). We won't have the kids, it's our ten year wedding anniversary, and we feel like we could definitely make good use out of it over the course of an entire day. We do NOT drink soda at all, but I definitely think the days are long enough to spread out the wine, cocktails, bottled waters, etc all throughout the day. We also have 3 at-sea days so I pretty much plan to sit by the pool and never move.

Experienced cruisers: Can we order any wine or alcohol to our stateroom with the deluxe drink package? Can we order bottled water to our stateroom? Or do we need to grab it from a bar and bring it back with us? Also, are there only certain bars/locations where you can get certain drinks? I know the drink package (Deluxe?) does not include the Starbucks on the ship.

So sorry for all the questions. We are new to RCL and just beginning to do our research. Any help or opinions will be greatly appreciated!!

Even though the 20% sale on the Deluxe package is ongoing it's not 20% off once you get onboard and there's always a chance the sale could end or the price could go up before boarding. If you're sure you want the package I would buy it now. You can always cancel and repurchase if the price drops. Last year while trying to decide if I wanted the package the price went up.

No, room service drinks are not included. Every bar accepts the package.


Like the pp said if a drink is over $13 you'll probably be charged the difference. On IOS in February I was never charged the difference. So, ya never know.

 

[tee11]

Questions:

-What do the drink packages have to do with whether it's a port intensive cruise or not?! Someone mentioned drink package didn't apply to the day ship was in Jamaica?!

-Are Starbucks or milk shakes included in the "refreshment package"? Or in no package?

Never been on RC before. Thanks!

 

[nkereina]

Questions:

-What do the drink packages have to do with whether it's a port intensive cruise or not?! Someone mentioned drink package didn't apply to the day ship was in Jamaica?!

-Are Starbucks or milk shakes included in the "refreshment package"? Or in no package?

Never been on RC before. Thanks!

The drink package obviously only works for drinks on the cruise ship. If you're on a port intensive cruise where you're spending several days in port, that means you'll have a lot of time off the ship. Depending on what you're drinking, you'll need about 5-6 drinks per day (give or take) to break even on a deluxe drink package, for example. If most of your day is spent off the ship, the drink package may not be as good of a value since you won't be on the ship that much to drink! That said, the drink package is valid no matter when or where you are docked, but it obviously only works on the ship. You can also use it in Labadee, since that's a RCCI private island.

Starbucks and milkshakes are not included in any drink package. We had the deluxe which is the most expensive and includes most things, but not Starbucks or milkshakes.

 

[msjprincess]

Questions:

-What do the drink packages have to do with whether it's a port intensive cruise or not?! Someone mentioned drink package didn't apply to the day ship was in Jamaica?!

-Are Starbucks or milk shakes included in the "refreshment package"? Or in no package?

Never been on RC before. Thanks!

That was me. For me, how much time we spend in port makes a huge difference. If I'm going to be off of the ship most days I probably won't get my money's worth. What I said about Jamaica was, the only time I couldn't use it was the time we spent in port in Jamaica. Our other days were either sea days or at Labadee, where I could use my package. I didn't mean I couldn't use it at all the day we were in Jamaica. I just meant it was worth it, since for the entire cruise the only time I couldn't use it was the 9 hours we were off the ship in Jamaica.

 

[cadien]

I'm happy to see this thread because I just booked a very impulsive first cruise on Royal. The Freedom.

How soon can you start adding things to your planner? Does it have to be after final payment like on most lines?

And is there somewhere to sign up for alerts on sales or do you need to just keep checking back?

 

[sam_gordon]

That is funny as i had been checking the prices of the drinks package for a couple of months and then they did a special offer............. 20% off! I got very excited until i realised the actual difference was only $1. Someone even phoned RC up to ask who did the maths.

Make sure you're comparing apples to apples. Mainly, do the prices you're comparing both include (or both exclude) gratuity?

Let's say the price before gratuity is $500 for the trip, and they display that price. Then they add 18%, so it actually costs you $590.
Now, take 20% off... 500 -20% = $400. Add the gratuity and it's $472. They display that price. Not a huge difference from $500 to $472, but one includes gratuity and one doesn't.

 

[sam_gordon]

I'm happy to see this thread because I just booked a very impulsive first cruise on Royal. The Freedom.

How soon can you start adding things to your planner? Does it have to be after final payment like on most lines?

And is there somewhere to sign up for alerts on sales or do you need to just keep checking back?

No, you don't have to wait until after final payment. There is no set times for things to show up in the planner, I think it's within 6 months, but not certain.

You can sign up for RCI emails somewhere on their site, but the best is to just keep checking back.

 

[DisneyNurse19]

So we have just got off the Independence of the Seas (12 night Canaries cruise) We did not buy the drinks package in the end as the deluxe drinks package would have cost us over £1200 for the 2 of us. We decided to use our on board credit ($400) for our drinks. We took 2 bottles of champagne on board with us (no corkage fees) and then we ordered 7 bottles of wine, 4 cocktails a day plus we had 2 hot chocolates one night. Half way through the cruise they offered the drinks card (10 drinks up to $14 for $89) which we bought 2. Our final bill at the end was $178 (which also included a magnet) so for us this worked out the best way. Oh we also did the Galley Brunch which came with Unlimited Champagne.