Okay, so I’ve been on a few Royal Caribbean cruises, and I always go back and forth on the beverage package. This time, I decided to really track things to see if it’s actually worth it. I grabbed a pen and a little notepad – old school, I know – and got ready to document every single drink.
The Experiment Begins
First day, I’m super excited. I started with a mimosa at breakfast… because, vacation! Then, I lounged by the pool and ordered a couple of those fruity cocktails with the little umbrellas. You know the ones. Later, I had a soda with lunch, a glass of wine with dinner, and a fancy coffee drink after. I jotted down the price of each drink next to it. Felt like a real scientist, haha.
Keeping Track
The next few days, I kept this up. More poolside drinks, some beers while watching the game at the sports bar, a pre-dinner cocktail at one of the lounges… I even noted down the bottled water I grabbed throughout the day. It all adds up, right?
It was kind of a pain, to be honest. Sometimes I forgot to write things down right away, and then I had to try to remember what I had and how much it cost. My little notepad got pretty messy.
The Results
Okay, so at the end of the cruise, I sat down and did the math. I added up all the individual drink prices and compared it to the cost of the beverage package I could have bought.
- Scenario 1: If I paid for each drink separately.
- Scenario 2: With the beverage package.
Drumroll, please… For me, and my drinking habits on this particular cruise, it turned out that the beverage package would NOT have been worth it. I would have spent more on the package than I did on individual drinks!
My Takeaway
I think it really depends on what and how much you drink. If you’re mostly drinking water, soda, and maybe a couple of alcoholic drinks a day, you might be better off paying as you go. But, if you’re planning on having several cocktails, beers, or specialty coffees every day, then the package could save you money. Also, Consider if you love drinking a lot of bottled water or fresh squeezed juice since those are included in the package.
My advice? Do what I did! Or at least, think about it. Try to estimate how much you’ll realistically drink, and do a little rough calculation before you decide. Every cruise is different, and every person is different, so what works for one person might not work for another.
