Cost
Are cruise drink packages worth it?
A drink package swaps paying per drink for a fixed daily price. Whether it saves money is arithmetic, not instinct — and the arithmetic is mostly decided by the rules attached to the package.
The short answer
A package is financially worth it only when everything you would actually have ordered, priced drink by drink with the service charge, costs more than the package price with its service charge — multiplied by every day it is billed and by every adult in the cabin who is required to buy it.
Three rules decide most outcomes: packages are usually billed for every day of the cruise, including port days; some lines require every adult in the cabin to buy the same alcoholic package; and drinks above a price ceiling, in excluded venues or beyond a daily limit are not covered. A package can still be a good choice for convenience — but that is a different question from saving money, and the guide keeps them apart.
By The SnapVoyages TeamPublished October 2026
Structure
The common types of package
| What it usually covers | What to check | |
|---|---|---|
| Soft-drink / non-alcoholic | Soft drinks, often juices, mocktails and sometimes speciality coffee | Whether speciality coffee and bottled water are in it |
| Coffee or water only | Speciality coffee or bottled water, usually a set number of drinks | Counted in drinks, not days |
| Standard alcoholic | Beer, house wine, spirits and cocktails up to a per-drink price ceiling | The ceiling, the daily limit, and which brands fall above it |
| Premium alcoholic | A higher ceiling and a wider brand list | Whether the step up changes what you would actually order |
| Included in the fare | Some lines or fare types bundle a tier of package | Which tier, and whether the service charge on drinks is included |
The fine print
Rules that sit behind the headline price
Policies differ by line and change. The examples below are what three large lines published at the time of writing (October 2026); they illustrate the kinds of rule to look for, not current terms for your sailing.
- Billed for every day
- Packages are normally bought for the whole cruise, so port days when you are ashore are paid for too.
- Whole-cabin requirement
- Royal Caribbean states that its Deluxe (alcoholic) package must be bought for all guests of legal drinking age in the same stateroom; Norwegian describes a similar requirement for its packages. Not every line or package works this way.
- Daily and per-order limits
- Carnival's CHEERS! programme publishes a daily limit on alcoholic drinks; Norwegian's terms limit drinks per transaction. Beyond a limit, normal prices apply.
- Per-drink price ceilings
- Drinks above a listed menu price are charged in full or at a discount, so premium brands may never be covered.
- Venue and item exclusions
- Minibars, room service, some speciality venues and bottles of wine are commonly excluded or only discounted.
- Service charge on top
- Royal Caribbean adds an 18% gratuity to package purchases except where prohibited by law; Norwegian's terms add its own charge. The same kind of charge also applies to drinks bought one at a time.
- Buying ahead and cancelling
- Pre-cruise purchase, refunds and price changes follow each line's own terms. Read the cancellation clause before paying in advance.
- Age and verification
- Alcoholic packages are limited to guests of legal drinking age on that sailing, which can differ by itinerary.
A transparent method
The break-even formula
Two totals, priced the same way. Whichever is lower is the cheaper option for the way you actually drink.
Model a normal day
What you would actually order on a sea day, and separately on a port day — not an upper limit.
Price it from the bar menu
Each drink's price, plus the service charge that applies to individually ordered drinks.
Weight and scale
Multiply each kind of day by how many of them the cruise has (for example five sea days and two port days), then make sure every day the package is billed for is counted.
Price the package the same way
Package price per day, plus its own service charge, for every adult in the cabin the policy requires to buy it.
Compare the two totals
The package is worth it, in money terms, only if its total is lower than the pay-as-you-go total.
In short: (sum of each kind of day × its number of days, incl. service charge) compared with (package price incl. service charge × chargeable days × required buyers). Whichever total is lower is the cheaper option for that pattern of drinking.
Two details make the most difference. First, model sea days and port days separately and weight them by how many of each the cruise has: a week with five sea days is a different calculation from a week with five port days. Second, start from what you would order anyway. Counting the drinks you would only have because they feel free makes the package look cheaper while making the trip more expensive.
Three hypothetical travellers
The formula, worked through
All three are invented examples, not real people.
Invented teaching prices — not current market rates
Prices are in neutral "units" so they cannot be mistaken for any line's prices: coffee 5, soda 4, mocktail 8, beer 9, glass of wine 12, cocktail 14. Alcoholic package 70 per day, soft-drink package 18 per day, service charge 18% on everything — an assumption borrowed from one line's published terms for these examples only; other lines and packages use different rates, and some sailings add sales tax or VAT, which these examples leave out. A 7-night cruise with five sea days and two port days; the package is billed for all 7 days.
Hypothetical example 1
One traveller who drinks little or no alcohol
- The modelled pattern
- Sea day: two coffees, a mocktail, a soda. Port day: one coffee, one soda. Compared with a soft-drink package.
- Pay-as-you-go total (modelled)
- 151.04 units
- Package total (modelled)
- 148.68 units
- What this shows
- Almost exactly level. At these invented prices the soft-drink package saves next to nothing — what it buys is not having to think about each coffee. An alcoholic package would cost several times more than this person drinks.
Hypothetical example 2
One traveller with a glass or two in the evening
- The modelled pattern
- Sea day: two coffees, one cocktail, two glasses of wine. Port day: one coffee, one glass of wine. Compared with an alcoholic package.
- Pay-as-you-go total (modelled)
- 323.32 units
- Package total (modelled)
- 578.20 units
- What this shows
- Paying per drink costs a little over half the package. Someone who drinks like this would need to roughly double their consumption for the package to pay — which is a reason not to buy it, not a reason to drink more.
Hypothetical example 3
Two adults in one cabin, both drinking steadily, both required to buy
- The modelled pattern
- Each, per sea day: two coffees, two beers, two cocktails, one glass of wine. Each, per port day: one coffee, one beer, one cocktail, one glass of wine. The cabin's drinks are modelled together.
- Pay-as-you-go total (modelled)
- 991.20 units
- Package total (modelled)
- 1156.40 units (2 packages)
- What this shows
- Even two people drinking steadily all week stay below the package total at these invented prices, because both must buy it for every billed day, including the port days when they are mostly ashore.
The package price per day, with service charge, is the bar every day's drinking has to clear
Here that is 82.60 units a day for the alcoholic package — averaged across port days as well as sea days. Swap in your own sailing's prices; the method does not change.
Exclusions
Why excluded drinks must come out of the calculation
Hypothetical example 3 again, with one change: the couple also orders three bottles of wine in a venue the package does not cover.
- All the drinks they order, including the excluded bottles1150.50 units
- Only the drinks the package actually covers991.20 units
Package total for the cabin: 1156.40 units. Counting everything makes the package look almost level. But the bottles (159.30 units with service) are paid for whether or not they buy the package, so only the covered drinks belong in the comparison. Invented teaching prices.
The same logic applies to drinks above a price ceiling, drinks beyond a daily limit and anything bought in an excluded venue: they do not count towards the package, and the more of your drinking falls into those categories, the further the package moves from paying for itself.
Decision table
What tends to move the answer
| What it does to the calculation | What to check before buying | |
|---|---|---|
| Many port days | Billed days you may spend mostly ashore lower your average | Count of sea days versus port days in the itinerary |
| Cabin-wide rule | Doubles (or more) the package side if a cabin-mate drinks little | Whether the line requires every adult in the cabin to buy |
| Mostly coffee and soft drinks | A soft-drink or coffee package may be close to level; an alcoholic one rarely is | Which non-alcoholic drinks are free in the main venues anyway |
| Premium brands or wine by the bottle | Often above the ceiling or excluded, so they do not count | The price ceiling and the wine terms |
| Bundled with the fare | Changes the question to whether the fare with drinks beats the fare without | Both fare prices for the same cabin and sailing |
| Valuing not thinking about prices | Convenience, not savings — a legitimate reason, but a different one | How much that convenience is worth to you, in your own terms |
Reader questions
Common questions, short answers
- Is there a general break-even number?
- No. It depends on the package price, the service charge, the number of billed days and the cabin rule for your sailing. The formula above turns those into your own number.
- Should I drink more to make the package pay?
- No. The calculation starts from what you would order anyway. If the package only pays when you drink more, it is not good value for you.
- Are water, tea and basic coffee free?
- On many ships they are available without charge in the main dining venues and buffet — check the line's own list before paying for them in a package.
- Can I bring my own wine?
- Some lines allow a limited amount at embarkation, sometimes with a corkage fee in restaurants. Royal Caribbean, for example, publishes a one-bottle allowance per guest of drinking age. Terms differ by line.
- Do consumer protection rules cover add-on packages?
- It depends on where and how you booked. In the EU, drinks bought with a package holiday may fall under package travel rules; elsewhere, the line's contract terms apply. See the gratuities guide for the wider picture.
Drink spending is one of several onboard layers. For the full picture see what a cruise really costs and gratuities, port fees and taxes.
Sources & verification
Cruise-line pages document each line's own rules as published in October 2026 and are not independent assessments. All prices in the worked examples are invented teaching figures.
- Royal Caribbean International — Beverage Package FAQ (sharing, stateroom rule, verification) — read 2026-10-10
- Royal Caribbean International — Are gratuities included in the beverage package cost? — read 2026-10-10
- Royal Caribbean International — Deluxe Beverage Package details (inclusions, per-drink value cap, wine discount) — read 2026-10-10
- Carnival Cruise Line — CHEERS! beverage program details and restrictions — read 2026-10-10
- Carnival Cruise Line — CHEERS! Beverage Program Q&A (sample drink prices, 15-drink daily limit, discretion to refuse service) — read 2026-10-10
- Norwegian Cruise Line — Beverage Packages overview (age rules, whole-reservation requirement) — read 2026-10-10
- Norwegian Cruise Line — Premium Plus Beverage Package Terms & Conditions (two-drinks-per-transaction limit, exclusions, 20% gratuity and beverage service charge) — read 2026-10-10
- Directive (EU) 2015/2302 on package travel and linked travel arrangements — read 2026-09-01