You're about to discover eight reasons not to buy a drinks package on a cruise.
I'm Gary Bembridge, and this is another of my tips for travellers. Drinks packages
have become a huge thing and I'm gonna take a look at eight reasons why you
should not buy drinks package. First of all, drinks packages are pretty
expensive. You could be spending up to $60 per person per day, and many cruise
lines require all adults in a cabin to buy a drinks
package if one of them buys one. If you're traveling with your partner, or a
friend, that means you're spending a $120, or more a day,
on drinks. That's $840 for a week-long cruise.
Some cruises cost less than the drinks package could be costing you!
It can be pretty expensive. If you want to control your budget and
make sure that you spend less, not having a drinks package is
probably a good idea because you can keep an eye on what you're spending
every day, either on the App or by checking in with guest services.
You're probably going to find you spend a lot less. Cost is definitely one thing
to think about. The next key reason for not getting a drinks package is if you
don't drink a lot. You have to drink a surprisingly large amount to get value
from your drinks package. For example, you'll find with many drinks packages
you need to be drinking up to 12 beers a day or perhaps 5 or 7 cocktails a day
before the drinks package ends up costing you less than buying drinks
individually. You have to drink a large amount to really make many drinks
packages work. If you don't drink a lot, a drinks package could end up
costing you significantly more than just buying drinks individually. Many drinks
packages also limit you on the number of drinks you can
have, and that could be between 12 and 15 drinks a day. Before you buy a drink
package, think seriously about how many drinks you're going to have every
single day and work out if you're going to save yourself
money. A very important watch out before you get a drinks package is, think about
the type of cruise you're on. A cruise that
is in port every day, and if you're
the sort of person that wants to get off the ship to explore and discover
the ports. Your time on board is going to be relatively limited, because you're off
first thing in the morning and perhaps back later in the day, you're only going to
have the hours in the evening to drink, and you could find you have
to drink a huge amount of drink in a very short space of time to
make your drinks package worthwhile, or you're going to forfeit the
benefit of a drinks package. Think carefully about the cruise
and if it has lots of sea days and you're going to be
drinking during the day, you might find a drinks package does work out
better. If you're on one of those cruises,
particularly the Caribbean, where the cruise line goes to one of their own
islands, check if the drinks package applies when you're on the island. That's
not always the case, and you might find that your drinks package when you're on
the island you can't use.
Think about the mix of sea to port days, and realistically how many drinks are
you going to be having when you are on board the ship every day.
Heavy port intensive days may make it less important to have a
drinks package. Another good reason for not getting a drinks
package is if you are a real connoisseur, particularly of wines, whiskies, any type
of spirits or are very specific about the mixer that you like
with your drinks, buying a drinks package could be a bad idea.
Most drinks packages, depending on the level that
you get, will restrict you to house brands or certain brands of
spirits, beers or wines. If you want a specific
type of whisky or you're a real wine buff, you're
going to find that you're paying extra on top of the drinks package to get those.
If you are the sort of person who likes a very specific mixer,
you'll find that most of the mixers within drinks packages are just
soda mixers. Those pump things.
They're not branded, so if you like
a very
specific brand you'll find having a drinks package could be a
bad idea because you're going to end up having to pay to have those very
specific mixers or alcohol brands. If you're a real connoisseur or
are really fussy about the brand of alcohol or mixer be careful before
you get a drinks package. The advantage is you can check online what is
included. For example, I was recently on a Celebrity Cruise and each of the
different levels of drinks packages unlocked different brands and a wider
range of mixers, beers and spirits. You might find that some of your
favorite brands are included within the different levels, but make
sure you check that. Another good reason for not buying a drinks package is if
you're cruising in a suite. You'll find in many of the Suites, you
have alcohol included. On some cruise lines, you get to choose
full-size bottles of alcohol and they'll keep replenishing your minibar.
You can have a lot of drink within your cabin so, if you've paid the
premium to be in a suite, buying a drinks package on top of that, whilst it lets
you have drinks outside of your cabin, you do have pretty much
unlimited amount of drink within your cabin. Some Suites also give you
access to either a bar or a lounge where you can get drinks either all day or at
certain times of the day. Some of the cruise lines which have "ships
within a ship" you'll find that you can go and have drinks in that area
without having to pay extra. If you are staying in a suite,
understand what drink is going to be included before you buy a
drinks package. The next key reason for not getting a drinks packages is if the
person you're traveling with, your partner or your cabin mate ,doesn't drink
at all or drinks very little, getting a drinks package could be a really bad
idea. Most
cruise lines require every adult of drinking age to buy a drinks package if
one person in the cabin buys it. If there's two of you travelling, you both
have to buy it, and if your partner doesn't really drink you're spending a
lot of money for very little benefit. All of the adults in
the cabin need to be committed and looking to drink a lot before you get a drinks
package. Another thought before you get a drinks package is think about where
you're going to want to have drinks. If you're the sort of person that
is going to be spending a lot of time in your cabin and drinking mostly in your
cabin, having a drinks package is not a great idea because drinks packages
usually never cover drinks in the minibar or drinks from room service.
They're only going to cover drinks that you get when you're out and about around
the ship at the bars or by the pool. If you are the sort of person that's
going to want to drink in your cabin pretty much exclusively, having a drinks
package is a terrible idea because it won't cover the
drinks that you consume in there. Another reason for not getting a drinks package
is are you the sort of person that actually has no fear or qualms about
smuggling booze on board. Cruise lines normally let you bring onboard a
limited amount of drink to consume ideally in your cabin. It's normally
one or two bottles of wine, however there there are a whole group of
cruisers (and have a whole video about this) that are comfortable,
and have no qualms, about smuggling booze on board to drink in their cabin or
decant into various drinking devices to drink when they're out and about
around the ship. I'm not saying that's something that you should do or
condoning it, but if you're the sort of person that is happy to do that
then having a drinks package is probably not a good idea because you're
bringing it all on board anyway. As I said, I have a whole video
around the bizarre and unusual ways that people smuggle alcohol on board. There
are a whole bunch of reasons to have a drinks package, there's also a whole lot
of reasons not to have a drinks package. Hopefully you've found this helpful and
it's given you something to think about. I have loads of videos about all types
of cruising and cruising tips, so why don't you watch another one of those
right now.