Drinks Packages.. ARGHHHHH

When booking a cruise, important factors used to be considered such as the itinerary, the sail date, departure port, type and style of ship.   Now it seems that Drinks Packages seem to be some of the most important questions being asked from guests – such as are drinks packages included or can they be added?

MSC, Thomson, Fred Olsen all offer drinks packages that can be pre purchased at the time of booking the cruise and adding into your final cruise cost, which is great as it means you can fully budget for your cruise. Occasionally, they will offer the drinks package included in the cost but very rarely.

The rest such as NCL, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Princess (when not on offer) all have to be added on via the cruise personaliser or once on board (in the ships own currency), this can be a bit of the pain considering the exchange rates and additional surcharges that may be applied.

You have the 6* luxury cruise liners such as Azamara, Silver Seas, Regency and Seabourn that have drinks included in their full cruise cost (and so they should for the prices charged).

Certain cruise lines such as P&O and Cunard still do not offer a full drinks package, only offering wine, soda or coffee packages. So is it time these iconic cruise lines also started offering a full drinks package like the other cruise lines?

P&O do offer (in my opinion) reasonable drink prices once your on board anyway, but more guests want to have a full drinks package before they sail. I am not a big drinker, so dependent on the cost of the package and what is included will determine if I pre book or not before sailing.

MSC and Fred Olsen, offer (again in my opinion) the best drink package options available and I will always pre book these with them before sailing for value for money and recommend that my guests do too.

Some of fantastic team here at cruise.co.uk being thankful they had pre paid for their drinks package on MSC

Currently, Celebrity and NCL are offering drink packages with their current booking promotions and this is great for those booking now. But, because so many companies have offered in the past, guests now expect this with every cruise line and booking, which just isn’t always possible.

I have guests whom are desperate to book with Royal Caribbean but refuse to unless they get a drinks package included with their cruise, because that’s what they got when they booked this time last year! So have some cruise companies shot their selves in the foot by one month offering drinks and the next 3 months taking it away again?

I think maybe it is time for cruise lines to either allow guests the choice of adding drinks at time of booking (so much easier to sell too) or always have the option included in their fares. This would then stop a lot of guests missing out on the cruise or cabin they want just for the sake of a drinks package, or complaints from guests when promotions keep changing.

Click for Drink Prices and Drink Packages handy guides that our team have put together for you to decide

What’s your opinion on drinks packages?

Dawn

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