Are Drinks Packages on Cruises Worth Buying?

Almost every cruiser faces the same decision at some point during the booking process: do you add the drinks package, or do you skip it and figure it out onboard? Many people make that choice in under a minute, based on gut feeling rather than actual numbers. Some buy the package and barely touch the bar. Others skip it, then watch their bill quietly triple over seven nights at sea.

So, are drinks packages on cruises worth buying? The honest answer is that it depends entirely on your personal break-even number, and that's a figure you can calculate in under five minutes. The real issue isn't whether cruise drink packages are worth buying in general. The issue is whether one is worth buying for you, on your specific sailing, given how you actually drink. This article gives you the framework, selected 2026 prices across major cruise lines where data is available, and a clear view of which traveller types genuinely benefit, so you can stop guessing and start knowing.

What you're actually paying for when you buy a cruise drink package

The headline price is not the real price. Many cruisers see a per-day figure, assume that's what they'll pay, and move on. The actual cost has three layers, and if you don't account for all three, your budget calculation will be wrong before the ship leaves port.

The per-day price across major cruise lines in 2026

Royal Caribbean's Deluxe Beverage Package sits between $56.99 and $105 per person per day before gratuity, depending on ship, sailing date, and when you buy. Carnival's CHEERS! starts at $69.95 per day pre-cruise. Norwegian, Princess, and Celebrity packages typically land in the $60 to $100 per day range at the base rate, based on available menu and promotional data, though exact 2026 pricing varies by sailing and should be confirmed on each line's booking page. P&O Cruises, widely used by UK travellers, prices its Classic package at £50 per person per day (5 to 14 nights) and its Deluxe at £65 per day. Non-alcoholic alternatives are considerably more approachable: Royal Caribbean's Refreshment Package runs around $29 per day before gratuity, and P&O's Alcohol-Free option sits at £29 per day.

The gratuity charge that changes every number

Most major US cruise lines add an 18% service charge on top of the package price at checkout, and this is the most commonly overlooked cost in the calculation. A Royal Caribbean Deluxe Beverage Package at $56.99 per day becomes $67.25 per day once gratuity is applied. Over a 7-night cruise for one person, that service charge adds more than $70 to the total bill. It's worth noting that practices vary between lines, some fold gratuity into the published price, others apply it separately, and a handful use a different percentage. P&O's pricing structure differs from US lines in how service charges are presented, so it's worth checking current terms on pocruises.com before booking. The principle, however, is consistent: the number you see in the marketing is rarely the number you pay.

What the package quietly excludes

Standard exclusions across most lines include minibar items, bottled wines purchased separately from the bar, and premium spirits priced above the package's per-drink cap. Most packages also don't cover drinks at public port-side bars during shore excursions, only drinks consumed at onboard bars, restaurants, and select private island destinations typically fall within the package terms. Reading the exclusions list before purchasing can save you from a genuinely unpleasant surprise mid-cruise.

Are drinks packages on cruises worth buying? Run the break-even numbers first

A cruise beverage package is, at its core, a pre-payment for drinks you haven't had yet. It makes financial sense only if your daily drink spend at standard menu prices would exceed the package cost. Everything else is just marketing. The mental model is simple: calculate your daily drinks threshold, then honestly compare it to your actual habits.

What drinks actually cost onboard in 2026

Based on current menu data across Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian, and P&O, the averages look like this: cocktails sit around $13, a beer costs roughly $8.50, wine by the glass averages $10.50, a soda runs $3.50, and a specialty coffee lands around $4.25. Add the 18% gratuity to each of those figures and a single cocktail costs you closer to $15.35 out of pocket. A beer with gratuity comes in just over $10. These are the real numbers to build your calculation around. For line-specific package descriptions and inclusions you can compare, see MSC Cruises' official drinks packages for a current example of how inclusions and exclusions are presented.

Running your personal break-even number

Here's a concrete example. If the package costs $75 per day including gratuity, and your personal average drink across a realistic mix of cocktails, beers, and coffees works out to around $12, you need roughly six to seven drinks per day just to break even. Drink fewer than that on average, and you're subsidising a bar bill that doesn't reflect your actual consumption. The break-even threshold isn't a fixed number, it shifts with your drink mix. That threshold moves with what you're ordering: a day heavy on cocktails lowers it, while a run of sodas and coffees raises it considerably.

Why cruise length changes the break-even risk

On a 3-night sailing, getting the maths slightly wrong costs you relatively little in absolute terms. On a 14-night cruise, miscalculating your daily intake by even two drinks, using the article's own average drink cost of around $12 per drink, across 14 nights, can translate to £300 or more wasted per person once currency and gratuity are factored in. Industry estimates suggest the average cruise passenger consumes around 4.7 alcoholic drinks per day on a 7-night sailing, which is notably below the six to seven drinks typically required to justify a full beverage package. The longer the sailing, the more important it is to run the numbers carefully before you commit.

How drinks packages compare across major cruise lines

The pricing architecture differs meaningfully between lines, and understanding this helps you benchmark the deal you're actually being offered rather than just comparing headline figures.

Premium packages versus non-alcoholic alternatives

Royal Caribbean's official beverage package page shows the most tiered structure in the market, running from the Classic Soda Package at $15.33 per day (with gratuity) up to the Deluxe Beverage Package at the top end. Carnival's CHEERS! takes a single-tier approach, bundling alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks together with no mid-range option. Norwegian and Princess lean toward premium all-in packages, often with fewer affordable entry points. P&O structures its range across four clear tiers, from the Refresh soft drinks package at £16 per day up to Deluxe at £65, making it one of the more transparent pricing structures for UK travellers to navigate.

The "all adults must buy" rule and what it means for your total bill

Most major cruise lines require that if one adult in a cabin purchases an alcoholic beverage package, every other adult 21 and over in the same cabin must buy one too. For a couple where both drink heavily, this is straightforward. For a couple where one person drinks freely and the other rarely touches alcohol, this rule alone can make the entire package a poor investment, regardless of what the individual maths suggests. The joint purchase obligation is the single most important rule to understand before reaching for your card. Some lines, including Royal Caribbean, allow one adult to purchase an alcoholic package while the other opts for a non-alcoholic refreshment package, but this typically requires a direct call to the cruise line rather than a simple online selection. Recent reporting has highlighted how some cruise lines are tightening enforcement around sharing and misuse of packages, so checking current policy is wise before you travel.

Which traveller types genuinely benefit from an onboard drinks package

The abstract calculation becomes far more useful when you map it to a specific travel profile. The value of pre-purchasing a drinks plan looks very different depending on who's travelling.

Couples: when the numbers work and when they don't

For couples where both partners genuinely drink six or more beverages daily across the full sailing, the package pays off comfortably and removes the low-level stress of watching every order. The danger zone is a couple with very different drinking habits. The mandatory joint purchase means the lighter drinker's package costs just as much as the heavier drinker's, with far less return. In this scenario, a split approach, one partner on the alcoholic package, the other on a refreshment-only tier, often delivers better combined value, provided the cruise line permits the arrangement.

Families with children: soda packages on cruises deserve serious attention

For families, the full alcoholic package is rarely justified across all adults when children are also in the cabin. A soda-only or refreshment package priced at £16 to £34 per person per day typically makes far more sense as the baseline choice. Children drink a significant volume of juice and soft drinks across a week at sea, and a non-alcoholic soda package cruise option can pay for itself within the first two days of a Caribbean sailing without anyone needing to think twice about ordering a round of Cokes at lunch.

Solo travellers: the cleanest numbers of all

Solo cruisers carry the cleanest version of this calculation. There's no joint purchase obligation, no averaging across two people with different habits, and no inflated household total to consider. If you're travelling alone and you genuinely enjoy five to seven drinks per day across a full sailing, the onboard drink plan is almost certainly worth it. To put that in concrete terms: at a package cost of $75 per day including gratuity and an average drink cost of around $12, five drinks per day gets you to $60 in bar value, just under the threshold, but six drinks comfortably clears it. The maths is direct, and the value is real.

Discounts and bundled deals that shift the entire equation

Everything above assumes you're paying the standard published price. You often don't have to, and the available discounts can materially change the value calculation in your favour.

Pre-cruise and early-bird pricing windows

Royal Caribbean's pre-cruise discount can cut the Deluxe Beverage Package by up to 40% off the onboard rate, bringing a $105 per day package down closer to $63 per day. Carnival's CHEERS! drops by $5 per day when purchased before embarkation. The key is checking your cruise planner or booking portal regularly in the weeks after confirmation, because prices fluctuate, and flash sales tied to UK bank holidays or US holiday weekends can yield the best rates. Buying the moment you see the lowest price is almost always the right call, since pre-cruise packages are typically refundable up to a point.

Loyalty perks that reduce the case for buying a package at all

Royal Caribbean's Diamond-tier members receive four free drink vouchers per day, worth roughly $56 in daily bar value. At that level, purchasing a full beverage package makes little financial sense. Diamond Plus members receive five vouchers plus a 30% discount on onboard package purchases. If you're approaching a loyalty milestone, factoring this into your decision before buying could save you the full package cost across the sailing.

How bundled cruise deals sometimes include drinks packages

Norwegian's Free at Sea promotion and Celebrity's All Included fare both fold a drink package into the base booking price, which changes the value calculation entirely before you even step onboard. When the package is already included, the question of whether it's worth buying becomes irrelevant: you're getting the value regardless. This is where booking through a specialist operator can make a practical difference. At Skylord Cruise and Holidays, Tropical Treasures: Cruise & Stay Package with Norwegian Getaway from Miami, we regularly source bundled cruise fares for UK travellers that include beverage packages as part of the overall booking. It's worth asking explicitly when you speak with us whether any current promotions fold a drinks package into the fare, because the answer is often yes, and it changes what you pay and what you get in ways that aren't always visible on a cruise line's public booking page.

When skipping the package entirely is the smarter decision

Sometimes the most financially sound decision is simply no package at all. The cruise industry benefits when passengers feel psychologically pressured to justify a package they've already bought, drinking more than they otherwise would to "get their money's worth." That is not a winning strategy for anyone.

If you genuinely drink two or three beverages per day, no calculation justifies a package costing $70 or more. Paying at standard menu prices and being intentional about your orders keeps spending in line with actual consumption. For families, non-drinkers, or cruisers who primarily consume specialty coffees and bottled water throughout the day, a soda-only or refreshment package at the lower price tier often breaks even quickly and removes the mental overhead of pricing every drink for the rest of the trip. Matching your spend to your actual habits is the only version of this calculation that makes sense.

Making the call: are drinks packages on cruises worth buying for you?

Ultimately, whether drinks packages on cruises are worth buying comes down to one number: your personal break-even drinks per day. That number takes less than two minutes to calculate. Know your cruise line's daily package price with gratuity included, identify your realistic average drink cost based on what you typically order, divide one by the other, and you have your threshold. If you genuinely drink above it, buy the package. If you don't, skip it.

If you can secure a bundled cruise deal where the package is already folded into the fare at a discount, the decision becomes significantly easier, the value is locked in before you even decide what to order at the sail-away party. The team at Skylord Cruise and Holidays, Tropical Bliss & Vegas Glitz: Cruise & Stay Holiday specialises in exactly this kind of end-to-end cruise planning for UK travellers, matching the right fare structure and inclusions to how you actually travel rather than leaving you to parse the small print alone. Get in touch before your next sailing and find out what's currently available for your destination and travel dates, for example, we sometimes feature packages like Aloha & Jackpot: Cruise Hawaii, Stay Vegas that bundle inclusions in ways that materially change the upfront value calculation.