Classic Drink Package (CAL)
While there are drink packages that are just water to soda, the Classic Drink (or CAL in cruise ship speak) included 500 mL bottles of water and non-frozen alcoholic drinks up to U$ 9.00.
Premium Drink Package (PAL)
This package was pricing out at about U$ 70/per person per day but we got it included in our deal. If you pre-purchase the package before you get on the cruise it is cheaper than that and if you buy it on the first day you do get a bit of a deal and they will let you get alcoholic drinks up to U$ 15. Since we got it before we went onboard, we were allowed drinks only up to U$ 13 but that included pretty much everything so we were fine with that.
This package included the standard items that the Classic Drink package had as well as:
- SPECIALTY TEAS AND COFFEES
- CRAFT & ARTISAN BEERS ($12-13 each), options were: anchor steam, blue moon, Brooklyn brown ale, dogfish head 90 minute, Estrella dam daura (gluten free), fuller's esb, goose island 312, grolsch, kingfisher lager, la fin du monde, lagunitas, leffe blone, magners cider, ommegang abbey, peroni, rogue dead guy ale, sierra nevada, stella artois, woodchuck cider
- SPIRITS, options were: bulleit & rye, crown royal, dewar's 12, jack daniels, glenfiddich, glenlivet, highland park, laphroiag, macallan, maker's mark, woodford reserve, Rittenhouse rye, absolut 100 & elyx, belvedere & intense, ciroc & flavors ,chopin, grey goose, ketel on,e stoli elite, Bombay sapphire & Hendricks, plymouth, tanquerray & ten, Bacardi 8, mount gay rum, Zacapa 23, cazadores responsade, don julio resposado, patron silver, bailey's, chambord, cointreau, courvousier vsop , disaronno, grand marnier
- COCKTAILS (including almost everything at the Martini Bar & World Class)
- FRESHLY SQUEEZED FRUIT JUICE
- MADE TO ORDER SMOOTHIES (found at the Spa Bar in the Adult Pool)
- FROZEN DRINKS (including frozen cocktails at Slush)
- POP
- PREMIUM BOTTLED WATER (incl. 1L bottles of Evian)
- WINE BY THE GLASS (up to $13 in value)
- 20% OFF BOTTLES OF WINE
Knowing how much the package was worth daily, I wanted to see if it was worth while if I actually paid for the package and it would have been. A typical day for me included:
- 3x specialty teas (any tea you get that is not at the buffet, usually Teaforte): $5 / tea
- 1 - 2x 1L Evian; one to take to port, one to drink aboard: $6 / bottle
- 2 - 3x glasses of booze: $12 / glass (top shelf gives you a better chance of not having a hangover)
- 1 - 2x fresh smoothies at the spa bar: $7 / smoothie
- 1 can of pop: $4 / can
- 2 glasses of fresh juice: $5 / glass
Right there, that would be $91 and that is a standard day. The hubby drank beer fairly regularly so he probably had at least 6 - 7 beers a day, 2 - 3 glass of fresh juice, 2 - 3 cans of pop, and 2 bottles of Evian so either way, that would still be a large savings.
On top of that, if I was bored or doing this blog, I would normally plant myself at the Martini Bar or the World Class bar and just drink for 4 - 5 hours while chatting to those around me. Typical drinks at both of those cost $12 so that adds up too. If we were watching the sunset while sailing out of the port, that would be the Mast Bar which would still be another $10 - 12 per drink. Even if I was to fill the spaces without booze, I would still be drinking smoothies, slushies, teas, fresh fruits, and 1L bottles of water so either way I feel that I got my money's worth.
A couple things to note:
- if a drink is worth more than your package covers, you just pay the difference (ex. if you have a classic package and the drink is $10 then you just pay $1)
- drinks included in your package are not included for room service so although you have specialty teas included you will be charged the regular price if you order it for room service. Same with pop and alcohol.
- you can use your drink packages in the dinning areas so if you want an $8 cocktail at the Sushi place it is included in your classic package (you can also go to the pay to eat restaurants to just order cocktails to go)
- if you don't have gratuities included then expect to be charged an 18% gratuity
- you cannot buy a package for set days, if you are not sure if you want one then you can buy one on the ship and they will just charge you for the remaining days of the cruise
- drink packages also need to be purchased for everyone staying in the room
On the first couple of days of the cruise, they offered a "promotion" which would allow you to upgrade your Classic drink package to a Premium for only U$ 69/day +18% gratuity and this would allow you any drinks up to $15 for the rest of the cruise.
