What a drink package actually is
A cruise drink package is a prepaid beverage plan sold by the cruise line. Most mainstream packages cover a defined list of drinks up to a per-drink cap, plus gratuities in some fares and not in others. Soda-only, non-alcoholic, and beer-and-wine plans are separate products. This page is about deciding whether any package beats paying as you go—not about naming a current price, which changes by line, sailing, and promotion.
Always read the current terms for your booking. Packages can exclude bottled water brands, fresh juices, specialty coffee, room-service drinks, or drinks above a posted limit. Mini-bar items are often extra.
The only math that matters
A package is worth it when your expected prepaid-covered drinks would cost more à la carte than the package, after taxes and auto-gratuities.
Use this break-even sketch (plug in your sailing’s numbers):
- Package price per person, per day (or voyage total ÷ days).
- Typical covered drink price onboard, including the auto-gratuity if it is added per drink.
- Drinks per person per day you will actually order from the covered list—not the number you wish you would order.
If (drinks × à la carte price) is below the daily package price, paying as you go wins. If you routinely exceed that, the package can win. SeaDays has a dedicated walkthrough of that arithmetic in the SeaDays drink package calculator math and a “loses money” view in when the beverage package actually loses money.
Who it usually helps
- Guests who order several covered alcoholic drinks every sea day and port evening.
- Guests who would buy specialty coffee or mocktails all day on a soda/non-alcoholic plan that actually covers those items.
- Sailings where à la carte prices are high and the package is on a genuine pre-cruise discount—not a “discount” off an inflated onboard rate.
Who it usually does not help
- Light drinkers, or anyone who mostly drinks included water, iced tea, and dining-room coffee.
- Guests who go ashore most days and drink on land (packages do not follow you into port).
- Anyone who will not use the package on embarkation afternoon or disembarkation morning—those half-days still count as full days on many plans.
- Cabins where the line requires every adult to buy the same alcoholic package. One heavy drinker cannot subsidize three light drinkers.
Hidden costs people miss
Auto-gratuities on packages can be a daily add-on rather than included. Some lines charge a daily gratuity even if you barely drink. Specialty dining pairings, bottled wine at dinner, and souvenir glasses are often outside the package. If you care about wine at dinner, compare a bottle’s onboard price to several package pours—not to a restaurant on land.
Age rules matter. Alcoholic packages are for guests who meet the line’s drinking age (21 on most ships calling on the US; 18 on some other itineraries). Do not assume a teen soda package equals an adult plan.
How to decide before you buy
- List what you drank on your last vacation, honestly.
- Open the line’s current package inclusions for your sailing dates.
- Run the break-even with the SeaDays calculator articles above, or the in-app drink package calculator.
- If you are within a drink or two of break-even, skip the package. Unused prepaid drinks are a worse outcome than one extra à la carte cocktail.
SeaDays does not sell drink packages and does not invent onboard menus. Keep the decision next to your budget in the cruise budget planner.
