What the app stores
- Line-specific package assumptions
- Break-even drinks per day
- Compare package vs. à la carte estimates
- Pair results with full voyage budgeting
Run real break-even math for your cruise line, sailing length, and drinking habits—so you skip the package when pay-as-you-go wins.
A drink package is worth it only when the prepaid total is lower than what you will actually order à la carte, including gratuities and the drinks the package does not cover. That answer changes with the line, the number of sea days, and whether every adult in the cabin must buy in.
Work the steps on this page with the prices on your booking. Do not copy a break-even number from a forum. The calculator in SeaDays is a place to store that personal math; the worksheet stands without it.
A cruise drink package is worth it when your expected prepaid package cost is lower than buying the same drinks individually—including gratuities and the “I might as well” effect that appears after day two.
Break-even is personal. Two couples on the same ship can correctly reach opposite answers.
Package menus, excluded top-shelf brands, specialty coffee rules, and kids soda packages differ by cruise line and sailing region. Always verify the current inclusions for your booking—do not reuse last year’s forum math.
People undercount specialty coffee, bottled water on hot port returns, and welcome-drink culture. Count what you actually consume on vacation, not what you drink on a work Tuesday.
If your package excludes certain premium brands you always order, those drinks do not help break-even—price them separately.
Some lines auto-add gratuities to package prices; others do not. Some require every adult in a cabin to buy the same package. Those two rules change break-even more than a single cocktail price on the bar menu.
Always confirm current cabin-wide purchase rules for your sailing before you trust a generic calculator result.
Do not reuse a dollar figure from a forum. Use the prices on your booking. Write package price per person per day, note whether gratuity is inside that price, and multiply by the number of nights the package actually covers. Then price your real order à la carte: specialty coffee, the soda you drink at lunch, beer or cocktails in the evening, and bottled water after a hot port. Ashore drinks usually do not count toward a ship package.
Compare those two totals for your habits, not for a hypothetical heavy drinker. If one adult in the cabin barely drinks and the line requires every adult to buy the package, run the math for the cabin, not for the person who wants it. Skip the package when the à la carte total is clearly lower, when most of your days are long independent excursions, or when the brands you actually order are excluded. Buy it when you already drink enough, on enough sea days, that the prepaid total is the smaller number.
In the SeaDays app
You enter sailing length, typical drinks per day, and package price. The calculator estimates break-even servings and whether the package beats buying drinks individually.
No. Lines and regions price packages differently. SeaDays models common package tiers so you can sanity-check the upsell at booking or embarkation.
Add calculator results to Voyage Analytics in SeaDays to see drinks alongside excursions, dining, and onboard spending.
The guide above stands on its own. When you want the itinerary, notes, and roll call in one place, open the app.