Advanced options
Count EVERYTHING the package covers: cocktails, wine with dinner, beers by the pool, speciality coffees, bottled water, fresh juice: the package case is usually made by the non-alcoholic layer people forget. The classic catches: most lines make BOTH adults in a cabin buy it (no sharing one package), port days hollow out the value (you're ashore drinking cheaper), gratuities (~18-20%) are added to the package price on some lines, and there's a per-drink price cap above which you pay the difference.
What The Cruise Drinks Package Calculator Works Out
- Pay-as-you-go per day: drinks a day x the average onboard price. Mainstream lines charge GBP 6 to GBP 9 for beers and GBP 9 to GBP 12 for cocktails, usually plus an 18-20% service charge on each one.
- Verdict: the daily pay-as-you-go bill against the package price, with the break-even drinks count underneath. Packages run GBP 40 to GBP 60 per person per day, so break-even sits at five to seven drinks every single day, port days included.
- The small print that decides it: most lines make every adult in the cabin buy, there is a per-drink price cap above which you pay the difference, and the pre-cruise sale window prices packages 20-30% below gangway rates.
- Cruise length and adults (advanced): turn the daily comparison into a whole-cruise figure. The simple mode assumes seven nights and two adults for its headline stake; change either to match your booking.
- Port days (advanced): days ashore hollow out the package because you are drinking cheaper in a taverna. Enter the port days and how many drinks you will still have aboard on each; the pay-as-you-go total falls while the package keeps charging.
- Gratuity added to the package (advanced): several lines add 18-20% service charge to the package at checkout, which raises the daily price and the break-even count. Leave at zero if the quoted price already includes it.
- Pre-cruise booking discount (advanced): the percentage off for buying in the booking window rather than on board, applied to the package price.
- Soft drinks and coffee layer (advanced): speciality coffees, bottled water, fresh juices and mocktails are covered by most packages and cost GBP 3 to GBP 5 each aboard. Two or three a day before the first beer is why the abstemious-sounding household often clears the threshold.
- Real break-even per day (advanced): the drinks needed on each sea day for the package to pay off once port days and the soft-drink layer are accounted for, which is the honest number to compare with your actual habits.
- Cruise verdict (advanced): the difference between the two routes over the whole cruise for everyone who must buy. At both-adults rules across seven nights the stake is usually GBP 600 to GBP 800 a cabin.