Cruise ship drink packages have become one of the most hotly debated add-ons in travel. Every seasoned cruiser has an opinion, and so does every bartender who has watched thousands of guests struggle with the math while staring at a cocktail menu.
The honest answer is that the right package depends almost entirely on how you vacation, and the people who know that best are the ones pouring the drinks. Here’s what the numbers, the bartenders, and the fine print actually reveal.
The Real Cost Before You Even Board
Price sticker shock is real. In 2025, Carnival’s CHEERS! package now carries a single daily rate of $82.54 when you buy in advance, or $88.44 if you wait until you’re onboard. For a couple on a 7-day cruise, that’s over $1,155, a substantial investment.
Royal Caribbean drink packages can sometimes cost as much as $105 per day. Royal Caribbean charges different prices depending on the specific cruise, so your price will vary, but generally expect to pay around $88 to $112 per day total once gratuity is added.
Don’t forget the extra gratuity, usually around 18%, that gets tacked on. That can quietly push an already steep daily cost even higher, and it’s something many guests don’t notice until they read the fine print after booking.
How Many Drinks You Actually Need to Break Even
Carnival’s CHEERS! package breaks even at about 8 alcoholic drinks per day, or roughly 5 drinks plus a couple of coffees and bottled waters. That’s the honest math most bartenders already know by heart.
It can pay to buy a drink package if you normally order a lot of individual drinks, particularly pricier ones such as premium cocktails and wines by the glass. It’s not uncommon for premium cocktails to cost $15 or more on some lines.
Whether it’s worth it depends on how expensive a cruise line’s alcohol package is compared to the cost of drinks purchased individually, which varies greatly from line to line. It also depends on how much you drink and what sort of drinks you typically order. Light drinkers who stick to one or two cocktails a day will almost certainly lose money on any premium package.
The Daily Drink Limit That Changes Everything
Carnival confirms that its established 15-drink daily limit remains in place, covering up to 15 alcoholic drinks in a 24-hour period, from 6 a.m. to 6 a.m. the next day. MSC and several other lines follow the same cap.
MSC enforces a limit of 15 alcoholic drinks per 24-hour period, a rule implemented in April 2025, while non-alcoholic beverages remain unlimited. Guests who think “unlimited” means truly unlimited should read the terms carefully before purchasing.
Heavy drinkers who hit close to the 15-drink daily cap will find good value, while casual drinkers may be better off ordering à la carte. That’s a distinction cruise lines don’t advertise prominently, but bartenders know it well.
Carnival CHEERS! – The Package Most Discussed at the Bar
Carnival’s CHEERS! package covers nearly every beverage, alcoholic or non-alcoholic, on the ship, up to $20 per drink. That’s a generous price ceiling compared to some competitors.
Carnival’s December 2024 price hike changed the pricing structure significantly. Previously, the CHEERS! package varied based on cruise length, with cruises of six nights or longer costing $70.74 per day. The new flat rate applies regardless of how long you sail.
Some packages require that if one person orders an alcohol-focused drink package, everyone over 21 in the same cabin has to buy that same drink package. That rule alone can double or triple the total cost for couples and families, which is a detail worth knowing before you book.
Royal Caribbean’s Package – Flexible but Pricey
Royal Caribbean’s Deluxe Beverage Package covers pretty much any beverage on the ship, up to a $14 per drink limit. Prices vary depending on your cruise and the ship that you sail, ranging between $75 and $94 per day before the 18% service charge.
Once you book, Royal Caribbean will often offer large discount promotions if you pre-book the drink package. During a recent cruise, a 20% discount was available for guests who booked the package before sailing. That kind of deal can make the numbers work far more comfortably.
If your package covers drinks up to $14 and you order an $18 cocktail, you’ll be charged the $4 difference plus gratuity. This is most common with top-shelf spirits and premium wines by the glass. To avoid surprises, ask your bartender to recommend drinks within your package limit.
Celebrity Cruises – Two Tiers, and the Gap Matters
Celebrity’s Classic package starts at around $65 per person, per day. It allows you to choose from select beers, spirits, cocktails, liqueurs, frozen drinks, and wines by the glass up to $12 per serving.
Not every cruiser drinks enough to make the cost worth it. While the package gives you access to unlimited beverages for one set daily price and many find it worth the investment, the true answer depends on your personal drinking habits. Saving money is not always a guarantee.
Celebrity offers two tiers, and the gap between them genuinely matters depending on whether you prefer top-shelf spirits and premium wines. Guests who lean toward cocktails above $12 will find the basic Classic tier frustrating quickly, making the premium tier the more honest value.
Norwegian’s Free at Sea – The Bundled Bargain
Unlike the Carnival drink package, which limits guests to 15 alcoholic drinks a day, Norwegian’s drink packages are truly unlimited. That distinction carries real weight for guests who like flexibility without watching a counter.
Through Norwegian’s Free at Sea program, the Unlimited Open Bar Package can be included for guests aged 21 and over. Norwegian now charges a flat rate of $28.50 per person, per day for gratuities, with the package included. For a 7-day cruise, that totals $199.50 per person.
The best time to secure the beverage package is when you book through a promotion like More at Sea or Free at Sea, which often includes the package effectively for free with only the gratuity charged. The cost of buying the package onboard is significantly higher. Booking early here isn’t just smart, it’s the difference between a good deal and an expensive one.
MSC’s All-or-Nothing Approach
As of April 2025, MSC retired its lower-tier Easy and Easy Plus packages, leaving the Premium Extra as the sole alcoholic package option. That simplifies the choice, but it also removes flexibility for moderate drinkers.
MSC’s Premium Extra package includes drinks priced up to $16, covering fine wines and champagne by the glass, premium cocktails, top-shelf spirits, draft and bottled beers, specialty coffees, hot chocolate, energy drinks, smoothies, and soft drinks. A 25% discount on bottled wine is also included, though drinks above $16, bottle service, and room service beverages are not covered.
The elimination of budget-friendly packages means MSC’s drink package math is straightforward but less flexible. If you’re a moderate drinker having two or three drinks a day, you may find MSC’s all-or-nothing Premium Extra harder to justify than comparable packages on Carnival or Princess. Heavy drinkers who hit close to the 15-drink daily cap will find good value.
The Non-Alcoholic Package Is Often the Smartest Buy
Indulging in a tropical cocktail or wine makes for a quintessential cruise experience, but even if you don’t drink alcohol, you might want to save money on soda, coffee, and other non-alcoholic beverages. Those drinks add up fast.
Carnival’s Signature Beverage Package covers cocktails up to $11 at $64.84 per person per day with a daily limit of 15 drinks, while its non-alcoholic Quench Beverage Package offers unlimited fountain sodas and up to 15 non-alcoholic drinks per day at just $21.18 per person per day. For coffee lovers and families cruising with children, non-alcoholic packages frequently deliver cleaner value than premium alcohol bundles.
The non-alcoholic package typically covers soda, juices, mocktails, specialty coffee like lattes or cappuccinos, and sometimes bottled water. These are popular with cruisers skipping the booze but still wanting convenience. A family of four traveling together can save meaningfully with these lower-tier options.
When the Package Is Genuinely Not Worth It
Drink packages can carry an expensive upfront cost. If you’re a light drinker or going on a shorter cruise, the package might not yield significant savings. In that case, buying drinks individually and putting the money toward excursions instead is the smarter move.
Most cruise lines allow you to cancel a pre-purchased drink package up to 48 hours before embarkation for a full refund. Once you board the ship, the package is non-refundable. That’s a hard deadline worth noting when you’re still weighing the decision at home.
Drink packages are completely optional, and in fact most people simply pay for each individual drink, being charged each time they get a beverage. For port-heavy itineraries where guests spend most of the day off the ship, a la carte spending often comes out cheaper than committing to a full daily package rate.
The Takeaway from Behind the Bar
The best drink package is the one that fits your rhythm, not someone else’s. If your ideal cruise day includes morning coffee, a poolside cocktail, a glass of wine at dinner, and a nightcap, the math usually works in your favor. If you’re onshore exploring from sunrise to sunset, it probably doesn’t.
About 37.7 million people were expected to cruise in 2025, according to the Cruise Lines International Association, and a growing share of them are doing the math more carefully than ever. Prices across almost every major cruise line have risen noticeably since late 2024, which makes the pre-booking discount more valuable now than it used to be.
The clearest advice from people who watch this play out every sailing: know your habits honestly, read the per-drink cap, buy before you board, and never assume “unlimited” means the same thing on every ship. The package that’s worth it is the one you’ve actually thought through.
AI Disclaimer: This article was created with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by a human editor.