Cruising (and drinking)

This explains it Granma1

www.tui.co.uk/destinations/faq/cruises/onboard-your-marella-cruises-ship/how-much-are-drinks-onboard-marella-cruises

The upgraded premium package is about £12 per person per night if booked in advance, slightly more if you do it onboard.

You can also pay the individual supplement for a particular drink as a one-off.

If a cruise says all inclusive (TUI) does that mean anything you wish to drink or just certain beers wines etc.

lazydays Who are you cruising with?
It does make a difference on your choice.

I agree.

We cruise Viking River often. We're quite content with 24-7 unlimited fizzy water, coffee, plus wine and beer at meals. However, we never go to the bar and entertainment area, nothing we need there.

If you are sailing from Southampton - ask for a kettle and a teapot in your room. They are more than happy to provide them as they know the English/British are a nation of tea drinkers. You can always bring back some fresh milk from the buffet to keep in your fridge.
At breakfast in the dining room, (we are not fond of the buffets as we like the calm of being served), I always ask for a pot of tea with 2 bags. As previously said, you can also take your own teabags as those provided are very weak

This isn't strictly re a drinks package, but hopefully a helpful hint for actual or would-be cruisers. Some regulars may know this already!

We're keen on a decent cup of tea. We always take a couple of mugs, as the usual cups on ships are for coffee, tiny, hopeless!

We ALSO take our own teabags (Yorkshire for us, but whatever you like). This is because so many ships have feeble, American style teabags, (Liptons is one brand), and you'd need 3 in a cup to make it even vaguely drinkable. A line like Fred Olsen, which mostly caters for let's say the 'more mature' British cruise passenger, may well have tea options that you recognise.

I recall on our 2nd or 3rd cruise, we were on a table for 10 for dinner, mostly Brits. The waiter came to ask re 'coffee', I asked for tea please, and that always pees them off. They are likely to return with a cup of 'hot' water, and a separate teabag. On the 2nd night, we had our own teabags ready (though the merely 'hot'-ish water isn't ideal), but we had something drinkable. Most of the table perked up, "where did you get those"? We explained they'd come from home,
and if your own mugs can travel in a box (we'd bought some in a West Indies souvenir shop) there's space for most of the teabags you'd need.

That was ages ago, these days most ships have a decent buffet with a tea/coffee station (or several) - easier to use those than stay in the restaurant.

Oh, AND >>> never be afraid to use the buffet if you don't fancy the MDR - Main Dining Room - menu, it's often underused in the evenings, and if you happen to fancy 3 starters and 4 puddings, that's no problem in there! The menu is available from maybe mid-morning.

We absolutely HATE 'formal' nights in the MDR (I know, some folk love all that dressing up, but we did it once, that was enough), so those nights it's the buffet. [I assume some ships STILL have a 'formal' night??].

Pay as you go for drinks and get plenty of exercise at places of interest or swimming is the best thing to counteract it all.

Lots of older people eating too much and drinking even more on cruises must be a recipe for disaster I would have thought.

We're going on a cruise soon; I've been before but this is a first time for my husband. We got a full drinks package included for free! Not sure how that worked but I'm not complaining. We're not heavy drinkers either but it includes premium teas and coffees and so on. As our destination is ultra-expensive Iceland I'm quite grateful that I shall feel no need to sample the local alcoholic beverages.

We’ve been cruising for well over 20yrs, mostly with Princess and some with P&O. Last year we did our first SAGA cruise.
We are not big drinkers but did buy a wine package. Won’t be doing that again as we like a glass of wine with lunch & dinner but no more than that. We always buy coffee cards and find them to be good value for delicious coffee. SAGA include all alcohol, delicious coffee & tea in their prices.

Who are you cruising with?
It does make a difference on your choice.
We cruise with P and O and buy the wine package onboard.
We only drink wine never spirits.
We have one bottle between us and if we don’t drink it all that evening we keep it in the fridge for us for the next evening or occasionally we take it back to the cabin after dinner and finish it on the balcony or put it in our fridge for the next lunch if we aren’t going on a trip the next day.
We cruise with another couple they do the same thing and they just order the wine they like.
We find the cost is less than the mark up of a good restaurant so quite happy.
One trick re drinking water I can give everyone rather than paying for bottled water or refilling your drinking bottles every day is to get your steward or butler to bring you an ice bucket morning and evening. This is drinkable water and free!

We have been cruising for 25 years. The early days with P&O and Cunard. These days we go on Saga where everything is included. Never have we bought a drinks package.

For the OP, NO, you do NOT have to take the drinks package. We've been on several cruises, assorted firms, and NEVER felt remotely tempted. Yes, many firms promote such packages.

Once or twice, if at a table for two, we've had a bottle of wine, that was fine, didn't seem wildly priced, quality OK.

As many have said, cruise companies differ in policy, why not sign up to a website like Cruise.co.uk, they have a very large forum and d/base full of Qs and As. But you've had lots of sensible advice on here too!

Most questions have already been answered, several times over!

A drinks package covers mineral water, speciality coffee and alcohol, you don’t have to have 15 glasses of wine. If in the Caribbean you could easily get through a lot of water. Included coffee is American drip coffee, if you want a latte or cappuccino this would be extra, it all adds up. Personally I would have the drinks package.

I don't know which cruise liner you're going on but I've been on several cruises. I worked as a PA to a disabled couple and travelled on P&O and Royal Caribbean several times and also with my DH when I retired. We were always seated together in the main dining room and chose our own table in the self service restaurant. Drinks were larger on the American ship so good value. There's also several cafeterias serving tea coffee soft drinks cakes etc all inclusive of the price. We didn't bother with the drinks package as I don't drink alcohol every day. Drinking water is available free in the restaurant and self service. Have a lovely holiday.

Honestly as a cruiser don't waste your money unless you are heavy drinkers. You can order drinks to suit you and there is also no way you will spend £800 that way. Also unless tips are included go to the Pursers Office at the start of the cruise and adk for tips to be taken off and you can give tips individually especially to cabin staff. Have a great trip!

I have recently returned from an MSC cruise. We had the drinks package. I wouldn’t have it again. Our wine choices were White (Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio or Prosecco) Red (Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot). I tried 4 out of 5 of those. I like wine but didn’t find limited choice very enticing. The only whiskey on offer was Jamisons. The only beer available on the package was Heineken. I thought I would try all the cocktails but didn’t because having tried two on different days they were more like slushies. I wouldn’t do the drinks package again. I didn’t find it good value. That said it is nice to have a glass of wine with lunch on seadays.

We are also going on our first cruise. Neither of us are drinkers but occasionally enjoy the odd tipple. Despite that I chose the ‘drinks’ package for several reasons: drinks are expensive on board, the drinks included in the package are known brands whereas the standard are not and are reported to be “awful”; the package also included the fastest wifi and several hundred dollars towards trips. There were a few other perks too, but mostly I just want to have my first cruise an easy experience without running up an unknown, potentially large bill. On board I’ll work out if it was good value for money or not.
I did begin to try to work out if we would save money without the most expensive package but gave up.
Enjoy your cruise.

We have cruised many times (over 30) with mainly Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, MSC, Princess etc (we have never sailed P&O, Fred Olsen or NCL) and have sometimes had the drinks package and sometimes not.

We are not big drinkers but the price of the drinks are usually expensive and the American lines, will add 20% service charge per drink. The drinks packages usually include coffees, water, milkshakes etc which can also bump up the cost without the package.

You need to decide how much you will actually drink (around $13 a glass or up to $17 for a cocktail + service charge, to see if a package is worth it.

If your cruise is port intensive (i.e. you get off the ship each day) a package is not such good value, but if you have a few sea days, or you are doing a repostioning cruise, it would be worth considering.

Marella cruises (TUI) are all inclusive and so the cost of the drinks are built into the price

We cruise regularly and never buy a drinks package. We enjoy a drink. Before dinner, a glass if wine with our evening meal and maybe a drink or two afterwards. Our bill rarely exceeds our on board spend, around £500 for 2 weeks.
It is well known that drinks packages are only profitable for the cruise line not for the guest.

Olsen !

We have mostly travelled with Fred Olaf . We have never bought a drinks package but usually had a drink or perhaps two most nights snd found the onboard prices very reasonable despite them having a captive audience.

I am teetotal, my husband is not and can sink a pint or 6 when he is holidaying. Medically I can't drink so I would find it quite discriminatory if I couldn't be one of the party should the others want to buy the drinks package. I wonder how they can insist on that.

We had a drinks package thrown in as a perk once and would never have got our moneys worth if we had had to pay for it.
We like to cruise with Viking. They are more expensive but wine and beer are included with meals. Soft drinks and posh coffees at any time.

I recommend PAYG unless you are a big drinker. Basic drinks are always free from the buffet.

I agree its each cabin, not table

I guess the point is that all cruise companies don't do the same thing. Our cruise is with MSC and I should probably take a closer look at the 'rules' as I am getting a lot of my information from the MSC Facebook groups - presuming the participants have been on the cruises and know what they are talking about - but I should do due diligence!
I am happy to pay per drink but mainly just amazed at the thought of anyone drinking 15 alcoholic drinks in one evening (if ashore during the day) - the mind boggles and I know it isn't compulsory that you have to have all 15 but I know a few people who would see that as a gauntlet thrown down.