Then again, it might make you question why you didn't go to Sandals or some other all-inclusive resort instead.However, you don't have to give up the convenience and multiple destinations of a cruise to get your drink on.
Most cruise lines offer beverage packages as add-ons for about $60 to $70 per day, and sometimes you might catch a sale that takes 15 to 30% off those prices.
Psychologically, however, it is much harder to carve that much out of your travel budget.
Quite frankly, to justify buying the package, you need to have about 8 drinks a day, which is 4 times more than what my doctor recommends as a maximum.
Cruise lines offering free beverages have nonetheless found that to be a wonderful siren's song, one learned by luxury lines long ago, but many of those cost three times as much as a mainstream cruise.
Azamara Club Cruises, designed to fit into the wide niche between those very upscale cruises and the large ship cruises most travelers choose, includes free beverages on every voyage, plus free pre-paid gratuities for not just the barkeeps but for dining staff and room stewards. I must admit it is a very liberating feeling, even if you don't imbibe much alcohol. It makes it very easy to offer new friends a drink.
I would attribute having free beverages on Celebrity Cruises in ocean view rooms and above as having brought that great line to the attention of travelers who had previously ignored it.
While Celebrity now offers free beverages as a choice from a menu of amenities on most cruises, there is always an opportunity cost.
Specifically, there is quite frequently a lower price for Residents, Seniors or some other promotion without amenities that will save you $100-$300 per person or more. At that point, it still is a good deal for many people, especially if there happens to be a second free amenity that comes with the beverage package.
It should be noted that Celebrity includes tips for the bar staff in their drink packages.
Norwegian Cruise Lines includes open bar packages on essentially all of their cruises (except Hawaii), unless you buy the cheapest category labeled with the letter X or buy a last minute deal a few weeks before the cruise.
Let's face it: when you go out to a nightclub, it feels right to order a beverage, even if that's not necessarily the case when sitting in front of the boob tube back home.
Unlike Celebrity, NCL always charges in advance for waitstaff tips, so expect to pay about $18 per day or more for those tips along with the cruise. So, on a 7 night cruise, you pay about $125 (subject to change), which is approximately what you'd spend on two drinks per day with tips, depending on your tastes.
If you only like one drink a day, and especially if you prefer that to be splitting a bottle of fine wine at dinner (and I should note the waiter will save and mark your unfinished wine for your next dinner), then obviously this wouldn't be a good deal.
However, a river cruise or Viking Ocean might suit you perfectly. They include free flowing local wines and beer with dinner, and also lunch on most lines. In fact, some river cruise lines like Tauck and Uniworld include all of your beverages on board, plus all of your shore excursions, pre-paid gratuities, internet and many other items for which you would expect to pay extra.
As mentioned, most cruise lines offer beverage packages as an add-on. Occasionally they run specials where they include beverage packages as an amenity, but thus far they seem to be experimenting.
That doesn't mean that it can't be a win-win proposition, where it is also the best value for you.
Before paying extra, it's good to consider that on a port-intensive itinerary, you'll spend much of the your time on land, where most onboard drink packages enure no benefit.
"Better service leads to better trips!"
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