This morning I woke up thinking about cocktails, wine and Jack Daniels… before you worry that my breakfast coco-pops are swimming in a bowl of Baileys, I should add that my thoughts were related more to forecasting alcohol consumption on our upcoming cruise, rather than fancying a shot of brandy in my morning coffee.
As many of you know, we are travelling aboard Carnival Magic in October and I am in the throes of planning everything from pre-cruise hotels and sightseeing, to shore excursions, bucket list experiences, sea day activities, and of course the big question of whether or not to opt for a pre-paid drinks package.
Carnival, like many cruiselines, offer a pre-paid beverage package which can be bought prior to travel (& at a slightly higher rate once on board). At a cost of $51.95 per person per day (plus 18% gratuity) and with a limit of 15 drinks per day… but at first glance the ‘Carnival Cheers Beverage Program’ doesn’t seem to be my cup of tea – if you’ll pardon the pun.
In all honesty if I were to drink 15 drinks a day, I am pretty certain that I wouldn’t remember a thing about my holiday – resulting in zero precious holiday memories, likely a day or so lost to a raging hangover, and undoubtedly some dubious holiday snaps along the way!
Yet being somewhat of a money-saving-geek and unable to lay this issue to rest without whipping out my calculator, I felt the need to weigh up the potential costs versus savings on the package.
For the children, very little mathematical calculation is needed and I think it is safe to say we shall opt for the ‘Bottomless Bubbles’ package… at $5.95 per child (plus 18% gratuity); this offers unlimited sodas and juice throughout the cruise. Whilst I understand that iced tea, lemonade, water, hot drinks and milk can be obtained free of charge from the buffet restaurant throughout the voyage; the option of being able to order soft drinks from beside the pool, and from the various bars & eateries throughout the ship, has an appeal and ease of purchase which is well worth the approx $14 per day it will set us back for the kids.
However, gIven that we have 4 port days on our 8 day voyage and are highly unlikely to be partying into the small hours with two children in tow, I was convinced that my findings would almost certainly lean away from pre-purchasing the adult drinks package… yet I must admit, when looking at this from a scientific study standpoint, I am clearly more of a drinker than I thought!
When it comes to the evening, I have to say I do very much enjoy a glass or two of red wine with dinner… (in all honesty, usually 2 glasses of red wine as we tend to share a bottle). With my preferred red wine retailing aboard Carnival at £8.50 per glass / $32 per bottle, this gives me my first figure to plug into the daily spreadsheet.
Adding in a pre-dinner drink, which we tend to enjoy out on deck before making our way to the dining room, would set us back another $5.75 each.
& our traditional after-dinner-carajillo; coffee with brandy, would add an additional $8.75 per person to our dinner treats; more so if we opted for an added espresso to finish.
On the subject of coffee, we tend to use our cafetière at home, alongside those handy little coffee pods for cappuccino, americano, mocha & suchlike, so we like to indulge in a speciality coffee or two of a morning, which would set us back $2.95 – $3.50 per coffee dependent on size.
Without going into too much detail as to evening drinks, I think we would more than likely have at least one alcoholic beverage later on in the evening and a nightcap, so factored in around $12 – $15+; which would rise of course, dependant on the number of drinks we actually had that particular evening.
On sea days, we would likely have a small beer or light wine with lunch… $5.75 / $6.50, so I added that in to my ‘sea days column’…
… and even on port days, I must admit that I am rather partial to an afternoon cocktail once back on board… & hubby’s arm can be twisted quite easily to sampling a Long Island Iced Tea, so another $8.75 each is added to my spreadsheet.
Tallying up my columns, I was surprised to find that we would already be making good use of the package and showing savings on both sea days and port days across a variety of drinks… and this was without factoring in soft drinks, holiday mocktails and any further speciality hot drinks throughout the day.
It seems to be that with morning coffees at $6, dinner-related drinks at around $30, plus night time drinking of $12-$15+, plus hot & cold beverages and the odd cocktail/beer/wine during the day, we would actually be quite easily spending $51.95 per person per day.
For me, the fact that we would likely be spending around $50+ per person per day whether we bought the package or not, instantly made the pre-paid option more appealing… it would also make for a hassle-free option and as I am the type of person who tends to do mental gymnastics with holiday spending, pre paying for a drinks package would mean zero fear-factor when it comes to settling the on board account.
So as I close down my spreadsheet and open my cruise personaliser to add on the drinks package, I feel my research has been worthwhile and smile at the prospect of a holiday where I can relax knowing the costs of our drinks has been covered in advance and simply enjoy the journey… Cheers!
For more information on pre-paid drinks packages, excursions, pre & post cruise stays & all those little extras which make your cruise holiday extra-special… as well as a wide range of ocean and river cruise options; as always, make me your first port of call 🙂
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