Royal Caribbean, Goose Creek Travel

Cruise Line Drink Packages Explained: What’s Included Across the Major Lines

One of the most common questions I get before a cruise is some version of “Do I need the drink package?” It’s a fair thing to wonder about, because the packages aren’t cheap and every line structures them a little differently. Some include gratuity in the price, some add it on top. Some have a daily drink cap, some don’t. And the non-alcoholic and soda-only options often get overlooked, even though they’re a good fit for families, kids, and anyone who’d rather skip the alcohol.

Below is a straightforward rundown of the drink packages on seven major cruise lines — what’s in them, the soda and non-alcoholic tiers, and, for Princess, the bundled Plus and Premier packages that fold in things like gratuities and Wi-Fi alongside the drinks.

A quick, important note before we dive in: all prices and inclusions here are accurate as of the publication date at the bottom of this post. Cruise lines change these constantly — prices, per-drink caps, gratuity rates, and what’s included all shift. Treat the numbers below as a snapshot to plan around, and always confirm the current details for your specific ship and sail date before you book. Source links are at the bottom so you can check my work.

Norwegian Cruise Line

Norwegian keeps its alcohol side simple with one main package, plus non-alcoholic options.

Unlimited Open Bar (Premium Beverage Package) — This is the package most guests receive through Norwegian’s “More at Sea” promotion (formerly “Free at Sea”). It covers cocktails, spirits, wine by the glass, and beer priced up to about $15 each, plus fountain soda and juice. Retail is around $109 per person, per day, but through the promotion you typically pay only the daily gratuity instead — about $28.50 per person, per day for 2026 sailings. Norwegian’s service charge on packages is 20%, which is on the higher end. There’s no daily limit on drinks, though you’re generally held to two drinks per order.

Free at Sea Plus (upgrade) — For roughly $50 per person, per day on top of the standard package, this adds top-shelf spirits, 50-plus premium wines and champagnes by the glass, all Starbucks coffee drinks, bottled water, and energy drinks, and it removes the per-drink price ceiling.

Non-alcoholic options:

Unlimited Soda Package — about $12.50 per person, per day (plus 20%). Fountain sodas at bars, lounges, and restaurants.
Unlimited Starbucks Package — about $16.50 per person, per day (plus 20%). Specialty coffees and teas.

One quirk worth knowing: if one adult in a cabin buys the open bar, all other adults 21+ in that cabin generally have to buy it too.

Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean uses dynamic pricing, so the exact daily rate depends on your ship, sail date, and itinerary. Pre-cruise prices are almost always lower than onboard.

Deluxe Beverage Package — Royal’s only unlimited-alcohol package. It covers cocktails, beer, wine by the glass, and spirits up to $14 per drink, plus non-alcoholic perks: soda, bottled water, juices, specialty coffee, Red Bull, and shakes. Typical range is roughly $70–$125 per person, per day, plus an 18% gratuity. No daily cap, but one drink at a time. As with most lines, if one adult in the cabin buys it, all adults must.

Royal Refreshment Package — The “everything but alcohol” tier. Includes soda, mocktails, specialty coffee, fresh and bottled juices, smoothies, and shakes. Roughly $29–$40 per person, per day, plus 18%.

Classic Soda Package — Fountain soda and Coca-Cola Freestyle access. Roughly $10–$16 per person, per day, plus 18%.

Heads-up on a recent change: As of March 15, 2026, the Coca-Cola Freestyle souvenir cup and Freestyle machine access are no longer included with the Deluxe or Refreshment packages — those packages still include canned and fountain soda at bars and dining venues, but Freestyle machine access now requires buying the $4.99 cup onboard. The Classic Soda Package still includes the Freestyle cup.

Carnival Cruise Line

Carnival’s packages include the service charge in the way they’re commonly quoted, and the alcohol package has a firm daily cap.

CHEERS! Beverage Program — Covers a wide range of drinks priced $20 or under, including cocktails, beer, wine by the glass, spirits, specialty coffee, energy drinks, sodas, and juice. There’s a 15 alcoholic drink per day limit (measured over a 24-hour period); non-alcoholic drinks are unlimited. Pricing is about $69.95 per person, per day pre-cruise ($74.95 onboard), plus a 20% service charge — roughly $83.94 all-in pre-cruise. If one adult in the cabin buys it, all adults 21+ must.

CHEERS! Zero Proof — Everything CHEERS! includes except the alcohol: specialty coffee, sodas, mocktails, energy drinks, and more. Around $35.40 per person, per day pre-cruise with the service charge included.

Bottomless Bubbles — The soda-only package: unlimited fountain soda and juice. As of April 2026 it’s about $11.99 per adult, per day plus a 20% service charge, with a lower kids’ rate around $6.95. It does not include bottled water, specialty coffee, or energy drinks.

One scheduling note: on sailings from certain U.S. ports (Texas, Virginia, and New York), the alcohol package doesn’t activate until the second day due to state law.

Princess Cruises (including Plus & Premier)

Princess is a little different from the others because its drink packages are usually purchased as part of a bundled fare — Princess Plus or Princess Premier — that folds the beverage package together with gratuities, Wi-Fi, and other perks. You can buy just the beverage package on its own (the Plus Beverage Package runs about $64.99 per person, per day plus 18%), but most guests take one of the bundles because the math tends to favor it.

Here’s what each bundle includes.

Princess Plus — About $65 per person, per day pre-cruise (roughly $70 on the newest ships, Sun Princess and Star Princess). It includes:

Plus Beverage Package — cocktails, wine, beer, spirits, soda, specialty coffee, and mocktails up to $15 each, with a 15 alcoholic drink daily limit and unlimited non-alcoholic drinks. Bottled water up to 12 per day.
Crew appreciation (gratuities) — the daily tips for your stateroom and dining staff, paid on your behalf. On their own these run about $18–$20 per person, per day depending on stateroom type, so this is a meaningful chunk of the value.
Wi-Fi — one device per guest on MedallionNet Max (Princess’s Starlink-based internet).
Waived fees for OceanNow (order-anywhere) and room service delivery.
Four casual dining meals per person, per voyage at spots like the pizzeria or pub-style venues.

Princess Premier — About $100 per person, per day pre-cruise (roughly $105 on Sun and Star Princess). It includes everything in Plus, stepped up:

Premier Beverage Package — higher per-drink ceiling (up to about $20 per drink).
Wi-Fi for four devices per guest.
Crew appreciation included, same as Plus.
Unlimited casual and specialty dining.
Unlimited digital professional photos.
Reserved seating at theater shows.
Shore excursion credit that scales with cruise length — about $100 for 6–9 day cruises, $200 for 10–20 day cruises, and up to $300 for 21 days or longer.

So the big distinctions between Plus and Premier come down to the drink ceiling, four devices vs. one on Wi-Fi, specialty dining, the photo package, reserved show seating, and that shore excursion credit — the crew appreciation and waived delivery fees are in both.

Celebrity Cruises

Celebrity uses dynamic pricing like Royal Caribbean, and its Classic package is bundled into the line’s “All Included” fares. All packages carry a 20% service charge, and there’s no daily drink limit (one at a time).

Classic Drink Package — Beer, wine, cocktails, spirits, soda, and specialty coffee up to $10 per drink. Typically around $89 per person, per day (it can run lower on some sailings), plus 20%. This is the package included with an “All Included” fare.

Premium Drink Package — Raises the per-drink ceiling to about $17 and adds top-shelf spirits, premium wines and champagne by the glass, and premium bottled waters. Typically around $109–$120 per person, per day, plus 20%. If you already have Classic through your fare, upgrading to Premium usually runs about $12–$25 per person, per day.

Zero Proof (Non-Alcoholic) Package — Specialty coffees, mocktails, fresh juices, premium waters, and sodas. Around $30 per person, per day, plus 20%.

When you order a drink above your package’s limit, you pay only the difference (plus gratuity on that difference).

Holland America Line

Holland America offers two alcohol tiers and two non-alcoholic tiers. Note that the line’s beverage service charge increased to 20% as of June 1, 2026.

Signature Beverage Package — Beers, spirits, cocktails, and wines by the glass priced $11–$12 or under, plus everything in the non-alcoholic Quench package. About $50.95–$54.95 per person, per day pre-cruise ($60.95 onboard), plus service charge. There’s a combined 15-drink daily limit, with fountain sodas unlimited.

Elite Beverage Package — Steps the per-drink ceiling up to about $15–$16 and adds top-shelf options. About $55.95–$59.95 per person, per day pre-cruise ($65.95 onboard). The 15-drink daily limit applies to alcoholic drinks only; non-alcoholic drinks are unlimited.

Non-alcoholic options:

Quench — the premium non-alcoholic package: premium coffees (espresso, cappuccino), juices, Coca-Cola products, signature mocktails, energy drinks, bottled water, and even milkshakes. About $17.95 per person, per day, plus service charge, with a 15-drink daily cap on everything except fountain soda.
Coca-Cola Package — fountain soda only (plus Freestyle machines on select ships). About $8 per person, per day, plus service charge.

Like most lines, Holland America now lets you pay only the difference on drinks priced above your package limit.

MSC Cruises

MSC simplified its North American lineup in 2025, retiring the old Easy and Easy Plus packages there. For U.S. sailings, the main options are Premium Extra plus the non-alcoholic tiers, and MSC includes gratuities in its package prices.

Premium Extra Package — MSC’s comprehensive alcohol package: premium spirits, cocktails, wines by the glass, champagne, beers, specialty coffees, soft drinks, and bottled water, generally up to about $15–$16 per drink. Pricing runs roughly $85 per person, per day on cruises of four nights or longer and about $95 on three-night sailings, with gratuities already built in. There’s a 15 alcoholic drink daily limit; non-alcoholic drinks are unlimited, and you pay the difference on anything above the cap.

Alcohol-Free Package — Soft drinks, fruit juices, non-alcoholic cocktails, energy drinks, smoothies, specialty teas and coffees, and still and sparkling water. Around $18 per person, per day.

Minors Package — A non-alcoholic package required for minors sailing in a cabin where the adults have purchased Premium Extra.

As with other lines, MSC requires everyone in the same cabin who’s dining together to be on a package if one guest buys one (minors included, via the Minors Package, except children under 3).

A Few Things That Apply Almost Everywhere

Gratuity is real money. Some lines quote prices with the service charge included (Carnival, MSC); others add 18–20% on top (Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Holland America). Always check which you’re looking at.
Pre-cruise beats onboard. On the dynamic-pricing lines especially, buying ahead through the cruise planner is usually cheaper, and prices sometimes drop further before sailing.
The whole-cabin rule. On most lines, if one adult buys the alcohol package, the other adults in the cabin have to as well.
Free drinks still exist. Water, standard coffee and tea, and often lemonade, iced tea, and breakfast juices come with your fare on every line — no package required.
Non-alcoholic packages are easy to overlook. If you don’t drink alcohol but you do love your morning latte, a couple of sodas, and bottled water, the soda-only or non-alcoholic tiers are often the better fit than paying per drink.

If you’re planning a cruise — solo, family, or a group — and want help sorting out whether a package makes sense for how you actually like to sail, that’s exactly the kind of detail I’m happy to walk through with you. Every ship and sailing prices these a little differently, and I can pull the current numbers for your specific cruise.

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Prices, inclusions, per-drink caps, and gratuity rates in this post are accurate as of the publication date and are subject to change at any time by the cruise lines. Confirm current details for your specific ship and sailing before booking.

Sources (verified at publication):

Norwegian — official beverage package flyer & pages: https://www.ncl.com/ ; overview: https://eatsleepcruise.com/norwegian-drink-packages-complete-guide/
Royal Caribbean — official beverage FAQ: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/topics/beverage-package ; Freestyle change reporting: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/royal-caribbean-beverage-package-costs-info-tips
Carnival — official drink packages page: https://www.carnival.com/drink-packages ; pricing detail: https://eatsleepcruise.com/complete-guide-to-drink-packages-on-carnival-cruise-line/
Princess — official Plus & Premier terms: https://www.princess.com/cruise-deals-promotions/plus-premier-cruise-packages/terms-and-conditions ; 2026 updates: https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/princess-cruises-updates-premier-and-plus-packages
Celebrity — package guide: https://www.tastyitinerary.com/celebrity-cruise-drink-packages/ ; pricing detail: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2026/03/24/celebrity-drink-package
Holland America — official beverage package page: https://www.hollandamerica.com/en/us/faq/onboard-cruise-experience/beverage/what-are-my-beverage-package-option
MSC — official drinks packages page: https://www.msccruises.com/ ; 2026 overview: https://eatsleepcruise.com/complete-guide-to-drink-packages-on-msc-cruises/

Published July 2026.

An East Coast Experience – My Cruise from Boston to Canada and New England, Part 2

Posted 3 years ago by Colby Otte

This is Part Two of my “An East Coast Experience – My Cruise from Boston to Canada and New England” trip report.

This is my first attempt at writing a travel blog, so let me know If you enjoy reading this, and feel free to share to those who might have interest in Boston or Cruising to Canada and New England. I am now accepting travel clients, so consider me when planning your next travel adventure.

Monday, October 24th 2022 – Bar Harbor, Maine

We spent Monday in Bar Harbor. We anchored a few miles off shore and we took local shuttle boats from the ship to the shore. The day was rainy and foggy, despite the bad weather we decided to go ashore. We ate lunch at a place named Geddy’s that served us amazing local seafood and chowder. We walked the town exploring the shops and returned to the ship.

Tuesday, October 25th 2022 – St. John, New Brunswick, Canada

This morning we docked in St. John. We opted not to go ashore but attend some of the activities and entertainment onboard.

I took the opportunity to explore the ship and take some pictures of the room and public areas.

Wednesday, October 26th 2022 – Sea Day

Wednesday was the first sea day of the cruise, I was up early looking at the sunrise from the top decks. Took some shots of breakfast at the buffet that morning and was surprised at the variety and selection.

Thursday, October 27th 2022 – Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

This was a fun port. We didnt have excursions planned, but we did decide to just walk around the city and the port. This is where I lost my cruise card while walking around. More on that after the photos!

So, here is what happened to me when I lost my cruise card in port. I can only guess I lost it in one of the shops we went into when walking around the town. I realized it when we had returned to the port and went to grab my ID. I approached the security guard checking for docs and told him I lost my cruise card. He looked over my ID, checked the passengar manifest and then had someone escort me to the ships security and tell them I lost my card. The ships security also checked my ID against a passenger manifest and then waived me in to another person who took me through security and then checked my ID again. It took about 20 more minutes that a normal embarkation would. It really was not a bad experience. Once passed security checks, I went to guest services and got me a new card.

Friday, October 28th 2022 – Sydney, Nova Scotia

The first day with GREAT weather!

Saturday, October 29th 2022 – Sea Day / Ship Tour

This was a Fun day! We had a chance to do a ship tour, we did pay about $130 per person for this experience. It was WELL worth it. They took us on a tour of the galley, cargo area, cold storage and provisioning areas, engine control room, the bridge and SOOO much more!

Wrap up!

Thanks for reading this follow up to Part 1. I hope to have more of these as I am able to travel.

Follow Goose Creek Travel on Facebook , for travel quotes, travel photos, cruise deals, ideas and fun posts. Contact Colby and lets plan your next cruise vacation!

An East Coast Experience – My Cruise from Boston to Canada and New England, Part 1

Posted 4 years ago by Colby Otte

This is Part One of my “An East Coast Experience – My Cruise from Boston to Canada and New England” trip report.

Friday, October 21st 2022

On Friday we drove from home to Salt Lake City the day before our flights that were very early in the morning on Saturday. I have always enjoyed travel, but I still get a little anxious when that trip gets closer and closer. Not that anything major will go wrong, but mostly that I am excited to try something new, new city, new cruise line, new destinations, new anything. I am super grateful for all this journey has taught me, one of which is that our world is massive, and I have just began exploring what it has to offer.

The hotel we stayed at was the Radisson Hotel Salt Lake City Airport. The hotel was okay, clean enough for this quick overnight pit stop. We did run into a few issues, namely the ice machines. I tried 3 floors ice machines before I finally found one that would work… the bartender at the lobby bar. He was really helpful and filled our ice bucket with a smile. We also found out our phone was not operational as well, we weren’t really worried about it, but did report it to the front desk when we checked out the next morning.

Saturday, October 22, 2022

Flights began early in the morning, so we were up before the hotel breakfast was offered. We booked these flights on American Airlines as we had a credit left with them from a previous trip that was canceled due to Covid. If you have not explored the new Salt Lake Airport, it looks beautiful, very modern and open, has a lot of potential. One of the downsides is the trek across to the B concourse, its about a half mile… no joke. They are working on finishing Phase 2 of the rebuild which will add a quicker walkway and eventually a tram… yay!

American Airlines 3282 Salt Lake City to Chicago
Canadair Regional Jet 900
Depart 7:47am Arrive 12:01pm

It was a beautiful sunrise over the eastern mountains in Salt Lake City

Once in the B concourse, American operates several gates on the lower level. Once passed the gate counters, you walk through a hallway where you exit onto the ramp area outside to board a bus. This bus takes you for about a 10 minute ride to your plane. I took this image of the plane walking up the boarding ramp. I could not believe this was real, that sunrise was completely mesmerizing.

The flight was uneventful.. we landed in Chicago on time, thankfully, because we had a short layover before our flight to Boston boarded. We grabbed a quick lunch… I think it was a Mickey D’s, but can not remember for sure.

American Airlines 2269 Chicago to Boston
Boeing 737-800
Depart 1:06pm Arrive 4:32 pm

Once landing in an destination airport… you begin that hurry-up-and-wait routine once you leave the plane… hurry to the baggage claim, wait for an eternity and eventually your baggage will show up… probably. We did that too, but didn’t have to wait very long for our baggage to be delivered. We shuffled around a little bit attempting to find where our hotel shuttle would pick us up. Eventually we asked an airport employee and she kindly pointed us in the right direction.

We stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott Boston Airport. It was the most reasonable we could find for the dates. While we were riding the Hotel’s airport shuttle to the hotel, I completed our check in on the Marriott App. It was AWESOME. We bypassed the front desk and went right to the room! 10/10 experience!

The hotel is nice, fairly quiet, mostly of business travelers holding meetings in the city or the airport. The hotel area is lacking food options within walking distance, being near the airport the area is mostly commercial. We ate that night in the hotel’s restaurant named Brinkley’s. It was okay, it felt like they had a breakfast area and converted it to a restaurant. We sat in chairs you could find in a lobby, ate on what felt like coffee tables. Very weird and would not recommend. Rest of the night was uneventful… mostly catching some sleeps.

Oh, quick story, while we were on the airport shuttle to the hotel, we met this group of gals, maybe in their 60-70’s, they were a hoot. They had just came from the city exploring and were having trouble taking the subway back to the hotel. Well they decided to just go back to the airport and call for the hotel shuttle, the same hotel shuttle we were on. During our ride we heard them talk about a cruise tomorrow, and we piped up that we were on that cruise as well. We talked about cruising on the way there and we even saw that same group in the restaurant that night as they were making plans with several other cruisers for a group shuttle the next day. We later saw them getting back on the ship in… Sydney or Charlottetown… can’t remember. What a small world.

Sunday, October 23, 2022

Its Cruise Day! When i woke up around 8am, we had some breakfast from the hotel… oh, the hotel doesn’t offer an included breakfast?.. sad. I ordered some donuts and breakfast sandwiches via Doordash from Dunkin. They were actually pretty good. This was my first experience with fresh donuts, they were good and left me on a good sugar high for about a day.

One of Boston’s many towers near the waterfront.

We were ready for checkout around 9am and ordered out Lyft, it arrived quite quickly and we headed to the cruise port. From the hotel to the cruise port is about a 15 minute ride, or about 2ish miles. Very close. We drove through the south part of the city and watched several building pass by. I love modern skyscrapers, the metal and glass combo is awesome.

We arrived at Flynn Cruise port and after a long, long walk the wrong way, we dropped off the luggage at the porters, left them a tip, and found ourselves a spot at the end of the line. The wait wasn’t too bad, I read on the Facebook group for this cruise the ship arrived a little bit late into port and so boarding was delayed. Delayed it was, it was around 11am and boarding had not begun, it usually begins

A look at the docks between the Voyager of the Seas and the Flynn Cruise Terminal in Boston

around 10 or 10:30. Once the doors opened, the line went quickly though security, and then to check in. I presented my passport and my Royal Caribbean app with my boarding QR code, they scanned it, and we were done. Following the line to the ship, we entered the catwalk boarding ramp and walked on the ship.

Walking onboard a cruise ship is very comparable to walking into a grand resort. Each ship is decked out with shops and restaurants, entertainment venues, staterooms and pools. I will say that once onboard, the first 20-30 minutes on the ship can be confusing. I suggest you find a comfy place to sit to chill and take it all in, grab a drink if you have to and start your muster process. The muster drill is a maritime required drill instructing passengers what to do in case of an emergency. Its something that each and every

Not far away from the cruise port is Boston’s Logan International Airport.

passenger must attend before the ship can leave the dock. Many cruise lines do their muster the old fashioned/pre-covid way of taking your life jacket from your stateroom to your muster stations, usually in a dining room or lounge, sitting through a 5-10 minute demonstration of how the life jackets work, the siren sound and then present your cruise card to the staff when you sign out to be check off their muster list. Thank goodness that is not the case on MOST cruise lines now. On Royal, much like we did with Carnival in March, we watched a 10 minute video on the app, listened to the siren sound, walk to our muster station

and they scanned our cruise card and DONE. It is a lot simpler and a long time coming.

That night we choose to eat dinner at the Windjammer, the buffet style restaurant. The selection was really good and while I don’t recall specifics on what we ate that night, the buffet is large, and had a nice salad bar, dessert bar that would cause me a sugar coma, and a wide array of international and American dishes. They have several stations throughout the buffet that repeated, which was nice because if one section was busy, sometimes the other was not.

Cruise ships offer a wide variety of dining options to suit every taste and preference. From casual buffet-style eateries to fine dining restaurants, there is something for everyone on board. Many ships, like ours, feature a main dining room, where passengers can enjoy a multi-course meal in a formal setting. These restaurants offer a rotating menu of classic dishes, as well as options for special dietary needs. In addition, many ships have specialty restaurants that offer a unique dining experience. These could include a steakhouse, sushi bar, Italian trattoria, or even a tapas bar. For a more casual option, many ships have a buffet-style restaurant, like the Windjammer, that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Here, you can find a variety of dishes from different cuisines, as well as a salad bar, a dessert station and a soft-serve ice cream machine. With so many options, dining on a cruise ship can be one of the highlights of your vacation.

A look at the Schooner bar on Voyager of the Seas.

We spent most of the night in going to different trivia and other games. This is where we discovered one flaw with how Royal Caribbean designs the layout of their decks. The venues they chose to host the trivia contests at were quite small and didn’t have much seating. We attended a Harry Potter trivia held later in the cruise, it was held in the Schooner bar, a small venue with a grand piano in the center, that took up a large portion of the room and left only seats for about 50 people… I swear this Harry Potter trivia attracted almost the entire ship. Royal had a much larger venue that is perfect for large trivia contents like this called the Star Lounge and they choose to host that trivia in a smaller venue. I only have two issues with my first cruise with Royal Caribbean and this was one of them, but they made up for it in other ways.

A cold night on the lido deck of the Voyager of the Seas.

That night we felt very few effects of being on the ship. When at sea, you can feel the ship moving gently forward and rocking slightly with the waves. That night, and for the most of the cruise, it was very smooth, one of the smoothest I have been on. I explored the ship and found myself on the Lido deck being in the moment and enjoying my first night on the cruise.

This first part covers mostly the pre-cruise portion. The following parts will focus on the excursions and what we did at each port. Look for part two in a few weeks.