All You Can Drink Packages: By Cruise Line ? Chris Cruises

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All You Can Drink packages are gaining favor among cruise travelers and are being rolled out on to more ships by more cruise lines than ever.? Some have done the math and know they will come out ahead.? Others like the idea of not having a bunch of individual charges on their shipboard account. Critics don?t care for the idea at all.

While All You Can Drink programs vary in price and benefits among lines that offer them, expect to pay about $50 per person, per day to drink well-brand cocktails, house wines and domestic beer.? Universally, all plans require that if one passenger on a booking opts for the program, all guests over 21 years of age on that booking must also participate.

Offered on some ships of Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises, Royal Caribbean International and Norwegian Cruise Lines, here are the details of each plan:

Carnival Cruise Lines calls it the Cheers! program (formerly the My Awesome Bar program). The price is $42.95 per person per day plus an automatic 15% gratuity of $6.44 and can be used to order all wines by the glass, beer and individual cocktails priced at $10 and lower.

Offered on Carnival Legend, Carnival Conquest, Carnival Breeze, Carnival Dream, Carnival Splendor and Carnival Victory, Cheers! program members can also order full bottles of wine and champagne, as well as wines by the glass, beers and individual cocktails priced above $10,at a 25% discount.

Royal Caribbean International has two plans.?

The Classic Beverage Package includes beer and house wines by the glass along with all non-alcoholic cocktails, fountain soda and juices for $45 per person, per day, including gratuities.

The Premium Beverage Package includes beer, house wines by the glass, all non-alcoholic cocktails, fountain soda and juices plus frozen alcoholic drinks, as well as all alcoholic cocktails including premium brands for $55 per person, per day, including gratuities.

The packages will be available on all Royal Caribbean ships sailing itineraries of seven nights or longer by early 2013.

Celebrity Cruises has been in the all-you-can-drink business since 2010 and has a program that starts with a basic, Non-Alcoholic Package ($14 per person, per day) that includes Coca Cola products, fresh squeezed and bottled juices, premium coffees and teas and non-premium bottled water.

One step up, the Premium Non-Alcoholic Package ($18 per person, per day) gets premium bottled water from Evian, Perrier and San Pellegrino, specialty coffees and teas, non-alcoholic frozen drinks and smoothies, Red Bull and specialty waters from Vitamin Water.

Moving into alcoholic beverages, Celebrity has their Classic Package ($44 per person, per day) that includes everything in the Classic Non-Alcoholic package as well as all Beers up to $5 per serving, and spirits, cocktails, frozen drinks, and wines by the glass up to $8 per serving.

The Premium Package ($44 per person, per day) includes all the benefits of our Premium Non-Alcoholic Package. In addition, you can enjoy our entire selection of Beers as well as Spirits, Cocktails and Wines by the Glass up to $12 per serving.

Norwegian Cruise Line, relatively new in the all you can drink business, is testing an all-inclusive drink package on three of its ships, Norwegian Sun, Norwegian Gem and Norwegian Jade, priced at $49 per person per day plus gratuity.

Attorney James Walker has been practicing maritime personal injury law since 1983. Walker deals with the result of cruise line policies and programs and says ?we have found that there is a direct correlation between excess booze and passengers going overboard, sexual assault, and brawls between passengers, plus drunken passengers doing insanely dangerous and stupid stunts,? on his Cruise Law News blog.

Our thoughts:? There are plenty of ways for cruise passengers to make a nuisance of themselves.? Having or not having beverage packages don?t open the door for more and may actually close the door to some.? Cruise line crew members who handle and serve liquor go through training, much like a land-based bartender might, on how to handle those who have had a bit too much.? Will the all-you-can-drink passenger become overly rowdy if cut off after having a few too many?? Probably, but that?s what cruise lines have security people for.

Oceania and UK-based Thomson Cruises also offer some version of an all-you-can-drink package.

Flickr photo by Odalaigh

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Source: http://www.chriscruises.net/2012/12/all-you-can-drink-packages-by-cruise-line/

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