Best Cruise Line Drink Packages, Ranked by Cost Per Day

Carnival’s CHEERS! program usually has the lowest break-even point, thanks to a high per-drink cap and a daily rate that tends to sit below the other big lines. Royal Caribbean’s Deluxe Beverage Package is the best mid-market option when it is on sale. Norwegian’s Premium Plus suits heavy drinkers of premium spirits, but it is the most expensive per day, and its “Free at Sea” promotion can make a package effectively free. Celebrity and Princess work best when the drinks come bundled into a fare tier you were going to buy anyway.

Which line has the “best” package depends on what you drink, how much, and which promotions are running when you book. This guide ranks the major lines, lists what each charges and covers, and then works through the rules that change the math: gratuity, the all-adults requirement, timing, and what you can bring aboard.

Prices below are typical ranges and move constantly with ship, sailing date, and sales. They are directional, not quotes. Confirm the current price and rules on your line’s own site, such as Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian, Celebrity, Princess, Holland America, or MSC. For how drinks fit into your total spend, see our Cruise Costs & Money hub.

How we ranked these packages

We compared each line’s main all-inclusive adult beverage package on four things:

Daily cost. Pre-cruise prices are usually lower than onboard prices.
Per-drink cap. The maximum drink price covered. You pay the difference on anything above it.
Break-even point. How many drinks a day you need to justify the price, with gratuity counted.
Value extras. Whether specialty coffee, bottled water, and juices are covered, and whether gratuity is included.

Ranked: best cruise drink packages

Carnival CHEERS! Best value per day. A high per-drink cap ($20) with a daily rate that is typically the lowest of the big lines, so the break-even is the easiest to hit. Every adult in the cabin must buy it.
Royal Caribbean Deluxe Beverage Package. Best middle-market choice and the best when discounted. The per-drink cap is lower ($14 on select ships and sail dates), so premium cocktails can trigger upcharges, but sales and “drinks included” promotions on a large fleet make it the most deal-friendly.
Celebrity Premium Package. Best for wine and craft cocktail drinkers. The cheaper Classic tier has a low cap that is easy to exceed on Celebrity’s menus, so most drinkers who want a package should price the Premium tier.
Princess Premier tier. Best bundle. Drinks come inside a fare tier along with dining, Wi-Fi, and other perks, so the value comes from the whole bundle rather than the drink math alone.
Norwegian Premium Plus. Best selection and the highest cap, but the highest daily rate and a gratuity added on top, so you need to drink heavily to come out ahead on a standalone purchase.

Drink package prices by line

Treat every figure as approximate and before gratuity unless stated. Verify before you buy.

Carnival, CHEERS!
- Price: starting at $69.95 per person per day when bought before sailing and $74.95 onboard, plus a 20% service charge, as listed on Carnival at time of writing. Check the current price.
- Covers: all spirits, cocktails, beer and wine by the glass with a menu price of $20 or less, with a 25% discount on spirits and wine by the glass above $20.
- Limits: up to 15 alcoholic drinks per 24-hour period (6 a.m. to 6 a.m.), and after that no more alcoholic drinks are served. Every adult in the cabin must buy it, and it must cover the whole cruise.
Royal Caribbean, Deluxe Beverage Package
- Price: roughly $60 to $105 per person per day depending on ship and sailing, plus an automatic 18% gratuity (Royal Caribbean). Check the current price on the line’s site.
- Covers: any single drink valued up to $14 on select ships and sail dates, including cocktails, spirits, beer, wine by the glass, specialty coffee, tea, soda, juice and bottled water (package details). Royal Caribbean states there is no daily drink limit.
- Not covered: drinks above the cap (you pay the difference), bottles, and minibar items. Both adults must buy.
Norwegian, Premium Plus
- Price: roughly $100 to $130 per person per day, plus gratuity. The standard Premium tier costs less and has a lower cap.
- Covers: a wide spirits list, a high cap, cocktails, beer, wine, specialty coffee, juice, and water.
- Context: the Free at Sea promotion often lets you pick a beverage package as a free perk, which beats the standalone price.
Celebrity, Classic and Premium
- Price: Classic roughly $60 to $80 and Premium roughly $85 to $110 per person per day, plus gratuity. Classic is often bundled into “Always Included” fares.
- Covers: Classic covers drinks up to $12 per serving and Premium up to $19, which opens most of the menu. Celebrity adds a 20% gratuity, states there is no daily drink limit, and requires all adults in a stateroom to buy the same package (Celebrity).
Princess, Plus and Premier
- Price: drinks sit inside the Plus (roughly $65 per day add-on) and Premier (roughly $100 per day add-on) tiers, which also bundle other perks.
- Covers: a cap around $15 on Plus and $20 on Premier, with a daily alcoholic drink limit on Plus.
MSC, Premium Extra
- Price: roughly $80 to $100 per person per day. MSC has reduced its lineup to a single main alcoholic package, so there is no budget tier.
- Covers: drinks up to roughly $16, with a daily limit of about 15 alcoholic drinks.
Holland America, Signature and Elite
- Price: typically the lowest of the mainstream lines, roughly $50 to $60 per person per day before gratuity.
- Covers: Signature has a cap around $12 and Elite around $16. Holland America also bundles drinks into its “Have It All” fare package.
Disney Cruise Line
- No standard unlimited alcohol package. Disney sells beer and wine in bundles and spirits by the glass. Check Disney Cruise Line for current bundles and for its rules on alcohol brought aboard.

Is a cruise drink package worth it?

Often not, in pure dollars, but the answer depends on how you drink. Most people who buy a package do not break even mathematically. What they are buying is budget certainty and the freedom to order without tallying costs. For some travelers that is worth it. For others it is not.

The break-even formula: daily package cost including gratuity, divided by the average price of what you actually order.

For example, a $75 package plus 18% gratuity is $88.50 per day. If your average cocktail or beer costs $10 to $12, you need roughly 7 to 9 drinks a day to break even. If you favor $14 to $16 cocktails, closer to 5 or 6. Coffee, juice, and bottled water count too if the package covers them. Run your own numbers in our drink package break-even calculator.

When a package makes sense

You reliably have five or more drinks a day, counting coffee and water.
You like specialty coffee every morning. Two lattes a day can recover $10 to $14 before you touch alcohol.
You want a fixed budget and no bill surprises.
It comes free with your fare, as with Norwegian’s Free at Sea or Celebrity’s Always Included.

When to skip it

You drink moderately. Two or three drinks a day costs far less than most packages.
You are away on long port days. Eight to ten hours ashore cuts the time you spend at the ship’s bars.
One adult does not drink. The all-adults rule makes a package hard to justify for a couple with one drinker.
It is a short sailing. Three or four nights gives you fewer days to spread the cost.
You plan to buy ashore. Check your line’s policy on bringing alcohol aboard before counting on this, as covered below.

Ways to get more from one

Order specialty coffee and bottled water if they are included.
Know your line’s cap before ordering. If you order a $17 cocktail on a $14 cap, you pay the $3 difference, and an automatic service charge may apply to it.
Cheaper add-ons exist if you do not want a full package: soda, coffee, and water packages, usually priced at a fraction of the alcohol package, can make sense for kids, non-drinkers, and heavy coffee drinkers.

What cruise lines include a drink package?

It depends on the kind of line. Luxury and premium lines tend to build drinks into the fare. Mainstream lines usually sell a package separately but often hand one out as a booking promotion.

Lines that include drinks in the fare: Regent Seven Seas and other ultra-luxury lines bundle drinks, gratuities, and excursions into one price. Virgin Voyages includes basic drinks such as sodas, drip coffee, and still water, with alcohol charged per drink. Many river cruise lines include beer and wine with meals.
Lines that often give a package free: Celebrity frequently bundles a package into “Always Included” or promotional fares, and Norwegian’s Free at Sea promotion often lists a beverage package among its choosable perks. Other lines run similar limited offers.

A fare with drinks included is not automatically cheaper or dearer. It front-loads the cost. To compare fairly, add the price of a package to any mainstream fare that does not include one. If you drink little, paying as you go can beat both. If you drink daily, an included or promotional package usually wins. Our guide to what’s included in your cruise fare covers the rest of the base fare.

Do cruise drink packages include gratuity?

On most lines, no. An automatic service charge of roughly 18 to 20 percent is added to the package price, so the real cost runs about a fifth above the advertised daily rate. That charge covers tips for the bar staff, so you do not tip on each drink. It is separate from the daily gratuity that pays your cabin steward and dining crew. See our guide to cruise gratuities for how those work.

A few lines and some promotions fold gratuity into the headline price, which is one reason two packages can look so different. Always read the checkout total rather than the advertised rate, and compare like with like.

“Unlimited” also has guardrails. Common rules are a per-drink cap, a daily limit on alcoholic drinks often around 15, one drink served at a time, and the crew’s right to decline service. Within those limits you can order what you like.

When are cruise drink packages cheapest?

Buy ahead online, ideally during a promotion. The pre-cruise price in your line’s cruise planner is almost always lower than the same package bought at a bar onboard, which is the most expensive way to buy.

Book your cruise, then check the planner price as a baseline.
Watch for sales, which lines often run around holidays and in the first-quarter wave season.
If the price drops again before you sail, many lines let you cancel and rebuy a pre-purchased package. Check your line’s rules.

Do not count on prices falling as sailing day nears. Unlike last-minute cabin fares, packages do not drop reliably. Buy when you see a genuine sale and skip the onboard purchase. And confirm the package is worth buying at all with the calculator before you lock in a price.

No. Packages are sold per person and tied to your individual cruise card, so the perk applies only to the guest whose name is on it. To close the loophole, most lines require every adult sharing a cabin to buy the same package if one does.

Bartenders scan your card for every drink and can see whose account holds the package. Ordering two drinks at once or ordering for someone without a package gets flagged quickly. The consequences can include a refused drink, revocation of the package with no refund, and a note on your account.

Legitimate ways to cut costs:

If only one of you drinks, ask your line whether a single adult can opt in. Policies differ, and exceptions often need documentation such as pregnancy or a medical condition.
Buy the non-drinker a soda or non-alcoholic package instead.
Skip the package and pay per drink if your group drinks lightly.

Do cruises water down their alcohol?

No. Cruise bars use standard measured pours, and the liquor is not diluted. A cruise cocktail that tastes weak is almost always a normal shot in a big glass with lots of ice and mixer. Bartenders use measured pourers rather than the heavy free pour you might give a friend at home, and the economics of diluting bottles make no sense when a package customer is not paying per drink.

If a drink tastes weak:

Ask for a double or an extra shot. This may cost extra or count as two drinks on a package.
Order with less ice or light on the mixer.
Pick spirit-forward drinks such as an old fashioned or martini.
Order beer or wine, where strength is fixed.

Do cruise ships X-ray your luggage for alcohol?

Yes. Every bag, carry-on and checked, is screened by an airport-style scanner at embarkation security. The screening looks for prohibited items in general, and alcohol over the line’s allowance is one thing it catches. Carry-ons go through an X-ray belt while you pass a metal detector, and checked bags are scanned out of sight before delivery to your cabin. Bottle-shaped objects get pulled for a closer look.

Most lines let you bring a limited amount of wine or champagne aboard. Within the allowance you keep it. Anything over, especially hard liquor, is typically confiscated, stored, and returned at the end of the cruise. Rules differ by line, so check the policy on your line’s site before packing. Trying to hide liquor in water bottles or pouches is not worth it, because staff know the tricks and you may lose the bottle for the whole trip. If you want spirits onboard, buy them at the bar or through a package.

Which package is right for you?

Best value per day: Carnival CHEERS!
Best when you can catch a sale: Royal Caribbean Deluxe Beverage Package
Best for wine and craft cocktails: Celebrity Premium
Best bundled with dining and Wi-Fi: Princess Premier
Best for premium spirits and heavy drinkers: Norwegian Premium Plus, ideally via Free at Sea
Lowest entry price: Holland America

Count the gratuity in every price you compare, buy before you board, and use the Cruise Costs & Money hub to fit the decision into your full budget.

Part of our Cruise Costs & Money hub.