The very first cruise I ever took was also one of the cheapest cruises I ever took. Every decision about our trip was made with an eye toward saving money. We booked interior cabins, opted out of any excursions and didn’t buy any drink packages. We were actually pretty content drinking the complimentary lemonade and tea. But on future cruises, I found that I wanted to let my son have soda, so I purchased a soda package for him. With each subsequent cruise, we elevated our experiences until we reached the inevitable question: Should we purchase the drink package.
Because we tend to be budget conscious, the answer was always a no. Until we booked a cruise where the drink package was included as part of our fare. And I took full advantage of the package because there was no reason not to take advantage. If we were at a bar, I’d order a drink. We’d grab cocktails before heading into shows or parties. We’d order bottles of wine during dinner, because back then that was included in the package. We never thought twice about ordering whatever drinks we wanted.
Is the Carnival Cheers! Package Worth It?
On my last cruise, the Cheers! package was not included in my base fare. So, I had to decide if I wanted to buy this package or pay for each drink individually. For most cruisers, this is a very hard decision because the Cheers! package is definitely pricey. And, if one person gets this package, every adult 21 and over in your stateroom also has to buy it. The drink package could make sense for one person, but when you add in other people who may not consume as much it may not make as much sense.
As I began writing blogs about cruising, I knew that at some point I wanted to create a calculator to help other cruisers decide if a drink package is worth buying. So I started by creating a Bottomless Bubbles Calculator, and discovered that for most passengers the Bottomless Bubbles package may actually be a good purchase if they plan to drink 2 or 3 sodas each day. So I knew I had to keep going. And that’s how I came to create our Cheers Drink Package Calculator.
Cheers! Drink Package Calculator
This calculator is meant to help cruisers identify the types and quantity of beverages they plan to order during their vacation. Using this information we can estimate your bar tab and compare it to the cost to buy the beverage package.
To use the calculator, select the number of days you’ll be cruising and the number of adults staying in your cabin. Then select the quantity of each type of beverage, everyone in your stateroom will consume on the average day to see how the costs of those drinks purchased individually compares to the cost of the Cheers! drink package.
This calculator uses the low end cost for each type of beverage. So, if you actually order high end drinks, the individual prices could be slightly higher. Also, none of the prices used in our Cheers! drink package calculator include the 18% service fee charged by Carnival. This service fee will be added to your purchase during check-out.
* Prices taken from carnival.com as of November 2023
If you found this Cheers! Drink Package Calculator helpful let us know in the comments below.
