Cost of Alcoholic Beverages
 

We are considering an Alaskan cruise on either Carnival, Norwegian or Princess. I realize this is a very broad question, but in general what are the costs of alcoholic beverages? Thanks.

I can't remember the actual cost on our Norwegian cruise, except to say that we worked out that you'd need to consume a large number of alcoholic drinks each day to make it good value.

You also need to check out the fine print; on Norwegian drinks from a particular bar, or a particular type weren't included. Also both guests with the same cabin number had to participate . . . no sharing allowed!

NCL offers you a choice of one "free" perk when you book with them. One of the choices is the Ultimate Beverage Package. I put "free" in parentheses because you do have to pay the gratuities on the beverage package, which is about $65 a person for a seven day cruise. This is still a fantastic deal, if you enjoy a few drinks on a cruise. My friend and I had this perk on our cruise to New England at the end of September on the NCL Gem. It was a lot of fun to order a drink knowing that there would be no bar bill at the end of the cruise. I wouldn't purchase this package, because I don't drink enough to make it worthwhile, but it sure was fun to have it for free. We could order drinks costing up to $11 each. I think that has now been raised to $15 per drink. If you order some premium liquor that costs more than $15, you pay the difference.

Hope this helps. Have fun. Alaska is spectacular!

Thanks to both of you! We aren't huge drinkers (maybe a beer or two during the day, and perhaps a glass of wine with dinner -- or maybe not at all). I think we'll opt for the excursion credit. The specialty dinners are would be nice, but a tip of $28/couple/meal is required. For the drink package, a tip of $84/cabin is required. Hmmm. I think the excursion credit might be best for us.

Thanks again! Very helpful!! Can't wait to see Alaska!!

Ooops. Actually it's $84/person for the "free" drink package!

In general I have found drinks on cruises to cost about what they would cost in a city up-scale bar. There are usually daily specials that can cut your cost a bit, but beware of specials that are not really specials, just the pushed drink of the day.

I'd go for other than the drink package if that is all you drink.

Excursions are the best part of Alaskan cruises and are costly so that seems like a good choice.

Larry. :).

Agree with Gail. The drinks will run between 6 and 10 dollars about the same as upscale bar/restaurant and a touch less than the prices in Manhattan. Unless you plan to drink a lot - maybe upwards 10 drinks a day - the drink packages are not economical.

Just got off a Celebrity cruise where a glass of wine at dinner started at $9. Don't know about mixed drinks but imagine they are similar.

We just finished a Celebrity transatlantic crossing, 5th time in 4 years on Celebrity. We thought prices had gone up a bit since last April, particularly for California wines but there was a wua good range of prices, starting as Gail said, around $9-10.

Specialty drinks and top shelf brands in the bars were I think around $15. I can only have 1-2 drinks a day, often have none, husband about the same. The packages would not be good deals for us.

When we've had suites, two dinners for two in the specialty restaurants were complimentary. We sailed Aqua class this time, ate in Blu most nights, thought the food much improved from last cruise (Eclipse). Three ports, Boston, NYC and Port Canaveral, added local taxes to alcoholic drinks consumed on the ship while in port.

Well, this turned into a mini trip report, once again very pleased with Celebrity, immaculate ship, incredible service and great food, some of the entertainment was even watchable, great Four Seasons tribute group--December 63. For early November an incredibly smooth crossing, very lucky with the weather.

As others mentioned, $5-10 is normally the price for a drink.
If you like to drink, beverage package is something I would've considered, but Alaska cruises as I see them, are more about getting up early morning when you are fresh and taking some of the amazing excursions. Unfortunately, they can be super expensive.