Cruise line drink package models are morphing, expanding and, in at least one case, shrinking to suit guest preferences and adapt to trends.
Travel advisors and cruise executives say that drink packages remain popular among guests who want to drink freely onboard without thinking about the cost but understand that drink packages are not a one-size-fits-all deal.
Carnival Cruise Line's new Cheers! Zero Proof drink package includes mocktails and nonalcoholic beer, a reflection of the proliferation of nonalcoholic beverages on bar menus.
Last month, Oceania Cruises added an option to choose either a beer and wine inclusion or a shore excursion credit with the cruise fare. Specialty restaurants and specialty coffee, tea and soda were already included for all guests, but the line wanted guests to have a luxury experience by including alcoholic beverages, said chief commercial officer Nathan Hickman. But Oceania also knows that not everyone drinks alcohol.
"So we want to give them that optionality while not forcing anyone into it," he said.
Carnival's Zero Proof package isn't its first for nonalcoholic beverages, but it is its most inclusive. Like Oceania, it was guest demand that influenced the decision to add a more comprehensive option for those who don't drink alcohol.
Virgin Voyages' guest feedback, meanwhile, told it to stay away from drink packages. The line had never offered them but earlier this year piloted a package through a program called Drink Like a VIP.
"Ultimately, the appetite just wasn't there," Charles Steadman, director of food and beverage experience and strategic partnerships, said of the pilot. "It led to unnecessary waste and risked diluting the value of our existing program."
Instead, Virgin stuck to its Bar Tab offering. Passengers put money in a beverage fund before they board, in turn getting bonus funds depending on the size of the tab. The cruise line also offers Bar Tab credits as loyalty perks.
Steadman said passengers "consistently love" the Bar Tab, "which lets them maximize value across our bars without being locked into a package."
Effie Beshere-Walthall, owner of On Deck Travel, an affiliate of Travel Planners International, said her clients overwhelmingly want beverage packages, finding peace of mind knowing their total beverage spend before boarding, an indicator of why many lines are finding new ways to provide that.
"People don't want to have to worry once they're onboard what their bill's going to be at the end," she said.
But she is also among the advisors and cruisers who say the decision to purchase traditional drink packages has "shifted from a fun splurge to a math problem."
"With the cost of the drink package getting higher and higher and stricter and stricter, I think everyone in the cabin is having to do a calculus problem before they add it to the cart," Beshere-Walthall said.
When New York resident Amanda Gottlieb, who has cruised on both Royal Caribbean International and Norwegian Cruise Line in recent years, has opted for drink packages, the experience of trying to make the most of the purchase was "stressful."
Unlike on cruises, where she bought drinks a la carte, the process made her feel like the drink package was controlling her purchase decisions rather than a desire for a drink. Gottlieb doesn't plan to purchase any more drink packages, even if cruise lines roll in other inclusions like WiFi or specialty dining, which was the reason she bought one for the NCL sailing.
How does this add up?
Beshere-Walthall encourages clients to do the math before purchasing drink packages, especially after changes like one Royal Caribbean made this summer to ensure travelers aren't turning the packages into too good of a deal. The line eliminated all exceptions to its rule requiring that all adult guests in a stateroom purchase a deluxe drink package if one is doing so. Its reasoning was that some guests were taking advantage of loopholes to buy one package and share it.
MSC Cruises, meanwhile, instituted a daily maximum of 15 alcoholic drinks for packages and eliminated two of its three alcoholic package tiers at the end of last year, leaving just the most inclusive.
Package math includes thinking about time spent on a line's private island.
NCL will limit the reach of its beverage package in March, when it will no longer apply to purchases at Great Stirrup Cay, its private Bahamian island (guests can purchase a separate island package). Carnival's beverage packages similarly aren't valid on Celebration Key, while MSC and Royal Caribbean do extend their drinks packages to their private islands.
Cruise lines are also making their packages more appealing by throwing more inclusions into them, even if that means increasing the price.
In July, Princess added a shore excursion credit to one drink package while upping the price the equivalent of $10 per day. It threw in two additional meal inclusions to another package, which went up by $5 per day. And when NCL revamped its most comprehensive packages into its More at Sea model this year, it added more premium alcohol, specialty cocktails, specialty dining and WiFi.