Drinks on a cruise ship aren't cheap, so if you can get free drinks, you could significantly cut down on your bar bill.
With cocktails on a Royal Caribbean cruise costing $14 and beers as much as $7.99, enjoying a few drinks every day on your cruise can get expensive.
Royal Caribbean includes some drinks with your cruise fare, but soft drinks, cocktails, beer, and mocktails all cost extra. Each beverage you order that isn't included comes with an automatic 18% gratuity on top of the base cost.
Luckily, there are some easy (and not so easy) ways to get free drinks on a Royal Caribbean cruise that almost anyone can take advantage of and save money along the way.
Book a suite
One easy way to get free drinks is to pay for a Royal Caribbean suite.
If you book a Grand Suite or higher cabin, one of the many suite perks you get are complimentary alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages each evening in the Suite Lounge.
Depending on which ship you sail, there are different hours where there's an open bar for suite guests. On Icon and Oasis Class ships, the Suite Lounge serves complimentary beer and wine between 11am and 11pm, with cocktails offered between 4:30pm and 8:00pm.
On other ships, there's a happy hour for complimentary drinks in the evening that begins around 5pm and ends around 8pm.
There are two downsides to booking a suite for free drinks. First, you have to pay more to get a suite. Suites can cost a lot and it may still be cheaper to book a standard cabin and pay out of pocket for your drinks.
The other issue is the free drinks are only available in the Suite Lounge and at limited hours. So when you're at the pool, at a show, or anywhere else on the ship, you're out of luck unless you're willing to walk back to the Suite Lounge.
Of course, you could go for the very top end of Royal Caribbean's suite program and book a Star Class suite.
Star Class suites are the largest suites offered, and they include a complimentary Royal Caribbean drink package.
Read more: A beginner's guide to sailing in Star Class
Become a Diamond member
My favorite way to get free drinks on any Royal Caribbean ship is to take advantage of arguably the best customer loyalty perk offered by any cruise line, daily free drinks for Diamond members and above.
If you can reach Diamond status within the Crown and Anchor Society, you'll get 4 drink vouchers per day, per person to enjoy at any bar, and at any time.
The vouchers are digital, and you just need to ask the bartender or waiter to use one.
I love this benefit because it works on every cruise and at any bar.
Read more: Crown and Anchor perks you should use on every Royal Caribbean cruise
The drawback to the Diamond drink vouchers is you need to cruise enough with Royal Caribbean to attain that status. You need 80 points in their customer loyalty program to qualify, and if you booked you and your family in a balcony cabin, you would need to sail on 12 week-long cruises before you hit that number.
The Diamond drink vouchers won't benefit anyone new to Royal Caribbean, but if you've cruised a few times before, it could be a target for you to hit in the near future.
Read more: 6 ways you should change how you cruise once you hit Diamond
Attend the art auction
Anyone in any cabin or loyalty status can get free champagne by going to one of the art auctions onboard.
Art auctions are where you can bid for pieces of art to have shipped to your house. Art auctions have been around for years, and since it's a niche interest activity, they offer complimentary champagne if you attend.
Art auctions are only held a few times per sailing, and once the auction ends, so does the champagne.
Attend the Top Tier event
Another opportunity to get a few mixed drinks once per cruise is to go to the Top Tier event held on cruises longer than 4-nights for members of the Crown and Anchor Society.
It's for anyone that's reached Platinum status, which requires just 30 points.
Top Tier is an event that recognizes the loyalty of Royal Caribbean's customers, and they serve various mixed drinks and champagne during the event.
During Top Tier, the Captain, Hotel Director, and Cruise Director make speeches thanking cruisers and recognizing specific ones that have cruised a lot. Usually the house band plays some music and some of the entertainers perform a number.
Gamble in the casino
If you're willing to potentially lose money in the casino, there is an upside to that gambling.
Gambling is addictive and dangerous, so please exercise caution, but if you're comfortable with gambling, Royal Caribbean's Casino Royale will give you free drinks for an entire year if you gamble enough.
The casino has its own customer loyalty program, and if you can get 2500 points within one year between April 1st and March 31st, you'll get unlimited free drinks at the casino bar.
You can accumulate the 2500 points over different sailings, but once you get the total points, the drink benefit becomes active immediately.
Similar to the Suite Lounge, you can only get free drinks at the casino and no where else on the ship.
The other downside to this is you might lose money. In fact, you should expect to lose a lot of money before you reach 2500 points. If you play slot machines, you'll earn 1 point for every 5 dollars you wager, so you can do the math on that.
Nonetheless, free drinks in the casino (along with the free cruise you'll also earn when you reach Prime status) is a very lucrative offer, especially for those that cruise a lot.
Tip the bartender
An old school strategy for getting a free drink here or there is to tip your bartender.
It's not as straight forward as the other ways mentioned in this article, but it could work for you. Basically, find a bartender you like, tip them well, and maybe you get a free drink here or there.
I wouldn't call this a primary strategy for free drinks, rather, something to keep in mind. It works well for casual drinkers.
Even if you don't get any free drinks, you're almost certainly going to get faster service and that makes a difference when the bar gets busy.
Bring your own wine
A tried-and-true way to drink for free on a Royal Caribbean cruise is bring your own wine.
You can bring one bottle of wine (or champagne) per adult on embarkation day, and then enjoy the wine anywhere on the ship.
There's theoretically a corkage fee if you have the wine opened at a bar or restaurant, but it's been my experience that has rarely been enforced.
Not only will this allow you to have wine without paying Royal Caribbean's prices, but you can bring the exact brand and type you prefer.
Of course, you're still paying for the wine when you buy it at home, but you'll probably get a better deal at your wine store than on the ship.
Read more: How to Cheat The Royal Caribbean Drink Package
Book a shore excursion that includes drinks
Many shore excursions in the Caribbean include free drinks, such as a rum punch or margaritas.
I've seen free drinks served on boats, catamarans, ferries, trains, and at the beach. You might consider booking a tour that brings you to a fun spot and also serves complimentary booze too.
There are also all-inclusive beach excursions you can book where it's essentially an open bar when you get there. Day passes to beach resorts are a popular choice for time ashore, and some of the best ones tend to be in Mexico.
...or just buy a drink package
If all of this sounds cumbersome, expensive, or not enough to really make a dent in your bar bill, you might be better off paying for a Royal Caribbean drink package.
Read more: Everything you need to know about a drink package
Drink packages aren't cheap, but they're also a better deal for anyone that might have more than 4 cocktails per day.
The advantage of getting a beverage package is you will cap your bar bill and be able to enjoy unlimited drinks. No bar tab, no regret choosing a cocktail you don't like, and no hoops to jump through.
Moreover, some drink packages include drinks beyond booze, such as sodas, premium coffees, bottled water, and juice.
