Not only did Royal Caribbean start its Black Friday sale already, but they added new combination deals you should look at buying.
While the actual Black Friday holiday is still a couple of weeks away, Royal Caribbean decided to get in on the holiday sales early. It launched a Black Friday Early Access sale that will morph into a few other named promotions.
The early consensus among many cruisers so far is the discounts are substantial, especially for drink packages, Wi-Fi access, and even dining packages.
The focus might be on lower prices for cruise add-ons we're used to tracking, but there are a few extras that are new and exclusive to this sale.
Along with the Black Friday sale, Royal Caribbean rolled out new bundles that include a few different extras in one. Royal Caribbean says they are a Black Friday/Cyber Monday "exclusive", so it might be a limited-time offer.
You can find these located under the "Packages" section of Royal Caribbean's Cruise Planner site.
Here's a closer look at what each combo deal offers.
Beverage, WiFi & Excursions
There are three bundles that include some aspect of a visit to Royal Caribbean's private island of Perfect Day at CocoCay.
The Thrill Big Package comes in two forms: for adults or kids, and it includes:
- Drink Package
- Deluxe Beverage Package for adults
- Refreshment Package for kids
- VOOM Surf + Stream Internet – 1 Device
- Thrill Waterpark Full Day Pass
Thrill Waterpark is where you'll find all the water slides on CocoCay. It also has a giant wave pool, and an adventure pool full of aquatic challenges.
For a Utopia of the Seas cruise in December, the price is $107.99 per guest, per day for the adults package, and $56.99 for the non-alcoholic version.
The Chill Big Package also comes in two forms and it includes:
- Drink Package
- Deluxe Beverage Package for adults
- Refreshment Package for kids
- VOOM Surf + Stream Internet – 1 Device
- Coco Beach Club Day Pass
The Coco Beach Club is an elevated beach day offering that has limited capacity, a full sit down restaurant, and a heated infinity pool.
The idea behind the beach club is to offer a more serene spot, so you won't find music or a DJ here.
Example prices are $118.99 per guest, per day for adults, and $67.99 per guest, per day for kids.
The Party Big Package is only for guests 21 years old or older, and it includes:
- Deluxe Beverage Package
- VOOM Surf + Stream Internet – 1 Device
- Hideaway Beach Day Pass
Hideaway Beach is a new expansion at CocoCay that caters exclusively to adults.
You'll find a beach, heated pool, and DJ spinning tunes all day long.
The price is $107.99 per guest, per day.
Drink package & internet bundles
Royal Caribbean also has combo deals on just a drink package and internet access.
- The Deluxe Beverage Package + VOOM 1 Device
- Refreshment Package + VOOM 1 Device
- Classic Soda Package + VOOM 1 Device
Prices will vary depending on your sailing, but it offers a 2-in-1 option.
Triple Taste Tour Package
Available exclusively on Royal Caribbean's smallest and oldest cruise ships, there's a new dining combo offering.
The Triple Taste Tour Package has three exclusive experiences during different days of the sailing.
It's only available to book on Vision and Radiance Class ships.
It includes:
- Dinner at Chops Grille on the first night of your sailing
- Taste of Royal lunch for any sea day
- Sip. Tour. Brunch. is on the last day of your sailing
Chops Grille is one of the most popular specialty restaurants on any Royal Caribbean ship, and it's the cruise line's signature steakhouse.
Taste of Royal is a "best of" meal, where the most popular dishes from a variety of specialty restaurants are served in one meal.
Sip. Tour. Brunch. is a combo offering in and of itself. You get to tour the ship's kitchen (known as a galley), and then enjoy unlimited sparkling wine and brunch in the main dining room.
Are these bundles a good deal?
Royal Caribbean makes it easy to book these new bundles and it means less clicking to pick up everything included in them, but will they save you money?
We evaluated the bundles and the cost savings depend on your situation and sailing. Because Royal Caribbean's prices vary from ship to ship and sailing to sailing, the prices for the bundles and the individual add-on components vary considerably.
Moving from the Beverage & WiFi bundles to the Beverage, WiFi & Excursions bundles, you can see an example of how discounted admission is to the CocoCay add-ons.
The Deluxe Beverage Package + VOOM 1 Device costs $94.99 on our example cruise, but the Thrill Big Package is just $13 per person, per day more. On a 3-night cruise, that's $39 extra. The cost for buying Thrill Waterpark admission on its own is $38.99 during the Black Friday sale.
Some cruisers reported cheaper prices if they price out the drink package and Wi-Fi separately, especially when taking advantage of the multi-device discount on a Voom package purchase.
It appears the new packages are savings for one person by themselves.
Before buying a bundle, it's worth seeing how much each bundle component is on its own before purchase. No matter what you choose to buy, purchasing before the cruise is still a better deal than waiting to get on the ship.
