If you have a Royal Caribbean cruise booked, chances are you've already started checking if this year's Black Friday sale is benefitting you.
Black Friday is a major shopping holiday best known for deep discounts, and Royal Caribbean has its own take on it. Instead of super cheap electronics, we get lower prices on cruise add-ons. The exact discount will depend on your sailing, but this year's batch of Black Friday offers seem to be generally quite good.
There are a series of Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales over the next few weeks, and it's the perfect time to see how much more it would cost to purchase an add-on extra for your vacation.
Royal Caribbean's Black Friday sale on Cruise Planner items applies to purchases made through November 29, 2024.
I went through the various choices to narrow down the top buys you should consider this week, because they will absolutely cost you more money if you wait to book them onboard the ship.
Not only are these deals probably a better price overall than normal, but you stand to save a lot of money compared to people who buy it on the ship.
Unlimited drink package
Perhaps no other add-on for your cruise gets as much attention as Royal Caribbean's drink packages.
All of its drink packages are on sale, and we've seen prices as low as $54.99 per person, per day for the Deluxe Beverage Package.
Anytime we see the Deluxe Beverage Package under $60 per day, that's a tremendous value. You can expect to pay over $100 per day for the same drink package if you wait to buy it on the ship.
There's even a discount on the soda package, which is rarely discounted.
Granted, the exact price of the drink packages varies greatly depending on your sailing. Some people reported seeing deeper savings than others, and Royal Caribbean is also offering added discounts to top tier members of Crown and Anchor Society or senior citizens.
Nevertheless, it's worth re-checking prices again during the Black Friday sale if your eyes glazed over the last time you checked prices.
Internet access
Perhaps the most tried-and-true lower price you can expect any year during Black Friday is a discount on Royal Caribbean's Voom internet packages.
While there's no free Wi-Fi on Royal Caribbean cruise ships, it's not as expensive as you might think either. And the prices you see during this sale are way cheaper than the same price onboard.
Here's an example of Royal Caribbean's onboard Voom prices:
The best discount comes with the multi-device Voom packages, so if everyone in your cabin needs to use the internet, it's cheaper to add additional devices rather than buying everyone their own plan.
One other thing worth noting is Royal Caribbean brought back to the Voom and drink package bundles.
These packages are convenient, but do the math to ensure they will save you money. Usually, they will be slightly cheaper if you just need one package.
But if there are multiple people you want to buy the Voom and a drink package for, it's usually a better deal to buy the drink package and multi-device internet package separately.
Admission to CocoCay areas
If you ever wanted to visit one of the extra cost areas of Perfect Day at CocoCay, Black Friday is when you want to buy a pass.
I've seen better than average prices for Thrill Waterpark, the Coco Beach Club, and Hideaway Beach.
As a general rule of thumb, I consider these prices to be good "deals" on them:
- Thrill waterpark: Less than $40 per person
- Coco Beach Club: Less than $100 per person
- Hideaway Beach: Less than $50 per person
Coffee card
I was pretty surprised to see a discount on the coffee punch card, because I'm not sure I've ever seen it discounted.
The Cafe Select Coffee Card offers 15 specialty espresso-based coffees that you can use during your cruise. It's redeemable at Cafe Promenade, Cafe Latte-tudes, Cafe@Two70 and pretty much any place that isn't a Starbucks kiosk.
If you're someone that isn't interested in a full drink package, but wants to get an espresso based drink every day, it's a good buy. Plus, you can share the coffee card, unlike the drink packages.
Specialty restaurants
One of my favorite ways to spend extra on things not included with my cruise fare are the specialty restaurants.
The Black Friday sale offers 15% - 30% off individual restaurants, and those savings can add up quickly when you're dining with a group or family.
When you can knock the price down to just $48.99 at 150 Central Park or $37.99 at Giovanni's Italian Kitchen for dinner, it makes for a great excuse to indulge.
Arguably the lunch prices are the best values. On an upcoming Utopia of the Seas cruise I have booked, I could book Giovanni's for just $14.99 per person for lunch!
If you're wondering, yes, some restaurants do change menus if it's lunch or dinner.
Shore excursions
There's a really good chance if you're going on a cruise, you're going to want to book a shore excursion, and Black Friday is a great time check prices on tours.
Average savings on a shore excursion range between 25% and 30% off, so this can be an excellent time to book a tour.
Not only is booking a shore excursion now a good idea to save money, but many shore excursions sell out. In my experience, by the time the cruise rolls around, there aren't many options left to those that waited to book onboard.
It's sometimes difficult to know which excursion you really want to book, but my advice is book something now while the prices are lower and decide later. Remember, you can always cancel any purchase made on the Cruise Planner before the cruise begins for a full refund.
