I didn't know I needed a new cruise drink package, but there's been three spotted and I'm intrigued.
You can order drinks on Royal Caribbean cruise ships individually and pay for each one, but that can get costly when you start knocking a few back. After all, you're on vacation and enjoying warm Caribbean days by the pool.
It looks as though on at least one ship there's a drink offering that might appeal to a lot of people who don't want to go all in on a drink package.
Dan Kline is the founder of Come Cruise With Me and shared photos from a recent sailing of Wonder of the Seas that has three happy hour specials that I've never seen before.
Three happy hour specials
At the English Pub on Wonder of the Seas, there are two advertised drink offerings.
The English Pub is where you'll find trivia events, as well as a guitarist playing bar songs each evening of the cruise.
Photo by Dan Kline
The first is "2-for-1 draft beers in the pub all day," which would mean you as long as you drank drink in that one bar.
In looking up drink prices, domestic beers in the pub cost $7.49 + 18% gratuity, while import beers cost $7.99 + 18% gratuity. Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale is excluded from this offer.
There are two issues with this promotion. First, you have to drink in the pub. Or at least, go down and order the beers from the pub and then take them elsewhere and subsequently return for another round.
The other issue is how many beers are available on draft. At the pub on Wonder of the Seas, it's been my experience there's one or two beers on draft, and Heineken is usually one of them.
The second special is for a happy hour deal on margaritas. They served in the pub $6 Happy Hour Margaritas from 4 to 6 p.m.
Royal Caribbean says it's for house margaritas only and specifically said "no exceptions".
The third deal offered were $5 glasses of wine from 4 to 6 p.m. on glasses of Robert Mondavi Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Why it's a good deal
Each of these happy hour specials could save cruisers a lot of money, if you take advantage of them.
The appeal is for someone who did not purchase a full Royal Caribbean drink package, which would cost hundreds of dollars more.
The average price for a regular beverage package sold on the ship is easily over $100 per person, per day. That means a couple on a 7-night cruise could spend over $1400 on just that purchase.
That sort of high price tag scares off a lot perspective buyers.
The happy hour specials offer a more affordable way to indulge in drinks compared to paying for the same amount of drinks individually.
Granted, a drink package would include a lot more and come with less time or location restrictions.
Nonetheless, for casual drinkers who might want to enjoy a few drinks one afternoon, but not the entire cruise, this could be a great money saver.
Not offered on all ships yet
Before you make plans to take advantage of these happy hour specials, I'd warn it's likely you won't see it on your sailing.
Periodically Royal Caribbean rolls out drink specials like this on a per-sailing basis. Usually it's the bar team on the ship that offers them as a way to bump up low beverage sales.
Moreover, I have not seen any reports of these happy hour specials advertised on any other ship. In fact, I'm not even sure I'd expect to see these same drink specials on next week's Wonder of the Seas cruise.
Just like spa deals, individual sailings may have one offer, but not the next.
Another well-known on-again, off-again drink special available on certain cruises is the 10 drink punch card offer.
A drink card is a shareable card that can only be purchased on board during a cruise and is only valid for that cruise. It provides for 10 drinks (or sometimes in a 10 draft beer version), depending on the ship.
The drink card has ten allocated drinks and with each drink purchased, the crew member "punches" it (scribble with a pen). Typical price is $99 plus 18% gratuity but it has been spotted higher and lower than that.
It is typically only available after the halfway point of a cruise.
Unlike a drink package, the drink card is shareable. You can order a drink for you and your friend/spouse and they mark off each drink.
Just like the happy hour deals, you won't know in advance if it's actually going to be offered on your sailing.
As of now, this is something to be aware that it has been offered and might be available on your sailing too. There's no harm in asking the staff at the pub if there are any drink specials when you sit down.
