Royal Caribbean treats its Deluxe Beverage Package passengers better than Carnival treats people who buy its comparable (but not the same) Cheers beverage package.
The Carnival package has a set price while Royal Caribbean uses variable pricing. Cheers, however, can sometimes cost more than Royal's deluxe package.
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Carnival explained how it prices Cheers on its website.
First, you can buy the beverage package only for your entire cruise.
If your cruise is 5 days or less and you buy Cheers on the website, the cost is US$82.54 per person, per day, including an 18% service charge.
If your cruise is 6 days or more, it costs US$70.74 per person, per day, including the 18% service charge.
And if you buy the package on board, the costs go up. For a cruise of 5 days or less, the on-board cost is US$88.44 per person, per day including the 18% service charge. For a voyage of 6 days or more, the cost is US$76.64 per person, per day, including the 18% service charge.
Royal Caribbean's Deluxe Beverage Package can drop below $60 per person, per day (although that's very rare) and reach about $110 per person, per day. In all cases, an 18% gratuity is added.
Aside from price, Royal Caribbean and Carnival's beverage packages differ in two key ways. The first is that the Deluxe Beverage Package has no limit as long as the passenger isn't visibly inebriated, while Cheers has a strict 15-alcoholic-drink limit per day.
In addition, Royal Caribbean's deluxe package applies on its CocoCay and Labadee, Haiti, private-island destinations. Carnival's Cheers package does not apply on the company's private island.
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Image source: Carnival Corp.
Carnival passengers face a double whammy
A Carnival Cruise Line passenger recently asked Brand Ambassador John Heald whether the cruise line might change its private-island beverage-package policy. She also brought up something many passengers don't realize.
"Is there any CHANCE the cheers package will ever be honored at HMC? And if not, why do drinks PURCHASED there count towards your 15 per day? You don’t count drinks purchased in say Cozumel?" posted Marylee Martin Pope.
What she's saying is that on Half Moon Cay, one of the cruise line's private destinations, the cruise line does not allow you to use your drink package but does still track how many drinks you have. That's not the case in a private port.
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Heald's colleague, Jacinta, confirmed that the Cheers package is not accepted at its private destinations and there are no plans to change that.
Carnival, again, limits all passengers to 15 alcoholic drinks per day. It tracks every passenger on board and where it can on shore.
The cruise line considers the 15-drink limit a safety practice. It reserves the right to shut off any passenger who appears intoxicated.
"Carnival has a number of procedures in place to monitor guests’ alcohol consumption, and bartenders are trained to look for signs of intoxication and will discontinue serving guests who appear to be intoxicated," the cruise line's website says.
"Certain flags have been built into the system that are designed to monitor guests’ alcohol consumption and encourage responsible use of the program."
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