Royal Caribbean drinks package hack: How cruisers are saving hundreds
NewsThere’s no better feeling than shaving some money off the price of your cruise, and with this Royal Caribbean price hack you could see your overall cruise fare significantly shrinking in seconds.
For those who opt to purchase the drinks package on their Royal Caribbean cruise, there can be a frustration for guests when they see the drinks package prices fluctuate before their cruise and potentially become cheaper than what was initially paid.
However, what many customers don’t realise, is that you can very simply cancel your current package and purchase the new one. Often saving hundreds along the way.
Cruiser Mel Lofts purchased a drinks package for AU$132 for her seven-day Royal Caribbean cruise, then cancelled and repurchased the same package for AU$107 per day. For Mel and her husband, this comes out at a savings of $350 over the seven-days. In larger group bookings or longer cruises these savings could, of course, amount to many thousands.
One thing to keep in mind is that guests may have to wait about two weeks or more for their refund of the package they’ve already purchased, so only try this hack if you have the necessary cash on hand.
It’s also worth noting that there’s no guarantee that your drinks package price will reduce over time, but the ease of savings potential makes it worth keeping an eye on.
How to save
Royal Caribbean cruiser Dale Walkingshaw runs Cruise Passenger through how easy it is to get your drinks package savings.
“Once on their website, log in using email and password and then use your reservation number. Then across the top it has all the tabs for your cruise, ie tours, dining, drinks packages, activities and so on,” he says.
“The click on the tabs and you can then see pricing on the packages and also what you paid for yours, was pretty easy and well set up to be honest. The phone app was just as easy too.”
Royal Caribbean drinks package tips
- You can cancel and rebook as many times as you like, but remember your refund will likely come with a two or more week delay.
- Mr Walkingsham says a Royal Caribbean rep told him to specifically check for Black Friday sales as the package is often cheaper then.
- The drinks package prices are set in USD and displayed in AUD, so if the Australia dollar is strong against the US dollar, that’s an ideal time to check back if your drinks package price has dropped.
- It’s worth checking back regularly, as prices may ebb and flow in seemingly random moments.
- For even greater savings, you can combine this trick with the Royal Caribbean price guarantee, and you can potentially save on your base fare as well.
