Dare to compare: The best cruise bundles

We’re the first to admit, cruise pricing can be confusing.

The base rate covers your cabin, most meals and some activities – but add gratuities (roughly $18-25 per person, per day on mainstream lines), shore excursions, alcohol and specialty restaurants, and that per-day rate that looked like a bargain suddenly isn’t.

Enter, the cruise bundles. Bundling isn’t a new trend anymore, it’s the default. Almost every mainstream and premium line now sells a package that folds drinks, Wi-Fi, gratuities and more into one price, so you know the real cost upfront. Be aware that you will generally need to book these bundles before you sail (sometimes a few days in advance) and each adult in your cabin will need to pay for one.

As a benchmark, the true all-inclusive luxury lines – Silversea, Regent Seven Seas, Viking Ocean and Ponant – now run from a minimum of $700 per person, per night with everything built in.

Here’s how the bundles on the more mainstream lines compare.

Celebrity Cruises – All Included Fares

Celebrity has moved on from the old ‘Go Big, Go Better, Go Best’ pick-your-perks structure, and its All Included fares now bundle a drinks package and basic Wi-Fi. That’s alongside a separate ‘cruise only’ rate for guests who’d rather pay as they go or individual packages just for drinks, specialty dining or Wi-Fi.

Is it good value? If you are planning to buy drinks and use the Wi-Fi, then the bundled rate tends to undercut buying each piece separately. The line claims the package can save you from $200 to $1000 per cruise.

Princess Cruises – Princess Plus and Princess Premier

Princess now offers two package tiers as the default upsell at booking. Plus is priced at $79 per person per day and includes a drinks package (capped at 15 alcoholic drinks a day) plus specialty coffee and bottled water; Wi-Fi; casual dining; and room service. Premier is $129 per person per day and includes unlimited premium drinks, specialty coffee and bottled water; unlimited casual and specialty dining; Wi-Fi on more devices; a shore excursion credit; priority boarding and reservations; and professional photos.

Is it good value? Princess says the packages represent 50-70% savings versus buying each element separately. Worth it if you’d have two or more drinks a day or use Wi-Fi regularly.

Carnival Cruise Line – Cruise Value Packages

For Australian cruisers, Carnival’s local bundles are its Cruise Value Packages. There are three basic packages with different price points.

• Essentials Value Package – $60 per person, per day: the Cheers! Zero Proof non-alcoholic drinks package, the Value Wi-Fi plan, a $75 per person shore excursion discount and a $40 per person specialty dining discount.
• Ultimate Value Package – $120 per person, per day: the full Cheers! drinks package (alcohol included), Premium Wi-Fi, the same $75 shore excursion and $40 dining discounts, plus 50% off spa treatments and photo packages.
• Kids & Teens Value Package – $35 per person, per day (ages 3-17): the Bottomless Bubbles soft-drink package and souvenir cup, the Social Wi-Fi plan, 1,500 arcade tokens (a $300 value), a lanyard and 50% off bulk lolly purchases at Cherry On Top.

Is it good value? The Kids & Teens package is the standout – $35 a day for a family is cheap given the arcade credit alone is worth $300. For adults, Ultimate only pencils out if you’d genuinely use the spa and photo discounts; otherwise Essentials plus a separate Cheers! purchase (which the package terms allow as a stand-alone add-on) may work out cheaper.

Norwegian Cruise Line – Free at Sea

Don’t let the word ‘free’ here fool you. In the US, NCL’s signature Free at Sea bundles are included in your fare, but in Australia you’ll be paying for it. However, they can still represent good value. For $59 per person, per day you’ll get an unlimited premium beverage package, specialty dining meals, 150 minutes of Wi-Fi per person, and a $50 shore excursion credit per port — pitched as over $1,500pp of value on a seven-night cruise. A further upgrade, Free at Sea Plus is $79.99 per person, per day and adds top-shelf spirits, unlimited Starbucks, unlimited Wi-Fi and 50% off extra specialty dining.

Is it good value? NCL states the Free at Sea inclusions are worth over $1,500 per person on a seven-night cruise – not bad for a $413 spend. But, as always, it’s worth pricing that figure against what you’d actually spend on drinks, Wi-Fi and one dinner out separately before assuming it’s a freebie.

Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean has never built a mainstream drinks-inclusive bundle the way many other budget or premium lines do. You can sometimes find an All-In Package on sale, which includes drinks, specialty dining and Wi-Fi, but it tends to be restricted to US sailings. Instead, its bundle lives inside Suite Class: Sea Class gets access to the private Coastal Kitchen restaurant; Sky Class adds a concierge and free Wi-Fi; and Star Class, the top tier, adds a personal Royal Genie, free specialty dining, premium drinks and priority access throughout the ship.

Is it good value? Only if you want the suite anyway. Star Class fares run well above a comparable balcony cabin, so this is a lifestyle upgrade rather than a bundle designed to save money.

MSC Cruises – Bella, Fantastica, Aurea, Yacht Club

MSC has a four-tier structure for onboard bundles. Bella is cabin-only with basic dining; Fantastica adds daily room-service breakfast and more booking flexibility; and Aurea adds an unlimited drinks package and flexible ‘My Choice’ dining. The top-of-the-line Yacht Club is an exclusive ship-within-a-ship, with butler service, a private restaurant, spa access and most drinks included, typically at two to three times the Bella fare.

Is it good value? Aurea is usually the sweet spot – the drinks package alone can be worth more than the fare gap from Fantastica if you have a couple of drinks a day.

Holland America Line – Have It All

You really can have it all with Holland America’s bundles that packages together the most popular onboard extras. Priced at $90 per person, per day, it combines the Signature Beverage Package, one to three nights of specialty dining (depending on cruise length), Wi-Fi, and a shore excursion credit of US$100-$300 (again, depending on cruise length).

Is it good value? At AU$90 a day, this is one of the priciest of the value-package style bundles covered here, so it earns its keep mainly on longer cruises where the shore excursion credit and third specialty dining night have more room to be used. On a short cruise, it’s worth pricing the drinks package and dining separately before assuming the bundle wins.

The luxury benchmark

Don’t want to bundle? At the top of the market, the true all-inclusive lines the original article used as a benchmark still set the standard, and current pricing shows the gap. Silversea now runs roughly $900-1900 per person, per day, all-in. Regent Seven Seas averages around $1200-1800 per person, per day, often including flights and unlimited shore excursions. Viking Ocean sits lower again, roughly $700 per day. On these lines there’s effectively nothing left to bundle – premium drinks, all dining, gratuities, Wi-Fi, excursions, and often extras like transfers and pre- or post-cruise hotel stays are simply part of the fare. So, the comparison becomes less about value-hunting and more about how much luxury you want to pay for.