Cruise Drink Package Calculator: Is the Drink Package Worth It? (2027)
Let’s get one thing straight. I nickel and dime every single drink package. Paying $70 to $140 a day per person for “unlimited” drinks is a lot of money, and I find it painfully expensive, especially if you are not a drinker. And all the calculators out there are missing one thing, port day estimates and sea day estimates, so guess what, I built my own cruise drink package calculator.
In about 30 seconds, it tells you whether the package is worth it or whether you’re better off paying as you go. Keep scrolling for how it works, what it can and can’t do, and the fine print the cruise lines would rather you skim. And also for my disclaimers.
Calculator
These are for Caribbean sailings.
Your Cruise
Enter your drink package price below to include gratuity per person, per day. Remember that all sailors in the same cabin need to be on the same drink package. Options in this calculator do not include children as their pricing differs from adults.
Drinks Per Day
In each column, enter in how many of each drink you think you'll have per day, per adult. Most people drink more on sea days than port days. Drink prices shown include gratuity.
| Drink | Port Days | Sea Days |
|---|
Your Results
Why I Built This Cruise Drink Package Calculator From Scratch
I built this cruise drink package calculator yes… from vibe coding with Claude. That’s a whole other thing but anyway, no template, no plugin, just me and way too much coffee and one late night.
I spent hours digging through every cruise line’s drink menus and package pricing, and here’s what I learned: the variables are endless. That’s millions of combinations. So instead of building a cruise drink package calculator that’s wrong half the time and then you hating me for it, I added a field where you can just enter the package price you were actually quoted including gratuity.
Here’s why I didn’t preload every cruise drink package for you, because then I’d have to account for:
- Buying onboard vs. buying before you sail.
- Dynamic pricing that changes week to week.
- Sales and discounts that come and go (hi, Black Friday).
- MSC building the service charge into the package price only if you buy before your cruise.
- Princess bundling drinks and Wi-Fi into bigger plans like Princess Plus and Princess Premier.
- Royal Caribbean’s aggressive dynamic pricing and algorithm-driven sales, where two people on the same sailing can pay very different prices.
- Holiday and peak sailings that cost more.
- Port-heavy vs. sea-day-heavy itineraries.
- And probably about a hundred other things.
How My Cruise Drink Package Calculator Works
Using the cruise drink package calculator takes four steps:
- Select your cruise line.
- Enter the drink package price per person, per day, including gratuity.
- Choose your number of port days and sea days. This makes a difference because you drink more on sea days obviously. I haven’t seen a calculator out there that does that yet!
- Enter how many of each drink you’ll have on a typical port day and sea day: beer, cocktails, wine, specialty tea or coffee, soda and water.
- Hit Calculate and voila!
The cruise drink package calculator results will show you:
- Average drink per day between port and sea day consumption.
- What you’d spend per day paying per drink vs buying the drinks package.
- Your break-even point, that is how many drinks per day you need for the package to pay for itself.
- The total difference for your trip.
Why Sea Days and Port Days Matter
Again, let’s be honest. You drink more on sea days, unless you don’t like getting off the the ship at port (and some people are like that, no judgment, I’ve been there). There’s nowhere to be, the pool bar is right there, and the bartender already knows your name. On port days you’re off the ship for hours, and your package doesn’t follow you to the beach bar.
So far, I haven’t seen another cruise drink package calculator online that splits sea days and port days. Most assume you drink the same amount every day, which conveniently makes the package look like a better deal than it is.
These Are Estimates, Not a Math Science Project
The drink prices in my cruise drink package calculator are average prices for each cruise line. Within every category there are dozens of brands and choices. A domestic beer and a craft IPA aren’t the same price, and neither are a house pour and a top-shelf martini. Calculating every brand on every ship would turn this into an actual science, so treat your results as a solid estimate, not a receipt, and don’t come for me if it’s off by $10 bucks.
Gratuity Is Already Included
Every drink price in the cruise drink package calculator includes the automatic gratuity, because that’s what actually lands on your onboard account. Here are the rates the calculator uses:
- Carnival 20%
- Celebrity 20%
- Holland America 20%
- Norwegian 20%
- MSC 18%
- Princess 20%
- Royal Caribbean 18%
Some sailings are different depending on the cruise location, for example, MSC in the Mediterranean is at 15% gratuity, and not 18% like in the Caribbean, so check with your cruise line before you go.
Cruise Lines Without a Standard Drink Package
You’re probably wondering why you can’t get drunk with Mikey while your children are running circles around you. That’s because you won’t find Disney, Viking or Virgin Voyages in my cruise drink package calculator. Here’s why.
Disney Cruise Line
Disney doesn’t sell an unlimited drink package. You pay per drink, period.
Viking
Viking sells one premium option, the Silver Spirits Beverage Package. But Viking does drinks differently from the big mainstream lines. Beer, wine and soft drinks are already included with lunch and dinner, and coffee, tea and bottled water are free anytime. So the package really only covers premium drinks and anything you order outside of mealtimes.
Virgin Voyages
Virgin skips the package and uses a Bar Tab instead. According to Virgin Voyages’ official Bar Tab policy, it’s a pre-cruise purchase only. You have to buy it through the app or website at least 24 hours before your sailing. Spend it all and you just pay as you go from there. The incentive with pre-buying? There are discounts. Don’t get carried away loading up multiple Bar Tabs, though. Whatever’s left at the end of your cruise is non-refundable and non-transferable. Have $50 left over? Virgin keeps it. You can’t cash it out, use it in the casino, put it toward the spa or roll it over to your next vacation.
What to Know Before You Buy a Drink Package
Everyone in the cabin has to buy the same drink package
This is most obviously to prevent sharing. Most cruise lines require every adult in the same cabin to be on the same drink package. And if you have kids with you, they have to get one as well, but the kids equivalent for a drink package, which is most likely juices and soda and their drink packages are priced differently. So if you love a margarita and your adult travel buddy sticks to iced tea, you’re both paying. The cruise drink package calculator works per person, so multiply by the number of adults in your cabin.
Watch the daily drink cap
MSC caps its drink packages at 15 drinks per person, per day. I know this because I just did two sailings with them on the MSC World America both Eastern and Western Caribbean sailings.
Other lines have caps too, plus per-drink price limits, and anything over the limit gets charged to your account. Keep that in mind when you plug your numbers into the cruise drink package calculator.
Check what your fare already includes
Some fares bundle drinks and Wi-Fi, like Norwegian’s Free at Sea, Celebrity’s All Included and Princess Plus. Read the fine print before you pay extra. You might be about to buy a package you already own. If drinks are already in your fare, you don’t need a cruise drink package calculator at all. Lucky you.
If you’re buying, buy before you sail
Prices are usually lower before your cruise than onboard, and sales pop up more often than you’d think. When a new price shows up, run it through the cruise drink package calculator again.
Planning the rest of your trip? My [cruise budget calculator] adds up everything else, from flights to excursions.
Cruise Drink Package Calculator FAQ
How many drinks a day make a drink package worth it?
It depends on the cruise line and the package price, but it’s usually somewhere around 5 to 7 alcoholic drinks a day. The cruise drink package calculator shows your exact break-even point based on what you actually drink.
Are the drink prices in the cruise drink package calculator exact?
No. They’re average prices per cruise line, with gratuity included. Your ship, bar and brand choices will move the numbers a little.
Why do I have to enter my own package price in the cruise drink package calculator?
Because package prices change constantly with dynamic pricing, sales, sailing dates and whether you buy before or after you board. The price you were quoted is the only one that matters.
Does the cruise drink package calculator include kids?
No. Kids’ and non-alcoholic packages are priced differently, so this tool is for adults only.
The Bottom Line
Drink packages aren’t a scam, but they’re not a no-brainer either. Before you hand over your credit card, run your numbers through my cruise drink package calculator. If it tells you to pay as you go, congratulations! you just saved money!
