Carmen
Travel editor at Reisedrop · 2026-10-02
If you are asking whether a cruise drinks package is worth it, the right answer is usually in pounds, not in cruise marketing. For UK travellers booking cruises separately from flights and hotels, the drinks decision can change the total trip cost more than small fare differences do. A package can be good value if you drink steadily every day and would buy similar items anyway. It is poor value if you mainly want tea, water at meals, or the odd glass in the evening. The key is your real onboard pattern, not the headline promise of unlimited choice.
Start with your daily spend, not the package label
Cruise lines price drinks packages in a way that rewards consistent use. To judge value, estimate what you would actually drink on sea days and port days. Port-heavy Mediterranean itineraries often mean less time onboard, so many UK passengers drink less than they expect. A simple test helps: count coffees, soft drinks, bottled water, beers, wines and cocktails you would genuinely buy in a normal day. If your likely spend only matches the package on one or two sea days, paying as you go is often the safer choice over the whole sailing.
When a package usually makes sense
A drinks package tends to work best for travellers who treat the ship as part of the holiday, not just transport between ports. That often means several chargeable coffees, bottled water, soft drinks through the day, and alcoholic drinks at lunch and in the evening. It can also suit people who like cost certainty in GBP terms before travelling, especially when exchange rates and onboard billing feel unpredictable. On cruises with more sea days, cooler weather sailings where people spend longer inside, or private island days where package benefits continue, the maths often improves.
When paying as you go is usually better
If you are off the ship for most of the day in Spain, Italy, France, Greece or Portugal, a full package can be hard to justify. The same applies if one person in a cabin drinks much less than the other, or if you mostly choose house wine with dinner and tap water otherwise. Many UK travellers overestimate cocktail use and underestimate how often they are ashore. Watch for package rules too: daily limits, excluded premium brands, and whether gratuities are added can reduce the apparent value even when the package first looks close to break-even.
The UK budget view: what really changes the maths
From a UK perspective, the package decision should sit inside the full cruise budget. Flights from LHR, LGW, MAN, BHX, BRS, EDI or NCL, pre-cruise hotel nights, transfers and baggage can already take a large share of your spend before you board. That makes a drinks package feel either useful for certainty or too expensive for what it adds. Short-haul fly-cruises in Europe often leave less room for extras than longer sailings from a local embarkation port. Also check whether your fare category includes any onboard credit or basic drinks, because that can change the balance quickly.
How to decide without guesswork
A practical rule is to ignore the idea of getting your money’s worth and focus on behaviour. If you would buy those drinks anyway, a package can protect the budget and remove small onboard decisions. If you would change your habits just to justify it, skip it. For UK travellers, that usually means looking at itinerary shape, sea-day count, fare inclusions and who in the cabin must buy the same package. If the cruise line allows pre-purchase and later changes, compare both options before final payment and keep the one that fits your likely spend, not your best-case holiday mood.
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