The Royal Caribbean
Add-On Value Evaluator

It depends entirely on the price you paid and what you actually drink. At a typical sale price near $85 per day you'd need roughly seven alcoholic drinks a day to break even on alcohol alone. But the Deluxe package also covers specialty coffees, fresh juices, smoothies, mocktails, bottled water and soda — so a guest having three cocktails, two lattes and a few bottled waters gets there far sooner. The calculator above counts all of it.

It's worth it when your realistic daily consumption, priced à la carte, exceeds the package price. For most guests that means roughly four to six alcoholic drinks a day — fewer once specialty coffees, juices and bottled water are counted. If you drink lightly, no discount makes the package good value. Price the consumption first, then judge the price.

Usually not. The price displayed in the Cruise Planner for beverage and dining packages typically excludes the 18% gratuity, which is added at checkout. On a seven-night sailing for two adults that surcharge alone can add well over a hundred dollars, so always budget the gratuity when comparing a package against paying à la carte.

In most cases yes. Royal Caribbean generally allows Cruise Planner purchases to be canceled and rebooked at a lower price before sailing, with the refund returned to the original payment method. That makes buying early relatively low-risk on add-ons that never sell out. The exception is anything capacity-limited — The Key, the CocoCay beach clubs — where canceling means losing your place if it sells out.

The deepest discounts cluster around major promotional moments such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Labor Day weekend, the new-year Wave Season sales, and a newer mid-summer event Royal now runs under the banner "Black Friday in July." Outside those windows the Cruise Planner runs near-continuous smaller sales, which is why a percentage-off banner alone tells you very little. What matters is where today's price sits against the historical range for that specific add-on.

Yes. Royal Caribbean requires all adults of drinking age sharing a stateroom to purchase the Deluxe Beverage Package together, and as of August 2025 no exceptions are granted, including for medical reasons. That effectively doubles the cost for a couple, so the break-even math should be run on the pair rather than on one person. If only one of you drinks meaningfully, paying à la carte often wins.

The capacity-limited ones. The Key is capped per sailing and does sell out on large ships in peak season. Coco Beach Club and Hideaway Beach at Perfect Day at CocoCay both have limited passes and are the most sellout-prone items on the island, especially when two ships call the same day. Thrill Waterpark and the Unlimited Dining Package can also sell out on the newest ships. Beverage packages, internet and photo packages effectively never sell out.

Almost always cheaper before. Cruise Planner pricing runs below onboard pricing on nearly every add-on, and the gap is widest on internet, photo packages and specialty dining, where onboard walk-up rates can be dramatically higher. The Cruise Planner closes a few days before departure, so the practical window is the months before sailing — not the gangway.