Is the Carnival Cheers Drink Package Worth It?

The Short Answer

For many cruisers, the Carnival Cheers package pays off only if you reliably drink around five or six alcoholic drinks a day (plus use the coffee, soda and similar extras that come with it). Light drinkers, and people who spend most of the day off the ship, often come out ahead by paying per drink instead. The right answer depends on your habits, your itinerary and the package price at the time you book.

Prices, limits and inclusions are set by Carnival and change over time, so treat every figure below as an example and confirm them on Carnival’s site.

What It Costs

When this article was researched, reported prices were roughly:

Pre-purchased: about $69.95 per person per day
Bought onboard: about $74.95 per person per day
Plus a service charge, commonly reported at around 18% to 20%

With the service charge added, that comes to roughly $82 to $90 per person per day. Multiply by the length of your cruise to see the total for each adult. For example, at about $83 a day, a seven-night cruise would be roughly $580 per person.

What’s Included

Reported inclusions are:

Cocktails, spirits, beer and wine by the glass priced at or under a stated limit (about $20 per drink was cited)
Soda, juice, energy drinks, specialty coffees and bottled water
Discounts on wine by the bottle and some other items

The package is typically capped at around 15 alcoholic drinks per 24-hour period. Premium items that exceed the price limit are usually charged at the difference or in full. Check the current list.

The Break-Even Math

Compare the package against what you’d pay otherwise. A rough way to do it:

Take the average price of your usual drink. A cocktail might be $12 to $16 on a ship, and a beer cheaper.
Add the service charge to that price. A $12 drink with an 18% charge is about $14.16.
Divide the package’s daily cost (about $83 in the example above) by that figure.

That gives roughly 5 to 6 drinks a day, which matches what many cruisers report. If you also drink a lot of specialty coffee or soda, those can help close the gap, because they’d otherwise be bought one by one.

Be honest about how you drink. A day with a late start, a long excursion or a quiet sea day will probably have fewer drinks than you imagine.

Rules That Catch People Out

Everyone 21 or older in the cabin must buy it. If your travel partner doesn’t drink, the package may make little sense.
It covers the whole cruise. You generally can’t buy it for just a few days.
One drink at a time. Reported rules limit you to a single drink per order, with a short wait before the next alcoholic drink, and no sharing or buying rounds for others.
A daily cap. Around 15 alcoholic drinks per 24-hour period has been reported.
Port days. If you spend most of the day on shore, you’ll have less time to use it.
Price limits. Drinks above the cap aren’t fully covered.

Who Should Consider It

You regularly have several drinks on vacation.
Everyone in your cabin who is 21 or older will use it.
You have many sea days.
You like the idea of not checking prices and want a predictable budget.

Who Should Probably Skip It

You have one or two drinks a day.
You will be on shore for much of the cruise.
Your cabin-mate doesn’t drink.
You prefer to pay for the occasional special drink.

Alternatives

Pay per drink. Straightforward, and often cheaper for light drinkers. Water, iced tea and regular coffee are usually included in the fare anyway.
A non-alcoholic package. If you mainly want soda or coffee, a smaller package may suit you better.
Bring your own, within the rules. Carnival allows limited sealed non-alcoholic beverages and, for those 21 and over, a bottle of wine at embarkation, subject to its policy. See our carry-on guide.

Tips

Add up your likely daily drinks before buying, including a plan for port days.
Consider the service charge as part of the price. It is separate from the daily gratuities.
Check pre-cruise prices, since they are often lower than onboard prices.
Remember that your spending, including any packages, ties into your onboard account budget.

For more on life aboard, see our first-timer’s guide to a Carnival cruise.