Royal Caribbean Drink Packages

Royal Caribbean’s Deluxe Beverage Package costs $63 to $120 per person, per day in 2026, with a fleet-wide median around $83.99/day before Royal adds its 18% gratuity on top. That means a couple buying in on a 7-night cruise at the median price is looking at roughly $1,377 for the week — before anyone’s ordered a single mojito.

No, drinks are not included on Royal Caribbean cruises. Your cruise fare covers water, iced tea, lemonade, and regular coffee at the Windjammer — everything with alcohol, and most specialty coffee and bottled water, is pay-as-you-go unless you buy a package. And in March 2026, Royal quietly made the math slightly worse by pulling a perk nobody noticed was gone until they tried to use it.

Here’s every package, every 2026 price, the rule that makes couples pay twice even if one of them doesn’t drink, and the actual break-even math nobody at the Royal Caribbean sales desk wants to walk you through.

Quick-Reference Royal Caribbean Drink Package Table

The March 15, 2026 Freestyle Cup Cut

Royal Caribbean didn’t send a press release. It didn’t blog about it. Guests just started noticing — logging in to review an upcoming sailing’s package inclusions and finding the Coca-Cola Freestyle souvenir cup quietly missing from both the Deluxe Beverage Package and the Refreshment Package.

Effective March 15, 2026, anyone buying either package no longer gets the cup that unlocks the self-service Freestyle soda machines scattered around the ship — the touchscreen dispensers with 100-plus flavor combinations that used to be a built-in perk. Want access anyway? That’s a $4.99 add-on, purchased separately, on top of whatever you already paid for the beverage package.

Canned and fountain soda ordered from a bar or server is unaffected — this is specifically about the self-serve machines. The Classic Soda Package still includes one Freestyle cup, so soda-only drinkers are untouched. And if you locked in a Deluxe or Refreshment purchase on or before March 15, 2026, Royal grandfathered you in — you keep the cup.

It’s a five-dollar cut on an $84-a-day package, which is exactly the point: individually trivial, but it’s the fourth or fifth “small adjustment” Royal has made to these packages in as many years, and they compound.

What’s Actually in the Deluxe Beverage Package

At $63-$120/day depending on ship and sail date, Deluxe is the one most cruisers ask about, and it’s genuinely broad: cocktails, beer, wine by the glass, liqueurs, bottled water, specialty coffee, and most call-brand spirits — Grey Goose, Tito’s, Patrón, Johnny Walker Black, Dewar’s 12 are all in.

The catch is the per-drink price cap of $14. Order anything above that — a rare-label scotch, a top-shelf tequila flight, a $22 specialty cocktail at a signature restaurant bar — and you pay the difference out of pocket, on top of the daily package charge you already paid. It’s not a hard exclusion so much as a co-pay you don’t find out about until the bill lands on your SeaPass account.

Also worth knowing: room service alcohol, minibar restocks, and drinks purchased at private destinations like Perfect Day at CocoCay’s cabana bars sometimes fall outside package coverage depending on the venue — check the specific exclusions listed for your ship before assuming everything’s covered everywhere.

Refreshment and Classic Soda: The Non-Alcohol Options

Not drinking? The Refreshment Package at $29-$45/day covers mocktails, specialty coffee and tea, fresh juice, bottled water, and soda — everything except alcohol. It’s the package minors and non-drinkers in a Deluxe-buying stateroom get defaulted into, and on its own it’s a reasonable deal if you’re a heavy coffee-and-mocktail drinker who’d otherwise be paying $5-7 a latte.

The Classic Soda Package at $12-$18/day is the bare-minimum option: unlimited fountain soda and nothing else. For a family with soda-guzzling teenagers, it’s often the only package that makes financial sense — buying Deluxe or Refreshment for a 14-year-old who wants unlimited Sprite is throwing money at coffee and mocktails they’ll never order.

• Refreshment Package: best for non-drinkers who love coffee, tea, and fresh juice
• Classic Soda Package: best for soda-only drinkers, especially kids
• Neither: best if your daily drink count is under 3-4 — pay à la carte instead

The Rule Nobody Reads: Both Adults Must Buy In

Here’s the gotcha that turns a $90/day decision into a $1,260 one for a 7-night couple: if one adult in a stateroom buys the Deluxe Beverage Package, every other adult of drinking age sharing that room must buy it too — no exceptions, no “I’ll just pay as I go” option for the lighter drinker.

Royal Caribbean’s stated logic is fraud prevention — stopping one person from buying the package and handing drinks to a non-purchasing cabin-mate. The practical effect is that a couple where one person drinks and the other doesn’t gets charged full Deluxe price for both people, or neither buys it at all. There’s no middle package tier designed for mixed-drinking couples; it’s Deluxe-for-both or à la carte-for-both.

This is the single biggest reason Royal’s drink package can quietly become the most expensive line item on a cruise bill that isn’t the cabin itself.

Is the Deluxe Beverage Package Worth It? The Real Math

Take the fleet median of $83.99/day, add 18% gratuity, and you’re paying roughly $99/day per person — call it $100 for round numbers. At an average cocktail price of $12-14 onboard, that’s a break-even of 7-8 alcoholic drinks a day, every day, for the package to beat paying à la carte.

Mix in a $6 specialty coffee, a $12 glass of wine at dinner, and two cocktails by the pool, and a moderate drinker easily lands at $40-55/day in real consumption — nowhere near $100. The package only wins decisively for cruisers who are genuinely drinking 6+ times a day, every single day of the cruise, which is a smaller group than the marketing implies.

Where it does make sense: back-to-back port days with pool bar afternoons, honeymooners who plan to drink through dinner and dessert, or anyone who values the psychological freedom of never checking a tab over strict dollar optimization.

What to Do Instead

If the break-even math doesn’t work for your drinking pace, skip the package entirely and pay à la carte — Royal’s onboard drink prices run $9-14 for cocktails and $7-9 for beer, and a moderate drinker of 3-4 drinks a day typically comes out $20-40 ahead per person versus Deluxe.

• Buy the Refreshment Package alone if you’re a heavy coffee/mocktail drinker who occasionally wants a beer or glass of wine — pay for those individually.
• Split the difference: one Deluxe drinker, one à la carte drinker is not allowed in the same room — so if your habits genuinely differ, consider whether it’s worth booking connecting rooms, or just accept the à la carte route for both.
• Watch for Royal’s periodic drink-package sales, which can knock 20-30% off the list price if you buy early enough pre-cruise.

FAQ: Royal Caribbean Drink Packages

How much is the Royal Caribbean drink package?

The Deluxe Beverage Package runs $63-$120 per person, per day in 2026, with a fleet median of $83.99/day, plus an 18% gratuity added on top. The non-alcoholic Refreshment Package is $29-$45/day, and the Classic Soda Package is $12-$18/day. Exact pricing depends on your ship, sail date, and how far ahead you book.

Are drinks included on Royal Caribbean cruises?

No. Your base cruise fare includes only water, iced tea, lemonade, and regular coffee in the main dining venues. Alcohol, specialty coffee, bottled water, and soda all require a drink package or à la carte purchase — Royal Caribbean does not build any beverage allowance into the fare itself, unlike lines such as Virgin Voyages or Princess with its Plus fare.

Do both people in a room have to get the drink package on Royal Caribbean?

Yes. If one adult in a stateroom purchases the Deluxe Beverage Package, every other adult of legal drinking age sharing that stateroom is required to buy it as well. There’s no option for one person to buy the package while their cabin-mate pays à la carte — it’s an all-or-nothing purchase per room.

What is the Royal Caribbean beverage package price for 2026?

Deluxe Beverage Package pricing in 2026 ranges from $63 to $120 per person per day depending on ship and itinerary, with a fleet median around $83.99/day before the 18% gratuity. Newer ships and peak-season sailings (holidays, summer) sit at the higher end of that range.

Is there a limit on Royal Caribbean’s Deluxe Beverage Package?

There’s no hard daily drink cap — Royal’s own FAQ confirms “no daily limit for drinks.” In practice you can only order one drink at a time per SeaPass card, and staff can refuse service for responsible-drinking reasons. This is looser than Carnival or MSC, both of which cap alcoholic drinks at 15 per 24-hour period.

What happened to the Coca-Cola Freestyle cup on Royal Caribbean?

Effective March 15, 2026, Royal Caribbean removed the Coca-Cola Freestyle souvenir cup from the Deluxe Beverage Package and Refreshment Package. Guests who want access to the self-service Freestyle soda machines now pay a separate $4.99 add-on. Anyone who purchased a package on or before March 15, 2026 keeps the cup under a grandfather clause.

Is the Royal Caribbean drink package worth it?

Only if you’re consistently drinking 7-8 alcoholic beverages a day at the $83.99/day median price plus 18% gratuity. Moderate drinkers averaging 3-4 drinks a day typically spend $20-40 less per person by paying à la carte. It’s a better deal for heavy drinkers and couples who both drink at a similar pace than for casual or mismatched drinkers.

The Bottom Line

Royal Caribbean’s Deluxe Beverage Package sits at a fleet median of $83.99/day in 2026, climbing to $120/day on newer ships and peak sailings, plus 18% gratuity on top. The March 2026 Freestyle cup removal is a small cut, but it’s part of a pattern of packages quietly shedding perks while the sticker price climbs.

The real number that matters is your own drinking pace: hit 7-8 drinks a day and Deluxe wins. Fall short of that, and à la carte pricing — plus the Refreshment or Classic Soda package for non-drinkers — keeps more money in your pocket. Just remember the one rule that trips up the most couples: buy Deluxe for one adult in a stateroom, and you’re buying it for both.

Curious how Royal stacks up against Carnival, Virgin, and the rest of the fleet? See our full 2026 drink package break-even comparison. And before you tally the bar tab, check what you’ll owe in gratuities on our Royal Caribbean tipping guide.