Carnival Cruise Line Drink Packages

The Cheers! Beverage Package costs $69.95 per person, per day if you buy it before you sail, or $74.95/day onboard — and Carnival tacks on a 20% service charge either way. Do the math and pre-cruise Cheers! actually lands at $83.94/day; wait until you’re onboard and it’s $89.94/day. For a couple on a 7-night cruise, that’s the difference between $1,175 and $1,259 — before a single mimosa.

Just want soda? Bottomless Bubbles jumped from $9.50 to $11.99 per person, per day for adults in April 2026 — a 26% increase — plus that same 20% on top. Kids 17 and under still pay $6.95/day.

Here’s the full 2026 breakdown: what Cheers! actually covers, the drink cap almost nobody reads the fine print on, and the April 2026 price change that hit gratuities and the soda package on the same day.

Quick-Reference Carnival Drink Package Table

April 2026: Gratuities and Bottomless Bubbles Both Went Up on the Same Day

On April 2, 2026, Carnival raised two separate charges at once. The daily gratuity — the mandatory hotel service charge that has nothing to do with your drink package — went from $16 to $17/day in standard cabins and $18 to $19/day in suites. On the exact same date, the adult Bottomless Bubbles soda package jumped from $9.50 to $11.99/day, a 26% increase, while the kids’ rate held at $6.95.

Carnival’s stated reasoning: rising supply costs, tied partly to the ship’s ongoing switch to Coca-Cola products. Guests who had already prepaid gratuities or Bottomless Bubbles through Cruise Manager before the change kept the old rate on any already-booked, still-open sailing — everyone else got the new numbers the moment they hit “pay.” Notably, the Cheers! alcohol package price itself did not change in this round — only the soda package and the separate gratuity line moved.

Cheers!: What You’re Actually Buying

Cheers! covers spirits, cocktails, beer, wine by the glass, and non-alcoholic extras like specialty coffee, energy drinks, and soda — one price, most of the bar menu. What it does not cover: bottled wine or champagne (glasses only), drinks purchased at ports of call, souvenir glass promotions, and anything ordered through room service.

• Included: Cocktails, spirits, beer, wine by the glass, specialty coffee, energy drinks, sodas.
• Excluded: Bottled wine/champagne, port-of-call drinks, souvenir glass promos, room service alcohol, and shared cocktails, floaters, pitchers, tubes, or buckets — Carnival specifically calls out “sharing” vessels as off-limits.

The 15-Drink Cap Nobody Else Has

Here’s what separates Carnival from every other major line covered on this site: Cheers! caps you at 15 alcoholic drinks per 24-hour period, tracked on a 6am-to-6am cycle. Non-alcoholic beverages stay unlimited. Fifteen drinks a day sounds generous until you remember it’s a hard stop enforced at the bar register — if you’re the type who wants a 16th nightcap, Cheers! isn’t going to let you, package or no package. For the vast majority of cruisers this cap is irrelevant. For the small number of heavy drinkers the package is actually priced for, it’s a real ceiling.

The $20 Cap and the Fine Print on “Discount” Drinks

Every drink under Cheers! needs a menu price of $20 or less to be fully covered. Order something pricier — a premium pour, an elevated cocktail — and instead of paying the flat difference like Royal Caribbean’s model, Carnival applies a 25% discount to that higher-priced item and you cover the rest. It’s a subtler squeeze than a flat markup, but the effect is the same: the top shelf isn’t really included, no matter what the package name implies.

Sharing Rules: No Exceptions

Carnival’s language is blunt: “Each adult assigned to the same stateroom must purchase the program.” One adult with Cheers! and one without is not an option — if either of you wants it, you’re both buying it. The package also runs for your entire cruise; there’s no single-day purchase, no trying it out for one sea day to see if it’s worth it. You commit for the whole sailing or you don’t buy in at all.

Full detail on where else Carnival’s charges add up is in our Carnival hidden costs guide.

The Break-Even Math

At $83.94/day pre-cruise, you need roughly 6 cocktails or 11 beers a day to break even, using standard $12-$15 cocktail and $7-$8 beer menu prices. That’s Carnival’s actual edge over Royal Caribbean and Celebrity: Cheers! is the cheapest all-in package among the big three, and its break-even point is correspondingly lower. If you’re a genuine 5-6 drinks-a-day cruiser who stays onboard most of the trip, Cheers! is the one package on this site’s comparison table that has a real shot at paying for itself for an average — not extreme — drinker.

A realistic day that clears break-even:

• Morning: specialty coffee ($5) with breakfast.
• Midday: a mimosa or Bloody Mary by the pool ($10-12).
• Afternoon: a frozen cocktail at the pool bar ($12-14).
• Evening: wine with dinner ($10-12), then a nightcap cocktail ($12-14).

That’s five drinks and you’re already within a beer of break-even. Skip a port day, though, and the math resets — six or eight hours off the ship is six or eight hours you’re not drinking from a Carnival bar.

The Loophole: Bring Your Own Wine

Carnival allows one 750ml bottle of wine or champagne per adult in carry-on luggage at embarkation, plus a 12-pack of non-alcoholic beverages per stateroom. Drink the wine in your cabin free of charge. For a moderate drinker who mostly wants wine with dinner and the occasional cocktail, bringing your own bottle and paying à la carte for drinks beats a $83.94/day package that assumes you’re drinking twice as much as you actually are.

Skip Cheers! entirely if any of the following describes you:

• You typically have 2-3 drinks a day, not 5-6.
• Your itinerary is port-heavy, with several days off the ship for 6+ hours.
• Your cabin-mate doesn’t drink — remember, you’d both be required to buy in.

FAQ: Carnival Drink Packages

Is the Carnival Cheers package worth it?

Only if you’re consistently drinking 6+ cocktails or 11+ beers a day. At $83.94/day pre-cruise (or $89.94 onboard), Cheers! is the cheapest all-in alcohol package among Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Celebrity — but the average cruiser drinks 3-5 drinks a day, which means paying à la carte is usually cheaper.

How much is the Carnival drink package in 2026?

The Cheers! Beverage Package costs $69.95 per person, per day pre-cruise or $74.95/day onboard, before Carnival’s 20% service charge. All-in, that’s $83.94/day pre-cruise or $89.94/day onboard. Bottomless Bubbles (soda only) is $11.99/day for adults and $6.95/day for kids 17 and under, both plus 20%.

What’s not included in Carnival’s Cheers! package?

Bottled wine and champagne (only drinks by the glass are covered), any beverage purchased at a port of call, souvenir glass promotions, room service alcohol, and shared drinks like pitchers, tubes, buckets, or floaters. Individual drinks priced over $20 get a 25% discount rather than full coverage.

Do both adults have to buy the Carnival drink package?

Yes. Carnival’s policy states every adult assigned to the same stateroom must purchase Cheers! if either one wants it — there’s no option for one partner to buy in while the other pays à la carte. The package also covers your entire cruise; it can’t be purchased for a single day.

How many drinks can you get on Carnival Cheers?

Up to 15 alcoholic drinks per 24-hour period, tracked from 6am to 6am, with non-alcoholic beverages unlimited. Carnival is the only major line that actively caps consumption this way — it rarely affects average drinkers but is a hard stop for anyone trying to exceed it.

Did Carnival raise drink package prices in 2026?

Yes — on April 2, 2026, Carnival raised the adult Bottomless Bubbles soda package from $9.50 to $11.99 per day (a 26% increase) and simultaneously raised daily gratuities from $16 to $17 in standard cabins and $18 to $19 in suites. The Cheers! alcohol package price itself was not changed in that round.

Can you bring your own alcohol on Carnival?

Yes — one 750ml bottle of wine or champagne per adult, carry-on only, at embarkation. Drink it in your cabin free of charge; bringing it to a dining venue may incur a corkage fee. This is the cleanest way to have wine with dinner without committing to the full Cheers! package.

The Bottom Line

Cheers! is the best-value all-in alcohol package of the big three lines, at $83.94-$89.94/day with a genuinely achievable 6-cocktail break-even point for a moderate-to-heavy drinker. But April 2026’s price moves — the Bottomless Bubbles hike and the gratuity increase landing the same day — are a reminder that the “extra” charges around your fare go up even when the headline package price doesn’t.

If you’re not a 5-6 drink-a-day cruiser, skip Cheers!, bring your free bottle of wine per adult, and pay à la carte for the rest. For the mandatory charge that shows up on every folio regardless of what you drink, see our Carnival tipping guide, and for how Cheers! stacks up against Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, and the rest of the fleet, check our full 2026 drink package math.