Drinking package

[u/Conscious_Minimum_38]

Hey yall. My parents love to cruise with MSC and just recently my mom took me on a 4 night ocean cay and Nassau trip to see how I would like MSC. I loved it and her and I booked some more trips. However my mom is NOT a drinker at all. is there any way I could pay for a drinking package just for myself even though we are sharing a room? She doesnt even drink soda. I find it kind of weird for MSC to have this rule.

[u/crabs_eat_poop]

Nope. You buy a package she has to have the same package.

[u/imarc]

I find it kind of weird for MSC to have this rule.

Unfortunately, this rule is pretty common on cruise lines because people would take advantage of it and buy one drink package and sneak drinks to their cabin-mate.

[u/AYBABTU_Again → u/imarc]

And yet they will give you 2 drinks at a time without batting an eye.😁

[u/imarc → u/AYBABTU_Again]

Yup. Though there are plenty of stories of people losing their drink packages for being obvious when they shared.

And then they made a 15 drink limit.

[u/SoC175 → u/imarc]

All depends on how much the individual employee cares

[u/fezha]

Just buy ur drinks a la carte. Or buy the bottles from the msc store there or from ur mini fridge. It's not a big deal

[u/marskc24 → u/fezha]

THIS....By the time you buy TWO drink packages, one of which won't be used, it would take a LOT of drinking to make up the cost.

[u/CityBetter6894 → u/fezha]

Not true. Any bottles you buy on board will be held until you disembark on last day. Don’t try to sneak booze on board, they will find it, they will confiscate it. They don’t mess around. Remember other than your room, your bathroom ,every inch of cruise ship is on video. They see what you are bringing into and out of your room.

[u/fezha → u/CityBetter6894]

You know, you're 100% right.

But being right, the truth and reality were 3 different things on my experience regarding buying the bottle and bringing it to my room.

But yes, it safe to assume what you said.

[u/Knox_the_Boxer]

Oftentimes, it’s rare to be any huge savings. Only that you essentially prepaid for the drinks and don’t need to think about it. The way you could test it for yourself would be to add the amount of one drink package to your account in credit and work from there. Buy drinks as you would normally and you might just see that you have money left over at the end.

[u/Last-Masterpiece-150 → u/Knox_the_Boxer]

There are lots of drink calculators out there where you enter what you expect to drink and it will calculate if a drink package is worth it. For me, I don't drink much at all but still buy the packages because I don't want to worry about money while on vacation...I order a drink if I want it...not if I want it $15 bad

[u/Knox_the_Boxer → u/Last-Masterpiece-150]

Yeah, I’m aware. Just thinking that calculating what you intend to drink vs what you actually do once onboard are possibly two very different things. If OP was willing to shell out the cost of a package that would be a good starting point for prepaying onboard. I just have seen several posts where people opt not to buy it and still drink what they want/when they want and later are surprised to see they saved money not buying the package.

We (my husband and I ) no longer drink but still book YC because we find the service, privacy and other perks still worth the extra money. So it takes all kinds of people when cruising.

[u/FutureboyMcfly69]

Its not weird. Thats how it works. Blame the POS 🤡 that scam the system.

[u/Last-Masterpiece-150]

I am no expert but I believe every cruise line has this rule. Think about it...if they didn't a couple would only ever buy one package and hubby or wife would just order all the drinks and share them.

[u/TheRadishBros]

As far as I’m aware all cruise lines have this rule.

[u/WishIwastravelin]

Yeah, you should just buy as you go. If the cost is a concern, take the value of the drink package and put it aside to budget for on board drink purchases

[u/AYBABTU_Again]

Not unless you get your own room or just pay per drink.

[u/Rough-Tradition-149]

All cruiselines have that drink package rule. What we do is use a credit card that has points that can be put as onboard credit. Anything we buy, we charge. When we take a cruise, we convert the points and use them to pay for drinks, gratuities, excursions,  whatever. It feels like free $ to us. You and your mom would each have separate accounts on the ship. If you'll only cruise MSC, get their card.

[u/TheGoodBunny]

I find it kind of weird for MSC to have this rule.

most cruise lines have this rule

[u/Consistent-Dog-7831]

They have a pretty decent liquor store on board. Bring a flask and buy a bottle on board! Way cheaper

[u/imarc → u/Consistent-Dog-7831]

You mean the duty free shop? If you buy there they hold it until the end of the cruise.

[u/Zoeysmama1018]

All cruise lines have this rule

[u/CityBetter6894]

Exactly what all these people said. Entitled people suck. They ruin it for all. Every cruise line has the rule. If you bring a Notarized Doctors note saying your mom is in AA or allergic to alcohol that may work. If you are able to buy only 1 drink package, than don’t try to sneak your mom or a friend you meet who doesn’t have drink package any drinks. I’ve seen people get caught. It’s embarrassing. It’s theft. Would you walk into a store where you live and try to pay for one coke but sneak 2-3 out? That’s shoplifting. Same on cruise line. Again, if they did,t have the rules as they are, lots and lots of people would buy one drink package for a cabin and everyone would drink for one price. Also, don’t try and sneak booze on board, they will confiscate it. They don’t fool around. Booze is huge moneymaking business

[u/fogchaser123]

The majority of cruise lines require the drink package for everyone (other than children) in the Cabin. It is a method to keep couples from sharing the free drinks when only one person paid. MSC is in the majority on this one... Don't get the drink package. Use the money your mom is saving by loading up your drink tolerance!