A Complete Guide to Margaritaville at Sea Drink Packages

Margaritaville at Sea drink packages

Margaritaville at Sea now has two cruise ships, and both feature different drink package structures. To help you differentiate the packages and decide whether purchasing one is right for you, we’ve put together this complete guide to Margaritaville at Sea drink packages.

Margaritaville at Sea Inaugural Cruise Review

Complete Guide to Margaritaville at Sea Drink Packages (2024)

What drinks do you get free on Margaritaville at Sea?

While alcoholic drinks and specialty beverages cost extra on Margaritaville at Sea, there are some drinks that are included in the cruise fare. These include filtered water, tea (hot and iced), drip coffee, lemonade, and juice.

Beverages that cost extra include alcoholic drinks, soda, bottled water, mocktails, bottled/canned drinks, and specialty coffee.

Margaritaville at Sea Paradise Drink Packages

Instead of having a traditional alcoholic drink package, Margaritaville at Sea Paradise offers two options for guests to pre-pay for 10 drinks at a set price. This system essentially operates like a pre-paid punch card program, but with an RFID bracelet instead. There’s also the Blender Cup Package, which we’ll detail as well.

Margaritaville at Sea drink packages

Boat Drinks

The Boat Drinks option allows for 10 cocktails, beer, wine, and/or mocktails worth up to $12 each. For top-shelf beverages, guests just have to pay the difference above the $12 limit. Boat Drinks costs $99 per person.

No Doubts

The No Doubts option allows for 10 specialty cocktails, liquor, beer, or wine by the glass. However, there is no price restriction. This option costs $119 per person.

Both the Boat Drinks and No Doubts programs include an RFID keepsake wristband that are preloaded with 10 drink credits. Both options require that you use two drink credits for double shots. The 18 percent gratuity is included in the price of the package.

Margaritaville at Sea Inaugural Cruise Review

Blender Cup Package

The Blender Cup Package includes a 22 oz. souvenir Blender Cup filled with a Boat Drink, and allows for five additional refills throughout the cruise. Boat Drinks, margaritas, and a limited selection of specialty cocktails can be used for the refills.

This comes in the form of an RFID keepsake wristband that is preloaded with six drink credits with no price maximum. The 18 percent gratuity is included in the price of the package, which is $119 per person.

Margaritaville at Sea Islander Drink Package

Unlike on Paradise, Margaritaville at Sea Islander has a more traditional beverage package that cruisers who are familiar with other lines will be used to. The ship’s alcoholic drinks package, called Ultimate Beverage Chill, costs $59.99 per person, per night.

It includes all beers, wines by the glass, cocktails, and Boat Drinks worth up to $20 each. Soda and 500 ml bottled water are also included, as are juices and mocktails. There’s also a 25 percent discount for wine and champagne by the bottle.

The package does not include bottles of liquor, buckets of beer, blender cups or blender cup refills, bottles of water larger than 500 ml, specialty coffee drinks from the Margaritaville Coffee Shop, canned/bottled items like Gatorade and Red Bull, in-room wine service and mini bar, or any beverages ordered from room service.

Drinks purchased through the Ultimate Beverage Chill package may not be shared with other cruisers. Only one drink may be ordered and served at a time. There’s a daily limit of 15 alcoholic and specialty beverages per guest (this does not include soda and bottled water).

If a beverage costs more than $20, the guest must pay the difference. The $59.99 per night price does not include an 18 percent service charge, which is included in the final price when purchasing the package.

Unlimited Soda Package

The Unlimited Soda Package is available for $10 per person, per day on both Margaritaville at Sea ships. It includes unlimited refills of fountain sodas (the cruise line carries Coca-Cola products) and a Margaritaville at Sea souvenir cup. An 18 percent service gratuity is automatically added to the package price at checkout.

Only one soda may be ordered at a time, and they cannot be shared with other guests. To redeem the package, head to the designated pickup location once on the ship.

How do you purchase drink packages on Margaritaville at Sea?

If you want to add a beverage package when you’re initially making your cruise booking, you can add it to your cart at checkout.

Margaritaville at Sea Paradise review

To add it onto an existing reservation, you will need to call Margaritaville at Sea at 877-553-5299. A guest management portal, called Cruise Control, is also in the works. This will give guests the ability to add a package to their reservation once their cruise booking is paid in full.

You also have the option to add a drink package to your cruise once on board, either on the first or second day of the sailing.

Margaritaville at Sea Drink Prices

To get an idea of how much drinks cost on Margaritaville at Sea, plan to spend about $12 to $15 for most cocktails. Signature cocktails are on the high end at around $15. Wine costs around $10 to $12 per glass, and beer will run you around $8.50 to $9.

Bottles of water are $2.50 each, and soda costs $2.50. For specialty coffees, plan to pay similar prices to what you’d pay at Starbucks. For instance, an espresso is $3, a medium latte is $5.25, and medium iced frappes are $5.50.

Can just one person get a drink package on Margaritaville at Sea?

If one guest in a stateroom purchases the Ultimate Beverage Chill package, all other guests in the same cabin that are 21+ must also purchase the package. Limited exceptions to this policy (such as a documented medical condition) may be made at the discretion of the cruise line and may require authorized approval.

You must be 21 or older to purchase any alcoholic beverage package. Minors are not required to get the soda package when adults in the same cabin get a drink package.

Is the Margaritaville at Sea drink package worth it?

Margaritaville at Sea Paradise

When thinking about whether the Margaritaville at Sea drink package is worth it on Paradise, let’s talk about the Boat Drinks package first. If you plan to buy mostly $12 and $13 cocktails, the plan is easily worth it as it costs $99 and $12 x 10 is $120. For $13 cocktails, you’d only pay $10 in additional fees ($1 extra per drink) and that still puts you below the menu price at $109.

If you’re going to mostly be drinking beer and wine, the package may not be worth it. Those beverages generally cost less per glass than a cocktail. So, you’ll want to do the math to decide if the package is right for you.

Margaritaville at Sea Paradise review

The No Doubts package is similar: if you plan to mostly purchase $14 and $15 cocktails and top-shelf spirits, this is easily worth it as those incur a higher price tag. For example, ten $14 cocktails is $140 list price, and ten $15 cocktails is $150 list price — both above the $119 cost of the No Doubts package.

With the Blender Cup package, you get six 22 oz. Boat Drinks. Keep in mind that 22 oz. is about double the size of a normal cocktail, so it’s like getting the quantity of 12 cocktails for $119. Plus you get a Blender Cup souvenir. If you’re happy with drinking a lot (or sharing) with each serving, the Blender Cup package is a great value.

Margaritaville at Sea Islander

The package on Islander is $60 per day and includes drinks worth up to $20 each. If you drink around five cocktails per day, you’ll break even. The same goes for if you drink seven beers or five to six glasses of wine. The fact that some nonalcoholic beverages are included also helps with the value. Do remember that specialty coffee, room service drinks, and blender cup beverages aren’t included though.

Whether or not the drink package is worth the price ultimately depends on your preferences and what you plan to drink during your sailing.

Here are two things to keep in mind. Your cruise has port days where you’ll spend many hours off the ship and not take advantage of your drink package. You also need to remember that if you’re traveling with another 21+ adult in the same cabin, they must purchase the package too. If one person is a non-drinker, it may make more sense to go a la carte.

Soda Package

Lastly, you’ll break even on the soda package if you purchase four sodas (at $2.50 each). If you’ll be drinking that much or more per day, it’s probably easiest to prepay for the soda package. That way, you won’t have to think about the price at all during your cruise!

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