On a recent MSC Cruise, I booked an aft balcony with a special rate that included the “Easy Package”. I really had no idea what to expect since I never booked an MSC Cruise with a beverage package in the past.
Upon embarking, I was told by staff how the Easy Package didn’t include much and couldn’t be used at a specialty dining restaurant. With that information, I paid a nominal upgrade on the spot to the “Easy Plus” package to make sure I had more choices and that I could use the package while dining in every restaurant.
So is a drink package on MSC worth it? Let’s find out!
About the drink packages:
MSC Cruises offers a variety of drink packages for their cruises, including the “Easy” package, “Easy Plus” package, “Premium Extra” package, an Alcohol-Free package for minors, and a Minors package. The packages range in price and offerings, with the Easy Plus package allowing for more choices and access to specialty dining restaurants. Recent changes include gratuity now being included in the pricing. It’s important to understand what each package includes and excludes before making a decision.
Quick things to know:
- MSC Cruises offers various drink packages like the “Easy,” “Easy Plus,” “Premium Extra,” Alcohol-Free, and Minors package.
- Prices range from $19/day for the Minors package to $85/day for the Premium Extra package.
- The Easy Plus package offers more options and includes access to specialty dining restaurants for an additional cost (best value)
- Drink package prices include gratuity
- Drink packages CAN BE USED on Ocean Cay
- If your package doesn’t cover the drink cost, just pay the difference!
- The Mini bar in the cabin is not included in any package
- Everyone in the cabin needs to purchase the same drink package (excluding minors)
MSC Drink Package Prices
Depending on which you choose, you can get a package for as little as $19/day (Minors) – but the most popular package is the Easy Plus Package which starts at $61/day. The good news is that MSC Is running quite a few promotions that INCLUDE the Easy Plus Package! Take a look at their promotions here.
What do the drink packages on MSC cruises cost?
| Package Name | Cost Per Person – Purchased in Advance |
|---|---|
| Easy Package | $46 /day or $49/day for short sailings |
| Easy Plus Package | $61 /day or $64/day for short sailings |
| Premium Extra Package | $85 /day or $88/day for short sailings |
| Alcohol-Free Package | $28 /day (21 yrs +) / $30 for short sailings |
| Minors Package | $19 / day (3-20 yrs old) / $21 for short sailings |
We’ll be posting accurate European prices shortly, as they have also changed recently.
MSC Cruises Drink Packages Compared (NEW 2024 prices)
There are 5 drink package options that MSC Cruises offers on its ships including the “Easy” package, “Easy Plus” package, “Premium Extra” Package, and the Alcohol-Free Package (with a different price for minors and adults)
Easy Drink Package
The “Easy Package” is the most basic alcoholic beverage package on MSC Cruises with a cost of $46 per day per adult and is sometimes offered at no charge as a promotion. (This package is $49 per day on short cruises of less than 6 nights and is even more expensive if purchased onboard)
Liquor choices that go into mixed drinks are generic and sometimes off-brand.
The upside to this beverage package is that it also includes bottled water, soft drinks & juices as well as espresso, coffee cappuccino, and other hot drinks (tea, hot chocolate, etc.) With many cruise lines when purchasing a drink package, they often exclude bottled water and coffee drinks.
So if you are a heavy coffee drinker and enjoy bottled water with a few beers throughout the day, this is likely your good choice.
This is the package that was included on my Meraviglia cruise with the base cruise fare. Initially, this seemed like a good option as it covers the basics, but some restrictions were inconvenient enough to make me upgrade to the Premium Plus.
An important exception to the Easy Package!
You CANNOT use the Easy beverage package in any of the specialty restaurants. So if you want a gin & tonic at dinner, you’re out of luck. Even more bizarre, bringing a beverage to dinner is specifically prohibited forcing you to purchase any drinks regardless of price for the time you are in a specialty restaurant.
MSC Easy Drink Package Menu & What’s Included
The Easy drink package entitles you to any beverage up to $7.50 (sort of). For your convenience, menus throughout the ships have a section specifying what’s included in the easy beverage package. However even though some beer prices by the bottle are $7.50 or less, those are EXCLUDED from this package. Strange, right?
For beer, with the Easy Drink Package, the only option is Heineken Draft or sometimes Miller Light, and the wines are off-label or inexpensive brands only marked as “chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel Rose, Cabernet, or Merlot (Plus a random label of sparkling wine or Prosecco). So if you’re not picky, this package may be sufficient.
Martini | Gin or vodka, dry vermouth, olive or lemon peel
Manhattan | Whisky, red vermouth, Angostura bitters
Daiquiri | Rum, lime juice, sugar syrup
Cosmopolitan | Vodka, triple sec, cranberry juice, lime
Sidecar | Brandy, triple sec, lemon juice
Screwdriver | Vodka, orange juice
Margarita | Tequila, triple sec, sweet & sour mix, lime juice
Moscow Mule | Vodka, lime, ginger beer
Cape Cod | Vodka, cranberry juice
Mimosa | Sparkling wine, orange juice
Gin Fizz | Gin, lemon juice, sugar syrup, soda
Pink Lady | Gin, lemon juice, grenadine
Sea Breeze | Vodka, grapefruit juice, cranberry juice
Caipiroska | Vodka, diced lime, sugar
Blue Hawaiian | Rum, blue curaçao, pineapple juice, coconut cream
Tequila Sunrise | Tequila, orange juice, grenadine
Bloody Mary | Vodka, tomato juice, salt, pepper, tabasco, Worcestershire sauce Long Island Iced Tea | Vodka, rum, gin, tequila, triple sec, sweet & sour mix, cola Mojito | Rum, fresh mint, lime, sugar, soda
Piña Colada | Rum, coconut cream, pineapple juice
Strawberry Daiquiri | Rum, strawberry purée, sweet & sour mix
Alcohol-free cocktails included
Nojito | Lime, fresh mint leaves, sugar, Mojito mix, club soda
Magic Island | Pineapple, orange and lemon juice, grenadine, Sprite
Cuddle on the Beach | Peach purée, orange juice, cranberry juice
Royal Punch | Passion fruit purée, pineapple juice, cranberry juice
Fruit Smoothie | Orange juice, pineapple juice, grenadine, fresh banana, guava juice, mango purée
Coco Colada | Fresh pineapple, coconut cream, pineapple juice, milk
Virgin Strawberry Daiquiri | Strawberry purée, sweet & sour mix, sugar syrup
Beer Included in the MSC Easy Drinks Package
Heineken draft beer (ONLY)
For this package, even though bottled beers are less than the price cap of $7.50, they’re specifically excluded. Mindblowing, right? It just adds to the confusion about the MSC Drinks packages.
Sodas Included in the Easy Package
Sodas by the glass, Fruit juices by the glass, Still or sparkling mineral water
Other beverages included
Espresso, Decaf espresso, Cappuccino, Decaf cappuccino, Caffè latte, Glass of milk, Hot chocolate, Hot tea
Is the Easy package worth it?
That really depends. If you drink basic cocktails such as Gin & Tonic, Bloody Mary, Screwdriver, etc, and aren’t picky about the liquor used, the Easy Package may work for you.
Easy Plus Drink Package
The Easy Plus Package cost is $61 per day, ($64 for shorter cruises of 6 days or less) but you can upgrade from the Easy package for about $23/per day per person
With this beverage package, you can order drinks in specialty dining restaurants as well as anything included in the above Easy package. There are caveats, more on that later.
Any beverages up to $10 are included in this package which gets you all of the beer options, more wine options, and some frozen drink options that aren’t available in the most basic drink package. There is also a larger range of liquor brands, cordials, and martinis available at this price point.
The Easy Plus Package is the most common drinks package because it includes just about everything that a typical drinker would order. Even better, this package can be used in specialty dining restaurants as well. With recent changes to the beverage packages, the cruise line now allows you to order a drink that is not included in the package and only pay the difference (plus gratuity)
This is what we ultimately upgraded to from our included Easy Package. It was well worth the upgrade not only for the more inclusive offering, but for the simplicity of not having to think about what we were ordering and if it was included.
In addition to the Easy Package, you can also order the following:
Cocktails included:
Sapphire Martini
Bombay Sapphire gin, Martini dry, olive or lemon peel
Appletini
Absolut Classic and Absolut Vanilia vodka, apple sour liqueur, sweet & sour mix
Royal Manhattan
Crown Royal, Martini Rosso, Angostura bitters
Cuban Daiquiri
Bacardi Superior white rum, lime juice, sugar syrup
Absolut Cosmo
Absolut Citron vodka, Cointreau, cranberry juice, Rose’s lime
Spanish Sidecar
Cardinal Mendoza brandy, Cointreau, lemon juice, sugar syrup
Screwdriver Made in USA
Tito’s vodka, orange juice
Classic Margarita
Jose Cuervo silver tequila, triple sec, sweet & sour mix, lime juice
Dutch Mule
Ketel One vodka, lime, ginger beer
Absolut Cape Cod
Absolut Classic vodka, cranberry juice
Mimosa Blossom
Absolut Mango vodka, Galliano, orange juice, prosecco
Bombay Fizz
Bombay Sapphire gin, lemon juice, sugar syrup, soda
Ultimate Pink Lady
Beefeater London Dry gin, lemon juice, pomegranate syrup
Caribbean Breeze
Ketel One vodka, grapefruit juice, cranberry juice, lime
Masters of the Sea Caipirinha
Premium cachaça, diced lime, sugar
Blue Hawaiian Punch
Bacardi Superior white rum, Malibu coconut rum, blue curaçao, pineapple juice, coconut cream
Aperol Spritz
Aperol, prosecco, club soda, orange slice
Jalisco Sunrise
Jose Cuervo silver tequila, orange juice, grenadine
Absolut Bloody Mary
Absolut Classic vodka, tomato juice, salt, pepper, tabasco, Worcestershire sauce
Ultimate Iced Tea
Smirnoff vodka, Bacardi Superior White rum, Beefeater gin, Jose Cuervo silver tequila, triple sec, sweet & sour mix, cola
Bacardi Mojito
Bacardi Superior white rum, fresh mint leaves, lime, sugar, club soda
Mudslide
Absolut vodka, Kahlúa coffee liqueur, Baileys Irish Cream, heavy cream
Baileys Alexander
Baileys Irish Cream, dark crème de cacao, cream
Frozen Drinks:
Mango Tropical Trooper
Cruzan mango rum, peach schnapps, triple sec, mango juice, fresh mint
Rock Lobster
Malibu coconut rum, banana liqueur, grenadine, fresh banana, pineapple and orange juice, Gosling’s Black Seal rum
Ultimate Piña Colada
Bacardi Superior white rum, pineapple juice, coconut cream, fresh pineapple
B.B.C
Bailey’s Irish Cream, Bacardi Superior white rum, coconut cream, pineapple juice, fresh banana
Original Strawberry Daiquiri
Bacardi Superior white rum, strawberry purée, sweet & sour mix
Miami Vice
Miami’s hottest drink: half Strawberry Daiquiri and half Piña Colada
Frozen Toblerone
Bailey’s Irish Cream, macadamia nut syrup, Swiss white chocolate syrup, cream
Beer Included in the Easy Plus package:
Miller Lite USA
Budweiser USA
Bud Light USA
Coors Light USA
Michelob Ultra USA
Heineken Netherlands
Corona Extra Mexico
Dos Equis Mexico
Red Stripe Jamaica
Stella Artois Belgium
Samuel Adams USA
Yuengling Lager USA
Newcastle Brown Ale England
Blue Moon USA
Beck’s Germany
Peroni Nastro Azzurro Italy
Pilsner Urquell Czech Republic
Guinness Pub Draft Ireland
Angry Orchard Apple Cider USA
Heineken 0.0 Netherlands
MSC Easy Plus Package Menu
This is an example of the Easy Plus menu from within the MSC mobile app. Just know that you are entitled to anything up to $10. See the complete list below.
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Premium Extra Package
This drinks package allows you to purchase any beverage up to $16, however, it comes at a high cost of $85.00 / day per person (this can be as much as $104/day if you are on a short cruise and purchase onboard). You can upgrade from a lower-cost beverage package for the difference in price, i.e. if you have the easy package, for approximately $43/day you can upgrade to this Premium package. (Note: Prices have changed as of March 1, 2023, and this information reflects the newest pricing)
While this package covers most top-shelf liquor, there are still quite a few wines and drinks that are more than $16, so it’s not as inclusive as other cruise lines’ most premium drink packages.
MSC Premium Extra Drink Menu
Most premium liquors can be purchased with this package including Grey Goose, Aviation Gin, Belvedere, etc. (see the menu below). However, there are still plenty of drinks that are strategically priced above $16, making this package far from all-inclusive. Additionally, most of the champagne and decent wine on board is significantly more than the limit allowed by this package. It’s hard to make sense of this package unless your tastes are squarely within the more premium liquor brands included.
A bonus of these drinks packages is the discounting on bottles of wine (25%), but the reality is good bottles of wine are generally only available at The Butchers Cut Steakhouse, so unless you are dining there regularly, that benefit is minimal.
In addition to the Easy Package & Easy Plus Package, you can also order the following beverages:
Drinks included in the Premium Extra Package:
Aviation Martini
Aviation gin, maraschino liqueur, crème de violette, fresh lemon juice
Hemingway Daiquiri
Zacapa 23Y rum, fresh lime juice, grapefruit juice, maraschino liqueur
Santa Teresa Manhattan
Santa Teresa 1796 rum, orange bitters, red vermouth
Gold Rush
Woodford Reserve bourbon, fresh lemon juice, honey syrup
MSC Signature Martini
Disaronno liqueur, Grey Goose vodka, Licor 43, lemon peel
Mule Le Poire
Grey Goose Le Poire vodka, fresh lime juice, ginger beer
Shanghai Margarita
Patrón Silver tequila, agave nectar, fresh lime juice, fresh ginger zest
Chili Passion Caipirinha
Premium caçhaca, lime, raw sugar, hot chili sauce, passion fruit, jalapeño
Ultimate Mai Tai
Appleton Estate rum, Bacardi Superior white rum, Disaronno liqueur, pineapple and orange juice, sweet & sour mix, grenadine
Purple Rain
Bacardi Superior white rum, Finlandia vodka, Bombay Sapphire gin, peach schnapps, blue curaçao, sweet & sour mix, grenadine
Coco Loco
Bacardi Oakheart spiced rum, Malibu coconut rum, Piña Colada mix, mango purée, fruit punch
Jamaican Paradise
Appleton Estate rum, Malibu coconut rum, Jose Cuervo silver tequila, Midori melon liqueur, blue curaçao, sweet & sour mix
Miami Beach Iced Tea
Bacardi Superior white rum, Beefeater gin, Smirnoff vodka, Cuervo silver tequila, blue curaçao, sugar syrup, Sprite
Sunset Beach
Malibu coconut rum, raspberry liqueur, orange and pineapple juice, grenadine
Tropical Tease
Midori melon liqueur, Malibu coconut rum, banana liqueur, pineapple juice
Emerald Mariachi
1800 Reposado tequila, blue curaçao, lime juice, passion fruit syrup, pineapple juice
Mango Mojito
Bacardi mango rum, mango purée, fresh mint leaves, lime, club soda
You ONLY pay the difference in price for a beverage not included in your MSC DRINK package
You can now get a credit towards any drinks not included in your MSC Drink package!. The credit towards a drink is $8 per drink for the Easy Package, $10 per drink for the Easy Plus Package, and $16 per drink for the Premium Extra Package.
For European cruises the credit you get is 7 Euro for the Easy Package, 9 Euro for the Easy Plus and 14 Euro for the Premium Extra package on MSC.
Alcoholic-Free and Minors Package on MSC Cruises
You might be interested in the non-alcoholic package if you’re not a drinker or when traveling with children. This package offers non-alcoholic cocktails, sodas, energy drinks, juices, coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. This package doesn’t apply to specialty restaurants unless it’s for a minor whose group purchased the Easy Plus or Premium Extra alcoholic package. So be prepared to pay for your soda when dining at the Butcher’s Cut, even if you have this package.
These prices will vary if booked on the ship on the day of sailing. Usually by an additional 10% or more. Short sailings are considered anything less than 7 days.
This table of prices is pretty mind-numbing and takes the fun out of figuring out what package is right. Why there are different prices for different lengths of cruise is bizarre and just another way that MSC tends to overcomplicate everything.
- Read : More about MSC Cruises
- See : MSC Bar Menus
In Summary, My experience with the MSC Drink Packages
Originally, I thought the Easy package would be sufficient for our cruise, but discovering the limited beverage options and the fact that you cannot use the package in specialty dining restaurants, we chose to upgrade to the Easy Plus.
Overall this was a good choice, because of the wider variety of options and the ability to use in a specialty restaurant. However, it’s important to know – that when using the Easy Plus in a specialty restaurant like Butcher’s Cut, you must order off of the wine/drink menus in that restaurant!
If your favorite glass of wine isn’t available in the restaurant, you are forbidden to bring anything from an outside bar, which really makes no sense. This is something that they do NOT TELL YOU when upgrading from Easy to Easy Plus on the ship.
Normally this wouldn’t be a big issue except there were very few options on beverage menus that were covered by the Easy Plus package.
Drink Calculator – Are drink packages worth it on MSC?
Let’s find out if getting a drink package is worth it or not by using our handy drink calculator! Simply choose the package you plan on purchasing and estimate how many drinks per day you might consume and see if you “break even”
- Choose the package type you are considering. We’ve entered the package price per MSC Cruises but you can adjust the daily charge if you are getting a promo on the package price.
- Enter the number of cruise days
- Estimate your consumption of each type of beverage. We’ve put the average beverage prices based on the Drink Menus, but you can adjust this if you know you like more expensive drink options.
Thank you Phil! I have a question is there any cgonac options in the easy plus drink package? and the credit is it 10 dollars per drink lets say we want hennesy which is 14 dollars I think I will never have to pay the difference since it is not more than 10 dollars?
Thanks in advance.
Hi Laura – Admittedly, I wasn’t paying attention to cognac availability so I can’t be sure. I can say that there were quite a few things that I didn’t expect to be included on easy plus that weren’t on menus (various vodkas and tequilas, etc). So I would be surprised if you can’t find cognac. Regarding the difference – MSC now allows you to just pay the difference (plus the gratuity on the difference)! They didn’t used to do this, but now they credit the amount of your package limit per drink against anything you purchase.
Thanks Phil,
Just to confirm, the “variety of hot drinks” in the non-alcoholic package do not include specialty coffees like espresso and lattes?
On MSC, we were able to order lattes and such with our Easy Package. But They (MSC) are notorious for changing the rules, but normally these drinks are included in a package!
On MSc how much doe sit cost if you buy a beer or a soda pop per purchase since i do not drink much alcohol at all and maybe two sodas a day
Wayne – You can get a beer for about $7.50 and a soda for $3.00-$3.50 + gratuity. You can see the MSC drink menus here
How do you know if the drink you order is within the 10$ limit on the easy plus package? Do the bartenders tell you? I would hate to get a bill for the extra few dollars if not covered. Thanks!
Hi Robin, They are very good about telling you right away if anything you order isn’t in the package, but the menus are also scattered around everywhere, and you’ll quickly learn what types of drinks are extra. I found that the selection of drinks wasn’t incredibly huge, so I knew fast what they had that I liked, and which were going to cost a little more.
I don’t drink alcohol but would like the occasional soda. Is it possible to purchase just individual drinks without the packages?
Hi Peter,
Absolutely! If you take a look at the MSC Drink Menus (here) – on the first menu, flip to the last page. You’ll see the list of sodas and other beverages. It’s definitely not worth a package with the occasional soda.
Hi! Sailing in a couple days. Just want water and maybe a MOCKtail or 2 for a day. I wasn’t clear on how much mineral water is included per day or how to access. No soda, tea or coffee for me. The calculator did not offer the nonalcoholic package so wanted your recommendations- I do need to drink alot of water. Can I bring any sealed bottled water aboard? Is there gratuities on bottled water as well and how big are the bottles? Thanks in advance!
Hi Amy – Good point on the calculator – we’ll fix that and add the non-alcoholic package! At about $28 per day for the non-alcoholic package and a water being about $3.25 + gratuities, You’d end up needing to buy about 7 bottled waters per day to “break even”. (They are the large 17 oz sizes you’d get in a restaurant, so it’s a pretty good value) The non alcoholic cocktails are included as well and are usually about $7 to my recollection, but here’s the menus for MSC Drinks. (the first menu flips through to all the non-alcoholic in the back of the menu) – About bringing water, etc. MSC Is one of the only cruise lines that literally allows no beverages to be brought on the ship. Enjoy your cruise! I hope this helps.
We are looking at doing a cruise with our teens in the spring. We don’t drink alcohol, so is it worth buying a drink package? We would like access to sodas, juices, anything non alcoholic, so wondering if you’d advise to get a drink pkg or not. Thanks!
Hi Diana – Basic tea, coffee, water is included in the fare but soda, specialty coffee and other non-alcoholic beverages aren’t included. There IS an Alcohol free package for $28/day per person +/- which is quite a bit less than the other drink packages. HOWEVER, MSC Often does a promo with the “easy” package or “easy plus” as a perk for a bit of an extra charge. Doing the math, you’ll often find that the little higher rate on a cruise that includes the drink package is far less than buying the package separately. For example, on a 7 day booking I looked and the all included fare was about $37/per person per day more expensive and the drink package was included as well as wifi and onboard credit. More benefits for less money for sure! SO be sure to check that pricing and use our drink calculator for MSC (here) to see if you even drink enough soda/non-alcoholic things to make it worth it.
Your calculator doesn’t take into account that they add a 15% gratuity to each drink, and the package includes the gratuity.
Hi Brad, thanks for the comment, we’ll make a change to the formula to include the gratuity in the calculations!
Hello,
Is there a time limit in between each drink? Like a waiting period of 10/15 minutes?
Hi Sarah – There is not. We would often try a drink of the day or some specialty, hate it, and immediately order something else.
Hope this helps!
I want to get the easy drinks package but my husband cant drink due to Ill health. Do MSC take this into consideration or will we have to both buy same package.
Hi Karen – Normally with a medical notice from a doctor, the second person doesn’t have to purchase an alcohol package. HOWEVER, MSC rules change… sometimes depending on who you speak to. My experience with this is that they will request you purchase the EASY package for yourself and the NON ALCOHOLIC package for your husband. But it will have to be done by phone, and whether they ask for medical proof will likely depend on who you speak to at the time. I had friends traveling with us that were in your exact situation and they were not asked for proof but were in fact told the non drinking person has to purchase a non-alcoholic package.
Is Redbul available at no additional cost in the easy plus package?
Yes, my recollection is that energy drinks were included with the Easy Plus!
So for my wife who does not drink any alcohol is the minor package the best? Based on the menu the easy plus package covers a variety of beers is that correct vs only Heineken on the easy package.
Hi Jason, they (MSC) will likely require the Alcohol-Free Package as I believe the Minors package is truly teens and below. They’re basically the same thing, you’re just getting penalized for being a grown up 🙂 – That said, the Easy Plus package you are considering does cover all of the beers. There wasn’t a beer served that wasn’t covered by the Easy Plus. And yes, Heineken is the only thing available on the Easy Package. So if you’re a beer drinker, it’s worth looking at the Easy Plus. BUT! Keep in mind, the specials that MSC runs sometimes include the beverage packages and it may be cheaper to go ahead and book with those specials rather than cruise only and adding an Alcohol-Free Package + Easy Plus package. Even if your wife doesn’t take advantage of the alcohol, she can have all of the non-alcoholic beverages she wants and in the end the total price may be less on the promotion. Hope this helps!
If you purchase a non-alcoholic drink package, do you pay the difference for an alcoholic drink or the full price?
Hi Tom – The non alcoholic package won’t work to apply anything towards an alcoholic beverage purchase. However if you have the most basic beverage package (Easy), you can pay the difference for drinks that are more expensive than what is covered by the Easy (this is new for 2023)
Thank you, kind of what I thought. I’d have to to go easy plus since the easy package is not inclusive of some of the non-alcoholic drinks I would like.
Interesting! I’m curious about what non-alcoholic drinks you like that wouldn’t be included in the Easy Package? In our experience, everything non-alcoholic was included in the Easy Package (but there may be something I’m missing!) 🙂
What to do if one person drinks and other doesn’t on the same cabin?
Typically everyone of age in the same cabin must have the same drink package. The cruise line will make an exception for medical reasons. Mostly they don’t want one person getting the package and sharing the drinks with their cabin mate 🙁
Thank you for all of this information. It is very hard to navigate all of this from MSC website. I am not a big drinker so I wasn’t sure if the packages were necessary. Your drink calculator is very helpful. If you could answer a question: there are no frozen drinks on the easy drink menu. Does that mean there is no option for frozen margaritas?
Hi Claudia, I’m glad this information helped! We were able to get frozen drinks without a problem, as long as the liquor type was in the basic package. They didn’t distinguish between frozen or on the rocks with things like Margaritas and Daiquiris.
We are sailing to Rome from Durban 20th April and have bought 18 of the 18 unit packages, my question is does a unit mean a short and a mixer, ie, rum and coke or it that 2 units.
Hi Jennifer, we’ve done both Europe & USA cruises on MSC – and in our experience, a rum and coke was in fact a single drink. I know in Europe, it’s common to sell the mixer separate, but that does not seem to be the case on MSC Ships. I hope this helps & enjoy your cruise!
My husband and I are booked to sail from Durban in April on msc Orchestra 25 day cruise to Genoa. Please can you advise if drinks packages are on offer on the ship or if we pay per drink and are soft drinks free? If we pay per drink can you email prices so that we can work out a budget, many thanks.
Hi Ann! When you login to your MSC account you should see a way to pre-purchase the packages. If you wait until you get on the ship, they will be about 20% more expensive! We did the “easy” package which covered sodas, specialty coffee, bottled water, and quite a few basic drinks, but upgraded on another trip to the Easy Plus which gets you better beverages and allows you to use the package in the specialty restaurants (which you can’t with the basic Easy package). We put together a handy drink calculator for MSC (See the drink calculator) so you can estimate your budget based on how you normally consume. This will let you know really fast if you’re going to make the drink package worth it! I hope this helps.
Their top package used to include everything but full bottles of wine. Last time on Miraviglia it included everything on the champagne bar menu including $20 drinks. On the Seaside it used to cover the specialty chocolate drinks and gelato. Mildly disappointed. Used to be the best package. Bartenders loved it because they could make the high dollar stuff most people won’t try
I feel your disappointment! When we were on the Meraviglia, the whole drink package was so confusing that even some of the staff weren’t sure what to include or not. I had hoped they’d simplify it, but the new packages with prices were just released, and it’s still a head-scratcher.
It will be our first time on a cruise. Reading your tips is being mind and eye opening. We will make sure to have every single detail well calculated before we proceed. Thank you! Great website!