Carnival’s CHEERS! package can look tempting at first glance… Unlimited cocktails, speciality coffees, bottled water, energy drinks. It all sounds great until you realise the price can add hundreds to your cruise fare!
And that leaves a lot of first-time Carnival cruisers wondering the same thing – if you skip the drinks package, will you actually get anything decent to drink for free?
The good news is yes, absolutely. Carnival includes more free drinks than many people realise, and unless you’re planning to drink cocktails all day long, you might find the complimentary options are more than enough.
There are a few catches though.
The 9 Free Drinks On Carnival Cruises
1. Water
Tap water is completely free on Carnival cruise ships, and you can get it all over the ship.
You can ask for iced water in restaurants and bars, while water dispensers are available in the buffet area. The water onboard is filtered and perfectly safe to drink.
A lot of cruisers actually prefer the taste to the tap water back home.
The tap water in your cabin bathroom is safe too, although it may not always be very cold. If you like icy water, ask your cabin steward for an ice bucket.
What isn’t free is bottled water. Carnival sells bottled still and sparkling water separately, or it’s included with some drinks packages and casino offers.
One tip – bring a reusable bottle or insulated tumbler. Most regular Carnival cruisers do.
2. Lemonade
Carnival’s lemonade is one of the most popular free drinks onboard.
You’ll usually find it at the self-service drink stations on the Lido deck near the buffet. It’s American-style lemonade rather than fizzy Sprite-style lemonade, so think sweet, tart and refreshing.
It’s available throughout much of the day and makes a nice alternative when you’re bored of plain water.
A lot of cruisers bring powdered drink mixes or reusable tumblers to make the free lemonade last longer around the ship.
3. Iced Tea
Unsweetened iced tea is another free staple on Carnival ships.
You’ll normally find it alongside the lemonade dispensers in the buffet area, and it’s also available in the Main Dining Room.
If you’re American, you should know Carnival’s iced tea isn’t sweet tea by default. You’ll need to add sugar or sweetener yourself.
Some guests even make their own sweet tea by brewing hot tea over ice with extra sugar packets.
4. Coffee
Regular brewed coffee is free on Carnival cruises – good news if you need that caffeine hit.
You can grab it from the buffet drink stations and restaurants throughout the day, and it’s usually available almost around the clock.
The free coffee is basic drip coffee rather than barista-made coffee, but most guests seem perfectly happy with it.
If you want cappuccinos, lattes, iced coffees or espresso drinks, those count as speciality coffee and cost extra unless you have CHEERS! or another package that includes them.
This is where many people get caught out when looking at the drinks packages. If you drink several speciality coffees every day, the package starts making more sense.
But if you just want a standard coffee in the morning? You’re covered already.
5. Hot Tea
Tea drinkers won’t go thirsty either, so more good news for fans of hot beverages.
Carnival offers complimentary hot tea bags at buffet drink stations and in restaurants, with options usually including English Breakfast, green tea and herbal teas.
The quality is fairly standard cruise tea, but it does the job.
If you’re sailing from the UK, you may notice more tea options appear than on Caribbean sailings. Carnival does adapt slightly to British passengers on European itineraries, though only with minor touches like this. Don’t expect a completely British experience onboard.
6. Hot Chocolate
Carnival’s hot chocolate has a surprisingly loyal fanbase. You’ll usually find it at selected buffet beverage stations, although it can be easy to miss because not every machine offers it.
A lot of guests mix the hot chocolate with the free coffee to make a DIY mocha.
Others swirl it into Carnival’s soft-serve ice cream for what might be one of the least healthy but most enjoyable cruise snacks possible.
7. Milk
Milk is available free during breakfast service, including regular milk and often skimmed milk too.
You’ll normally find cartons in the buffet area near the cereal and breakfast stations.
If you need dairy-free alternatives like soy milk or almond milk, Carnival can often provide them if requested, although availability can vary by ship.
8. Chocolate Milk
At breakfast, many Carnival ships also offer cartons of chocolate milk.
This tends to be one of those hidden little cruise favourites that regular Carnival cruisers quietly get excited about.
If you don’t immediately see it in the buffet, it’s worth asking.
9. Fruit Juice
Carnival offers free fruit juice during breakfast hours.
The exact options vary, but usually include orange juice, apple juice and sometimes tropical blends like orange-guava-passionfruit juice.
Outside breakfast hours, juice generally becomes chargeable unless it’s included with your package.
That catches some first-time cruisers out, especially if they’re used to cruise lines that offer juice all day.
Other Ways To Get Free Drinks On Carnival
There are also a few situations where Carnival guests may get extra complimentary drinks onboard.
Art Auctions
Some art auctions offer free sparkling wine or Champagne-style drinks while you browse.
It’s not guaranteed on every sailing, but it’s common enough that experienced cruisers know to keep an eye out.
Just remember the goal is usually to encourage guests to buy artwork.
Casino Offers
Carnival often gives casino guests complimentary drinks offers, especially through casino promotions.
Some offers include free drinks while playing in the casino, although rules vary depending on the promotion and your casino status.
Typically, drinks are meant to be ordered while actively gambling rather than simply walking up to the bar.
These perks can include alcoholic drinks, soda, speciality coffee, bottled water and energy drinks.
VIFP Parties And Special Events
Carnival’s VIFP loyalty programme sometimes includes invite-only events with complimentary drinks.
These can vary depending on your loyalty level, the sailing and special promotions running at the time.
Some suite guests and casino guests may also receive invitations to private events with free drinks.
Suite Perks
If you’re staying in a suite on your Carnival cruise, you’ll get two large bottles of water free.
There’s been some confusion over this – it used to be that you had to claim the bottles from a bar, and people would drink the bottles in their minibar instead, thinking those were the free ones, then complain about charges…
It’s all been simplified now and the free bottles are in your suite, with a tag explaining that they’re free.
Read more: Carnival Cruise Suite Perks (Are They Worth the Upgrade?)
Bringing Your Own Drinks On Carnival
Carnival’s drink rules are stricter than some cruise lines, but you are allowed to bring some drinks onboard yourself.
Each guest can carry on:
- One 750ml bottle of wine or Champagne per adult
- Up to 12 sealed cans or cartons of non-alcoholic drinks
There are some important rules though…
The soft drinks must be cans or cartons – not plastic bottles. And they need to be packed in your carry-on luggage rather than your checked bags.
This can be a really good money-saving trick if you’re driving to the port. If you’re flying, though, carrying a 12-pack through airports and transfers may not feel worth the hassle.
A lot of Carnival cruisers compromise by bringing a few favourite drinks onboard and then relying on the free lemonade, iced tea and water for the rest of the cruise.
Suggested read: Carnival Cruise Luggage Rules
What Isn’t Free On Carnival?
These drinks are not included unless you buy a drinks package or pay individually:
- Speciality coffee like cappuccinos, lattes and espresso
- Bottled water
- Soda
- Energy drinks
- Milkshakes
- Mocktails
- Fresh juices and smoothies
- Alcoholic drinks
Is Carnival’s CHEERS! Package Worth It?
This really depends on how you cruise.
Thousands of cruisers use my free drink package calculator to find out before they sail….
For many people, CHEERS! only starts making financial sense if you’re drinking several alcoholic drinks per day alongside bottled water, speciality coffees or energy drinks.
A couple of cocktails and a morning latte usually won’t justify the cost.
And this is where Carnival’s free drinks selection helps more than people expect.
You can already get:
- Water
- Lemonade
- Iced tea
- Coffee
- Tea
- Hot chocolate
- Breakfast juices
…without spending anything extra.
If you mostly drink wine with dinner, it may actually work out cheaper to skip CHEERS! and either pay as you go or look into Carnival’s wine packages instead.
Read more: Carnival Cruise Drink Packages: The Ultimate Guide (Are They Worth It?)
NEW DEALS JUST RELEASED!
See the latest Carnival cruise offers…
The Bottom Line
Carnival definitely wants guests to buy drinks packages – that part is obvious. But the free drinks situation onboard is actually pretty decent.
You won’t be stuck drinking plain tap water all week unless you want to.
Between the lemonade, iced tea, coffee, tea, juices and hot chocolate, there’s enough variety that many cruisers happily skip CHEERS! altogether and save themselves hundreds.
And if you bring a few cans onboard yourself, you may find you barely miss the package at all.
