If you’ve been cruising for more than about five minutes, you’ll know that drink packages were once the Wild West.
People shared them, swapped cards, smuggled spirits inside shampoo bottles, and generally treated the rules more as vague suggestions than anything binding.
Naturally, the cruise lines cottoned on. Over the years, they’ve tightened the rules, uploaded new terms and conditions in a slightly sterner font, and trained crew to spot everything from a secretly poured piña colada to a mysteriously shared SeaPass account.
And yet, for all the clamping down, a few very handy workarounds still exist.
Drinks Loopholes Explained
This isn’t about the shady stuff. Not the stuff that’s going to get you a lifetime ban.
The loopholes I’m talking about the little quirks, the harmless oddities, and the surprisingly generous policies that let you enjoy a civilised drink on board without signing your life away to an eighty-pounds-a-day alcohol package.
These aren’t really loopholes in the legal sense; they’re more like gentle hacks, perfectly allowed, but rarely promoted because the cruise lines would rather you didn’t do it.
The good news is that if you do the maths, you can save a small fortune. And even better, many of these tricks work across multiple cruise lines and ships, so once you learn them, you can carry them from sailing to sailing like a particularly smug travel accessory.
Before we get into the subtler tactics, there’s one category of loophole so effective that it deserves pride of place right at the top.
1. Choose a Cruise Line That Lets You Bring Booze Onboard
Most cruisers don’t realise just how wildly different the bring-your-own rules can be from one cruise line to another.
Some lines treat alcohol like contraband. They’re so strict that you can’t even bring a bottle of water with you. But others have no issues with you bringing a bottle of bubbly, some cans of beer and a whole case of Pepsi Max.
If you choose carefully, you can quite legitimately enjoy the majority of your drinks without ever paying a bar bill or buying a package.
Disney Cruise Line is the best-known example, and their policy remains one of the most generous anywhere.
Each adult is allowed to bring two bottles of wine or six beers not only on embarkation, but at every single port of call. That means if you call at four ports during a seven-night cruise, you can theoretically walk on with two fresh bottles of wine on five separate occasions.
When we took a transatlantic cruise on the Disney Dream, I found a shop in the Azores where the most expensive bottle of rose wine was 4 Euros. I brough two back on the ship with me.
A couple travelling together could accumulate a frankly heroic amount of booze without ever going near a drinks package.
Combine that with the ease of pouring a glass in your cabin before heading out for the evening, and you suddenly begin to understand why so many Disney regulars sail without paying for onboard alcohol at all.
There is a corkage fee, but it only applies if you present the bottle in a bar or restaurant. So many guests happily enjoy their own wine privately and opt in to the ship’s wine list only when they fancy something special.
Several other cruise lines will let you bring a small amount of alcohol onboard as you embark.
If you start paying attention to which cruise lines encourage a modest amount of BYO and which ones shut it down entirely, you realise that choosing the right line is itself one of the strongest drink-package loopholes still standing.
A little homework before you book can save you a small fortune once you’re on the high seas.
Read more: How Much Alcohol Each Cruise LIne Allows You To Bring
2. Make Your Cabin Your Own Private Bar
Even though cruise lines charge corkage to drink your own wine in public venues, some guests may opt to pout a glass in the cabin, and then go and sit in a quiet area on deck. Particularly if they don’t have their own balcony.
This is one of those quiet customs that everyone seems to know about but nobody particularly troubles themselves to enforce. You’re drinking wine the cruise line already allows you to bring on board; you’re simply choosing to enjoy it in a different part of the ship.
Most people who do this keep things discreet. They pour into a regular wine glass or, increasingly, an insulated tumbler that keeps a drink cold and hidden from view.
It’s not sneaky so much as practical. After all, the line has already permitted you to have the wine; they just haven’t necessarily encouraged you to take it for a little walk.
If you like wine, and you’re on a line that allows you to bring some on board, you can drastically reduce the amount you spend on drinks packages.
One or two glasses privately before dinner, another from your own stash while watching sailaway, and suddenly you’re only buying the occasional cocktail or speciality drink.
Over the course of a week, that can easily add up to hundreds of pounds saved, all while staying within the rules.
And it’s not just wine you can do this with. I usually carry a little bottle of concentrated cordial with me. I order a glass of tap water and then add a little splash of flavour.
Yes, I could get a drink package for the kids, but they’re happy with squash and it saves not only my wallet but also their teeth compared to drinking fruit juice and fizzy drinks all the time.
3. Watch the Drinks Package Prices Like a Hawk
Drinks packages used to cost whatever they cost, and that was that. But in recent years, the cruise lines have adopted a far more dynamic pricing model, which is a polite way of saying that the numbers jump around a lot.
One week a package might be on sale, the next it’s quietly crept up twenty per cent, and then it’s suddenly part of a limited-time bundle deal if you book a new sailing by Wednesday lunchtime.
It’s chaotic, but in a way that can work very much to your advantage. Watching the drink package prices has often bagged me savings of up to 50%!
The trick here is to treat the drink package a bit like you would a flight or hotel: buy it early if you’re keen, but don’t be afraid to cancel and rebook if the price drops.
On several cruise lines you can do this entirely online before the cruise, which makes it incredibly easy. You simply keep an eye on the promotions, especially around big sale events like Black Friday, and re-purchase when you see a dip.
If your sailing includes one of those “free drinks” promotions built into the fare, the same principle applies.
These offers come and go with startling speed, and sometimes a sailing that didn’t include a drink package on Monday suddenly includes one on Friday, for exactly the same cabin grade.
There’s no guarantee your original fare can be adjusted, but it’s always worth checking. If there’s a change in terms or inclusions, you can sometimes rebook the same cabin type under a new deal and come away with the package for less money than buying it outright.
It all feels a bit like playing the stock market, except the stakes are mojitos and merlot rather than tech stocks. And while it requires a small amount of attention, the payoff can be huge.
The lines won’t shout about this, obviously, but they do allow it, and as long as you’re flexible and willing to pounce when a discount appears, you can game the system quite legally.
Read more: Everything You Must Know About Cruise Drinks Packages Before You Book
4. Choose Itineraries Where a Drinks Package Simply Can’t Pay For Itself
One of the quietest and most satisfying loopholes is not really a loophole at all, but a bit of clever itinerary planning.
The cruise lines love a captive audience. Sea days, private islands and long evenings on board all encourage you to eat, drink and spend in ways that naturally make a drinks package feel tempting.
But the moment you flip the balance and choose a port-heavy itinerary, the whole economic logic of a package starts to wobble.
If you’re off the ship from nine until five most days, you’re simply not around to make use of unlimited cocktails. In fact, you’ll probably find yourself enjoying a cold beer or a glass of something local while exploring ashore.
A waterfront bar in Spain or Greece will often cost less than half the price of the same drink on board, and it feels infinitely more atmospheric than sitting at a pool bar with three thousand other holidaymakers.
Once you’ve done that a few days in a row, you realise you haven’t actually bought anything on the ship beyond the odd latte.
This is particularly noticeable in regions where the ports are close together and the days ashore are long.
The Mediterranean is a perfect example. A seven-night itinerary with four or five full port days barely leaves you time to get value from a package, unless you’re planning to sprint back on board each afternoon and immediately start drinking.
Most people don’t. They’re tired from sightseeing, they fancy a shower and a lie-down, and by the time they head out for the evening, they may quite sensibly stick to a single drink.
There’s also a lovely side benefit: drinking ashore allows you to try local wines and regional beers you’d never find on the ship. In a way, you’re not only saving money on the ship; you’re actually upgrading your entire drinking experience.
So the loophole here is really that the best way to beat the drink package system is simply not to need it.
5. Take Advantage Of Your Loyalty Status Or Suite Perks
One of the things I find oddly charming about cruising is how much the loyalty schemes vary from one line to another.
Some give you little trinkets and tote bags; others hand out drink perks that are astonishingly generous. And the higher up the tiers you climb, the more these perks begin to resemble a drinks package you didn’t have to pay for.
If you’re in the loyalty program, you may find little cards in your room, offering you a free cocktail here, a special party with free drinks there and maybe even free invitations to events like wine tastings.
Some cruise lines treat their most loyal guests to daily complimentary drinks during set hours, and some grant you a handful of drinks at any time of day, without you spending a penny.
Royal Caribbean starts dishing out daily free drinks once you reach Diamond in the Crown & Anchor Society – from 4 to 6, depending on your level. That might be all you need!
Suite guests often enjoy an even smoother experience. Many ships have private lounges for suite passengers where wine, beer and spirits are poured freely for several hours each night.
Some even include complimentary sparkling wine or premium spirits that would cost a fair bit if ordered at the bar. It’s not unusual to see guests in these lounges quietly enjoying two or three drinks before dinner, chatting to the concierge staff, and then strolling off to the dining room without having put anything on their account.
What’s nice about this category of loophole is that it rewards loyalty and long-term cruising rather than short-term tactics.
If you sail frequently with one line, you eventually reach the point where the cruise line itself is giving you enough complimentary drinks that a package becomes redundant.
And if you happen to book a suite, the perks effectively replicate the experience of a package without the all-day obligation to drink constantly in order to feel you’ve got your money’s worth.
For newcomers, this might not be an immediate benefit, but it’s something to keep in mind if you tend to favour one cruise line over another.
Read more: 7 Reasons The New Carnival Loyalty Program Makes Sense
6. Embrace The Daily Deals
Even without any perks, promotions or portside wine-runs, there’s another way to keep the drinks bill well under control: simply lean into the small everyday offers that most passengers barely notice.
The most obvious example is the drink of the day. Nearly every ship has one, and while it might not always be the exact cocktail you were dreaming of, it’s usually offered at a sizeable saving.
Then there are the happy hours and time-limited promotions that come and go throughout the cruise. Some are tied to specific bars, others to quieter times of day when the ship would love a bit more buzz and spending.
A buy-one-get-one-half-price deal here, a reduced price beer bucket there… suddenly it starts to feel like you’re having your own version of a drinks package, just without the daily fee attached to your account.
What makes all of this feel like a loophole is that you are genuinely still treating yourself. You’re having the cocktails, the spritzes, the beers by the pool. You’re just doing it at moments when the ship is offering a sweeter deal.
7. Consider Partial Packages Instead of the Whole Shebang
Another clever twist that often gets overlooked is that you don’t have to buy an alcohol package to feel like you’ve got a package.
Cruise lines now offer a whole menu of alternatives: soft drinks packages, coffee bundles, mocktail passes and water packages that can sharply cut down your casual spending.
Combine one of those with a handful of well-timed paid drinks and possibly a bit of BYO wine back in the cabin, and suddenly the math starts to look extremely friendly.
And there’s a little-discussed psychological perk, too. Having a partial package gives you the comfort of knowing a lot of your consumption is covered, but without the odd pressure that full alcohol packages sometimes create.
8. Let The Casino and Social Events Boost Your Bar Budget
The casino can be a dangerous place if you’re genuinely trying to win money, but from a drinks perspective it can be surprisingly kind.
On many cruise lines, if you speend enough in the casino, you start to receive complimentary drinks from the casino bar.
For example, on Holland America Line, once you accumulate 1,500 casino points, they put a sticker on your card which entitles you to free drinks from the casino bar.
You don’t actually have to be gambing to claim your free drinks. I would often use my sticker to grab a free glass of wine on my way to the theatre.
For the casual gambler, that can translate into several nicely poured cocktails or beers over the course of a night, all essentially included in the cost of a handful of cautious bets.
Even if you don’t venture anywhere near the slot machines, there’s another overlooked source of free drinks: shipboard events.
Art auctions, captains’ welcome parties, loyal-guest receptions, even certain sailaway celebrations often include a complimentary glass of fizz or a cocktail.
These aren’t usually advertised as a way to get a free drink, of course, but they’re an entirely valid part of cruise life and they can add up quite nicely if you enjoy being sociable.
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Final Word
Cruise lines will always nudge you towards the biggest, shiniest drink package because it’s good business for them. But you don’t have to play their game to enjoy a well-watered holiday.
A little knowledge goes a long way. Whether you’re topping up your wine stash in every port, taking full advantage of your loyalty perks, or simply timing your cocktails with a happy hour, there are plenty of ways to sip smartly without breaking any rules.
So the next time someone insists a drinks package is essential, you’ll know better. The smartest cruisers aren’t the ones drinking the most.
They’re the ones paying the least for exactly what they enjoy, glass in hand, sea breeze in their hair and a quietly triumphant smile that says: I’ve beaten the system and I haven’t even left the cocktail bar.
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I’ve mentioned this before – VIKING Ocean and River cruises allow you to take absolutely anything on board to have in your cabin. On my last 3 trips, 2 Ocean and a River cruise, I took 2x 1 litre bottles of Gin on board each time, and the cabin steward even supplied me with a daily bucket of ice.
They give you unlimited wine and beer at Lunch and Dinner as part of your trip as well.
So really, there is no need to buy their ‘Silver Spirits’ drink package.
How good is that!