How We Determine Whether To Buy The Drinks Package

This post analyzes why we did not buy the Have It All (“HIA”) package on our 2023 Transatlantic Cruise and why we did buy HIA on our 2024 Transatlantic Cruise.  First things first:  if you are big drinkers, there is no need to read much further.  Just purchase HIA and enjoy your vacation.  The analysis is for people who aren’t big drinkers.  It is based on the cost how many alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, bottled waters and premium coffee you will average per day versus the cost of HIA.

Melissa and I are not big drinkers these days.  Melissa lost a lot of weight over the last 2 years.  In addition to feeling great and looking fabulous, Melissa is now the ultimate cheap date.  Once glass of wine is pretty much her limit.  Even on vacation, she will rarely go more than 2 alcoholic beverages a day.  I am unlikely to drink more than she does, even on vacation.  So, the analysis for us is a closer call than it will be for most people.

What is included in HIA on Holland America?  On a 14 day cruise, the normal HIA includes the Select Drink Package (up to 15 drinks per day, with a $10 cap per drink), 2 nights specialty restaurant, $200 shore excursion credit, a WiFi package for each person and $100 on board credit each.  This is what was offered on our 2023 TA Cruise for $50 per day.  For our 2024 TA, there was an early booking bonus HIA that included Pre Paid Gratuities and a $275 OBC and upgraded the drink package to Elite (up to 15 drinks per day, with a cap of $15 per drink) and upgraded the WiFi package to the top of the line.  The cost of the Early Booking HIA was $55 per day.

We do the analysis by looking at the cost of everything that is included that we would ordinarily use, other than the drink package.  We then compare the cost of what we would ordinarily drink on a cruise to the cost HIA minus everything included in HIA that we would ordinarily use. 

Well, how does that work?  We generally don’t use the ship’s shore excursions because we have found that we can do better in port.  So we don’t include that in the equation.  We always get the WiFi packages, so it is included in the equation.  We generally don’t eat in a specialty restaurants (we love the main dining room), so we don’t include that in the equation.  Everyone uses the OBC and has to pay gratuities.  So, where that is in the package, we include that in the equation.

2023 calculation:  Wifi Package is $176.  OBC is $100 per person.  Costs we would normally incur (total of these items) are $276.  Cost of HIA is $700.  Therefore, our break even point on drinks is $424 each.  Because all members in the same cabin have to order the same package, we would need to have a bar bill of $848 ($60 per day) at the end of the cruise to break even. This was actually a close call, mainly because we would use the specialty restaurant and the shore excursion credit if they were included and because we will generally average $20-$25 of drinks per day, even if we aren’t whooping it up.  A few soft drinks, a few bottled waters, a few specialty coffees, a beer or two for me, a glass of wine or two for Melissa.  But, we ultimately decided that we will probably be better a la carte.

2024 calculation:  The Prepaid Gratuities is a game changer.  This is worth $217 pp.  The upgraded WiFi is also a plus but we will still valued it at $176 pp.  The OBC is $137 pp.  Thus, costs we would normally incur are $530 pp.   Cost of HIA is $770.  Our break even bar bill for the 2 of us is $480.  Our break even point is $34 per day (or $17 each).  We will always spend that much per day, even without alcohol.  Those soft drinks, bottled waters, specialty coffees, etc. will add up.  So, this was a no brainer.  We purchased HIA!

So, there you have it.  The analysis of why we sometimes do buy the package and sometimes we don’t.  It pays to do the math, especially if you are a couple where one half will drink his/her money’s worth but the other won’t.  By the way, the standard drink package by itself (without the HIC promotion) is more than the HIA price.   HIA is a great promotion and I doubt it will go away unless or until the cruise vacation demand returns to pre-pandemic levels.