The Royal Caribbean Refreshment Package costs $29–$35/person/day and covers specialty coffees from Café Promenade and Seattle's Best — making it worth it only if you drink 3+ specialty coffees daily, since individual drinks run $5–$7 each.
Photo: Royal Caribbean International
You drink two lattes before 10am at home, and now you're staring at Royal Caribbean's beverage package menu wondering if the Refreshment Package will keep you caffeinated without bankrupting you. Here's the honest answer: it depends entirely on how much you drink, what you drink, and whether you understand exactly what's included.
What the Refreshment Package Costs and What You Actually Get
The Royal Caribbean Refreshment Package runs $29–$35/person/day in 2025, depending on when you buy it (pre-cruise online is almost always cheaper than buying onboard). It covers non-alcoholic drinks: specialty coffees, fresh-squeezed juices, premium bottled water, sodas, mocktails, smoothies, and energy drinks.
For coffee lovers specifically, this means access to Seattle's Best drip coffee and specialty espresso drinks (lattes, cappuccinos, americanos, macchiatos) at Café Promenade and other onboard coffee outlets. It does NOT include specialty coffee from Starbucks — Royal Caribbean ships don't have licensed Starbucks locations, so that's not a concern here. What it also doesn't include: coffee from the main dining room (that's complimentary already), room service coffee, or the premium reserve wines and cocktails from the Deluxe Beverage Package.
| Drink Type | Without Package | With Refreshment Package |
|---|---|---|
| Drip coffee (MDR/buffet) | Free | Free (not needed) |
| Specialty latte/cappuccino | $5.50–$7.00 each | Included |
| Fresh-squeezed OJ | $4.00–$6.00 | Included |
| Bottled water (premium) | $3.50–$5.00 | Included |
| Mocktail/smoothie | $6.00–$9.00 | Included |
| Soda | $3.00–$4.00 | Included |
| Alcoholic drinks | Not included | Not included |
Break-even math: At $32/day average, you need roughly 5–6 items per day to break even if you're mixing coffees and waters. Pure coffee lovers need to drink 4–5 specialty coffees daily at $6–$7 each to hit break-even — that's aggressive but doable for dedicated caffeine addicts on sea days.
Photo: Royal Caribbean International
Key Factors That Determine If It's Worth It for You
Your coffee habit matters most. If you only drink drip coffee, stop reading — that's free in the Windjammer buffet and main dining room. The package only makes sense if you're ordering lattes, cappuccinos, or specialty espresso drinks from Café Promenade multiple times daily.
Itinerary type changes the math dramatically. On a 7-night Caribbean cruise with 3 sea days, you'll drink far more onboard than on a port-heavy itinerary where you're exploring ashore. Sea days inflate your coffee consumption — budget accordingly.
How many other non-alcoholic drinks you'd buy matters. If you're also grabbing fresh OJ at breakfast ($5), bottled sparkling water at lunch ($4), and a mocktail at dinner ($8), the math shifts fast. The Refreshment Package rewards people who drink a variety of premium non-alcoholic beverages, not just coffee purists.
Pre-cruise pricing vs. onboard pricing is a real gap. Buying the Refreshment Package through Royal Caribbean's Cruise Planner pre-cruise typically saves 15–20% versus buying it at the first bar after embarkation. Watch for sales — Royal Caribbean runs Cruise Planner promotions frequently, and packages sometimes drop to $25–$27/day during flash sales.
It does NOT include alcohol — which sounds obvious, but this is the package people accidentally buy when they want the full Deluxe Beverage Package ($75–$95/person/day). If you want cocktails too, the Refreshment Package is the wrong choice entirely.
Photo: Royal Caribbean International
Practical Tips to Make the Math Work
Buy pre-cruise during a sale. Set a price alert or check the Cruise Planner weekly starting 90 days out. Flash sales are real and frequent — I've seen this package drop 25% for 48-hour windows.
Audit your daily coffee spend at home first. If you spend less than $25/day on specialty coffee at home, you're unlikely to drink enough onboard to justify the package. Be honest with yourself.
Combine coffee with other drinks to hit break-even faster. Grab premium bottled water instead of drinking tap (some people prefer this at sea), order fresh juice at breakfast, and get a mocktail or smoothie once per day — suddenly you're at 4–5 items without even trying.
Know the Café Promenade hours. On most Royal Caribbean ships, Café Promenade operates 24 hours — which is legitimately useful for early risers and late-night coffee drinkers. If you're the person grabbing a 6am espresso before sunrise yoga and a 10pm decaf after the show, you'll extract serious value.
Solo travelers get hit harder. The package must be purchased for everyone in the cabin who is 21 or older — wait, actually that's the alcohol policy. For non-alcoholic packages, solo purchasers aren't penalized the same way. One person can buy the Refreshment Package without their travel companion buying it. This is a meaningful advantage over the Deluxe Beverage Package rules.
Consider the Royal Caribbean app before buying. Check current onboard prices for your specific ship — pricing varies slightly by vessel and sailing. If the Café Promenade latte on your ship is $5.50 not $7, your break-even calculation shifts.
Verdict by Coffee Drinker Type
| Coffee Drinker Type | Refreshment Package Worth It? | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| Drip coffee only | No | Skip it — it's free onboard |
| 1–2 specialty coffees/day | Maybe not | Do the math on your specific daily total |
| 3–4 specialty coffees/day | Yes | Buy pre-cruise during a sale |
| 4+ coffees + juice + water | Absolutely | Buy immediately, pre-cruise |
| Non-drinker who wants alcohol | No | Wrong package — get Deluxe |
| Coffee + occasional mocktails | Yes | Strong value if mixing drinks |
The Refreshment Package is genuinely good value for heavy specialty coffee drinkers — but only for them. If your cruise life means a 7am cortado, a mid-morning cappuccino, an afternoon iced latte, and a decaf after dinner, you're looking at $24–$28 in coffee alone before you've touched the water or juice. At $29–$35/day for the package, that's a clear win.
If you drink one latte after embarkation and then stick to free buffet coffee for the rest of the sailing, you're throwing money overboard.
Before you buy — or book the cruise itself — run your numbers with CruiseMutiny to see exactly what your daily spend looks like with and without the package factored in.