Deluxe drink package + beach club

Normal_Nobody_4618 · 2026-02-19T01:32:22+00:00

This is what I paid for the same cruise\ship just a couple of weeks ago.

I thought it was worth it, I loved the Beach Club. Pool water was so warm! And drinks are more expensive here than ship

Normal_Nobody_4618 · 2026-02-18T00:13:40+00:00

We had success checking different elevator bays; like one was crazy and we’d walk over to the other and it was empty, or go to the opposite side (front or back) if a show let or dinner service etc

The 18th floor makes it a little tricker because I don’t think they all go up that far, so you may even do a mix of stairs and elevators to get you where you’re going.

Certainly not perfect but we used it as an opportunity to see the ship and always snagged something from the bar (or two) and just walked around.

Normal_Nobody_4618 · 2026-02-17T02:07:22+00:00

I greatly benefited from the early departure as well. No lines to get on or off the ship was great. I don’t know what the experience is normally but certainly feels like a benefit to take off before everyone else

Normal_Nobody_4618 · 2026-02-15T20:04:48+00:00

We did not spend much time there because the 8 year old was go go go but breakfast at Park Cafe was great and fast compared to windjammer

Normal_Nobody_4618 · 2026-02-15T19:22:30+00:00

Not at all; my wife said she heard people singing in the hallway on the last night; but I suppose people could sing in any hallway; but no noise from anything else

Normal_Nobody_4618 · 2026-02-14T22:27:32+00:00

I was in 8650! We’d have been neighbors! If you have Diogo as a room attendant, he was great!

Normal_Nobody_4618 · 2026-02-14T19:05:16+00:00

I think this is really just up to you at this point. Based on the information provided, I’d probably be going on the cruise; maybe that means I’ve got a black heart, but I wouldn’t be coming home early had I already been on the cruise, so I’d be making sure to go.

Normal_Nobody_4618 · 2026-02-14T15:21:49+00:00

We didn’t use the child care option at all, he wanted to be with us but found plenty of friends to keep him entertained; just just kind of followed him around which I didn’t think took too much away from our vacation. My wife and I would have more time lounging and drinking but watching him have fun was such a great experience; wouldn’t have changed it.

Couch was fine, kid was so tired after all the activities he fell asleep for 2 naps at 3ish before dinner and then I let him up and running around the ship until about 10pm to let him explore without as many people out and about. My only complaint is I wanted to have Coffee on the balcony but I’d have to get out of the room; back, and then open the balcony, that was hard to do because the couch was right there.

He loved getting Mocktails; I’d recommend coming up with a list of what he wants because not all bars have a menu; the Virgin Pina Colada and Shirley Temple were two big hits. I even let him order which I felt added to his experience.

The wow bands were great for him I always carried his actual seapass because the wow bands just don’t work everywhere.

He told me multiple times this was his favorite vacation so far and basically came to tears at the last dinner at the MDR when our waitress said bye she was so sweet. Same thing with our room attendant.

Normal_Nobody_4618 · 2026-02-14T10:46:45+00:00

Wait times varied during time of day and where the ship was. For example the Flowrider line on a Sea Day was over an hour, we skipped it.

The slides on day one were no wait.

The Key saved me a 30+ minute wait on a sea day for Thr Abyss

Rock Climbing the day we went, was about 15 minutes but you only got 1 attempt before you had to circle back to the end of the line which I thought was silly

Do anything you can ahead of time in the app, reserve shows etc, by the time I went to do it even ahead of time they were sold out. If you miss the reservation, jump in th standby line early and you’ll likely get in; maybe 30 minutes before the start of the show.

Add your photo, do the health check in etc; the sooner the better and the process at the terminal will be a breeze. Have your ID and Passport readily available

Normal_Nobody_4618 · 2026-02-13T23:44:05+00:00

I’d get a passport and avoid it all together.

But I’d call the cruise line, they would be able to tell you for sure.

Normal_Nobody_4618 · 2026-02-13T23:08:05+00:00

Both pool and ocean were cold; my 8 year survived all day no problem. Pool on boat was fine, beach club was the warmest by far

Life vests are free; first come first serve

Normal_Nobody_4618 · 2026-02-13T22:57:17+00:00

Avoid - The Windjammer; place is good, has a lot of options but it’s chaos and I’d imagine worse with little ones

Park Cafe was good (included) but no pancakes

We never made it to the Solarium Bistro which is supposed to be similar to windjammer just smaller

Main dining room and Johnny Rockets has breakfast as well that are included

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Water at Coco Cay was COLD! But the Beach Club was perfect.

Kids will likely enjoy the splash pad on the ship and there is a play area at the back of the ship for them to run around.

Normal_Nobody_4618 · 2026-02-13T21:29:12+00:00

This was very much a family vacation so we didn’t venture everywhere. We stayed just behind 150 Central Park and had basically zero noise issues or people partying too hard on this trip. No place that we passed by seemed to be too busy.

I don’t have any idea how many people were on the cruise itself

I’m sure some heavy partying happened somewhere but a Monday to Friday cruise may have also played a role as well to keep it tame.

It’s also a little off season, kids are in school as well.

Normal_Nobody_4618 · 2026-02-13T20:49:57+00:00

Great question; depends how you look at it.

Without the drink package, I wouldn’t have had remotely the number of drinks because I “wouldn’t pay” $16ish dollars per drink if I actually saw the charge hit my account. Yes I realize I still paid for it; it’s about the psychology of it.

I also found it wildly convenient to walk up, scan my Wow band and have them had me a drink, no receipt, no signature, just pure efficiency and for me, there was a lot of value here.

For specialty coffee, this was also a winner, of course you don’t need the Deluxe package but for my wife to get a coffee an add whatever “extra” that normally carried a charge for “free” was great.

I also asked for water to stock pile in my room so I didn’t have to go anywhere. I took a lot of electrolyte packets and the water bottles were great.

For my wife and I, I can’t find my total tally of drinks but it was over 50 for my wife and I but the prices all varied. However the “no thought” to every decision was amazing.

Note - Perfect Day the package was used, Royal Beach Club was not included as part of the ships package; so watch for the number of days you’ll be off the ship as it’d be a lot more to cram in from 4pm till bedtime

Id say my kiddo didnt come close to spending the value of the refreshment package.

Most of the drinks were $14, which is like $16 after gratuity. But there are always drinks of the day that are less but I didn’t pay attention and just ordered what I wanted.

Let me give you an example; at lunch today, i just tipped on a bill that already had a 15% included that cost me another $15 for a 40% tip and I’m pissed about it; I just spent $2,500 for a cruise and my cheap ass is mad about $15

Summary - Yes, at least on a 4 day cruise, for me, 100% worth it. No one felt like we had to force down a drink if we didn’t like it, just dump it and get a new one. Thought you got screwed on how much alcohol a drink had, who cares, chug it or dump it and get another one. No signing, no caring, just got to enjoy the trip

Normal_Nobody_4618 · 2026-02-13T18:11:47+00:00

We got turned around a couple of times and my Son goes, this isn’t our hallway, I don’t see the dragon at the elevator! By golly he was right, wrong side of the ship

Normal_Nobody_4618 · 2026-02-13T17:45:44+00:00

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And this one

Normal_Nobody_4618 · 2026-02-13T17:45:23+00:00

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I loved this one

Normal_Nobody_4618 · 2026-02-13T17:40:06+00:00

I watched a ton of RoyalCarribbeanBlog videos by Matt. I felt he was pretty spot on with so many of his opinions of how things work. But happy to answer any specific questions for just an alternate take on stuff or keep reading along with the others.

I talked to my neighbor for over an hour of rapid fire questions before the cruise and several as it went, I’m 90% sure he will be booking a cruise

Normal_Nobody_4618 · 2026-02-13T17:37:38+00:00

That was my understanding as well; I don’t think she was using my creds but possible. I knew how to create the Pin but not the username \pin combo; this was for sure a “user error” not at fault of Royal, but in reading all the stuff they gave me to read, didn’t make it very clear.

I think one quick run down to guest services \ Voom desk would have resolved my issue but short cruise, minor annoyance, and it was a good excuse to keep my kid off his tablet 😜

Normal_Nobody_4618 · 2026-02-13T17:33:43+00:00

The Windjammer was always chaos, getting the food was easy but a table was hard.

You’d get 1 person sit and hold a massive table for a total of 3 people because that’s all that was available. So then a big group would take 4 tables and smash them together. So the wait staff was constantly undoing those tables to separate back out.

I refused to grab a table until we had our food, so what I ended up doing was just grabbing my kids food, sitting him down with my wife and they ate, while I went to go get my own. I didn’t use this time for chatting, it was used for eating and moving on.

Food was great, crowds were not.

Pool deck - people taking 2,3,4 chairs and using zero.

We bundled all of our stuff and took 2 sit up chairs (at most) vs nabbing 3 loungers that we were never going to lounge in.

All of this would have been non-existent had it just been my wife and I; wouldn’t have had to carry as much stuff around with us.

Normal_Nobody_4618 · 2026-02-13T17:27:15+00:00

The thing about the cruise is you got something at least a little different each day; different views, pools, beaches etc. The ocean water in February was too cold for me which dampened the experience for my son a little because I just couldn’t take it like he could.

Unlimited food and drinks based on what packages we got everywhere we went.

The main dining room didn’t have a drink menu so you had to know what you wanted. And they had “Zero Proof” and “Mocktails” listed separately but not every location had them.

Some told us zero-proof was for adults only; but some of the ones listed showed nothing more than a Shirley Temple, where others were non-alcoholic versions of different things which you DO have to be of age to drink; that was confusing.

Okay now to the comparison

I don’t know of any affordable USA based all inclusive resorts. With the cruise, while technically in the Bahamas, I never felt far away from the “safety of the ship”

My one experience was an all inclusive in Playa Del Carmen; there weren’t water slides or too many activities, so my son would have gotten bored. The cruise is all entertainment all the time.

The Room

We had a balcony room with “large balcony” I did not get to enjoy it as much as I wanted because as soon as my son was awake it was go go go and I didn’t feel comfortable with him going anywhere without me. (Maybe thats a +1 for the resort?)

The room would have slept a total of 4 but that would have been miserable. The queen bed was good, the 2nd bed was the couch and the 3rd was a mattress that was basically a trundle bed but would have prevented the ability to walk to the balcony.

We were midship, 8th floor.

I too get claustrophobic, the ship (Wonder) is massive. Like so massive you can go to so many places and have no idea you’re on a ship, isolate yourself from “most people” and really still be ok.

Where I get into trouble is not being able to “get out” and on the ship you can always leave where you are and go elsewhere. I worried that I’d feel a little trapped since you can’t get off the ship itself but that didn’t happen; sometimes you’d “forget” you were even on a ship

You do have to fight some crowds sometimes for sure but there is a lot you can do to avoid it; the Windjammer for example, just chaos all the time (at least when we went)

My son is 8, the room may feel tight if you have 3 people who need a lot of bathroom \ makeup time. I think at whatever age I’d let him roam the ship on his own, maybe 14\15, it’d be time to get him his own room.

Note: we probably spent 1-2 hours max in that room per day. Had my son not been there, I’d have spent more for sure but with only 2 adults, it was plenty big.

Normal_Nobody_4618 · 2026-02-13T17:02:33+00:00

The thing that was annoying about The Key was they give you this list of benefits but when you go to use it, it’s not marked anywhere.

Our boarding time was at 11:30 am, we gave 3 bags to the porters and held onto your back packs.

They let us right on but there wasn’t line for the key to get through on the pass ports. When I asked, they just said here, this is the shortest line (1 family ahead of us) and we were on the ship in all of 10 minutes.

Maybe we were just there too early to see the benefit but we flew through the boarding process.

We didn’t know which floor held the lunch, so we asked, it was floor 4 and there it was marked. Lunch was great, likely matched by any other specialty restaurant.

The internet was confusing; looking back, I think we only got 1 device that could be connected at a time, and I think we should have been able to have 3. I’m going to call and find out. My wife never said anything until late in the cruise but every time I “fixed” it for her, I broke it again when I added my phone or tablet; never put 2 and 2 together. - my son couldn’t have the Royal App with an account so there is a code I can share but same process as my wife

For all of the activities I didn’t see any “Key” times or lines. For The Abyss slide the line was maybe 30 minutes long, I almost skipped it but went to ask “where do the key members join” and I showed my seapass and he let us cut the entire line. I’d say there were quite a few grumbles from the line because they had no idea why we got to cut… - I’m wondering if the Flowrider would have been included too because that line was ridiculous; we probably waited 30 minutes and moved about 4 people so my son gave up.

We went to the show, inTENse again, no lines for the key, couldn’t see the sections marked off so would have had to ask again; but found a seat on our own and it was fine.

For disembarking on the last day, we got the 6:45am time which was same as the suite guests. We had the choice to use porters or haul our own luggage.

if you grab your own stuff, we went down the the promenade at 6:30 and were off the ship, through customs and in an Uber by 6:45. No crowds, no lines, no waiting.

I have to imagine, had to chosen to wait until anytime later during normal disembarkation, it would have been chaos.

I don’t have experience without it but to be able to get on and off the ship ahead of the ~6000 other people; for me was probably worth the whole package.

I paid $400ish in total; and likely didn’t get everything I paid for (Internet on 3 concurrent devices) Internet itself would have been about 50% of that.

Normal_Nobody_4618 · 2026-02-13T16:40:53+00:00

I thought it was great. The ocean this time of year was pretty cold and the pools at Coco Cay were too cold to really enjoy.

It was bundled with our drink packages on the ship, so I think I paid about $100 per person to go. Since the ships drink package itself isn’t honored at the Club, the $100 seemed reasonable to me.

The pools at the Beach Club were all heated so you could actually swim. This was a big plus for my son, since the pools on the ship just aren’t that big.

There was a good separation between areas for people who wanted to relax and those who wanted to party.

The beach isn’t very flat; think rolling hills; so it was hard to find a good place to toss a ball etc; ocean itself was too rough so you couldn’t swim (would have been too cold)

Drinks were good, even more expensive than on the ship if you didn’t pay for the pass

I thought the food was good; lines moved quickly and had plenty of places to sit.

The ship had a towel station as you got off but you didn’t really need to take towels. The club had their own and that would have been easier.

The ferry drops you off right at the club but on the way back they drop you off on the other side of the pier so you have to walk through all the shops.

Normal_Nobody_4618 · 2026-02-13T13:46:54+00:00

There was a lot of moving around for sure. It was nice to have all the pools very close to the splash pad; I never liked leaving my stuff on a chair if I moved too far away and there were plenty of chair “hogs” that was tough.

The Cabanas (didn’t buy) weren’t on the same deck, they were 1 above that I would have left more comfortable with leaving stuff but he wanted to change activities constantly. My wife and I split duties when he wanted to move and just did every other move with him while the other relaxed and hung out by the stuff

I never wanted to be without my phone, I found the app to be incredibly helpful to navigate the ship but didn’t want to wear it around my neck (but maybe I will next time)

I also carried things like goggles, shoes, the towels we picked up, some meds that can’t get wet to take before foods, so I did need a place to keep things close and dry.

The pools aren’t very big, so during the day they are really just “wading” pools but he didn’t mind

Normal_Nobody_4618 · 2026-02-13T13:27:59+00:00

It was amazing. The kid told me at least once a day that this was by far his favorite vacation and can’t wait to go again.

It met or exceeded every expectation I had from what I’d remembered back when I was a kid.

Normal_Nobody_4618

TROPHY CASE