It’s dark in Budapest 🇭🇺 now, but I just achieved a positive ROI on the Viking Cruise Line drinks package with my 15th frosty beverage in the ship’s bar & lounge.
Like a lot of people, we got carried away coming on to the ship a week ago with the promise of unlimited drinks for the low price of 169 Euro 💶. Our math suggested that we needed to simply down 2 drinks a day and we were beating their system. Yes, 12 Euro per drink is a lot, but that’s what they actually charge for nice cocktails.
Since we were on the sunny Danube, enjoying a carefree vacation, and not driving a car all week – why not splurge a little and indulge ourselves? My wife and I bought a package and my brother & his wife did.
We were ready for a week of tipsy entertainment. Bring it on Viking! We had two drinks each that night and went to our cabins smug & snug in the knowledge that we were going to beat the cruise line!
The next day, we left the ship at noon for Salzburg 🇦🇹 and didn’t return until 10pm. We were too tired for the lounge and went right to bed when we got back. The next day, we also realized that beer & wine were included with lunch and dinner. We didn’t factor that consumption into our plans.
This was going to be hard! We were 2 drinks behind at that point but fought back by ordering expensive Macallan 18 scotch whisky to make them pay!
On our two days in Linz & Krems, I held my own with two drinks a day. Then came a full day we in Vienna 🇦🇹 . We were gone from the ship all day and off to a classical music concert in the city that night. I squeezed one drink in before bedtime, but now I was 3 drinks behind my pace and desperately needing to catch up.
The small country of Slovakia 🇸🇰 is filled with bars, but after a morning tour the next day, I was back on ship and making up for lost time. I started with a rum & coke, hit the Macallan 18 again, followed by a pina colada on the ship’s sun deck. After dinner, two Kiev Mules (as they call them here) capped the day (and music trivia night). That’s 5 drinks in one day … I was 1 drink ahead!
Today we pulled into lovely Budapest 🇭🇺 for our final stop. The “Pearl on the Danube” is another top sight, but I still managed to relax with a sweet pina colada on the Viking Aegir sun deck before dinner. I had “tied” the drinks package at this point and didn’t return to the lounge until just now (11:08p) for a final victory lap … a simple tap beer!
I don’t think my wife or sister-in-law were quite as successful as I was, but I know my brother succeeded. We’re not ones to shirk our responsibilities … even in retirement. I guess you can say I am a “Type A” drinker when I need to be!
Have you ever unwisely ordered the drinks package on a cruise or at an all-inclusive resort?
Image: (c) MrFireStation; Budapest
MrFireStation 
I’m sorry to disappoint, but technically you were unsuccessful. The drink package has to be purchased by both passengers in the cabin. Since Mrs Fire Station did not make the quota and you did not exceed your allotted number by the amount she missed, Viking won.
When we first cruised with Viking, it sounded like a deal until the free beer and wine at meals. I think on our cruises we have never had a bar tab that exceeded $150 for two on 11-16 day journeys. We do often buy a bottle of gin to carry aboard. We are not big drinkers at this point in life. Twenty years ago maybe.
Some buy the package for convenience and ability to try new drinks. I don’t like waste so I will finish what I am given.
We also have had a higher grade cabin on Ocean that has two beers and two small bottles of gin or whiskey placed in the fridge daily. You are correct in that if you are sightseeing properly you are too tired to drink and get up the next day
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Mrs Fire Station took responsibility for her own drinking! 😆 She said she finished 4-5 drinks short of a positive ROI. She did enjoy being in the plan and not feeling guilty about drinking some of the more expensive drinks.
You make a good point about bringing alcohol aboard. Unlike other ocean cruises we’ve been on, Viking is OK with you buying in town and taking something into the ship. That too is a better approach than the drinks package.
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