Icon of the Seas offers three drink packages: Deluxe Beverage (alcohol included, around $80 a day before gratuity), Refreshment (soda, juice and coffee, around $31 a day) and Classic Soda (around $13 to $15 a day). None of them cover Wi-Fi, specialty dining or the Royal Beach Club at Paradise Island.
If you’re still weighing up the rest of the trip, the full Icon of the Seas guide covers cabins, dining and the ship’s layout.
Icon of the Seas drink package prices
The Deluxe Beverage Package costs the most, and it’s the only one with alcohol in it. Book it ahead through the Cruise Planner and it can be as low as $63 a person per day before gratuity. Leave it till you’re onboard and buying at list price, and you’re looking at close to $120 a day.
| Package | Typical pre-cruise price | Onboard/list price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deluxe Beverage Package | around $63 to $80 a day | around $120 a day | Alcohol up to $14 a drink, plus soda, coffee, juice and water |
| Refreshment Package | around $27 to $31 a day | around $60 a day | Soda, mocktails, milkshakes, bottled water, specialty coffee, tea and fresh juice (no alcohol) |
| Classic Soda Package | around $11 to $15 a day | around $26 a day | Unlimited fountain soda and Coca-Cola Freestyle, with a souvenir cup |
| Water Package | $39 for 12 bottles or $69 for 24 | — | Bottled still water only, bought once rather than per day |
| Café Select coffee card | around $31 per card | — | A set number of specialty coffees, for guests who don’t want a full package |
Every price here is per person, per day, before an extra 18% gratuity gets added automatically. Icon of the Seas sits at the top end of Royal Caribbean’s pricing for the Deluxe package; Freedom of the Seas, an older ship in the fleet, typically charges a few dollars a day less for the same package.
What’s included and what’s excluded from the packages
The Deluxe Beverage Package covers any single drink up to $14. Go for something pricier, a top-shelf spirit or a premium cocktail, and you only pay the difference plus gratuity on that difference, not the full price of the drink.
- Mini bar items and anything ordered through room service
- Souvenir glassware and specialty beers listed separately on bar menus
- Drinks served in fruit, and liquor tasting classes or seminars
- Beverages bought at licensed Starbucks kiosks, which no package covers
Fancy a bottle instead of paying by the glass? The Deluxe package knocks 40% off any bottle of wine up to $100, and 20% off anything above that.
Where you buy your coffee matters. Coffee made at venues like Pearl Cafe, a 24-hour spot serving sandwiches, salads and pastries, is covered under both the Deluxe and Refreshment packages, which is why the Refreshment package pays for itself quickly if you drink plenty of coffee but skip the alcohol.
Room service carries a flat $7.95 fee on anything beyond continental breakfast, and that fee applies whether or not you’ve got a drink package. The souvenir Coca-Cola cup and Freestyle soda machine access used to come with the Deluxe and Refreshment packages; they’ve since been pulled out, and now cost an extra $4.99 if you want them. The Classic Soda Package still includes the cup.
Is Icon of the Seas all-inclusive?
No, Icon of the Seas isn’t all-inclusive: your fare covers the stateroom, the Main Dining Room, the Windjammer buffet, casual venues, entertainment, and water, tea, coffee and a few juices, but alcohol, specialty dining, Wi-Fi and any drink package all cost extra on top.
On top of that, Royal Caribbean adds a daily gratuity: $18.50 per person in standard cabins, $21 per person in suites. Then there’s an automatic 18% on every specialty dining bill, room service order and mini bar purchase (20% on spa and salon treatments).
Wi-Fi through the VOOM Surf + Stream plan generally starts around $25 a day if you book it through the Cruise Planner, though the price moves around depending on your sailing date and how far ahead you buy it.
Specialty restaurants run from around $15 to $65 a person per meal depending on the venue, and an unlimited dining package costs upwards of $200 a person for the whole cruise. The Icon of the Seas dining packages guide breaks down which venues are worth booking.
Add it all up and most travellers end up spending an extra $150 to $250 a person per day once drinks, dining and Wi-Fi are in the mix. For how that stacks up against the overall cost of a cabin, the Icon of the Seas price guide has the full breakdown.
Is the Deluxe Beverage Package worth it? The break-even maths
It’s worth it once you’re realistically drinking five to six alcoholic drinks a day, plus the odd specialty coffee, bottled water or soda. Below that, paying as you go usually comes out cheaper.
Take two people on a seven-night sailing. Buy the Deluxe package at around $80 a day each and you’re already at roughly $1,050 before gratuity, around $1,239 once gratuity lands, and that’s before either of you has ordered a single drink. Fold the gratuity in and the real daily cost works out closer to $88.50 per person.
Run the numbers on a cabin paying around $95 a day for the Deluxe package against $35 a day for the Refreshment package, with ten non-alcoholic drinks and three alcoholic drinks bought separately: that comes to roughly $106 a day pay-as-you-go. The Deluxe package still beats paying full price for every drink in that scenario, but buying the Refreshment package and paying for alcohol one at a time works out cheaper than either option.
Add up what you’d actually drink in a day before deciding whether a package is worth the spend for your cabin.
Which package suits which type of traveller
Which package makes sense depends on how much you drink, and whether everyone in the cabin wants alcohol or not.
- Heavy drinkers (five or more alcoholic drinks a day): the Deluxe Beverage Package is the obvious call, especially paired with coffee and soda through the same package.
- Coffee and soda drinkers who skip alcohol: the Refreshment Package covers milkshakes, mocktails, specialty coffee and bottled water, without you paying for alcohol you’re never going to drink.
- Families with children: the Classic Soda Package covers unlimited fountain drinks for kids, while the adults decide separately whether they need the Deluxe tier.
- Moderate or occasional drinkers: paying as you go, or buying the Refreshment Package and ordering alcohol individually, often beats the Deluxe package on cost.
Icon of the Seas drink prices if you pay as you go
Cocktails on Icon of the Seas typically run $12 to $16, beer sits at $7 to $10 (imported beers mostly come in under $8 a glass), and specialty coffees run $3 to $7 depending on the venue.
| Drink type | Typical pay-as-you-go price |
|---|---|
| Cocktails | $12 to $16 |
| Beer (imported) | under $8 |
| Beer (general) | $7 to $10 |
| Specialty coffee | $3 to $7 |
Run your own daily total against these prices before deciding whether a package earns its keep for your cabin.
When to buy an Icon of the Seas drink package for the lowest price
Buying before you sail almost always costs less than buying once you’re onboard. Pre-cruise prices through the Cruise Planner typically run 20% to 40% below the onboard rate, and that gap holds across all three package tiers.
You can still buy a package once onboard, any time with at least four days of the cruise left to run. It then has to cover the rest of the sailing, and the price is prorated from the day you buy it, so buying earlier in the cruise works out cheaper than leaving it to the last few days.
The stateroom rule that catches people out
Royal Caribbean makes every guest of legal drinking age in a stateroom buy the same alcoholic drink package. One of you can’t get the Deluxe package while the other sticks to paying per drink, so your cabin-mate’s thirst becomes your financial problem too. The non-alcoholic Refreshment and Classic Soda packages don’t have this restriction, so individual guests can buy those on their own.
For UK and Australian passengers, the rule kicks in from age 18 rather than 21. Royal Caribbean has tightened and then partially relaxed the exceptions to this rule before, and the FAQs cover how it works right now.
Drink packages at Perfect Day CocoCay and the Royal Beach Club
All three drink packages work at Perfect Day CocoCay exactly as they do on the ship. The Deluxe Beverage Package covers cocktails, beer, wine by the glass, soda, specialty coffee, bottled water and fresh juice there, including signature drinks like the Coco Loco, Goombay Smash, Mai Tai and Hugo Spritz.
The Royal Beach Club on Paradise Island in Nassau is a different story. It’s a separate pay-to-play beach club, so a Deluxe Beverage Package bought for the ship doesn’t carry over there. Royal Caribbean sells its own bundled day pass instead, pairing a drink package with beach club entry, and the Royal Beach Club Paradise Island guide covers what that pass includes.
Buying from the UK: currency and payment
Royal Caribbean prices every Icon of the Seas drink package in US dollars, even on the UK site, and that’s what shows up on your onboard account. There’s no sterling price to check in advance; your card provider converts the dollar charge to pounds when it settles, so check your card’s foreign transaction fee before you rely on it onboard.
Icon of the Seas drink package FAQs
Can two people share one drink package?
No single Royal Caribbean drink package can be shared, transferred or passed over to order someone else a drink; they’re strictly one per guest.
What is the drink package loophole on Royal Caribbean?
It’s the exception to the stateroom rule that used to let one adult skip buying a matching alcohol package. Royal Caribbean closed it, then partly reversed course, and now lets guests who truly don’t drink alcohol apply for a waiver.
Does Icon of the Seas have Starbucks?
Yes, there are licensed Starbucks kiosks on board, though anything bought there sits outside every package. Coffee made elsewhere with Starbucks coffee, like at the ship’s 24-hour coffee counter, is still covered under the Deluxe and Refreshment tiers.
Is the Refreshment Package worth it on Royal Caribbean?
It works out well if you drink a lot of coffee, soda, juice or milkshakes but don’t need alcohol, since it typically costs well under half the Deluxe package’s daily rate. If you only drink occasionally, pairing it with a handful of pay-as-you-go cocktails can beat the Deluxe package on cost.
Can I use my drink package at Perfect Day CocoCay?
Yes, the Deluxe Beverage Package, Refreshment Package and Classic Soda Package are all honoured at Perfect Day CocoCay, covering its bars and coffee counters the same way they do on the ship.
Can I buy a drink package for only part of my cruise?
No, packages have to cover the whole sailing rather than selected days. Buy one onboard partway through and the price is prorated for the days remaining, not for a chosen stretch of the cruise.
Can I upgrade my drink package mid-cruise?
There’s no formal upgrade path, but you can buy a different package onboard at any point with at least four days left to run; the earlier you do it, the lower the prorated price.
Does a drink package cover room service?
No, every room service order beyond continental breakfast carries a flat $7.95 fee no matter what package you have, and alcoholic drinks ordered through room service aren’t included in any tier.
Last Updated: 1 November 2026