The Convoluted MSC Drink Package Rules – Do You Pay Full Price or Upcharge on Expensive Drinks

For my less than enjoyable MSC cruise, included in the package price, was what they call the “Easy Plus” drinks package. With this package I can get – at no extra charge – any drink that is listed up to $10.

As someone who normally does not consume much hard liquor the only real perk of the drink package for me was being able to have a nice glass of wine at lunch and dinner but as I have already blogged about I am happy I did not pay MSC extra for their higher end package because, for me, it would have been money flushed down the drain.

But now and then, especially on hot sea day while getting some sun, it is fun to take advantage of the package and have some kind of tropical frozen deliciousness. And herein is the problem with MSC and their drink packages.

It is generally understood by the public, as you can see in this Reddit thread about MSC drink packages, that if you want a drink that is above your “free” package price you have to pay the FULL PRICE for the drink not the difference between $10 and whatever price they are charging.

This is practically unheard of in the cruise industry as all the major lines like NCL, HAL and Royal Caribbean simply charge you the difference if you want something more expensive than what is included with your whatever package.

So is this really the rule that you pay in full if not included in your package? It is complicated and the answer is sometimes. Let me explain and give you a warning.

One day during the cruise I ordered a frozen Mai Tai at the pool bar. The bar tender acknowledged my order and low and behold it was not included for $10 but cost $14 so for my wife and I a $33 (including the 18% gratuity) charge showed up on my account. The bartender never told me that “this is not on your package – is that OK” but simply made the drink and charged me.

I was upset by this and went to customer service about it and was told there was nothing they could do – gee thanks – and this also seemed to cement that not only do you pay FULL PRICE for more expensive drinks but you had better ask the bartender for each drink if it is included with your package.

Still not happy with this, the next day, I spoke with another bartender at the same pool bar and expressed my frustration with the bartender from the day before. He told me the full price billing was incorrect. He told me that for that specific drink I should have only paid the difference, that is, $4×2 plus 18%. He said it was not customer service but the main bar onboard that could fix the issue and he further said the bartender should have told me the drink was not included with my package.

I later shared with my favorite bartender in the wine bar my frustration with the MSC drink packages and asked him, officially, what are the rules. He said that it depends. Yes, there are drinks that you only pay the difference but there are also drinks you have to pay FULL PRICE for not just the difference so you just have to ask every time you order a beverage and then hope the bartender puts it in correctly into the system.

Well isn’t that lovely.

The result of this was each time I ever placed an order, anywhere, I always asked if this was on the package – even if I had ordered it before. For me a cruise vacation is about tryin to relax and not worry about how much time I may have to spend trying to fix billing issues day after day.

Bottom line is this is just one more reason to avoid MSC as you just simply never know what they are going to charge you and if you get an incorrect billing it can be a royal pain to get the matter fixed! – René