If you’ve looked at booking a cruise recently, you might have noticed something strange. The advertised fare, which is the price that pops up in your email or on the website banner, looks very reasonable. Despite high demand, ticket prices for many 2026 and beyond sailings have remained competitive. However, seasoned cruisers know the real story isn’t the ticket price. It is the “final bill.”
We are officially in the era of the “unbundled” cruise. The days when you could lock your wallet in the cabin safe on embarkation day and not touch it until disembarkation are fading fast. While the industry is booming with record passenger numbers, a growing number of cruisers are getting frustrated over what feels like a relentless nickel-and-diming strategy by the cruise lines. From rising daily gratuities to the complex math of beverage packages, the definition of what is actually “included” in your cruise fare has shifted.
Whether you are planning your first voyage or your fiftieth, here is what you need to know about the hidden costs of cruising in 2026 and how to keep your vacation budget within check.
The New Math of the Drink Package
For years, the “Unlimited Beverage Package” was the ticket for carefree cruising. You paid one flat rate, and you never had to worry about the cost of a piña colada again.
Some cruise lines have leaned into dynamic pricing models. This means the cost of a drink package can fluctuate wildly depending on your ship, sailing date, and demand. On some of the newer mega-ships from lines like Royal Caribbean or Celebrity, drink packages listed for over $100 per person, per day. When you factor in the mandatory 18-20% service charge added on top of that package price, a couple could easily spend $1,500 just on drinks for a seven-night sailing.
The catch is that individual drink prices have risen as well. A standard cocktail on a premium ship is now hovering around the $15 mark. To make the package worth it, the average passenger now needs to consume roughly six to seven cocktails, or nearly a dozen beers, every single day of the cruise.
If you are unsure whether your daily coffee and wine habits justify the cost, you don’t have to guess. Check out our drink package calculators in the navigation bar to plug in your specific preferences and see the real numbers. These tools can tell you instantly if you will save money or if you are better off paying as you go.
Furthermore, many seasoned cruisers are noticing that the “included” threshold for drinks has stayed stagnant while menu prices rise. If your package covers drinks up to $12, but that smoked old-fashioned you want is $16, you are going to be paying the difference on every one.
The Disappearing “Free” Food
Perhaps the most infuriating topic for long-time cruisers is the change in dining. Food has historically been the hallmark of cruising because it was abundant, free, and available 24/7. While you won’t go hungry in 2026, the barriers to getting exactly what you want without a fee are higher than before.
The most obvious shift is the “Room Service Tax.” It was not long ago that breakfast in bed or a late-night grilled cheese was a complimentary perk. Today, almost all major lines, including Norwegian (NCL) and Royal Caribbean, charge a “convenience fee” ranging from $7.95 to nearly $10 per order for anything substantial. While a continental breakfast of coffee and pastries often remains free, that craving for a burger at midnight now comes with a price tag.
Even the Main Dining Room is seeing the creep of upcharges. It is becoming standard practice to see premium items, like a filet mignon or a lobster tail, featured on the complimentary menu with a surcharge of $17 to $25. The complimentary options are still there, but many passengers feel the quality of the included items has dipped significantly to get them to choose these paid upgrades or the specialty restaurants.
The Service Charge Creep
If you haven’t cruised in a few years, the daily gratuities might give you sticker shock. The standard “Daily Service Charge” or crew appreciation fee has been quietly ticking upward. In 2026, it is common to see charges of $18.00 to $20.50 per person, per day for a standard cabin, and even more for suites.
For a family of four on a week-long vacation, this means your onboard account starts with a balance of over $500 before you have even purchased a souvenir. While these funds go toward hardworking crew members who absolutely deserve them, the rising cost makes the advertised “cruise fare” misleading. When comparing the cost of a cruise to an all-inclusive resort, you must mentally add these fees to the ticket price to get an accurate comparison.
The Price of Staying Connected
The good news is that cruise ship internet is finally usable. Thanks to the widespread rollout of Starlink across major fleets, you can actually stream movies and take video calls from the middle of the ocean. The bad news is that you are going to pay a premium for it.
Internet packages have become one of the most expensive costs on board. The frustration for many families in 2026 is the strict “per device” enforcement. In the past, you might have been able to log off one device and log in with another using a single plan. Some cruise lines, like MSC Cruises, are much stricter, often forcing families to buy multi-device packages that can run upwards of $30 or $40 a day. For a generation that considers connectivity a must, this can add up quickly.
How to Manage Expectations
Does this mean you shouldn’t cruise? Absolutely not. Cruising remains one of the best ways to see the world, and the value proposition is still strong if you know how to play the game. The key is to stop treating the cruise fare as the final price and start budgeting for the total experience.
First, pre-booking is your best defense. Cruise lines almost always offer discounts on WiFi, drink packages, and shore excursions if you book them months in advance online or when you make your reservation. The price you see on the ship will be 10-20% higher.
Second, do the math honestly. If you are a light drinker, skip the package. You will likely come out ahead paying à la carte, even with the higher individual drink prices. You can often bring a bottle or two of wine onboard with you on embarkation day, which is a classic money-saving trick that still works.
Finally, read the fine print on “perks.” When a cruise line advertises “Free WiFi” or “Free Drinks” as a booking bonus, you need to check the terms carefully. Often, that “free” WiFi is the basic tier, which means it is good for checking email but will not support streaming movies or video calls. Similarly, the “free” drink offer might be the lowest package available with a limited selection of brands, or it could be restricted strictly to when you are playing in the casino.
You also need to ask if these perks are genuinely free. Frequently, these packages are simply bundled into the cruise cost at a slight discount rather than being a true giveaway. It is always smart to price out the sailing with and without the promotion to see the real difference. Even if the package is technically included, check to see if the mandatory gratuities on the full value of those drinks, is included as well. If they’re not, they can add hundreds of dollars to your final bill.