Starting March 15, 2026, Royal Caribbean is making a change that has sent the cruise community into an absolute meltdown: the Coca-Cola souvenir cup and access to Coca-Cola Freestyle machines will no longer be included with the Deluxe or Royal Refreshment Packages. This will only apply to drink packages purchased after March 15, 2026. Those who pre-purchase prior to March 15, 2026 will still receive the cup and Freestyle machine access.
That’s right. The cup you’ve been getting as part of your expensive beverage package? Gone. Want one anyway? That’ll be $4.99 per cup.
And if you thought that would be the extent of the drama, you clearly haven’t scrolled through any cruise Facebook group in the last 24 hours.
A Cup by Any Other Name Would Cost the Same
Let’s be clear about what happened here: Royal Caribbean used to include the souvenir cup with their higher-tier beverage packages. It was a nice little freebie – a reminder of your vacation that people actually used, and honestly… I probably have a few stashed in a box collecting dust. Then someone in the C-Suite had a thought: “What if people had to pay for that cup?” And just at that moment, a $4.99 revenue stream was born.
One commenter on Facebook put it perfectly: “It’s silly when you pay all that money for the refreshment or the deluxe package and then you still have to pay an extra $4.99 just to get the cup and access the machine when you get the pop anyway from the bar service.”
The outrage is real. And honestly, I get it. You’ve already shelled out a significant chunk of money for your vacation. The cups were included before. Now they cost extra.
But here’s a reality check.
The $5 Cup Is Not the Problem (But It’s Also Totally Ridiculous)
Let’s do the math: A family of four needs four cups. That’s $20. Add in another five family members and you’re looking at $50 to equip everyone with a Freestyle-enabled cup. For some cruisers, this feels like the moment they finally say no.
Fair.
It’s a nickel-and-dime move, and it absolutely is designed to extract even more money from people who already paid for a drink package.
But let me ask this question: Have you stayed at a resort recently?
A standard beachfront hotel here in South Florida charges a $35-$50 daily resort fee. That’s per night. For what? Fitness center access you’ll never use, “complimentary” WiFi that was supposed to be standard in 2015, and a continental breakfast featuring stale muffins and juice.
Then they charge separate parking.
Because of course they do.
Cruise lines didn’t invent this game. They’re just playing it like everyone else in the hospitality industry.
The Cruise Industry’s Favorite Sport: Nickel and Diming
Here’s the brutal truth: Cruise lines have become experts at finding new ways to separate you from your money.
It started small. Specialty dining charges. Beverage packages (which used to be… more inclusive than they are now). Onboard activities with premiums. Photo packages. Priority boarding. Specialty coffee. Premium beverage add-ons on top of your add-on package. Empanadas (looking at you Carnival).
And you know what? People kept paying for it.
So the charges didn’t stop. They multiplied. Now there are charges for things that guests reasonably expected to be part of the basic cruise experience, like food ordered from room service.
The souvenir cup is just the latest entry in this seemingly endless catalog of additional fees.
Why the Nickle and Diming Will Keep Happening
Here’s the truth: Cruise lines, and the entire hospitality industry, will keep adding new fees as long as guests keep paying for them.
This is simple economics. If the revenue generated from a new charge exceeds the number of complaints it creates, the cruise line wins. Right now, Royal Caribbean probably believes that the number of cruisers willing to pay $5 for a Freestyle cup will overwhelmingly exceed the number who’ll cancel their cruise over it.
Will people rage on Facebook about the $5 cup? Absolutely. Will it impact Royal Caribbean’s bookings? Absolutely not. Most people who’ve paid several thousand dollars for a cruise aren’t going to cancel over a $5 cup (or even a $50 family cup package).
The real conversation should be about these add-on charges as a whole.
When do charges become unreasonable? When does a cruise stop being the best vacation value? Those are the conversations cruisers should be having – not whether a $5 souvenir cup is worth it.
That cup may be worth $5 to some people and absolutely not worth it to others, and that’s fine. That’s why optional charges exist.
So What’s Really Happening Here?
Royal Caribbean looked at thousands of guests with Freestyle cups and realized they had untapped revenue. They’re charging for access to the machines and the cup. Some guests will pay. Some won’t. The ones who don’t will grab a Coke at a bar instead.
Is it annoying? Sure. Is it the end of the world? Not even close. Is it another sign that cruise lines are committed to squeezing every last dollar out of their guests? Absolutely.
But until guests decide that enough is enough and start booking competitors who offer better value, this will keep happening. Virgin Voyages has positioned itself as a kid-free alternative to Royal Caribbean specifically because they’re not nickel-and-diming guests quite as aggressively (yet).
So if you’re genuinely fed up with a particular cruise line’s pricing strategy – whether that be Royal Caribbean, Carnival, NCL or whoever – just book a different cruise line and compare the experience.
If you still want to sail Royal, then accept that $5 cup charge and move on. The Internet can stop acting like a souvenir cup represents the apocalypse.
A $5 cup is ridiculous when you’re paying a lot for a beverage package already, nobody will argue that. The broader pattern of cruise line nickel-and-diming is absolutely something worth criticizing and discussing.
But in the grand scheme of vacations and hospitality – where resort fees exceed $50 per night and parking costs more than breakfast – a $5 beverage cup isn’t the real villain here.
The real villain is an industry-wide shift toward treating guests like ATMs rather than customers. The cup is just the latest symptom.
So go ahead, rage about it in the Facebook comments. You’ll be in good company. But maybe use some of that energy to ask the bigger question: At what point does a cruise become too expensive to justify?