Carnival sells five drink packages. CHEERS! is the alcohol-inclusive one, from roughly $70 per person per day as of August 2026, with a saving of around $5 per day, as of the same date, for buying before you sail. Cheers! Zero Proof is the non-alcoholic equivalent at around $30 per person per day. Bottomless Bubbles covers unlimited soda at roughly $7 per child per day, and around $12 per adult per day, as of August 2026. Two wine packages, Cruise the Vineyard and Cruise the Vineyard Premium, start from around $81 and from around $124 respectively as of August 2026, for a set of bottles rather than a daily rate.
Almost everything written about Carnival drinks is about CHEERS!, which is fair — it is the headline package. But Carnival actually sells five, and two of them are priced in a completely different shape that suits a traveller CHEERS! is wrong for. Worth thirty seconds before you default to the obvious one.
The five packages, and who each is for
CHEERS! is the alcohol-inclusive package, from roughly $70 per person per day as of August 2026. Carnival advertises a saving of around $5 per day, as of August 2026, for buying before you sail rather than onboard — free money if you already know you want it.
Cheers! Zero Proof is the non-alcoholic equivalent, from around $30 per person per day as of August 2026. That is a lot more than the soda package because it is a different product — mocktails, specialty coffees and premium non-alcoholic drinks rather than fountain soda.
Bottomless Bubbles is soda only: from roughly $7 per child per day, and around $12 per adult per day, as of August 2026. For families who just want the kids drinking something other than water, this is the right answer and the other packages are overkill.
Cruise the Vineyard and Cruise the Vineyard Premium are wine packages, starting from around $81 and from around $124 respectively as of August 2026 — and here is the part that matters: they are priced per set of bottles, not per day.
Why the wine packages deserve more attention than they get
A daily alcohol package only works if you drink steadily across the whole week. The traveller it fails most reliably is the one who has a couple of glasses of wine with dinner and nothing else — seven days at roughly $70 a day, as of August 2026, against maybe two drinks a day is a straightforwardly bad trade.
That person is exactly who a per-set wine package fits. You pay once for a fixed number of bottles, you drink them across the sailing, and the arithmetic stops depending on keeping pace. For a couple who drink wine with dinner, this is usually the cheapest sensible option on the menu, and it is the one nobody blogs about.
The same logic runs the other way. If your honest count is five or more drinks a day across a range of things, CHEERS! wins comfortably and the wine packages are irrelevant.
The rule that decides it before price does
Carnival, like the other mainstream lines, requires all adults of drinking age sharing a stateroom to buy the alcohol package together. One of you cannot take CHEERS! while the other abstains.
This is the single most common reason the package stops making sense. A rate that is good value for one steady drinker becomes poor value the moment it is doubled to cover a partner who has a glass of wine every other evening. Do the sum for the cabin, not for yourself — and note that Bottomless Bubbles and the wine packages do not carry the same requirement, which is part of why they are worth considering.
For the full break-even method, including how sea days change it, our drink packages guide works through the arithmetic in detail.
Two things to check on your own booking
Rates move, and they vary by sailing. The figures above are what Carnival published in August 2026. Longer voyages, different regions and promotional periods all shift them — a short Caribbean run on Carnival Conquest and a longer sailing on Carnival Pride will not price the same. Treat any number you read anywhere as an indication and confirm against your booking before deciding.
Your loyalty tier may matter. Carnival is replacing the VIFP Club with Carnival Rewards, and onboard credit and perks under the new programme can change what you effectively pay. If you have sailed Carnival before, our explainer on what changes is worth reading before you buy anything pre-cruise.
Common questions
How much is Carnival's CHEERS! package?
From about $70 per person per day as of August 2026, with Carnival advertising around $5 per day less, as of the same date, when you buy in advance rather than onboard. Rates vary by sailing, so check your booking.
What is Bottomless Bubbles?
Carnival’s unlimited soda package, from roughly $7 per child per day, and around $12 per adult per day, as of August 2026. It carries no alcohol and is the right answer for families who just want fountain drinks.
Is there a non-alcoholic version of CHEERS!?
Yes. Cheers! Zero Proof covers premium non-alcoholic drinks from around $30 per person per day as of August 2026, which is well above the soda-only Bottomless Bubbles because it includes mocktails and specialty beverages.
Does everyone in the cabin have to buy CHEERS!?
Carnival requires all adults of drinking age sharing a stateroom to purchase the alcohol package together, the same structure the other mainstream lines use.
Are the wine packages worth it?
Cruise the Vineyard and its Premium tier are priced per set of bottles rather than per day, from around $81 and from around $124 respectively as of August 2026. They suit a couple who drink wine with dinner and nothing else, which is precisely where a daily alcohol package loses money.
The honest summary: CHEERS! is good value for steady drinkers and poor value for everyone else, Bottomless Bubbles is the quiet right answer for families, and the wine packages are the best-kept secret on the list because they are priced in a shape that suits how most couples actually drink.
Tell us who is sailing and roughly how you drink, and we will tell you which of the five — if any — is worth buying. You can see the fleet on our Carnival page, and our Carnival ships by size guide covers picking the ship itself.