The Ambassador Cruise Line drinks package now comes in three versions: Non-Alcoholic, Classic and Premium. For most sailings of 5 to 29 nights, they cost £20.95, £42.95 and £49.95 per person per night when bought before you sail, and a few pounds more if you buy onboard. Everyone in the cabin has to buy the same package. Whether it pays off depends on how many drinks you have a day, and for most people the Classic package breaks even at around six to nine drinks.
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This guide covers the current package names, what each one includes, prices for every cruise length, the rules, typical bar prices and a break-even table you can use to decide before you book. Prices were checked against Ambassador’s own website in November 2026. Ambassador changes prices from season to season, so always confirm before you pay.
Ambassador Cruise Line drinks package names: what changed
Ambassador used to sell its packages under adventure-themed names. It has since renamed them so you can tell more easily what each one covers:
- Experience is now the Non-Alcoholic Drinks Package
- Explorer is now the Classic Drinks Package
- Expedition is now the Premium Drinks Package
Some travel agent pages and older booking confirmations still use the old names, but the packages are the same. A separate Water Package can be added to any of them or bought on its own.
The other recent change concerns measures. In 2026, cruise news sites reported that Ambassador had cut its standard spirit measure from 40ml to 25ml, the usual UK pub measure. At the same time it dropped the old limit of 15 alcoholic drinks per person per day for package holders, and doubles (50ml) can now be ordered. Ambassador’s terms now list 25ml as the standard measure and give no daily cap. The rule of one drink per person at a time, with at least 15 minutes between orders, still applies.
What each Ambassador drinks package includes
Premium Drinks Package
This is the top tier. It covers premium spirits and wines by the glass, selected beers and ciders, eligible cocktails, speciality coffees, Teapigs teas, soft drinks, juices, mocktails and water by the glass. It is the only package that includes bar tea and coffee.
Classic Drinks Package
Classic covers house wines, house-brand spirits, selected beers and ciders, eligible house-brand cocktails, soft drinks, juices, mocktails and water by the glass. Premium drinks and speciality coffees cost half price at the bar for Classic holders. That helps if you only want the odd premium gin or cappuccino.
Non-Alcoholic Drinks Package
This one covers soft drinks, selected juices, mocktails and water by the glass. Hot speciality coffees are not included.
Service charges and gratuities on the drinks are built into all three packages, and you cannot remove that part of the price. None of the packages covers minibar items, bottled or cabin water, shop purchases, or whole bottles of wine, champagne or spirits.
Ambassador drinks package prices for 2026/27
For cruises of five nights or longer, prices are per person, per night. Booking before you sail is cheaper than buying onboard.
| Package | 5-29 nights, pre-cruise | 5-29 nights, onboard | 30-69 nights, pre-cruise | 30-69 nights, onboard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-Alcoholic | £20.95 | £22.95 | £18.95 | £21.95 |
| Classic | £42.95 | £47.95 | £37.95 | £44.95 |
| Premium | £49.95 | £55.95 | £44.95 | £51.95 |
Short breaks of two to four nights are priced per person for the whole cruise rather than per night:
| Cruise length | Non-Alcoholic (pre / onboard) | Classic (pre / onboard) | Premium (pre / onboard) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 nights | £65 / £85 | £109 / £129 | £129 / £149 |
| 3 nights | £87 / £107 | £142 / £162 | £175 / £195 |
| 4 nights | £109 / £129 | £186 / £206 | £219 / £239 |
As a guide, a couple on a seven-night cruise would pay about £601 for two Classic packages or £699 for two Premium packages if they book before sailing. On a 14-night cruise, the same couple would pay about £1,203 for Classic or £1,399 for Premium. That gap is why the break-even maths below is worth doing.
The Water Package
Water by the glass is free at bars and restaurants. If you want refills to carry around, the Water Package costs £10.45 with your own bottle or £18.85 with a 500ml Ambassador aluminium bottle. Both give refills for up to 14 nights. Bottled water in your cabin costs £2 a bottle.
Ambassador drinks package rules to know before you buy
- Everyone in the cabin must buy the same package. You cannot have one Premium and one Non-Alcoholic package in a shared cabin, and the package must cover the whole cruise.
- Age limits: Ambassador’s terms say the Non-Alcoholic and Classic packages are for guests aged 18 and over.
- Booking deadline: You can pre-book up to seven days before departure. After that, you can only buy onboard at the higher price, and you must do so within about 24 hours of boarding (the cut-off is in the daily programme).
- Payment and cancellation: Full payment is due 90 days before sailing, or straight away if you book later. Packages cancelled within 14 days of departure are not refunded.
- No sharing: Packages are for the holder only. If you order a drink for someone without a package, your package can be cancelled without a refund.
- One drink at a time: You can order one drink per person, with at least 15 minutes between orders.
- Disembarkation day: On the morning you leave, drinks are charged at normal bar prices.
- By the glass only: Bottles are excluded and no package discount applies to them. Private and special events are also excluded.
Onboard drink prices on Ambassador ships
To judge the value of a package, you need to know what you would otherwise pay. These figures come from Ambassador’s general bar menu dated July 2026. Prices can change, and individual venues may differ.
| Drink | Typical bar price |
|---|---|
| Pint of draught lager or bitter | £5.80 |
| Bottled beer (330ml) | £4.50 |
| Pint of draught cider | £6.30 |
| House wine, 125ml / 250ml | £4.80 / £9.50 |
| House spirit (25ml) with mixer | about £7.10 |
| Premium spirit (25ml) | £6.00 to £7.80, plus mixer |
| Cocktail | £7.40 |
| Mocktail | £4.50 |
| Soft drink or juice | £3.15 |
| Speciality coffee | £6.30 |
Ambassador’s bar prices are fairly modest compared with many big-ship lines, and that affects the maths. A drinks package that is good value on a line charging £10 for a cocktail is harder to justify where a pint costs under £6.
Is the Ambassador drinks package worth it? Break-even table
This table shows roughly how many drinks a day you need for each package to cost less than paying at the bar. It uses the pre-cruise and onboard prices for 5-29 night cruises and the bar prices above.
| If you mostly drink… | Classic pre-cruise (£42.95) | Classic onboard (£47.95) | Premium pre-cruise (£49.95) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pints of lager (£5.80) | 7.4 a day | 8.3 a day | 8.6 a day |
| 125ml house wine (£4.80) | 8.9 a day | 10 a day | 10.4 a day |
| Spirit and mixer (£7.10) | 6 a day | 6.8 a day | 7 a day |
| Cocktails (£7.40) | 5.8 a day | 6.5 a day | 6.8 a day |
For the Non-Alcoholic package at £20.95 a night, you need about seven soft drinks (£3.15 each) or five mocktails (£4.50 each) a day.
Sample days compared with the Classic package
- Light drinker: two soft drinks, a pint and two small glasses of wine comes to about £21.70. Paying as you go is much cheaper.
- Moderate drinker: two soft drinks, two pints, two small wines, a cocktail and a gin and tonic comes to about £42. That is close to break-even, so the package only pays off if you drink this much every day, port days included.
- Sociable drinker: two soft drinks, three pints, a large wine, two cocktails and two gin and tonics comes to about £62. The Classic package saves around £19 a day.
- Premium tastes: two speciality coffees, two premium gin and tonics, two cocktails and a large wine comes to about £53. Premium at £49.95 saves a few pounds. Classic plus half-price premium extras would come to about £56 for the same day, so Premium is the better fit for this kind of drinker.
Two things are easy to miss. First, because spirits are now poured as 25ml singles, a “drink” in a spirit-based day contains less alcohol than it once did. Some people will order more rounds, and others will find they drink less than they expected. Second, the package must cover every night of the cruise, including long port days when you may be ashore until dinner. Count those days honestly. A couple who drink only in the evenings rarely recover the cost.
Ambassador Fare: bundled drinks and gratuities
Ambassador sells two fare types. The Saver Fare covers the basics: your cabin, full-board dining, entertainment and port taxes. The Ambassador Fare adds gratuities and a drinks package. According to Ambassador’s drinks package page, choosing the Ambassador Fare when you first book gets you the Premium package at 15% off. If you know you want Premium, compare the Ambassador Fare with the Saver Fare plus a separately bought package.
Gratuities for guests not on the Ambassador Fare are £7 per person per night, or £6 on cruises of 16 nights or more. Ambassador also runs time-limited drinks offers on selected seasons, so check the current deals page before buying a package outright. For a wider look at how the line compares with its nearest rival, see our guide to P&O Cruises vs Ambassador Cruise Line.
Can you bring your own drinks on an Ambassador cruise?
Not alcohol. Ambassador’s FAQs say bringing alcohol aboard at embarkation is strictly prohibited. Any alcohol found is taken and held until the end of the cruise. Wine, spirits and beer bought ashore must be handed to Security when you return to the ship, and you get them back when you disembark.
You can bring up to 12 cans or small bottles of soft drinks per cabin. These are for your cabin only and cannot be drunk in public areas. This is a cheap way to cover mixers or fizzy drinks if you skip the Non-Alcoholic package.
How Ambassador compares with other lines
Ambassador’s packages sit at the more affordable end of the UK market. P&O’s packages generally cost more per night, though P&O’s bar prices are higher too. Our P&O drinks package guide sets out those numbers. Marella takes a different approach: most of its fares include selected drinks as standard, while Ambassador treats drinks as an add-on or a fare upgrade. To see every major line side by side, read our cruise drink packages comparison.
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Ambassador Cruise Line 2027 in five minutes
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FAQs
How much is the Ambassador drinks package per day?
On 5-29 night cruises, pre-cruise prices are £20.95 (Non-Alcoholic), £42.95 (Classic) and £49.95 (Premium) per person per night. Onboard prices are £22.95, £47.95 and £55.95.
Do both people in a cabin have to buy the Ambassador drinks package?
Yes. Packages are only available if everyone in the cabin buys the same one, for the whole length of the cruise.
Is there a daily drinks limit on Ambassador’s packages?
Not any more. The old 15-drink daily cap has been dropped. You can still only order one drink at a time, at least 15 minutes apart, and spirits are served in 25ml measures.
What happened to the Explorer and Expedition packages?
They were renamed. Explorer is now Classic, Expedition is now Premium, and Experience is now Non-Alcoholic.
Can I take alcohol on an Ambassador cruise?
No. Alcohol brought aboard at embarkation or bought in port is held by Security and returned at the end of the cruise. Up to 12 soft drinks per cabin are allowed.
