Gulets and Drinks on Board: How to Organize Beverages for Your Cruise

Drinks are an essential part of your gulet cruise, whether you enjoy fine wine, refreshing cocktails, or fresh lemonade. Knowing how beverages are organized can make a big difference in your holiday experience and budget. From bringing your own drinks to opting for an all-inclusive package, each method has its own rules, costs, and advantages depending on the cruising region. This guide explains the four main drink arrangements available on gulet charters in Turkey, Croatia, and Greece so you can choose the option that suits your style and preferences.

Key Takeaways:

• Bring Your Own Drinks: Allowed for free in Turkey, and in Croatia with a corkage fee. Not available in Greece.
• Buy from the Ship’s Bar: Standard option where you order from the onboard menu and pay at the end of your trip.
• Advance Provisioning Allowance (APA): Pay a set percentage upfront to cover drinks and other expenses, with adjustments after the trip.
• All-Inclusive Packages: Common in Croatia, they include unlimited domestic drinks but may not be cost-effective for light drinkers.
• Check Policies Before Booking: Always confirm drink arrangements in advance to avoid surprises and ensure a smooth cruise experience.

This is actually the cheapest option and it will save you money. Some people do not like the hustle of doing the shopping on their own so there is also the possibility we give you a drinks order form and the crew buys the drinks for you…and you just pay the supermarket bill.  

While this is a standard in Turkey in Greece charters and Croatia charters this is not so easy. While in Greece this possibility does not exist in Croatia you can most of the times pay “service fee” or “corkage fee” (around € 500 – € 1.000 per week max) and then you can buy your own drinks. 

If you do not which to pay this then you can have option no.2 (very popular in Croatia) or option no.2 (very popular in Greece).

Usually, prices are not OVER THE TOP but are quite decent. This, of course, depends on the gulet. Some gulets have also expensive drinks. It is good to check this before you decide on your cruise. 

In Turkey, this is usually like this when it comes to Cabin charter gulet cruises. 

In this option usually, during breakfast, there is water, juice, and coffee included in the price while during the meals you have to pay for everything extra (including water).

If you spend more than this money you pay at the end of the trip the difference. If you spend less than this money you get the difference back. 

This concept is mostly used on luxury private charter gulets and it is also popular in Greece. 

Usually, prices are determined on a “worst-case scenario” for the owner…which is an assumption that all-inclusive is mostly taken by heavy drinkers that will pay this money only because they are 100% sure they will drink much more than they pay.

The extra payments for drinks are around € 100 per person per week and up to € 180 per person per week (for domestic drinks only) and if you do not drink A LOT this is usually not a very good idea.

This concept is the most common in Croatia.

Before you book a gulet you should always double-check how drinks are organized on each gulet.

You do not want to bring 10 boxes of quality wine with you on a gulet only to find out later it is not allowed to bring your own drinks on board.