Beverage Card

Hello

This will be my first cruise. I think it would be useless us buying 2 SPB AT OVER $1400 we would not drink that much. I'm just wondering if purchasing a few beverage cards or maybe credits would be a better option.

Thanks:)

Hello

 

This will be my first cruise. I think it would be useless us buying 2 SPB AT OVER $1400 we would not drink that much. I'm just wondering if purchasing a few beverage cards or maybe credits would be a better option.

 

Thanks:)

Beverage cards work great and avoid a long bill and keeping track;). There is no discount, but we like the convenience.

OBC does the same thing for you.

The Explore4 (SPB) extra cost was not worth it to us either even though we like some drinks. It just doesn't add up.

So, it was a combo of beverage cards and OBC (for other expenses - we don't like sticker shock) for us.

I think your solution is a good one.

I love using a Beverage Card, as it makes proofing out the final bill so much easier. I keep track of one receipt at a time, proof it, and then toss the old one.

If there are two of you, I suggest two beverage cards, perhaps in smaller amounts. That way you can be in two places, while each has a card available. You can use each other's card when the amounts run down. Anything left over is reimbursed.

I am also a fan of beverage cards for the convenience. You can easily purchase these from any bar on board, or buy them ahead of the cruise so they will be in your cabin. Have found that it works better for me to buy one for each of us and see how it goes before buying another one.

I have resisted using them once they took the incentive away but our next cruise is the WC, 111 days so I am going to come around to your ways of thinking and buy one for myself and one for my wife. I do think it will make things easier, I am sure we will use them up in that period, plus I can keep up with my wife's drinking :p.

Do both in the cabin have to buy one?

Do both in the cabin have to buy one?

No, you can buy one and share it or not share it.

I have resisted using them once they took the incentive away but our next cruise is the WC, 111 days so I am going to come around to your ways of thinking and buy one for myself and one for my wife. I do think it will make things easier, I am sure we will use them up in that period, plus I can keep up with my wife's drinking :p.

For 111 days you might need more than one beverage card each :p:D:p

even only doing specialty coffees and water ;). Sorry, couldn't resist.

enjoy your World Cruise/Voyage. :)

After reading this thread, I realized that I didn't know how a beverage card worked, since I never bought one. So I logged into HAL to read up on it. But I found very little detail there. All HAL says about these cards is that it "can be redeemed for a variety of alcoholic & non-alcoholic beverage selections from wine, beer & spirits to soda and espresso."

So how do you use it? Does it work like a debit card does, but with a set amount?

Ruth mentioned that if you have left over amounts, it will be redeemed. That is much different than my experience with Princess soda and coffee cards I have had in the past. Every time I bought a Princess soda or coffee card I ended up losing money, because I never drank enough of these beverages to pay for the card.

So now I am interested in these cards, as long as I can purchase any kind of beverage (both soft and alcoholic), and as long as I can get a refund of unused amounts.

After reading this thread, I realized that I didn't know how a beverage card worked, since I never bought one. So I logged into HAL to read up on it. But I found very little detail there. All HAL says about these cards is that it "can be redeemed for a variety of alcoholic & non-alcoholic beverage selections from wine, beer & spirits to soda and espresso."

So how do you use it? Does it work like a debit card does, but with a set amount?

Ruth mentioned that if you have left over amounts, it will be redeemed. That is much different than my experience with Princess soda and coffee cards I have had in the past. Every time I bought a Princess soda or coffee card I ended up losing money, because I never drank enough of these beverages to pay for the card.

So now I am interested in these cards, as long as I can purchase any kind of beverage (both soft and alcoholic), and as long as I can get a refund of unused amounts.

Here it is in a nut shell (I hope) or as DH would say to make a long story short...

The beverage card is good for whatever amount you pay.

It can be used for any beverage - bottled water, coffees, soft drinks or alcoholic drinks.

Basically they charge your card and give you a receipt with your card back and on the slip you see what was charged and how much you have left on the card.

Once you order another drink you can throw the old slip away once you see it balances ;)

So, in essence a pre-loaded debit card if you want to look at it that way.

And for sure, on the last night (i think it is midnight but can't swear to that) they close off the beverage cards, etc. And they DO refund you any excess you have. We use them all the time and we always get the refund (even a few pennies) back on our cards.

The first time you want to use the card, you need to activate with your card and your key card. After that, all you need is your beverage card.

Edited to say, you can't use it for room service or at HMC -only where they have the readers in the bars, etx.

Hope this helps :)

After reading this thread, I realized that I didn't know how a beverage card worked, since I never bought one. So I logged into HAL to read up on it. But I found very little detail there. All HAL says about these cards is that it "can be redeemed for a variety of alcoholic & non-alcoholic beverage selections from wine, beer & spirits to soda and espresso."

So how do you use it? Does it work like a debit card does, but with a set amount?

Works just like a debit card and your account has your purchased, or HAL-provided, limit.

Thanks Kazu and Crew News. I will give it a try on our next cruise!

For 111 days you might need more than one beverage card each :p:D:p

 

even only doing specialty coffees and water ;). Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

enjoy your World Cruise/Voyage. :)

Thanks Kazu, your right, we might need two each :p.

Works just like a debit card and your account has your purchased, or HAL-provided, limit.

Hi Crew News, we're on the same 11/20 sailing too.

I guess I don't see the point. Are the advantages to a using a beverage card?

Thanks !

Does the dollar amount you load, go towards your cruise credits?

Hello

Thank you all for the replies and info:)

Does the dollar amount you load, go towards your cruise credits?

For Mariner days? Yes it does. The cards are in increments of $50, $100 & $250.

One time we qualified for the Explre4 program and got the Signature Beverage package. I kept track of what we bought -- drinks, bottled water for ashore, etc. -- We do not drink a lot so it is not worth it to buy the Signature Beverage package.

Instead we buy the regular Beverage Cards. Even though there is no discount, at least I don't have a tons of receipts to keep track of at the end of the cruise.

Does the dollar amount you load, go towards your cruise credits?

You do not load an amount, these are pre-set amounts you can purchase. Yes, the purchase goes toward your cruise credits just like any other on board charge.

One caveat: the soda card which is $25 for $50 of dispensed soda will only refund any unused amount up to the initial $25 that was paid so if you use $25.17 in soda, you will not get a refund. All other cards will refund any remaining amount.

Personally love the convenience.

Hi Crew News, we're on the same 11/20 sailing too.

I guess I don't see the point. Are the advantages to a using a beverage card?

Thanks !

As mentioned above, some don't like to keep track of receipts to check their account statement accuracy. IMHO the only value of using a Beverage Card is if it is part of a free HAL promotion.

Look forward to meeting you in November. Please join our roll call.

The beverage card is an excellent idea, and we purchase some for every cruise (DH and I have our own cards), as is purchasing OBC, prior to the cruise. That way, you can spread out your expense and we seldom disembark with any kind of amount owing on our onboard account. I believe our last cruise I had to pay $7 and the one before that I had a credit.

The purchase of both the beverage cards and OBC counts towards your onboard spending and therefore helps you to the next mariner level.:)

Any unused portion on your beverage card gets credited back to you on your credit card the night before disembarkation. Ditto if you have not used all your purchased (or gifted from your TA) OBCs.

I have only one HAL sailing under my cruise belt but 27 overall. When I sailed Zaandam to Hawaii in 2010, there was no beverage package, just the cards, which were sold at a 10% discount (I think).

I really see absolutely no need to pre-pay for anything, especially if there's no monetary advantage. I buy Carnival gift cards from AARP and get a 10% discount. It's the only thing I pay earlier than necessary.

Carnival no longer even gives you receipts for your drinks, but you can easily print out a statement from a kiosk or get one from the service desk (or check your account on the TV on most ships). I would think this would also be possible on most HAL ships these days, right?

So, it sounds like things have changed since I sailed. No more unlimited carry-on wine without paying a corkage fee for anything over the 1 bottle per person and no discount for a drinks card.

Am I right that there's no monetary incentive at all to pre-purchase either drinks cards or OBC? It's all going to go on my credit card at some point. Doesn't really matter to me when. I'd rather earn that $0.01 interest per month and keep my cash until the last minute. ;)

I'm asking because I'm probably going to cancel my 1/2/17 Carnival cruise and book under a casino offer I received. Just can't pass up the price. Really was hoping to just buy discounted drinks cards again since I'd never get my money's worth from the package. :(

I'll probably do a lot of catch-up reading over this long weekend and then if I still need some guidance, I'll start a thread asking about everything else that's changed over the past few years. Can't believe it's really been almost 6 years since I sailed HAL!

Am I right that there's no monetary incentive at all to pre-purchase either drinks cards or OBC? It's all going to go on my credit card at some point. Doesn't really matter to me when. I'd rather earn that $0.01 interest per month and keep my cash until the last minute. ;)

I think the only way to get drinks at a discount, is to purchase the Signature Drinks Package, which is part of the Explore 4 deal, or can be purchased separately.

It costs around $52 per day (including 15% service charge), but allows you to get up to 15 drinks per day. The drinks must be originally priced at $8 or less. You have to have the program for the entire length of your cruise, and the drinks cannot be shared, so both you and your spouse/partner would have to purchase the package. That means on a 10 day cruise, the cost of the package for two people would be $1,040. That is a lot of money but would allow you get up to 300 free drinks.

Most people can't drink that many drinks and end up losing money on the deal. Others complain that the $8 limit means they can't get the drinks they really wanted.

But if it works for your taste, and drinking frequency, then you can save substantially.

I've never purchased the Cheers package on Carnival. I mostly drink beer and wine. Don't drink soft drinks or specialty coffees, either. I'm guessing the wine I'd want would probably exceed the $8 limit anyway, so I supposed I'll just have to order what I want when I want it.

If I were on a transatlantic, or did another circle Hawaii, something with lots of sea days, I might consider it. But on port-intensive sailings, I'm not going to chug down a bunch of drinks every evening to justify what I spent on a drink package. I'd like to actually remember some of my vacation and not be hung over for the next day's excursion! :p

I'll have to find wine/drinks price list somewhere. I'm sure it's in a thread I haven't found yet.

Cruise I'm probably booking is the 12/14 Koningsdam. Maybe I'll ask my DD to buy me a drink card for an early Christmas present! ;)

Thanks for the input.

I'v

 

I'll have to find wine/drinks price list somewhere. I'm sure it's in a thread I haven't found yet.

I think this is the info you need. It was posted by Crew News on July 13th

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Bar-Menu1.pdf