Carnival Drink Coupons will not get you a drink anymore

[MikeM]

Just back off the Elation great cruise but the drink coupons are not good for a drink anymore, so if you or someone else buys you some drink coupons be perpaired to have a least 58 cents added to you sail and sign card and up to a couple of dollars for each drink even beer, its a pain in the *** Either make a drink in a special glass so the coupon will cover it or go up on the price of the coupon.:mad:

 

Yes and the point?

[coronawomen]

i expected it when i purchased the drink coupons for our cruise last june. By see'ing the menu prices i knew that my drink was over the 5.25. and the balance to be added to my s&s card.

 

to me, this is a cost effective way to prepay for as much of my vacation. which is what i like to do. keeps a lower s&s balance.

 

I agree with you 100% on this one, prepaying for as much as you can now helps big time when actually on the ship. My children 25 & 23 when we took them, I purchased these ahead of time and gave them a coupon on x-mas stating they'd get them on the ship. They loved them, and yes, depending on waiter or bartender they were never charge the extra price. My daughter even used all 4 at dinner to purchase a bottle of wine, which came below the cost. For them being college kids, this helped out alot being money was tight for them.

 

We are again going in March, and again for christmas, they will receive certificate from me for drinks on the ship to come. I will infact purchase some for myself as well, as I liked the idea of using them for a bottle of wine as well for dinner time. Anything paid ahead of cruising time, is a savings for me - no sticker SHOCK :eek: when your S&S bill comes. You know?

[Dr. Jack Daniels]

Try a coupon and a nice tip ... give a dollar or two dollars (depends on what you order, Im a margarita drinker, not a fo fo drinker) with them to your favorite bartender, bet you get you drink without more on your S&S.

 

I'd rather pay the 58 cents more. It costs me more for the drink under your scenario.

[viaggi_per_mare]

We have always bought the coupons (2) 8 drinks for every cruise since 2005. On our Dream cruise 5-1-10 was the first time we were charged extra for a Pina coloda (same drink-same glass over the years) Previous to the Dream cruise 1 coupon = 1 drink. Even on the Dream, we got 4 drinks for nothing extra and we were charged various amounts from $1.35-$3.75 for the same drink-same glass the other 4 drinks. There is definitely a trend to just credit the amount of the coupon and charge you the rest. With that said, we probably will not bother although we like the coupons and think they should just raise the price to the price of a drink so you could just use them. Maybe have a different coupon for "a beer", "mixed drink" or "frozen drink", so you could buy them and use them for "a drink" instead of making one coupon that is too low for some drinks but higher for others

[Race Gal]

So how would drink coupons work with buckets of beer? I was planning on buying a bunch of coupons for my BF for his birthday. TYIA.

 

I am also pre-purchasing coupon cards (four drink tickets per card) for my DH to get buckets of beer on our August sailing. One card should purchase one bucket of beer. Can anyone confirm? Thanks!

[familycruzinnewbie]

So do you pay $5.25 and get a $5.75 credit. That's still a small savings.

Even if they had a drink of the day that you could use the drink coupon for, it would be good.

 

Re: buckets of beer, do they open them when you get them or can you stretch them out over the day.

[keystonemama]

So do you pay $5.25 and get a $5.75 credit. That's still a small savings.

Even if they had a drink of the day that you could use the drink coupon for, it would be good.

 

Re: buckets of beer, do they open them when you get them or can you stretch them out over the day.

 

 

We just cruised on the Freedom, one card (4) was all we needed for a bucket of beer. You get two kinds in one bucket. They ask when they bring them to you if you want them all opened or not, we would carry our bucket around on the Lido deck.

 

I agree w/prepaying as much as possible, we bought 11 cards for a 6 day cruise, brought 2 bottles of champagne, won a bottle, 2 bottles of liquor for the room at $95.00 and extra drinks + gratuities on my S & S came to $105.00.

[keystonemama]

We just cruised on the Freedom, one card (4) was all we needed for a bucket of beer. You get two kinds in one bucket. They ask when they bring them to you if you want them all opened or not, we would carry our bucket around on the Lido deck.

 

I agree w/prepaying as much as possible, we bought 11 cards for a 6 day cruise, brought 2 bottles of champagne, won a bottle, 2 bottles of liquor for the room at $95.00 and extra drinks + gratuities on my S & S came to $105.00.

 

 

Sorry, I meant to say you can get two different kinds of beer in one bucket if you want.

[midnightblue]

I know that it is none of my business, but we just got off of our last cruise and there was a man whom I couldn't help notice, was holding a beer in his hand every day from around 10:30 in the morning until late at night. He spent most of the cruise perched on a bar stool. He spent all day at the bars as soon as we hit the islands also. There is nothing wrong with that but I can't even imagine what his final bill was. I Love beer, but cruising is not for someone who likes to drink a lot. Your bar tab can cost more than your cabin.

[lillian marie]

Thank's for the info on the bar coupons.

[ExcitedCruzer]

If the only reason to purchase drink coupons is to prepay your S&S...wouldn't it be easier to just purchase some fun ship dollars and have them post it as OBC?

[deborahjo]

As of April this year on the Dream I had my drinks put in the smaller hurricane glasses and were never charged more then my coupon.

[Gma&Gpa]

Well, on our recent cruise, we had received two separate "sheets" of drink coupons that were birthday and Christmas gifts from my daughter. While we still ended up paying a small amount for the drink, it certainly cut down on my bill. My son and his wife are getting ready to take his first cruise - and I intend to purchase some for him. I'm not expecting a "reduced rate" on drinks -but simply a way to cut his expenses while he's cruising. It's perfect for THAT instance.

[LambKnuckles]

js:

I've used the drink tickets and sometimes you get charged more... sometimes you don't... But the tip is not charged on the amount redeemed by the ticket... you will only be charged an additional tip when they charge you more...

[kujobie]

If the only reason to purchase drink coupons is to prepay your S&S...wouldn't it be easier to just purchase some fun ship dollars and have them post it as OBC?

 

I have probably asked this question on these boards 100 times over the years. People are just unclear on the concept. Drink coupons are meant to be given as gifts. If a person wants to pre-pay to keep their final bill down, funship dollars are a much better choice.

[legalwife]

Used them many times. Will use a few on upcoming Dream so will see what happens.

 

In my experience, it varies by bartender as to who charges what - which is not right. Should be the same by all.

[coronawomen]

Used them many times. Will use a few on upcoming Dream so will see what happens.

 

In my experience, it varies by bartender as to who charges what - which is not right. Should be the same by all.

 

I agree with you that it should be the same all around, but in life, it just is not. In our 8 times of cruising, we'd had fabulous bar tenders to talk, laugh, make jokes, do tricks, etc, and these are the ones we look for and spend alot of time making sure our drinks/tips go to them. At least a few times on each cruise we've run across the ones who just don't seem to care, they treat you like here, now go and leave me alone. So, when we use our coupons, we wait a day until we find that/those special bartenders or waiters that enjoy our company as much as we enjoy there's, then start using our coupons and hardly never, ever get charged that extra fee. They make very little in wages, and rely on there tips - thus why we look for those 'special' ones that stick out. Makes our vacation just as much more fun and there job just as much more fun as well and they are still making the tips vs. the one's who just don't care.

 

We will continue to use the drink coupons as they make wonderful gifts for the kids at b-days and christmas' and cuts down on their S&S cards. Anything I can plan or pay ahead of time is done - saves on the sticker shock in the end. Just my 2 cents worth.

[jfulcher]

You pay $21.25 ($5.25*4) for 4.

 

You get $23 ($5.75*4) * 15% = 26.45 worth of value. (Since gratuity is included in the coupon amount).

 

Basic math says these things are a good deal ($5.20 savings per sheet). It's basically a free drink every sheet. Unless you use them for $4.75 beer or something.

[jdhw]

Just about all the bars charged the same differance on the Elation, anywhere from 28 cents to $3.75 more and always added more for tip. we were alwas nice started out tipping at least a $1 and sometimes more for every drink ordered. After we saw they were charging us more we stoped the extra tips, if the drink was 50 cents more they added 8 more cents for tip. When we ask about it they acted like they didn't understand so it probley wans't right for us not to do the extra tips but hey it could have went the other way too. The cruise was great the food wasn't as good as on other cruises but OK. Progreso was a little dirty but great cruise.

[br76jook]

So with all this talk about drinks, what are the current prices like? How do the prices for standard drinks (rum and coke, Long Island Iced Tea, etc.) compare to their coktails listed in the drink menus?