Forthose who think drinks on the cruise are overpriced...

[Dwtlcambre]

I agree with all on this post that the drinks on a Carnival cruise are either the same price or a little cheaper than most bars, concerts or games. The only problem is you would not go to any of these places bars, concerts or games and stay for 7 days buying their drinks. You are only there for a few hours and then gone.

[Calico Jack Sparrow]

;)Arrghh!

Here in New York if you head to a club in the city you'd be happy if the price were just $10/drink.

 

We scored some tickets to a private performance by Keith Urban at Webster Hall in Manhattan. Jose Cuervo, straight up. $10 + $2 tip.

Mixed drinks were $14.

 

I like a shot or two before dinner. I was at Outback Steakhouse.

$7.95/shot.

 

So, cruiseline prices are in line with what most restaurants charge.

[Bburg]

I went to a Jimmy Buffet concert at Verizon Wireless Music Center in Indy....$11 for a DRAFT beer. I gasped as I had ordered one for me and one for a friend! Almost as bad as going to a NFL game ;)

[alphakitty]

At the Lilith Fair in Mass recently, they were charging $4.50 for a bottle of water.:eek: Just because they can, doesn't mean they should. :rolleyes:

[Sargent_Schultz]

I don't think the prices onboard are that different compared to onshore drinking establishments. Especially compared to a resort - which is essentially what a cruise is. They have a captive audience and they know you can't go "down the street" - but even considering that I don't think it is outrageous.

 

It is obscene. Especially for the tiny quantity of alcohol they pour. They buy enormous quantities of liquor, tax free, at a cost no drinking establishment can match.

 

Captive audience? Mostly. However I can go "down the street" and make my own in the cabin.

[dan40]

That is my point. If people stopped buying due to pricing, drinks would cost a lot less.

 

As long as demands does not suffer prices for drinks will keep going up.

 

Insane that something that costs the concessionaire about $ 0.50 at most can go for that price.

 

The raw cost of the actual alcoholic beverage is the smallest cost the concessionaire has to bear. The cost per sq. ft. or his contract would be many times higher than the alcohol cost. Many public stadiums the people drawing the beer or making the hot dog are union workers making a high dollar per hour wages with enormous benefits. As with most businesses, what they makes on the potatoes they are losing on the tomatoes.:D

 

And no one is being gouged being in a ball park or a bar or on a ship, that they are NOT required to be in or on, and drinking a beverage that they are not required to drink. We chose to be there and we chose to purchase a drink. Our choice.

 

If I go out to buy a Cadillac expecting to pay Kia prices, the disappointment is of my own doing, not the Caddy Dealer.

[Ship Addict]

I find alcohol prices at most public venues outrageous. That's why I rarely go to those places unless they're having specials. If I go to one to see a particular band play and that bar isn't running any specials, I'm very careful about how much I drink.

 

At the last Jimmy Buffett concert, we went to a local bar that was having great happy hour prices. Had a great time, listened to our (second) favorite band, and had several drinks. Then went to the concert where they had 20 oz beers for $11. You can walk into any gas station around here and buy the same exact can for $2 max. So I don't buy any there. I don't like spending the money and I don't like standing in line and missing the concert.

 

I find it absolutely ridiculous that Carnival charges $7 for Beringer. I can't think of a single restaurant near me that charges the same.

[dan40]

I find alcohol prices at most public venues outrageous. That's why I rarely go to those places unless they're having specials. If I go to one to see a particular band play and that bar isn't running any specials, I'm very careful about how much I drink.

 

At the last Jimmy Buffett concert, we went to a local bar that was having great happy hour prices. Had a great time, listened to our (second) favorite band, and had several drinks. Then went to the concert where they had 20 oz beers for $11. You can walk into any gas station around here and buy the same exact can for $2 max. So I don't buy any there. I don't like spending the money and I don't like standing in line and missing the concert.

 

I find it absolutely ridiculous that Carnival charges $7 for Beringer. I can't think of a single restaurant near me that charges the same.

 

 

How many restaurants near you cost over a HALF a BILLION dollars to build? NONE!

 

How many restaurants near you burn thousands of dollars of fuel per hour? NONE!

 

How many take you to foreign lands?

 

How many move at all?:eek::p:D

[Sargent_Schultz]

Hmmm. The Venetian cost $1.5 billion and I drink for free there. ;)

 

If desired, I can ride in a gondola. :D

[Cruzman]

How many restaurants near you cost over a HALF a BILLION dollars to build? NONE!

 

How many restaurants near you burn thousands of dollars of fuel per hour? NONE!

 

How many take you to foreign lands?

 

How many move at all?:eek::p:D

 

How many bars charge you hundreds, if not thousands just to get in?

[Sherry84]

I just went to a concert at our local football stadium and my hubby got a beer in a medium sized plastic cup and it was $8 :eek: I just about fell over when he told me! Talk about overpriced, lol! I prefer enjoying my foo-foo, LESS overpriced drinks on our cruises! Enjoy :D

[tess2cruz]

Mexican restaurant walking distance to my home serves killer $3 margarita's!! I may never cruise again.........................NOT!!!!!

[bptex]

Cowboys Stadium, Pacifico (poured from a 12 oz bottle) is $9. MGD or light in a plastic bottle, $9. In the case of MGD and Pacifico they are $5.49 a 6 pack usually. Of course after you pay $50 for parking, $80 minimum for a ticket and $13 for a hamburger the beer prices are right in line. Somehow he gets 105k people to every game, happy to stand in line and pay for the beer.

[bahama daydreamer]

Dh and I went to the Bahamas this past Feb. and the price of a Bahama Mama in a small plastic glass was 10.00 each at the resort. Needless to say we only bought a few. We do the same on the cruise. We just watch how many drinks we buy and have a good time.

[wadethegringo]

Location, Location, Location....I live in San Pedro Belize....We have a choice of Belikin or Belikin beer. about 10 oz bottles..You can buy a case of warm beer for the cooler for $25us plus deposit from the distributor, by the bottle for $1.50us from the store or $2.50us from a bar...Although San Pedro is a beautiful place in the Caribbean I will still gladly pay Carnivals price on the ship and a selection of different brands is nice as well.

[onthehighseas606]

I went to a Jimmy Buffet concert at Verizon Wireless Music Center in Indy....$11 for a DRAFT beer. I gasped as I had ordered one for me and one for a friend! Almost as bad as going to a NFL game ;)

 

But, you are there and they have you. They know that you aren't bringing in your own booze and you want to have a good time. So, you paid the $11. No different from Carnival, you have no other place to go to buy booze and enjoy it but on the ship. So, you pay the price. Not only that, if you cart your allowed bottle of wine to the dining room, they hit you up for $10.00 to uncork the sucker! I bring my own cork screw thank you very much. :rolleyes:

 

If you want to drink, you pay the price and some are willing to pay through the nose for it. None of my business really, if someone wants to pay the price go for it. LOL! People can't wait to get off the ship to hit the bars and pay a reasonable price for a bottle of beer or a margarita.

[Sargent_Schultz]

Location, Location, Location....I live in San Pedro Belize....We have a choice of Belikin or Belikin beer. about 10 oz bottles..You can buy a case of warm beer for the cooler for $25us plus deposit from the distributor, by the bottle for $1.50us from the store or $2.50us from a bar...Although San Pedro is a beautiful place in the Caribbean I will still gladly pay Carnivals price on the ship and a selection of different brands is nice as well.

 

Whenever I've been in Belize there is a choice of beers

 

 

 

 

but I thought Belikin was tasty

 

[dan40]

It all seems pretty simple to me. You know in advance what the prices are like. And they are in the low middle range of upscale, resort, prices. So you know what the tariff is. If you're too poor to pay the tariff, don't go wherever it is that you cannot afford to go.

[bobbyleduck]

Alcohol, and soft drinks for that matter, are way overpriced on cruises, but that doesn't mean it's the only place.

 

Happy cruising to all!

 

Bob

[dclark]

;)Arrghh!

Here in New York if you head to a club in the city you'd be happy if the price were just $10/drink.

 

We scored some tickets to a private performance by Keith Urban at Webster Hall in Manhattan. Jose Cuervo, straight up. $10 + $2 tip.

Mixed drinks were $14.

 

I like a shot or two before dinner. I was at Outback Steakhouse.

$7.95/shot.

 

So, cruiseline prices are in line with what most restaurants charge.

That's totally untrue- NY has among the highest prices in the U.S. When restraunts run commercials for their specials, the small print will say "prices higher in AK and NY". In addition, along with higher prices, wages in NY are higher than other areas, partially compensating. Come to the Outback near where I live and that shot is almost half the cost.

[Ship Addict]

How many restaurants near you cost over a HALF a BILLION dollars to build? NONE!

 

How many restaurants near you burn thousands of dollars of fuel per hour? NONE!

 

How many take you to foreign lands?

 

How many move at all?:eek::p:D

 

Ummmmmm....didn't the cruise fare I ALREADY paid cover all this crap? It's PROFIT pure and simple to charge the amounts they do -- fuel cost and the cost of building the ship have absolutely zero to do with the cost of the alcohol.

 

I am trying to figure out how in the heck your questions are relevant to my arguments. What does the restaurant moving have to do with the cost of the drink???

[Ship Addict]

It all seems pretty simple to me. You know in advance what the prices are like. And they are in the low middle range of upscale, resort, prices. So you know what the tariff is. If you're too poor to pay the tariff, don't go wherever it is that you cannot afford to go.

 

There's a difference in being able to afford to pay and choosing not to.

[buddylover]

Between welcome back party, farewell party, roll call cocktail party (on many of our cruises), going to an all inclusive beach stop and bringing wine on board last few cruises we purchased maybe one or two rounds of drinks.

 

At this rate one of these days we will go on a cruise and find ourselves not having purchased any booze on board.

 

Here, here Golfadj......totally agree, we are almost at this point now. I guess Carnival is trying to hold prices slightly down because they know they can make up the difference in 500% profits on DOD and beer from those willing to pay those prices.....not us!

[Warm Breezes]

Ummmmmm....didn't the cruise fare I ALREADY paid cover all this crap? It's PROFIT pure and simple to charge the amounts they do -- fuel cost and the cost of building the ship have absolutely zero to do with the cost of the alcohol.

 

I am trying to figure out how in the heck your questions are relevant to my arguments. What does the restaurant moving have to do with the cost of the drink???

 

Actually no. Rooms are a loss leader for some cruiselines to get you on-board. They are usually sailing at a loss and make a profit from the extras sold on board (excursions, alcohol, pictures, spa, etc). When you are purchasing a drink on board you are paying for more than just the alcohol and the bartender...you are helping to make up the loss from selling rooms at less than break-even as well as providing the profit any business needs to survive. This was documented on the show a few years ago on NCL and if you looked at Carnival's financial statements you can trace where the profits are coming from...and it's not room sales.

[Max Circus]

Actually no. Rooms are a loss leader for some cruiselines to get you on-board. They are usually sailing at a loss and make a profit from the extras sold on board (excursions, alcohol, pictures, spa, etc). When you are purchasing a drink on board you are paying for more than just the alcohol and the bartender...you are helping to make up the loss from selling rooms at less than break-even as well as providing the profit any business needs to survive. This was documented on the show a few years ago on NCL and if you looked at Carnival's financial statements you can trace where the profits are coming from...and it's not room sales.

 

MSNBC or CNBC runs that special every once in awhile. One of the revelations to me is that that the cruiselines consider it a failure to ONLY sail at 100% full. For NCL I think the number is 107%. Now how can you sail at over 100%? It is based on the minimum capacity for each cabin compared to the total number of passengers sailing. And as they get close to sailing date that isn't full, they will do whatever it takes (within reason) to get people onto the ship. In the words of the NCL CEO. once they have you onboard, they can try to sell you stuff. Interesting program.