Is it ok to share a beverage package?

[NLH Arizona]

I don’t have a problem with someone taking a sip to taste a drink or because they are parched, but when someone uses their card to get a drink for another person or they share the drink together and then get another and another and another, that is where I feel that it is stealing.

Someone said: [I]I don't think it's to big of a deal and WILL NOT effect the prices of the packages or the cruise line a bit to dish out a couple extra drinks.[/I] I think if they did the math, they would see that those couple of extra drinks will cost the cruise line and future cruisers (because they will raise the price or get rid of them all together) a lot. Example: 600 passengers purchase a drink package (I think this is a low estimate), they give away 2 $6 drinks - you times that by 12 ships and 52 weeks, you are talking about $4.5 million dollars a year in lost revenue for the cruise line. Pretty soon the cruise line is going to get smart and do something.

So I wonder if those that feel this rule is okay to be broken, do they feel the same about someone smoking on the balcony next to theirs? After all, it is only a few cigarettes now and then. Same thing to me, a rule is being broken both ways.

I’m sure that Celebrity is smart enough to know if there is a lot of “sharing” (using the card to get drinks for others or a couple sharing all of their drinks) of drink packages and if they feel it is excessive, all they will do is raise the prices to accommodate for the theft or discontinue the cards. Just like they did when they started charging for money to charged to your stateroom card in the casino, since too many people did not used the money they took out to gamble…now there is a five percent charge, so those that used the money to gamble are now penalized because of others. Edited March 22, 2012 by NLH Arizona

[Mulege]

Let's start running red lights because no cops are around. Don't pay bus fare or subway fare because you are only going two blocks. There is no way to reason cheating or stealing, PERIOD. Stop making excuses for bad behavior. Bottom line is if you can afford the cruise and one bev pkg you can afford to BUY drinks for your partner. Enough already on this topic!

[Mulege]

I forgot to add that the saying caveat emptor applies to the person who buys it and then finds out that they won't get their moneys worth. Next time the will know better. Some lessons in life re not cheap.

[sollan]

Personally I don't think its allright to get a drink on my package to someone without it. And if the argument is that it's "only a few one now and then" - I wonder if people can't afford the price? If someone feels that the drinks are to expensive - don't drink.

If I remember correct, RCCL are not allowing just one person in a cabin to buy a package. Both have to buy them. Suppose it's because they are afraid of two person sharing one package.
Was concidering to by packages on our last cruise on RCCL but decided not to. They where IMHO not close to X standard.
So lets be so honest with these packages so X won't change their rules to the worse. If they notice that people misuse them they surley will change the terms (probably not in our advantage...).:cool:

[AMAC86]

[quote name='Mulege']Let's start running red lights because no cops are around. Don't pay bus fare or subway fare because you are only going two blocks. There is no way to reason cheating or stealing, PERIOD. Stop making excuses for bad behavior. Bottom line is if you can afford the cruise and one bev pkg you can afford to BUY drinks for your partner. Enough already on this topic![/quote]I bet there are MANY people in this thread condemning sharing a drink package that execute all of the other behaviors you've mentioned.

How many of us have never exceeded the posted speed limit in the last week??? Come on, hold up your hand! (Then again, this is the Celebrity board so all of you probably drive 10 mph below the limit with your blinker on. :D:p)

Not trying to justifying cheating the cruise line on the drink packages, but some people are taking things way too seriously. Edited March 22, 2012 by AMAC86

[Ma Bell]

[quote name='AMAC86']I bet there are MANY people in this thread condemning sharing a drink package that execute all of the other behaviors you've mentioned.

How many of us have never exceeded the posted speed limit in the last week??? Come on, hold up your hand! (Then again, this is the Celebrity board so all of you probably drive 10 mph below the limit with your blinker on. :D:p)

Not trying to justifying cheating the cruise line on the drink packages, but some people are taking things way too seriously.[/QUOTE]

Really...you think people should run red lights and not pay bus fares? It doesn't have anything to do with being serious. It's just plain wrong and all the trying to justify sharing drink packages is just sad. The speed limit has nothing to do with it. Edited March 22, 2012 by Ma Bell

[Captain Jake]

[quote name='AMAC86']I bet there are MANY people in this thread condemning sharing a drink package that execute all of the other behaviors you've mentioned.

How many of us have never exceeded the posted speed limit in the last week??? Come on, hold up your hand! (Then again, this is the Celebrity board so all of you probably drive 10 mph below the limit with your blinker on. :D:p)

Not trying to justifying cheating the cruise line on the drink packages, but some people are taking things way too seriously.[/quote]

We all pay the price for stealing on land or sea but comparing stealing to exceeding the speed limit is beyond ridiculous
:cj

[Fixit2010]

hey if we didn't have crooks and dishonesty, then insurance people would be out of a job.

[AMAC86]

[quote name='Captain Jake']We all pay the price for stealing on land or sea but comparing stealing to exceeding the speed limit is beyond ridiculous
:cj[/quote]It is ridiculous, which is why I brought it up. Comparing stealing to running a redlight is ridiculous, too! Running red lights, like speeding, is an issue of safety. When was the last time stealing a can of Coke killed somebody?

[AMAC86]

[quote name='Ma Bell']Really...you think people should run red lights and not pay bus fares? It doesn't have anything to do with being serious. It's just plain wrong and all the trying to justify sharing drink packages is just sad. The speed limit has nothing to do with it.[/quote]I specifically said in my post that it is NOT a justification for stealing.

But everyone in this thread who condemns the sharing drink packages acts as though they are holy people who always follow the rules to a tee. I highly doubt that's the case!

I don't share drink packages in an attempt to get out of paying for two packages, but I also don't write pages and pages of rants pontificating about the subject. Then again, I suppose that's what I'm doing now...

[Grumpy100]

[quote name='Waterlily777']Sorry, no, it is not okay. It is exactly the same thing as two people sharing one beverage package.[/quote]
I think it is OK. We do it sometimes. They are not losing money on soda in my opinion. The waiters know most of the times and I don't think they care.....:confused::confused:

[NLH Arizona]

[quote name='Grumpy100']I think it is OK. We do it sometimes. They are not losing money on soda in my opinion. The waiters know most of the times and I don't think they care.....:confused::confused:[/quote]
So you don't think they are losing money. I guess the person you got the soda for on your card would not have purchased that soda otherwise. I guess we should all find someone with a drink card and ask them to buy us a drink, because, as you feel, Celebrity isn't losing any money. Yes, they are losing money and we are all paying for it. If you use the same scenario I used before, but figured drinks were $2 each instead of $6, Celebrity would be losing $1.5 million a year on those sodas that you don't feel they are losing any money on. Everything Celebrity brings on board costs us money. Edited March 22, 2012 by NLH Arizona

[Mulege]

You missed the point. It is not the running a red light specifically. My point I wanted to make was if we keep saying it is ok to share the bev pkg, then why not say it is right to break all the other rules or laws. None of us are angels or saints, but this is so obviously wrong.

[AMAC86]

[quote name='NLH Arizona']Someone said: [I]I don't think it's to big of a deal and WILL NOT effect the prices of the packages or the cruise line a bit to dish out a couple extra drinks.[/I] I think if they did the math, they would see that those couple of extra drinks will cost the cruise line and future cruisers (because they will raise the price or get rid of them all together) a lot. Example: 600 passengers purchase a drink package (I think this is a low estimate), they give away 2 $6 drinks - you times that by 12 ships and 52 weeks, you are talking about $4.5 million dollars a year in lost revenue for the cruise line. Pretty soon the cruise line is going to get smart and do something. [/quote]Or you can think about it this way.

Playing devil's advocate here:

Perhaps the cruise line knows that people who buy the package will probably share drinks occasionally with someone without a drink package. Most people who buy a drink package will not get their money's worth anyway (i.e., they will pay $300 for the package and their a la carte total will come out to $200 or so even with shared drinks, etc.). That's $100 pure "extra" profit for them. Of course this is a big assumption.

If the cruise line came out and said, "NO! No sharing of drinks! Strictly enforced, and you will left behind at the next port of call!" I bet you nobody would buy the packages, and they would lose a lot of revenue in that manner. People wouldn't buy drinks packages, and would pay a la carte. In my example, if people drank at the same level as they did with the drink package, they would rack up $200 in drinks, but would lose out on that $100 of extra profit.

Now perhaps they could take the route of stricter enforcement, which should lower prices in theory, right? I'm not sure this would work in practice.

Of course, I'm talking about people who occasionally share drinks, not consistently grab two drinks to share--which would be the grossest abuse of the drink package.

I think this is probably why there is little enforcement of the rules. The cruise line knows that they just need to get you to buy a drink package!

[sollan]

[quote name='AMAC86']
But everyone in this thread who condemns the sharing drink packages acts as though they are holy people who always follow the rules to a tee. I highly doubt that's the case!
[/quote]
I suppose my headache comes from the fact that my glory fits a bit too tight... :D

[AMAC86]

[quote name='Mulege']You missed the point. It is not the running a red light specifically. My point I wanted to make was if we keep saying it is ok to share the bev pkg, then [B]why not say it is right to break all the other rules or laws.[/B] None of us are angels or saints, but this is so obviously wrong.[/quote]That's my point--people DO break other laws, even the people in this thread who are upset by others stealing beverages. I see people try to beat red lights, speed, not stop for pedestrians in crosswalks, etc. every day and each one of those things has potentially life-threatening and irreversible consequences.

And why not take it a step further? You think it's okay to steal one or two sodas on a cruise? Why not just murder your neighbor's wife and kidnap one of their children? It's all the same, right? (Of course, I'm making a strawman argument, but so was comparing stealing soda to running red lights.)

Again, not a justification for stealing beverages, but I will choose to spend my time on the ship enjoying myself rather than worrying about whether or not my drink prices got jacked up by somebody across the other side of the pool sharing a drink or not. Lighten up!

Oh, and I will not be sharing drinks because I'm not going to buy a drink package! How's that! :p Edited March 22, 2012 by AMAC86

[Can'tstopcruising]

Supposing you owned the cruiseline. Let us say that a package is $200 and drink is $10.

Pax A buys 30 drinks for himself. Doesn't let anyone have so much as a sip!

Pax B sees he will never drink more than 12, so he buys a few for his wife. Total, 20 drinks.

Simple math. The cruiseline makes more from Pax B. Do you think they would complain? If it were my ship, I would be very happy with Pax B. More $$ for me!!



In our local mall, folklore has it that the elderly (older than [I]am, lol), buy a cup of coffee at Macdonald's and get free refills for friends (or relatives!). They sit in the food court for hours[/I]. Although I am a shareholder, do you think I lose any sleep over this?

There's another restaurant in another mall where they charge for a cup of hot water, because the elderly would order that and insert their own teabag!!!

I don't consider these infractions very serious, do you? Edited March 22, 2012 by Can'tstopcruising

[Mulege]

I surrender.

[Captain Jake]

So botom line is that to some stealing is OK since
1) its not as bad as running a red light and killing someone
2) its not as bad as killing ones spouse with an AX
and so on and so on
.............Give me a break
:cj Edited March 22, 2012 by Captain Jake

[AMAC86]

EVERYBODY ENJOY YOUR CRUISE. With my luck, we'll probably sink to the bottom of the ocean--bickering about beverage packages.

[NLH Arizona]

[quote name='AMAC86']Or you can think about it this way.

Playing devil's advocate here:

Perhaps the cruise line knows that people who buy the package will probably share drinks occasionally with someone without a drink package. Most people who buy a drink package will not get their money's worth anyway (i.e., they will pay $300 for the package and their a la carte total will come out to $200 or so even with shared drinks, etc.). That's $100 pure "extra" profit for them. Of course this is a big assumption.

If the cruise line came out and said, "NO! No sharing of drinks! Strictly enforced, and you will left behind at the next port of call!" [COLOR=red]I bet you nobody would buy the packages[/COLOR], and they would lose a lot of revenue in that manner. People wouldn't buy drinks packages, and would pay a la carte. In my example, if people drank at the same level as they did with the drink package, they would rack up $200 in drinks, but would lose out on that $100 of extra profit.

Now perhaps they could take the route of stricter enforcement, which should lower prices in theory, right? I'm not sure this would work in practice.

Of course, I'm talking about people who occasionally share drinks, not consistently grab two drinks to share--which would be the grossest abuse of the drink package.

I think this is probably why there is little enforcement of the rules. The cruise line knows that they just need to get you to buy a drink package![/quote]
I disagree with your statement that if they enforced the rules no one would buy drink package. I think it is a small percentage that thinks stealing is okay. Yes, it is stealing, if you are getting a drink for someone on your drink package. There are those that don't drink what they paid for their drink package and there are just as many that drink over what they paid. I'm sure that Celebrity has done the math and the price they charge is the average of those that have used the drink packages. You can't just talk about people who occasionally share drinks, you have to combine everyone, because they are all breaking the rule of the drink package. Those that just share occasionally are just as guilty as those that grab two drinks to share - it is the same - stealing. Why is it okay to steal a little, but not steal a lot?

[Denny01]

[quote=Can'tstopcruising;33009235]Supposing you owned the cruiseline. Let us say that a package is $200 and drink is $10.

Pax A buys 30 drinks for himself. Doesn't let anyone have so much as a sip!

Pax B sees he will never drink more than 12, so he buys a few for his wife. Total, 20 drinks.

Simple math. The cruiseline makes more from Pax B. Do you think they would complain? If it were my ship, I would be very happy with Pax B. More $$ for me!!



In our local mall, folklore has it that the elderly (older than [I]am, lol), buy a cup of coffee at Macdonald's and get free refills for friends (or relatives!). They sit in the food court for hours[/I]. Although I am a shareholder, do you think I lose any sleep over this?

There's another restaurant in another mall where they charge for a cup of hot water, because the elderly would order that and insert their own teabag!!!

I don't consider these infractions very serious, do you?[/quote]

I do not consider these 'very serious', but my wife and I wouldn't do that, my kids wouldn't do that, and if my friends did that, I would consider it poor judgement and poor ethics on their part....but 'serious'? No, Tacky, Yes.

And try this:
Pax A orders a drink package for herself and her husband. They drink lots and lots of drinks between them. Line makes $400.
Pax B orders a drink package for himself and his wife doesn't because she only drinks a few, and she orders her drinks and pays for them without using his card. $200+maybe $100 for her. Line makes $300.

Both of those are ethical and the Line makes money.

Pax C order a drink package for himself and his wife commit petty theft by using his card - yup, not sips a bit to try his drink. Line makes $200.

Those are three scenarios that are most likely to occur instead of your examples, and guess which one (or two) I'd want done as owner. And I found your Pax A example curious.....he is such a rotten guy since he wouldn't share his drink package....rotten to the core.

Everyone comes up with an excuse to do as they wish, and yes all of us break rules and so on. So what? Just another excuse. Your call. Enjoy your cruise, and if you share your drink package, please don't try to rationalize it to me while doing it.....instead of just politely ignoring the question because we are on cruise and I don't want to get into some stupid discussion rationalizing petty theft, I might actually tell you what I'm thinking.

Den Edited March 22, 2012 by Denny01

[Can'tstopcruising]

[quote name='Denny01']I do not consider these 'very serious', but my wife and I wouldn't do that, my kids wouldn't do that, and if my friends did that, I would consider it poor judgement and poor ethics on their part....but 'serious'? No, very tacky, Yes.

And try this:
Pax A orders a drink package for herself and her husband. They drink lots and lots of drinks between them. Line makes $400.
Pax B orders a drink package for himself and his wife doesn't because she only drinks a few, and she orders her drinks and pays for them without using his card. $200+maybe $100 for her. Line makes $300.

Both of those are ethical and the Line makes money.

Pax C order a drink package for himself and his wife commit petty theft by using his card - yup, not sips a bit to try his drink. Line makes $200.

Those are three scenarios that are most likely to occur instead of your examples. And I found your Pax A example curious.....he is such a rotten guy since he wouldn't share his drink package....rotten to the core.

Everyone comes up with an excuse to do as they wish, and yes all of us break rules and so on. So what? Just another excuse. Your call. Enjoy your cruise, and if you share your drink package, please don't try to rationalize it to me while doing it.....instead of just politely ignoring the question because we are on cruise and I don't want to get into some stupid discussion rationalizing petty theft, I might actually tell you what I'm thinking.

Den[/quote]

Of course you wouldn't do this. Neither would you be spending the entire day in a food court. These are elderly with little to do.

My Mother used to volunteer in a Senior residence and she would tell me stories about how they cheated at Bingo. Winnings were coupons for freebies in the cafeteria. Sometimes,they even said they didn't get their coupon when they did! You have to feel for these people, not call them thieves.

You missed my point with pax B. He paid $200, but only drank $100'w worth, so he gave his wife a few drinks. If between them they drank no more than $200, on one loses.

However if one pax pays 200 and drinks $400 worth, the cruiseline loses.

You don't have to worry about meeting me. We do not drink enough to warrant any cards! We don't get coffee refills for eachother, or cheat at Bingo We don't even play Bingo!!

Just enjoy your cruises!

[Denny01]

[quote=Can'tstopcruising;33010573]Of course you wouldn't do this. Neither would you be spending the entire day in a food court. These are elderly with little to do.

My Mother used to volunteer in a Senior residence and she would tell me stories about how they cheated at Bingo. Winnings were coupons for freebies in the cafeteria. Sometimes,they even said they didn't get their coupon when they did! You have to feel for these people, not call them thieves.

You missed my point with pax B. He paid $200, but only drank $100'w worth, so he gave his wife a few drinks. If between them they drank no more than $200, on one loses.

However if one pax pays 200 and drinks $400 worth, the cruiseline loses.

You don't have to worry about meeting me. We do not drink enough to warrant any cards! We don't get coffee refills for eachother, or cheat at Bingo We don't even play Bingo!!

Just enjoy your cruises![/quote]
Fully understand, and would probably love to cruise with you because we'd just enjoy the cruise and not worry about this stuff.....these posts keep me thinking about cruising....even these discussions that are just so theoretical.

Den

[Can'tstopcruising]

[quote name='Denny01']Fully understand, and would probably love to cruise with you because we'd just enjoy the cruise and not worry about this stuff.....these posts keep me thinking about cruising....even these discussions that are just so theoretical.

Den[/quote]

Den, the only reason I chime in is because it gets me how so many people see things as Black or White. There are so many variables, I think we should not judge others.

I'd love to cruise with you,too. You have contributed many interesting posts.