My Cheers! Experience

[ncbeachteacher]

We have used the Cheers program three times and will do so again over the holidays. For us, the program works. We don't order floaters, double shots, etc. or specialty frozen drinks. I think you make a good point that it you need to carefully read the rules and determine if this program is for you, based on what and how you tend to drink. It is not a one-size fits all kind of deal. But it does appeal to enough cruisers that it continues to be available.

[rferr]

that tip is going into a shared pool. = 7.50 tip on the 49.95

 

now if you were drinking 10-15 drinks per day the particular waiter will get $1.12 on ever 7.95 drink

 

Then they should not charge a gratuity on it. They cant have it both ways though. When a gratuity is included its included.

[SNJCruisers]

That's what I'm wondering.

 

DH and I have purchased drink packages on Celebrity and Princess and there's not all of this rigmarole. Haven't sailed Carnival in over two years and would like to try the Cheers package on our upcoming sailing, but it's so restrictive. You can't even get bottled water!

The clientele on Celebrity and Princess are a different demographic than the cruisers on Carnival. There is no limit with the Celebrity program and it includes espresso based drinks, bottled water and fresh squeezed juices. The reputation of the typical Carnival cruiser is the reason that the Cheers program is so restrictive.

[momdaughterondestiny]

I have a question about the cheers program ... I do not want to have a hassle getting a drink so I'm going to ask these questions so I can determine if I am going to get the cheers program or not

 

1. What glasses do the drinks come in? I usually drink DOD do they come in a regular glass glass or a in the plastic glass that you usually get when you order the dod without cheers?

2. If you just order the DOD do you think I will have a hassle??

 

Thank you in advance for your answers.

[idlenote]

Last cruise was 23 days to Australia, we never tipped less that $1.00 per drink and never had a problem, the service was always exceptional. Normally had between 7 - 9 drinks a day and that was plenty.

[SNJCruisers]

I have a question about the cheers program ... I do not want to have a hassle getting a drink so I'm going to ask these questions so I can determine if I am going to get the cheers program or not

 

1. What glasses do the drinks come in? I usually drink DOD do they come in a regular glass glass or a in the plastic glass that you usually get when you order the dod without cheers?

2. If you just order the DOD do you think I will have a hassle??

 

Thank you in advance for your answers.

1. If you get a drink at a bar that is inside, your drink will come in a glass glass. If you get it from a bar on the Lido deck, it will come in a plastic glass. Just like if you get a Corona inside, it's in a bottle, outside it's poured into the plastic funnel Corona cup.

2. No, there will not be a hassle at all. Just make sure you know the rules.

 

The restrictions are spelled out with the program. 15 alcoholic drinks a day from 6 AM- 559 AM. 5 minute interval between ordering. Unlimited soda, juice and non alcoholic drinks. No floaters, no buckets of beer. Good for drinks up to 10.00 before tip. So, you can get an upgraded drink at the Alchemy bar for 9.95 and it qualifies. Any drinks over 10.00 as well as bottled water will be charged at a 25% discount. Taxed per drink while in embarkation port until you hit international waters as well as any US port stops such as Key West. You can buy the program on day 1 or 2 and there is no retroactive credit if you decide to purchase on day 1 after you have had a couple of beers. You will still be charged for those beers and they will not count towards your 15. If you think you'll drink more than 15 drinks in a day, you can buy them up to # 14. At # 15, you're cut off.

[ryanpatricksmom]

Just wanted to reiterate that there was an additional restriction (on my sailing at least) that was not spelled out. You could not order any drink that was not a pre-defined Carnival specialty drink in anything other than a singles glass. You had to order a drink in a singles glass, then wait the 5 minutes (which always became at least 10 because of the back-up) and order a soda and mix the two.

 

There was no logical or written explanation for this rule that I could come up with other than Carnival wanted to insure that pax weren't receiving doubles for the deduction of a single drink. The F & B manager didn't offer an explanation either, other than to say that it was the Carnival rule.

 

As I initially said, this is still a good program if you drink specialty drinks (without floaters), beer, wine, or singles drinks. If you plan to deviate in any way, then prepare to wait because the workaround will take at least 15 minutes per drink, often 20. I wish that we'd tried it for the first time on the Sunshine instead where I would have been more inclined to try a greater variety of specialty drinks. That would have been a far less frustrating experience, imo. Also, the Fantasy had less bars in general, which probably contributed to the problem.

 

You can still consume plenty of alcohol for the price, it's just a huge waste of time because of the waiting period.

[rolaur]

Could you have ordered your original drink and at the same time ordered a shot that you paid additional for as the floater? Or can you order a double and just pay for one extra shot?

Edited November 7, 2014 by rolaur

[ryanpatricksmom]

Could you have ordered your original drink and at the same time ordered a shot that you paid additional for as the floater? Or can you order a double and just pay for one extra shot?

 

No, that for me was the issue. I didn't mind redeeming an extra credit, it was the 5 minute (which became 15) rule that caused the problem.

[rolaur]

No, that for me was the issue. I didn't mind redeeming an extra credit, it was the 5 minute (which became 15) rule that caused the problem.

 

I didn't mean redeeming an extra Cheers credit but actually paying additional for the shot as a separate drink. I believe you can pay for additional drinks as long as you haven't ordered your 15th. Just asking because I like bloody marys with double shots...LOL!:D

[thephillykid]

I think that from all the rules in place, I will be ordering drinks andcpaying for them 1 by 1 and not getting the cheers program. Plus I will be trying to drink as much as possible in each port to try and minimize my bill at the end of the cruise.

 

Sent from my GT-P5113 using Forums mobile app

[ryanpatricksmom]

I didn't mean redeeming an extra Cheers credit but actually paying additional for the shot as a separate drink. I believe you can pay for additional drinks as long as you haven't ordered your 15th. Just asking because I like bloody marys with double shots...LOL!:D

 

Maybe, I actually didn't think of that. Of course, since they raised the cost $7.50 per day over the price listed in the Funtimes, I really wasn't inclined to offer up any more $$ though....especially since I had no intention of reaching the 15 drink limit.

[SNJCruisers]

Maybe, I actually didn't think of that. Of course, since they raised the cost $7.50 per day over the price listed in the Funtimes, I really wasn't inclined to offer up any more $$ though....especially since I had no intention of reaching the 15 drink limit.

Consider yourself lucky. The increase is 12.45 per day for those on 7 or 8 day cruises. It went from 37.50 to 49.95, plus the 1.87 gratuity. Take that times 2 over 8 days and the cost went from 690 to 919. :mad:

[mrneil001]

Im taking two cruises this month and plan on trying it out on the first to see if its worth it. I wouldnt consider myself a heavy drinker nor a light one, but definitely looking forward to not worrying about running up a large bar bill. Also helps that my first cruise has an Alchemy bar inside :D

 

Crossing my fingers that match play is still in effect.. but not counting on it.

Edited November 7, 2014 by mrneil001

[SNJCruisers]

Im taking two cruises this month and plan on trying it out on the first to see if its worth it. I wouldnt consider myself a heavy drinker nor a light one, but definitely looking forward to not worrying about running up a large bar bill. Also helps that my first cruise has an Alchemy bar inside :D

 

Crossing my fingers that match play is still in effect.. but not counting on it.

Five drinks with upgraded liquor at the Alchemy bar and you're just about even for the day. That was one of the main reasons we choose the Freedom for our January cruise. We enjoyed the 2.0 upgrades on the Breeze, but it had no Alchemy or EA Sports Bars.

[AnnaNimitee]

Im taking two cruises this month and plan on trying it out on the first to see if its worth it. I wouldnt consider myself a heavy drinker nor a light one, but definitely looking forward to not worrying about running up a large bar bill. Also helps that my first cruise has an Alchemy bar inside :D

 

Crossing my fingers that match play is still in effect.. but not counting on it.

 

Match play was alive and well with Cheers on the Liberty last month.

[THL1313]

Match play was alive and well with Cheers on the Liberty last month.

 

 

What is Match play?

[AnnaNimitee]

What is Match play?

 

If you purchase any of the "Classic Cocktails" (Long Island Iced Tea, The Cruiser, The Ultimate Margarita, Mai Tai, Sex on the Beach, and Mojito - they have their own section on the bar menu), you can take the receipt for it to the casino cage and they'll give you a $5.00 match play card. Take that to the tables, add your own $5.00 chip, and you have a bet worth $10.00 in front of you. Not a bad deal!

[tkportersat]

It would just be nice to buy it and be done with it, seems like there are so many things...drink has to be under this price, have to wait ten minutes, can't send my husband up to get my drink. Ugh. I go on vacation to relax...I will stick to my bucket of beers instead.

 

That's what I'm wondering.

 

DH and I have purchased drink packages on Celebrity and Princess and there's not all of this rigmarole. Haven't sailed Carnival in over two years and would like to try the Cheers package on our upcoming sailing, but it's so restrictive. You can't even get bottled water!

[ryanpatricksmom]

Five drinks with upgraded liquor at the Alchemy bar and you're just about even for the day. That was one of the main reasons we choose the Freedom for our January cruise. We enjoyed the 2.0 upgrades on the Breeze, but it had no Alchemy or EA Sports Bars.

 

That's exactly why I think that I should have waited to try it on our Sunshine sailing in March....of course, who knows what the price will be by then! I knew going in that our total liquor costs would be pretty low on the Fantasy using Cheers leg 1, and duty free leg 2, I just underestimated the hassle factor.

 

If I'm going to drink a 400 calorie cocktail then it better pack some punch or be something special, and neither of those were easily attainable on the Fantasy.

 

The only reservation that I would have now is, what are the hours that the specialty bars are open? If we could easily get specialty cocktails during the day, then I would even consider a re-do...assuming that the price stabilizes.

[mmckm]

If you go to the gift shop the last night of the cruise after a certain time they will give it to you "to go".....at least that's how they are doing it as of this minute. They way things are changing, they may have the B2B folks flagged on the last night so that it won't work anymore.

 

Why don't you send carnival a email and let them know what you did so they can stop this from happening. It's about as dumb as posting on here, they can read.

Edited November 7, 2014 by mmckm

[ryanpatricksmom]

Why don't you send carnival a email and let them know what you did so they can stop this from happening. It's about as dumb as posting on here, they can read.

 

I could, but it's been posted here a thousand times before. That's exactly how I knew that it was possible.

[mmckm]

Just keep bringing it up and they say enough is enough and stop allowing it.

[ryanpatricksmom]

Just keep bringing it up and they say enough is enough and stop allowing it.

 

For the relatively few passengers on board who are doing a B2B, they are highly unlikely to change the current behavior. We got luggage tags in our room after the first leg...not exactly on top of the situation. The idea that they would actually go to the trouble to create a program to identify the B2B passengers to catch the very, very few that would be buying liquor for the second leg is a bit of stretch.

 

At that point, any one could politely ask another passenger to buy the liquor for them. Problem solved. They will never ask pax to pick them up in the morning, they already have created too much mayhem with self debarkation.

 

Our secret is no secret, and it's in no danger.

[JulieMcCoy]

Ryanpatricksmom, that is exactly my thought about frozen cocktails - if I'm going to have a drink with that many calories, it had better have plenty of alcohol! The fact that I can't easily get a floater with Cheers is weighing against the program for me.