To Buy Cheers or Not?

[PGCRUISERS]

My DH is having a hard time making up his mind on if we should buy the Cheers package or not. His main concern is the days we are in port if we will get the value out of it on those days.

 

He wants to know if you've purchased the Cheers package. Would you purchase it again?

 

Thanks!!!

[thephillykid]

Depends on how many ports you are going to. Costs less to drink in port. Does he want to remember the trip? Cheers equals amnesia

[WLHyatt]

We usually can do 5-7 drinks pretty easily on port days so we know we at least break even on those. Most port days after a nap we'll have a few drinks while watching pier runners and sailaway, then a couple of glasses of wine with dinner and at least a couple of drinks with Comedy or in the Piano Bar.

 

Mix that with the good value we get on sea days, and we come out on top.

 

We don't really buy it wondering if we'll get a return on it though. Our reason for purchasing Cheers is to make the cruise feel more all inclusive and minimizing the sticker shock at the end of the trip. We budget it in as part of the cost and know we are going to spend that money one way or another.

[kona_wahine]

We haven't purchased because we know we would not come close to the average drinks per day to make it cost effective. I'm just not that much of a drinker. DH would probably be sure to get his money's worth. :D it just doesn't make sense for us.

[RHilla619]

I still find value to it even in port days, I'm also not someone who spends a ton of time off the ship though. I get off at every part and walk/lounge around for 3-4 hours but when its time to eat I head back to the ship and enjoy a few drinks. As others have said you only need about 7 drinks to "break even", and then the convenience and all inclusive feel on sea days makes it worth it.

[Bob NC]

My DH is having a hard time making up his mind on if we should buy the Cheers package or not. His main concern is the days we are in port if we will get the value out of it on those days.

 

He wants to know if you've purchased the Cheers package. Would you purchase it again?

 

Thanks!!!

 

We would, and we will.

 

Most of the people looking at purchasing Cheers for a couple sound like, to me, they are comparing $800 with zero.

 

Whether or not you purchase Cheers you ARE going to have a bar tab. If you can easily see your bar tab being $600 or more you have just changed that $800 conundrum into a 100 or $200 conundrum.

 

It's really not as big a deal as most folks think it is.

 

We will buy it and we will either break even or a little more or a little less.

[falkcor]

Yes, I have and will again. However, I don't see how that should have any bearing on your situation. It really is a personal decision based on your own situation, and you're the one most qualified to make it. Do a little math based on your preferred drinks and likely consumption and it should be pretty apparent whether it's a good fit for YOU.

[tropicaledrink]

We have not bought it yet, but have debated buying it on the next ship we have that has an Alchemy Bar. We happen to love the Alchemy Bar, and the drinks are pretty pricey there, so it would be worth it for us in that sense. It wouldn't be worth it for us in terms of just purchasing beer or wine or if it was a port intensive itinerary.

[jamesr3939]

Did and would again. I kept pretty good track of our tab compared to the last two cruises where we did not buy it. Worse case we broke even.

 

However we haven't done many port visits in the last three cruises so that helps make it cost effective.

[Jenner9]

We will be buying it for the first time in January. It is expensive for 2 for 8 days but I'm confident we will at least break even. Plus we have 3 sea days and one of the days in port is only till 2PM.

Edited November 14, 2015 by Jenner9

[Cruisegirl6]

Yes we always purchase it but if you only drink beer I would not because I gather a person can go through more than the limit of 15 beers in a day and once you do you be cut off. Many of the drinks such as grey goose and soda, or rum and coke, or jack and coke or similar are served in those small drink glasses they really can add up. On port days you find yourself coming back and wanting a drink, and then there is dinner and the rest of the night. If you drink 7 drinks its worth it also you don't have to worry about any charges that were put on your tab accidentally that weren't yours and you know what your bill will be. Your able to try other drinks and if you don't like it you can get something else. We always purchase it.

[gameover]

Every cruise I consider a package but usually end up not getting it. My wife does not drink much. If I was to drink mostly beer than there is not much f a savings. I think the package is goo if all parties in the stateroom ordered foo foo drinks.

[coevan]

We don't always get off the ship for the whole day on port days, sometimes just a few hours. We are also never running off the ship at 8 am.

[esdoorn]

It really depends on how much both of you drink.

 

My wife and I don't buy it....instead we bring our allotted carry-on wine and buy buckets of beer.....and a few mixed drinks here and there. I port we try to book at an AI resort that includes all food and drinks and relax by the pool/beach or do an excursion like a dolphin swim or boat ride.

[cruzelover55]

We did not have to think twice when it 1st was launched. We did and always will buy it. Some people post that anyone that can drink 15 drinks a day are total drunks. That is not always the case. We always take a soft sided collapsible cooler that is kept filled with ice. Though they are supposed to open all beers I have been lucky to get them not to do that. So, we have some in the room to drink on the balcony. I get the chance to try drinks I would not have tried otherwise, like the choclatini, yum, and also get sodas if it is getting close to end of night and I have not reached the limit. Wine with dinner, bloody marys, morning, you would be surprised how quickly it adds up. And if you worry about the beer not being a good deal, get Fosters, I forget how many ozs they are but equal more than one beer. We, also, do not spend much time in the ports as been there, done that, love the ship more than the ports. We have compared our old statements and have always come out way ahead. Last cruise we even brought home some unopened beers and soda. Did not have to smuggle. Customs had no problem with it. And as one op stated, you know what your bill will be, not that big shock at the end, though we do keep up with the bill via the tv in the room and my husband has taken to lately, getting a print out of our bill daily from guest services. More than once we have had charges for things from the mini bar even though we have it locked and never have it unlocked the whole cruise. As already said it ends up just a matter of your knowledge of your own drinking habits.

[MsSoloTravel]

We usually can do 5-7 drinks pretty easily on port days so we know we at least break even on those. Most port days after a nap we'll have a few drinks while watching pier runners and sailaway, then a couple of glasses of wine with dinner and at least a couple of drinks with Comedy or in the Piano Bar.

 

Mix that with the good value we get on sea days, and we come out on top.

 

We don't really buy it wondering if we'll get a return on it though. Our reason for purchasing Cheers is to make the cruise feel more all inclusive and minimizing the sticker shock at the end of the trip. We budget it in as part of the cost and know we are going to spend that money one way or another.

 

Exactly what I was going to say!

[Epinz300]

Anyone have experience with purchasing bottle from funshops? Thinking about maybe getting a bottle to have in room. Not sure if that is worth it. Cheers is too much for me.

[Cruisegirl6]

Why would you get a bottle when you need a refill you have to go back to your stateroom, it doesn't make any sense, your on vacation do it the right way enjoy it.

[slick1111]

I get a bottle so that when I go back to my room I can have a drink. This is especially good if you happen to have a balcony. Nothing like setting out there and relaxing with a drink or two, especially on sea days.

[Rosesgt]

We've done the Cheers program 4 times. The last time was 2 weeks ago on the Conquest and we didn't make our break even point a couple of days, mostly port days. This was the first time this has happened. Usually on port days when we get back to the ship the first thing we do is get a libation or 2 and relax. A few glasses of wine at dinner and a shot of Baileys with my coffee with dessert. and then a couple of drinks at the shows or comedy clubs. This cruise, we never saw any bar servers at the clubs to order a drink. We were also too full from dinner to even care, but that's another story.:o

[crzndeb]

Why would you get a bottle when you need a refill you have to go back to your stateroom, it doesn't make any sense, your on vacation do it the right way enjoy it.

 

There are ways to avoid going back and forth to your room. Some mix their drinks in large tumblers, some put their alcohol in an empty water bottle and take around with them for refills and some might carry a small flask.

[Epinz300]

Thats my thinking. We will prob bring on wine to enjoy before dinner but having a drink in a tumbler or a cup on deck that i can make. Just not sure if it saves that much money, aka is it really worth it?

[dbrucern]

We have bought the package on our short cruises and a couple of long cruises to just try it out and see if it was really a value or just a convenience and decided that for the price and number of days (in ports) it was not really worth the money for us on a long cruise, so we stick with buying it on the short ones.

[Cruisin 4 Ever]

We bought it on our last cruise and it was great!!

 

My husband likes to drink, I rarely drink. But I do enjoy the fancy drinks when I'm on vacation so we gave it a go. I was shocked at how many drinks I could drink in a day without being drunk all the time. I'd have a drink or two with lunch, a drink or two in the afternoon, same at dinner, and then 4-5 drinks over the course of the entire night easily added up to 10 drinks or so. And because I like cocktails alot of them are around the $9 range so for me it was great. Also, I tried different drinks that I would never do if it wasn't an all inclusive package. I wouldn't just put out $9 to try something different if I wasn't really sure I would like it. Even at dinner there were glasses of wine that were $6 up to $9.50. Normally I would have stayed with the $6, but instead I would get the $9.50 glass.

 

For my husband, it also worked out because his bar bill is usually a bit more than the $50 anyway:rolleyes:So he added in a bailey's or frangelico after dinner and had that with coffee which he normally wouldn't do.

 

So, all in all for us well worth it and we plan to get it on our upcoming cruise. Actually we are doing a back to back the first with our 21 yo daughter an dher bf so we are not doing it on that cruise, but then they fly home and we go on to an additional cruise where we will be getting th package:D

[js]

I just wish all didnt have to purchase it. My dd and I would certainly benefit but not my mom and we are all in a cabin together. I wish there was some hope they would change this rule.