Is the Cheers program really worth it on a 7-day cruise with only 3 full sea days?

[LongHill44]

We are not big drinkers per say and if needed, together thewife and I could finish off 14 or so drinks from the afternoon through thenight combined, at the most. So if theyallowed us to buy one Cheers package it would be worth it, two and it starts toget more complicated.

We leave at 5:00 PM, so we may have a few drinks that nightfor sure. The next two days are at sea,that’s where we may do our most drinking. Turks until 3:00, 8 hours at Half Moon Cay and Freeport till 2:00, thena sea day and then off the boat on day 7 at 10:00. It seems most of our drinking would be on thethree days we are at sea.

However, my wife thinks maybe it is worth it because it alsoincludes soda, other coffees and drinks along with bottled water and soon. Still, $830.00 for the two of us issteep.

Recommendations if we should go for it or not?

We did discuss getting two Cheers cards and splitting itwith another couple coming with us, so my wife would give her the card. Thoughts on this?

[ProgRockCruiser]

Cheers does not come with a separate card, it comes with your S&S card. So there is no card for your wife to give to the other couple.

 

Carnival doesn't want you splitting one Cheers package between you and your wife, which is why you have to wait 5 min to order the next drink. If you sat down at a bar or at dinner, ordered one drink, gave it to you wife, and ordered another for yourself 5 min later, they might come to the correct conclusion about your actions, and you will lose the Cheers package completely.

 

Yes, $830 is a lot of cash. But each drink is gonna cost somewhere between $6 and $10 normally. If you can drink $60 of booze, plus a specialty coffee or two each day, then Cheers is worth it.

 

If you will feel like that is simply too much, you should probably consider just going a la carte.

[Lonely At The Top]

We are not big drinkers per say and if needed, together thewife and I could finish off 14 or so drinks from the afternoon through thenight combined, at the most. So if theyallowed us to buy one Cheers package it would be worth it, two and it starts toget more complicated.

 

We leave at 5:00 PM, so we may have a few drinks that nightfor sure. The next two days are at sea,that’s where we may do our most drinking. Turks until 3:00, 8 hours at Half Moon Cay and Freeport till 2:00, thena sea day and then off the boat on day 7 at 10:00. It seems most of our drinking would be on thethree days we are at sea.

 

However, my wife thinks maybe it is worth it because it alsoincludes soda, other coffees and drinks along with bottled water and soon. Still, $830.00 for the two of us issteep.

 

Recommendations if we should go for it or not?

 

We did discuss getting two Cheers cards and splitting itwith another couple coming with us, so my wife would give her the card. Thoughts on this?

 

Cheers can not be shared (not lecturing you, didnt know if you were aware of that). So essentially you would be giving your traveling buddies your S&S card. You probably dont want to do that. The limit is 15 alcoholic drinks from starting at 6 am. You each dont have to drink 15 drinks to break even....it works out to 6-7 umbrella drinks or 7-8 beers. So even on port days you are having 1-2 umbrella drinks, maybe 2-3 glasses of wine at dinner....2 bottles of water, 2 sodas, maybe a powerade and a specialty coffee or 2, you will most likely break even....Now for the people that only have maybe 2 or 3 cocktails per day, then Cheers probably isnt worth it. Its ok to use the "pay as you go" plan of attack. I have had Cheers on cruises and I have paid as I go and to be honest for me, I am usually relatively close to paying the same amount

[SonOfSailor]

Cheers is attached to your sign and sail card, it is not a separate card. So, sharing won't work unless the person pictured on the card gets the drinks, or your figure out another way to game the system.

 

I know some people use the full allotted drink allowance daily, but others do not. I think the break even point is around 6 alcoholic drinks per day, per person. You can also get other drinks, so factor that into the break even point.

 

My wife and I don't get it since we don't drink a lot of alcohol. Others have decided to not get it until they do a cruise where they exceeded the cost of what cheers would have been.

 

That's my two cents.

[ray98]

It is a lot of money but if you average 6 drinks a day your tab will also be that much and that isn't factoring water, milkshakes, coffee and soda that is also included.

 

I can easily do 6 drinks on even the shortest port day starting with pre-dinner drinks through the night time activities.

[mdsgu]

Is Cheers worth it? That's a solid, "It depends." For us, it definitely is. You just have to decide for yourselves how much you are going to drink -- and would you drink more if you had already paid a set price? Perhaps you normally have only 1 glass of wine with dinner, but, since you already paid for it, would you even think twice about a second glass? Maybe you grab 1 mixed drink at the comedy club, but, since you already paid for it, would get a second one? Don't forget to include soft drinks and coffees you might also get, along with bottled waters, because all of that is included in the price, too.

 

What you can't do is share. We're all taught that sharing is caring in kindergarten, but Carnival doesn't approve of sharing alcohol.

[ricew001]

for 3 days on the ship I'd go for it. remember it's not just booze. There are tons of threads out here about this topic. Search them for good info.

I'm attaching this spreadsheet that may be helpful.

Carnival Beverage Package Evaluator (1).xls

[lcpagejr]

Its the old "pay me now or pay me later" scenario. We find buying cheers and paying gratuity's before cruise.... pretty much ensures a very low end of cruise statement. More of a peace of mind. Before Cheers days...I dreaded looking at our end of cruise statement....sometimes wouldn't even look until I got home LOL.

[Naomi John]

interesting

[JaxsMama]

We are not big drinkers per say and if needed, together thewife and I could finish off 14 or so drinks from the afternoon through thenight combined, at the most. So if theyallowed us to buy one Cheers package it would be worth it, two and it starts toget more complicated.

We leave at 5:00 PM, so we may have a few drinks that nightfor sure. The next two days are at sea,that’s where we may do our most drinking. Turks until 3:00, 8 hours at Half Moon Cay and Freeport till 2:00, thena sea day and then off the boat on day 7 at 10:00. It seems most of our drinking would be on thethree days we are at sea.

However, my wife thinks maybe it is worth it because it alsoincludes soda, other coffees and drinks along with bottled water and soon. Still, $830.00 for the two of us issteep.

Recommendations if we should go for it or not?

We did discuss getting two Cheers cards and splitting itwith another couple coming with us, so my wife would give her the card. Thoughts on this?

If you want to split with the other couple put both guys in one room and both ladies in the other. Then each couple will have one cheers. You'd also have to get more door keys printed. But don't get caught!

 

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[pjcoach]

If you use $10 as the price of a drink (with tip and tax) as an average, you would need to consume 83 drinks between you and your wife for you to break even as opposed to doing a la carte.

 

I’m sure others look at the breakeven differently , but that is how I figure it out.

 

 

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[sanmarcosman]

Some suggest never getting off the ship and staying drunk. To each their own. It's your call.

[Cruisin 4 Ever]

Definitely worth it. If as you say, you and your wife drink 14 drinks a day that would cost the same or more than Cheers, plus you get all the other drinks. Really good coffees, specialty tea, energy drinks, water, milkshakes, etc. One of the big pluses for me is I will try different drinks that I normally wouldn't try because it's all included. GO for it.

[famof4togo]

Worth it for us !!! Even on port days we make our moneys worth no problem....but it totally depends on you and your wife and your situation....good luck with whatever you decide...

[Nevada Jen]

So I thought I could break even with Cheers. And I probably did on my 4 day cruise, but the truth is that by day 4, I really didn't want to drink anymore. I am going on an 8 day and no way am I getting Cheers. I probably drink like you guys. I occasionally enjoy drinking 7 drinks a day and pretending I am still young and hip, but the reality is that I can't pull that off 7 days in a row and still enjoy the ports, entertainment and food that a cruise is all about.

[cruzinlisa]

So I thought I could break even with Cheers. And I probably did on my 4 day cruise, but the truth is that by day 4, I really didn't want to drink anymore. I am going on an 8 day and no way am I getting Cheers. I probably drink like you guys. I occasionally enjoy drinking 7 drinks a day and pretending I am still young and hip, but the reality is that I can't pull that off 7 days in a row and still enjoy the ports, entertainment and food that a cruise is all about.

 

This, exactly this. We had a drink package on our last RCCL cruise. Both DH and I had one. I may have broke even all things considered, but not on a daily basis. There were some days where I barely drank alcohol at all. And I had probably 1 soda, 1 chai tea and 1 hot chocolate all cruise and although we got plenty of water, I probably drank 1 a day most days (that I did share with my kiddo- the water- nothing else). There were days that I drank a lot of drinks- sea days and one day where we went to the Italian restaurant and DH and I had several glasses of this wine I like. But the last 2 days I drank very little. Just did not feel like it.

[Bulzie]

How strict are they on the cruises these days concerning sharing drinks with spouse and kids(18+)? Went on cruise 3 years ago on Dream and the waiters and servers did not care that my 18 yr old was drinking if they ever noticed in first place with all the kids and crowds on ship. He could not get drinks himself but no one came up to him to ask for his ID or anything. If they did see or catch you handing a drink to wife or kid, would anyone really stop you and cancel your cheers package? I know maybe they can but have you seen it or experienced it personally?

[lcpagejr]

FYI.... If you buy Cheers ....wife must also purchase. Only way around it is if you have multiple cabins for your kids and you and your wife have your names in separate cabins....Then if your shown in a cabin with a child...You can buy Cheers solo

 

A drink is a drink. Under Cheers your entitled to a drink every 5'. What you do with them is your decision. I wouldn't blatantly hand it to them at a bar.... but just order additional and go from there. If your purchasing multiple drinks for all 3....you will reach your 15 drink limit quickly . As a fyi......once you hit the 15 drink limit you will be unable to use your card for any additional alcohol purchase until 6am the following day. Thats when its time to start using the wifes card...LOL

 

Also.... If your 18 yr old is well behaved and is having a drink with you and your wife.... He/she will never be bothered. On the other hand if he/she finds a group of friends who are old enough to purchase alcohol and security is called due to inappropriate activity on ship....there will be issues to deal with. That being said...my kids (when they were teens) did what most kids do in a party atmosphere.... never had problems

Edited February 26, 2018 by lcpagejr

[Lonely At The Top]

How strict are they on the cruises these days concerning sharing drinks with spouse and kids(18+)? Went on cruise 3 years ago on Dream and the waiters and servers did not care that my 18 yr old was drinking if they ever noticed in first place with all the kids and crowds on ship. He could not get drinks himself but no one came up to him to ask for his ID or anything. If they did see or catch you handing a drink to wife or kid, would anyone really stop you and cancel your cheers package? I know maybe they can but have you seen it or experienced it personally?

 

i seriously doubt it would land you in the brig or get you kicked off the ship. I have seen it one time where the guy standing next to me ordered a drink, turned and handed it to a young female (i can only assume it was his daughter, because if it was his wife, they would both need the Cheers program). The guy did it blatantly in front of the bartender. The bartender said to him "Sir, you cannot share your drinks under the Cheers program, please do not do that again". The bartender was actually pretty stern in his tone, which you dont normally see from the crew talking to passengers....As far as feeding your underage kid alcohol is a whole other discussion, as well as trying to get around the rules. To your point, i dont think its that hard to share your drinks with others if a tad bit of discretion is used. Hows that?

[RiotAct]

I wouldn't use the word "only" when talking about the # of sea days on your cruise... the majority of 7-day sailings only have 1 or 2 sea days!

[redstapler7]

Make a note that if you are sailing out of Texas, you will not have Cheers until day two. TABC doesn't allow it on the first day (embarkation) since you are still in Texas waters. On the one hand, you are saving not having to pay for a day of Cheers. On the other, you are having to pay for drinks individually.

[naxer]

Some suggest never getting off the ship and staying drunk. To each their own. It's your call.

 

 

 

I resemble that remark. [emoji4]

 

 

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[LakeWobegon]

For us it would be. I don't think you have to be a "big" drinker. Let's take my wife for instance. She hardly ever drinks at home. I joke that I never have to worry about a designated driver. After kids, and not being able to drink for several years in a row, she just doesn't care for it much anymore. But on a cruise, she will like have the following routine:

 

- Specialty coffee and orange juice in the morning

- Soda for lunch

- 2-3 "fru-fru" drinks in the afternoon

- 2 (sometimes, but rarely, 3) glasses of wine in the MDR

- specialty coffee with desert in the MDR

- several bottles of water throughout the day

 

I don't consider that overly ambitious and if you did the math factoring in the fru fru drinks and wine, that would put her over the cost of Cheers each day. Not by much, but it gives her the freedom of not having to worry about keeping track of expenses or worrying she will spend more. Or as she likes to sometimes do, try a fru fru drink, not like it after two sips and order something different without feeling like she wasted a lot of money.

 

It is a lot of money, but in my wife's situation, she'd probably spend 70% of it even if she really watched what she ordered - alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. Plus if you order the AARP cards, you can realize savings that might make it a 2 for 1. lol.

 

Side story: I remember stepping out of the box to order a Long Island on our NCL Escape cruise last year. My wife was like OMG, that's like 5 shots of liquor and you've had a few beers (strong IPAs) already today). Before I could say I would sip it, this gentleman leaning on the bar proudly announced "What's wrong with that? I've had several!"

[mark316]

Had 2 sea days and got it for my kids. One was about 13 a day, the other 2 were around 9 a day. The best part was the no stress factor of how big the bar bill was going to be. They just sat back and had a good time.

[Joebucks]

Well, if you are likely to spend around $830 without it, I think the decision is an easy one. Sea days are a must to get your moneys worth. You have 3 of them which isn't bad.

 

For me, it's a lot of money. A 3 or 4 day makes it easier to swallow. A 7 day also almost becomes a chore. Even if one person keeps up, would the other?

 

"Breaking even" only goes so far here. In the end, the real question is would it be worth over $800? Especially considering that doesn't include one penny of drinks for when you are on land. What if you drank on the land and bought even half, $400 on the boat? That's still a lot of drinks.