Drink Program

[Crazy4Camping]

So am I to understand that I will be charged for all 7 days of a 7 day cruise although the first day we don't board til afternoon and the last day we are booted off the ship at 9 am?  Also, is there a cost for ALL coffee and ALL water and ALL soda?  I was told that there is unlimited water, juice and coffee on Lido deck by another cruiser.  If so then why are there costs on the lists?  Also, on the Cheers evaluator list, it states the liquor not the drink, so is that the price for a shot and then more to add pop to it?  It is all very confusing, esp if my husband wants coke with dinner and then orders another and then he will get charged again right?

Edited October 23, 2018 by Crazy4Camping

[Schoifmom]

If you purchase Cheers, all drinks on board the ship (with a few exceptions) are included in your program.  Without the program, regular coffee, iced tea, hot tea, hot chocolate, lemonade, non-bottled water, and juice at breakfast are included at no charge.  Specialty coffee, sodas, and juice not at breakfast are always at an extra charge (without Cheers).  I am pasting below what is included in the Cheers program.  Yes, if you are on a 7 day cruise,  you pay for all 7 days including the day you board (although most cruises begin boarding sometime late morning).

 

The following beverages are available within the CHEERS! program:

• All spirits, including cocktails, cognacs, whiskies and other spirits, as well as beer (including self-serve beer stations) and wine and champagne by the glass, with a $20 USD or lower menu price per serving 
• Sodas (including specialty sodas), Zero-Proof frozen cocktails (including smoothies) and juices 
• Specialty coffees and hot tea served in the main dining rooms, specialty restaurants and coffee bars
• Milkshakes, where applicable  
• RockStar energy drinks, Powerade, Vitamin Water, Coconut Water and Honest Tea
• 500ml bottled water and other non-alcoholic bottled beverages served in bars and lounges
• Large format (1 liter and 1.5-liter) bottles of water in the main dining rooms and specialty restaurants
• 25 percent discount off the menu price for any spirit, cocktail or wine by the glass, costing above $20 USD per serving
• 25 percent discount off the menu price for wine and champagne by the bottle 
• 25 percent discount off beverage seminars and classes

[Cruiser_1977]

• Mine was calculated by the night. I am on a four night cruise and was charged the fee+gratuity for 4 nights.
• I'm not sure what you mean by is there a cost. Included in your cruise fare: The following beverages served in the Main Dining Room and 24/7 in the Lido Restaurant: non-bottled water, lemonade, iced tea, hot chocolate and non-specialty coffee and tea.
• Soda is an additional cost, specialty coffee (lattes, cappacino) are additional, bottled water is extra.
• If you order a rum and coke it's one price. They don't charge you X for the rum and Y for the coke.

Sample beverage prices  https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3525

 

Edited October 23, 2018 by JennyB1977

[ULCajunCruiser]

Yes, you will be charged for Cheers for 7 days on a 7 day cruise.   This includes embarkation day but not debarkation day (might be easier to picture it as nights you sleep on the ship).

 

Without Cheers, you can find free coffee, water (tap), juice, tea, and lemonade.  With Cheers, bottled water, specialty coffee, sodas and milkshakes are all included.  All unlimited.

 

The Cheers evaluator is a nice tool, but don't get caught up in the details.   The prices for liquors listed are basically per shot.   But many drinks have multiple shots or half shots in them, and you are not charged for the mixers in the drink.   There are few, if any drinks that are not covered by the $20 limit. 

 

If you are trying to decide if Cheers is worth it for you, its a personal choice.   Basically are you going to drink 6 to 7 drinks per day??   Or fewer if you'll have several sodas or bottled waters each day.

 

Hope this helps

[Crazy4Camping]

30 minutes ago, ULCajunCruiser said:

Yes, you will be charged for Cheers for 7 days on a 7 day cruise.   This includes embarkation day but not debarkation day (might be easier to picture it as nights you sleep on the ship).

 

Without Cheers, you can find free coffee, water (tap), juice, tea, and lemonade.  With Cheers, bottled water, specialty coffee, sodas and milkshakes are all included.  All unlimited.

 

The Cheers evaluator is a nice tool, but don't get caught up in the details.   The prices for liquors listed are basically per shot.   But many drinks have multiple shots or half shots in them, and you are not charged for the mixers in the drink.   There are few, if any drinks that are not covered by the $20 limit. 

 

If you are trying to decide if Cheers is worth it for you, its a personal choice.   Basically are you going to drink 6 to 7 drinks per day??   Or fewer if you'll have several sodas or bottled waters each day.

 

Hope this helps

That's what my husband and I are trying to figure out.  The cost is equal to 6 $10 drinks which after adding 15% to all the prices, many are around that.  He drinks soda and I drink vitamin water and energy drinks so we are considering it just so we can get what we want without having to worry about the cost of everything.  

[Schoifmom]

11 minutes ago, Crazy4Camping said:

That's what my husband and I are trying to figure out.  The cost is equal to 6 $10 drinks which after adding 15% to all the prices, many are around that.  He drinks soda and I drink vitamin water and energy drinks so we are considering it just so we can get what we want without having to worry about the cost of everything.  

 

OK, I think that I can help with that a little bit.  Sodas are around $3.00, energy drinks around $5.  Frozen cocktails are around $9.  Other cocktails will vary, most come in around $9-10 without using top-shelf liquor.  Simply add up what you think you will drink in a day and see if it comes in at more than the per day cost of Cheers.  (***All prices quoted are rounded estimates and the actual may be slightly more or less on the ship.  I'm going from memory here.)

[Jenjer]

Sometimes its nice to just have it prepaid for and you don't have to think about it. You get what you want, try something new and the cost is already covered. Its easy to drink 6-8 drinks a day since it includes specialty coffee.

 

Not everyone on the plan is trying to max out their 15 alcoholic drinks a day.

[coevan]

2 hours ago, Crazy4Camping said:

So am I to understand that I will be charged for all 7 days of a 7 day cruise although the first day we don't board til afternoon and the last day we are booted off the ship at 9 am?  Also, is there a cost for ALL coffee and ALL water and ALL soda?  I was told that there is unlimited water, juice and coffee on Lido deck by another cruiser.  If so then why are there costs on the lists?  Also, on the Cheers evaluator list, it states the liquor not the drink, so is that the price for a shot and then more to add pop to it?  It is all very confusing, esp if my husband wants coke with dinner and then orders another and then he will get charged again right?

 

 

 

you are way overthinking this. Are you a moderate drinker? Six drinks is pretty easy to achieve, the coffee, water, soda and shakes are just a bonus. As to the 15% someone mentioned, you will pay that with or without Cheers.

[Crazy4Camping]

8 hours ago, Jenjer said:

Sometimes its nice to just have it prepaid for and you don't have to think about it. You get what you want, try something new and the cost is already covered. Its easy to drink 6-8 drinks a day since it includes specialty coffee.

 

Not everyone on the plan is trying to max out their 15 alcoholic drinks a day.

Exactly what I was thinking-just nice not to worry about it! I told DH that he could order whatever and if he didn't like it he could get something else and not worry about the cost. If I'm going to drink coffee it's going to be a specialty one and I love vitamin water and energy drinks. He drinks Coke like crazy so all in all I think it's going to be a good idea!

[Crazy4Camping]

8 hours ago, coevan said:

 

 

 

you are way overthinking this. Are you a moderate drinker? Six drinks is pretty easy to achieve, the coffee, water, soda and shakes are just a bonus. As to the 15% someone mentioned, you will pay that with or without Cheers.

Yes I do tend to overthink but it's because I need to mentally justify adding over $800 to an already expensive vacation. This is our first cruise so we were astonished at all the extra costs. I have plenty of time to pay for it though so I figured it might be better than constantly worrying about what we're spending on beverages.

[Crazy4Camping]

Thank you to everyone for your help! The folks on these boards are amazing!

[coevan]

Amazing how a $800 balcony, turns into a $3000 week.

[schazzy]

11 hours ago, Crazy4Camping said:

Yes I do tend to overthink but it's because I need to mentally justify adding over $800 to an already expensive vacation. This is our first cruise so we were astonished at all the extra costs. I have plenty of time to pay for it though so I figured it might be better than constantly worrying about what we're spending on beverages.

 

I too have been guilty of overthinking cruise details. After a 7 year cruise hiatus, we kinda forgot how much we can drink on a cruise and how much it can cost (We are social drinkers, maybe a few drinks a month if that). So before our cruise last year, we went back and forth on it, ended up thinking that the $800 was too much and no way would we spend anywhere near that much....how wrong we were. We ended the cruise with close to $1500 charged to our account, and after doing the math, over half of that was beverages. We probably averaged about 5 or 6 alcoholic drinks each on most days, drank plenty of bottled water, throw in some specialty coffees we were buying after realizing the complimentary coffee on Lido was worse than we remembered, etc and it wasn't hard to spend what Cheers would have cost. So last cruise and future cruises will be with Cheers to save the worry about how much we may spend and no limiting ourselves to any budgetary constraints, it's all paid for and we can relax.

 

Like you said, if you have plenty of time to pay for it and do like we do and put aside a little money each paycheck, it's easy to have it covered and one less thing to worry about :)

[Crazy4Camping]

12 hours ago, coevan said:

Amazing how a $800 balcony, turns into a $3000 week.

Yes we are getting oceanview for only $534/pp but adding in gratutities, flight and now probably the Cheers program we will be well over $3K and we haven't bought a thing yet lol.  It's our first cruise and may be our last so I figure what the hell can't take it to the grave with you and I'm using AARP cards and saving tons!

[Cruiser_1977]

I always compare the money to an all-inclusive resort. My ex and I went to an adults only resort several years back. It was about $1600 each with airfare. That's $3200 and we only saw one place. If I can spend that and see multiple places and/or have lots of sea days I think it's a better deal.

[Joebucks]

I agree this topic usually leads to over thinking. Would you both spend $840 or more on beverages for the week without it and/or would you perhaps try things you might not otherwise try, bringing more enjoyment to your vacation.

 

If the answer is yes to one or both, Cheers is likely for you. 

[coevan]

1 hour ago, JennyB1977 said:

I always compare the money to an all-inclusive resort. My ex and I went to an adults only resort several years back. It was about $1600 each with airfare. That's $3200 and we only saw one place. If I can spend that and see multiple places and/or have lots of sea days I think it's a better deal.

 

 

 

I agree, we love all inclusives as well as cruising. We are always asked aren't they way more than cruising? Sandals is about $4,000 a week plus air. All food and liquor are included as well as water sports including Scuba and snorkeling. The food is far superior to cruise ships with 5 or 6 specialty restaurants. You always have lounge chairs available. When you add everything up, a middle of the road A.I. like in the Dominican Republic will be about the same as a cruise, upscale, like Sandals, would be a little more.

[Salem615]

I have not done Cheers as of yet and so far have not drank enough to justify the cost.  We do not drink any specialty coffees and my husband is mainly a beer drinker with an occasional cocktail and I usually do 2 frozen drinks and an occasional mimosa per day. I usually drink soda or water or the lemonade on the ship and we usually take cruises that are port intensive so we are off the ship more than we are on the ship. 

I have yet to be surprised by the bill at the end. 

 

If you drink a lot of soda the soda package is a great deal. 

[originalgeek]

I agree with Salem615...

I only drink black coffee so the Lido and room service are fine with me.  I don't drink energy drinks or sodas or vitamin water.  I do like the water and juice on Lido and I rarely drink more than 3 or 4 drinks in a day and would even much more rarely do it on multiple days in a row. 

 

So far I just drink the free stuff and order a beer when I want and get my wife a cocktail or a Coke when she wants and we have yet to spend even half of what cheers would have cost us.  
It's unlikely, but not impossible, that I would ever get Cheers as it stands now.  I would absolutely get it if they would let only one person per cabin order it.  Since they limit you to 15 alcohol drinks it seems they shouldn't care who drinks them but they do so I doubt we will see a major change in the plan like that.

 

Far more likely is that we would get the soda package (or bring our allotted 24 cans of soda) and just order a bottle of vodka or tequila and make our own drinks.  We almost did that last time but ended up not getting around to it.

 

It does sound like a good fit for you guys though if you really drink that much soda and specialty coffee and want to experiment with new drinks.

Edited October 24, 2018 by originalgeek

[WorkerBee74]

We didn't do Cheers on our first cruise and we added up the cost.  We came pretty darn close (within $50) but we also held back on non-alcoholic drinks to spend our $ on alcoholic drinks and also didn't drink as many alcoholic drinks as we may have liked.  Waters, coffees, the occasional pop would have been great to have.

 

Also need to consider what you're doing with excursions.  We had a 7 night cruise but since it was our first one we did a Carnival excursion at every port - and they all included some type of open bar, so we drank a lot off the ship too.

 

On this cruise we are not doing the big Carnival open bar excursions, so we've easily determined that the package will work for us (more on-ship drinking, freedom to have coffees/pops/bottled waters etc).