SBP drink price limit increase

[san diego spartan]

Well we had problens being charged the whole time but after taking 2 days off from visiting guest services we went there on the last sea day.  Was told the whole things was a glitch in the system and the food and beverage manager was aware and would take care of it.  Sure enough woke up this morning and checked our account and all was zeroed out! 

 

It was a hassle though.  A couple of times we were give. Recipts for Pellegrino but were told we were not charged.  I did confirm it never showed up on our invoice.

 

I will post the wine menus.  Really still not a lot of wine choices.  HAL really needs to step up on that.

[Double D Cruisers]

We first bought the Signature Bev Package in 2015 for a 50 day cruise.  It covered drinks up to $7.00 and cost $103.38 per day for 2 people counting the service charges.  Later that year drinks went up in price and the package started covering  drinks up to $8.00.  We took a cruise in 2018 and the SBP was now covering drinks up to $9.00 each. Now in 2019 the SBP covers drinks up to $11.00 each.  But here is the thing, the SBP (as of a few days ago) still costs $103.38/day.  We lost $1,018 on the package in 2015, might have broken even with the package in 2018, but now in 2019 would come out ahead of the game.  Drinks have gone from $7.00 to $11.00 since 2014, but the SBP remains unchanged. A few days ago I bought the SBP for my next cruise coming up in the fall.  If you are on the fence buy it before they raise the price.

[TAD2005]

I had the same experience.  My cruise in 2015 on the Zuiderdam, the package cost $44.95 per day plus 15% service charge.  That is $51.69 per day/per person.   The per drink limit was $7 in those days, and most drinks were $6.50.   Through the years, the max drink limit has gone from $7, to $8, then $9, and now $11.   But the daily cost of the package has remained at the same 2014 prices.   

 

Compare that to the only package offered on Princess, the Premiere Beverage Package.  From the princess website:

The Premier Beverage Package is US $59.99 per day plus 18% service charge (totaling $70.79 per day, per person)

Your max drink price per day is $12.  includes only 500 ml bottles of water, milk shakes, fountain sodas, not cans, specialty coffees, and Red Bull.  You get a 25% discount on bottles of wine, one liter bottles of water, sodas in cans.   Only beverages that are on that particular bar or restaurant's menus are included in the package.   Meaning if you got a particular wine in a bar in one location on the ship, and it was included in the package, then you asked for the same glass of wine in the MDR, you may not get it if it's not on the menu.   The max number of drinks per day is 15, same as HAL, 24 hour period running from 6:00 AM to 6:00 AM.   Princess allows you to use it on their private islands, while on HAL you cannot use it at HMC.   Like HAL, you cannot use Princes' package for room service or mini-bar.  If you order a drink over the $12 limit,  just like HAL, you pay for the full price plus 18% (15% on HAL).  One thing I did not see on Princess is the "both passengers in a cabin must buy the same package".   So, although they do ban any drink sharing,  if you do sneak a few shared drinks with your cabin-mate, Princess doesn't seem to care.  But for the additional $20 per day difference in price, they can absorb a few shared drinks that slip by.

[KroozNut]

On 4/18/2019 at 11:24 AM, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

Imagine that ....... the rules and application of beverage package policies varying from ship to ship bar to bar day to day hour to hour......

 

I just do do not understand why HAL cannot get their $@!t together on this...... 

Chill out dude!!

[Double D Cruisers]

There was a lot of confusion on the 15 drink limit.  15 alcoholic drinks or 15 drinks total.  The confusion went as high as beverage manager to beverage manager on differing HAL ships. That has been settled now with a recent email from Corporate HQ in Seattle.  If you buy the Elite or Signature Beverage Package, the Quench beverage package is included at no additional charge.  Quench covers all the sodas, bottled waters, specialty coffees, juices etc.  As a practical matter, I don't think most people will be able to drink more than 15 of ANY combination of drinks in a day.  (I tried really hard.)  Still it is nice to know the rules.

[fatcat04]

50 minutes ago, Double D Cruisers said:

  As a practical matter, I don't think most people will be able to drink more than 15 of ANY combination of drinks in a day.  (I tried really hard.)  Still it is nice to know the rules.

We gave it our all with the Elite pkg and probably did make it past 15 with bottled waters, milkshakes, and special coffees included plus the alcohol on the sea days. But you are correct, it is nice to know the rules. Hard to play the game without them.