Carnival-No Cheers out of NY/TX first day question

[bambiying]

I'm just curious and I can't find the answer anywhere.  You know how Carnival says it's against state law to open Cheers in NY and TX on cruising day?  Why do other cruises do it then?  I've left out of NYC on Norwegian the past 2 years and alcohol was still covered that first day, except we had to pay tax on the drinks.  Why doesn't Carnival do that?

[xDisconnections]

Simply because Carnival determined it was a better business decision for them to offer the package beginning on the second day.

[1025cruise]

With Texas, my guess is that they don't want to stock up on so much stamped liquor.

 

With NY, its not the tax, its the law. Not sure how the other cruise lines get around it.

[habitatnal]

2 hours ago, bambiying said:

I'm just curious and I can't find the answer anywhere.  You know how Carnival says it's against state law to open Cheers in NY and TX on cruising day?  Why do other cruises do it then?  I've left out of NYC on Norwegian the past 2 years and alcohol was still covered that first day, except we had to pay tax on the drinks.  Why doesn't Carnival do that?

On Norwegian and Royal Caribbean there is no limit to the number of drinks that you can consume on the package.  On Carnival, there is a 15 alcoholic drink limit per day on the package.  Carnival needs to process the transaction immediately in order to keep track of how many alcoholic drinks you consume.  When I was on Royal and I got a drink on the drink package when the ship was docked in Port Everglades they didn't charge me tax.  The reason they didn't charge me tax is because they wrote down the order and didn't process the transaction until the ship was in international waters.  Carnival can't have CHEERS on the first day in NYC because they can't delay processing the transaction.

[reeinaz]

2 hours ago, habitatnal said:

On Norwegian and Royal Caribbean there is no limit to the number of drinks that you can consume on the package.  On Carnival, there is a 15 alcoholic drink limit per day on the package.  Carnival needs to process the transaction immediately in order to keep track of how many alcoholic drinks you consume.  When I was on Royal and I got a drink on the drink package when the ship was docked in Port Everglades they didn't charge me tax.  The reason they didn't charge me tax is because they wrote down the order and didn't process the transaction until the ship was in international waters.  Carnival can't have CHEERS on the first day in NYC because they can't delay processing the transaction.

Not questioning, your statement but I'm just curious how you know that there was a delay in processing the order?

[1025cruise]

I have heard that as well about NCL and RCI, that they don't process the orders until out at sea so it doesn't show as purchased while docked. Due to the way Cheers works, this wouldn't work.

[Stick93]

This topic has been discussed and as much as I am not a fan of it and it upsets me - it is what it is. Plan ahead for the first day wether it be don’t drink, order what you want or rum run (cruise critic even listed this if you have guts). 

[cathyz]

6 minutes ago, 1025cruise said:

I have heard that as well about NCL and RCI, that they don't process the orders until out at sea so it doesn't show as purchased while docked. Due to the way Cheers works, this wouldn't work.

Whenever we have purchased a wine package while still in port, the crew member wrote everything down on paper, then charged it to us after sail away.

[robc1972]

51 minutes ago, reeinaz said:

Not questioning, your statement but I'm just curious how you know that there was a delay in processing the order?

 

Just look at your account, you can see the times when the drinks are put on your account.

[coevan]

23 minutes ago, Stick93 said:

This topic has been discussed and as much as I am not a fan of it and it upsets me - it is what it is. Plan ahead for the first day wether it be don’t drink, order what you want or rum run (cruise critic even listed this if you have guts). 

 

 

We always get Cheers. Big deal pay for drinks on the first day, same difference. If you go a few dollars over, not the end of the world. You are not paying the $56 plus gratuity. 

[Joe817]

9 minutes ago, robc1972 said:

 

Just look at your account, you can see the times when the drinks are put on your account.

Well I did, and was pleasantly surprised. AND, the first thing I did when we got on board, after dropping my backpack was to order a FunshipSpecial. (I know, I've mentioned that several times, but honestly, that's the ONLY drink I had on our cruise.) I was able to get a drink, which I fell in love with as soon as I found a bar, and that was when we were still docked. And we sailed out of Galveston. 

[Stick93]

14 minutes ago, coevan said:

 

 

We always get Cheers. Big deal pay for drinks on the first day, same difference. If you go a few dollars over, not the end of the world. You are not paying the $56 plus gratuity. 

I out drink that on day one specifically so it gets me mad. I don’t think about what I didn’t spend. I planned ahead this time and didn’t spend a penny on drinks. Was easy! 

Edited September 11, 2019 by Stick93

[bury me at sea]

I honestly don't understand the concern.  It always seemed to me that since embarkation day is not much more than half a day on board,  it's to the cruiser's financial benefit not to have to pay for a full day of Cheers.

 

There's obviously something I'm missing.

[coevan]

I agree, it's not a contest, your on vacation, stop counting and enjoy 😎 

[christyran1228]

8 minutes ago, bury me at sea said:

I honestly don't understand the concern.  It always seemed to me that since embarkation day is not much more than half a day on board,  it's to the cruiser's financial benefit not to have to pay for a full day of Cheers.

 

There's obviously something I'm missing.

I can't speak for anyone else, but because of the excitement of finally being on the ship or whatever I tend to drink more the first day ... so am glad we are able to bring on the wine - it helps the budget.  Lol

[bury me at sea]

5 minutes ago, christyran1228 said:

I can't speak for anyone else, but because of the excitement of finally being on the ship or whatever I tend to drink more the first day ... so am glad we are able to bring on the wine - it helps the budget.  Lol

 

LOL.  Drinking more out of the excitement of finally being back on board I can understand.

[ParrotRob]

1 hour ago, bury me at sea said:

I honestly don't understand the concern.  It always seemed to me that since embarkation day is not much more than half a day on board,  it's to the cruiser's financial benefit not to have to pay for a full day of Cheers.

 

There's obviously something I'm missing.

 

You're missing the fact that embarkation day is much more than a half day unless you're not boarding until 2:00 or something.  For us, we're on board at 11:30, and the transition to "vacation mode" usually means we're drinking as much on embarkation day as any other day. Definitely more than any port day for sure.

[ParrotRob]

1 hour ago, christyran1228 said:

I can't speak for anyone else, but because of the excitement of finally being on the ship or whatever I tend to drink more the first day ... so am glad we are able to bring on the wine - it helps the budget.  Lol

^^^^This!!

[jdemps]

We drink at least twice as much if not triple on first day compared to other days.  We tend to cruise with friends we haven't seen in a while so that first day is big!  We would spend about $300 for 2 of us on alchemy bar drinks that first day so no Texas or NY for us.  We also live in high altitude so when we get down to low altitude, we can drink much more.  It all factors in but if you just have 4 or 5 drinks per person on day one, it's not a big deal.  

[Stick93]

2 hours ago, christyran1228 said:

I can't speak for anyone else, but because of the excitement of finally being on the ship or whatever I tend to drink more the first day ... so am glad we are able to bring on the wine - it helps the budget.  Lol

Exactly. You get on ship and those drinks just look so good - then you see that alchemy bar and you remember how good all the drinks are. I always say you need to pace yourself but day 1 is just so exciting to start your vacation I never take my own advice and I over drink. The logic about it being a shorter day and other reasons are good but not enough for me. 

[bambiying]

Thank you for all the answers!  It makes sense about how the other cruise lines process later but Carnival can't because of the drink limit.  We are planning on bringing 2 bottles of wine with us for Day 1, but I was just curious.

[PhillyFan33579]

Like others have stated, embarkation day usually involves quite a few drinks for us due to the excitement of being back on a ship, hanging out with friends and/or family, etc.  Without Cheers, day one would easily cost me over $200 for the both of us.