CHEERS drink package

[Pg0513]

Hi there - I’m going on my first cruise next month and am wondering if the cheers is worth it. I’m not a big drinker but don’t want to end up having fun one night and rack up a big bill. I also want to know my sister is coming with me, but she is 20. Would it be possible for me to give her drinks? Thanks for the help

[jerrya72]

We're not big drinkers and always get and it's seemed worth it to us as we tend to drink more on vacation.  For the second question could you give her drinks, you could but if you get caught it may cost you since she is underage and sharing is not allowed on Cheers.

Edited October 15, 2019 by jerrya72

[purplephenom]

Your sister can drink in most ports, legally.

 

As for cheers, one fun night won't make it worth it, if it's not worth it on all of the other days.  What do you consider not a big drinker?  What are you drinking? Beer is obviously cheaper than fruity drinks.  But, non alcoholic drinks- coffee, shakes, water bottles- are all included.

 

There are drink menus floating around here if you do a search, as well as price sheets for drinks.  If I were you, I'd figure out what you think you'll drink, add about 20% since it's vacation, and see if Cheers makes sense for you. 

 

If you think it makes sense, go ahead and purchase it.  If you don't think it financially makes sense for you, and you are worried about the bill at the end, there are a couple options.  You could buy some cruise cash ahead of time (I like to pay for it with discounted Carnival gift cards) and that money will be sitting on your account waiting for you to start spending it when you board.  Or, you could buy some Carnival gift cards and add them to your account on board. That way, you have an amount you know you can spend and you dont worry about the bill at the end. 

 

Ultimately, Cheers should be a calculated purchase- no one can tell you if it makes sense for you or not.  Just run the numbers and see what makes sense for you. 

[nascarcruiser]

Your sister can't drink on the ship.  Sharing drinks and especially with someone underage can get the package suspended with no refund 

[Elaine5715]

24 minutes ago, nascarcruiser said:

Your sister can't drink on the ship.  Sharing drinks and especially with someone underage can get the package suspended with no refund 

And booted off the ship

[coevan]

Elaine, really? no one is getting booted off the ship for underage drinking

[Elaine5715]

20 minutes ago, coevan said:

Elaine, really? no one is getting booted off the ship for underage drinking

Yeah, people who are caught supplying minors  with alcohol are especially after the related fatalities.  

[coevan]

fatalities? calm down, she can drink at any Caribbean port, and almost any country in the world except the U.S.

[mz-s]

Unless you can drink $55 worth of liquor/beer/soda/milkshakes/specialty coffee per day, it's not worth it.

 

You cannot give drinks to your 20 year old per the rules of Cheers. Sharing is prohibited. Whether or not you care to follow that rule is up to you as a moral person.

[jagofast]

Just had the Cheers Package on our Vista cruise. You CAN get away with sharing if you would like. Order the drink yourself and give to sister. A couple days, i had my 15 drink limit and had my friend who also had the Cheers package order for me. No big deal. Only thing is you can only order 1 alcoholic drink at a time and only 1 every 5 minutes.

[pacruise804]

1 hour ago, mz-s said:

Unless you can drink $55 worth of liquor/beer/soda/milkshakes/specialty coffee per day, it's not worth it.

 

You cannot give drinks to your 20 year old per the rules of Cheers. Sharing is prohibited. Whether or not you care to follow that rule is up to you as a moral person.

I will slightly modify this advice:

Unless you will average the per day cost of beverages in you trip it isn't financially worth it.  For many people it is worth paying a premium to not have to worry about a bill at the end, so assuming a 7 day cruise someone who might only get $300 worth of drinks on Cheers would have still gotten value paying $385 for the package but not having a bill at the end of the cruise or feeling more free to try different drinks than if paying for each one.

 

If you purchase Cheers you agree to its terms and conditions which includes not sharing drinks with any passengers.  By sailing on the ship you agree in the cruise contract to not provide alcohol to minors.

 

For your first cruise and since you are only worried about one night, I would determine the amount you are willing to spend on alcohol and put that on your account in cash.  If you hate cruising (which isn't likely but could happen) it would be better to get cash back than a gift card you wouldn't use.

[Pg0513]

Thanks everyone. This is my first cruise and I didn’t know if anyone has tried that before & if it wasn’t a big deal. 

[Pg0513]

46 minutes ago, jagofast said:

Just had the Cheers Package on our Vista cruise. You CAN get away with sharing if you would like. Order the drink yourself and give to sister. A couple days, i had my 15 drink limit and had my friend who also had the Cheers package order for me. No big deal. Only thing is you can only order 1 alcoholic drink at a time and only 1 every 5 minutes.

Thanks! It’s my first time, just wasn’t sure how strict they are. Obviously we won’t be acting stupid  or attracting bad attention to ourselves. Thanks for your help

[coevan]

1 hour ago, jagofast said:

Just had the Cheers Package on our Vista cruise. You CAN get away with sharing if you would like. Order the drink yourself and give to sister. A couple days, i had my 15 drink limit and had my friend who also had the Cheers package order for me. No big deal. Only thing is you can only order 1 alcoholic drink at a time and only 1 every 5 minutes.

 

 

Yes, it's a big deal. You might get your cheers package voided without a refund

[PhillyFan33579]

57 minutes ago, Pg0513 said:

Thanks! It’s my first time, just wasn’t sure how strict they are. Obviously we won’t be acting stupid  or attracting bad attention to ourselves. Thanks for your help

The staff can range from very strict to pretty laid back. You have to keep in mind the staff on a ship is constantly changing, so there is no general rule that says ship X is strict while ship Y isn’t strict. 
 

The worst case I have seen first hand is a guy on Horizon who had his Cheers package revoked for the entire cruise on day one of the cruise (it was an 8 day cruise). Unfortunately for this guy he didn’t realize the beverage manager was behind the bar and he was caught red handed. Losing 7 plus days of Cheers is not a good way to start a cruise. 
 

I have also seen passengers not only lose Cheers, but lose the ability to buy any alcohol on a cruise several times. But these all involved passengers who drank way too much.  

[JQTravels]

7 hours ago, Pg0513 said:

Hi there - I’m going on my first cruise next month and am wondering if the cheers is worth it. I’m not a big drinker but don’t want to end up having fun one night and rack up a big bill. I also want to know my sister is coming with me, but she is 20. Would it be possible for me to give her drinks? Thanks for the help

Hi we did the cheers package, my wife is not a heavy drinker and I am a  light drinker we did a 7 day cruise and ended up wasting around $300 dollars.  We did a review if you would like to take a look

 

[ed01106]

For me the drink package question is not about math but rather behavior and cruise enjoyment. 

 

If I buy the package, I will be determined to get my money's worth.  That will involve drinking way more than I would normally as I attempt to maximize the value and get my money's worth.  This will lead to massive hangovers and an overall poor cruise experience. 

 

OTOH, if I don't buy the package, each time I buy a drink I will notice and feel slightly guilty about spending so much on the drink.  I will still have some drinks but I actually wind up drinking less than I would at home in the backyard next to pool when paying grocery store prices for a case of beer or bottle of wine.  The price consciousness does slightly diminish my overall vacation experience.  

 

Overall, I have determined the latter is the better option for me, it is not without faults, but is the better option. 

[pacruise804]

1 minute ago, ed01106 said:

 

Overall, I have determined the latter is the better option for me, it is not without faults, but is the better option. 

 

I have found this to be true with many life choices: what is the better (preferably best) option.  It seems like many look for the "perfect" option, not admitting that it doesn't exist.  Each option will have some faults or something you will give up, the key is knowing what gives you the best of what you want.

[ed01106]

1 hour ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

The staff can range from very strict to pretty laid back. You have to keep in mind the staff on a ship is constantly changing, so there is no general rule that says ship X is strict while ship Y isn’t strict. 
 

The worst case I have seen first hand is a guy on Horizon who had his Cheers package revoked for the entire cruise on day one of the cruise (it was an 8 day cruise). Unfortunately for this guy he didn’t realize the beverage manager was behind the bar and he was caught red handed. Losing 7 plus days of Cheers is not a good way to start a cruise. 
 

I have also seen passengers not only lose Cheers, but lose the ability to buy any alcohol on a cruise several times. But these all involved passengers who drank way too much.  

I imagine along with variance in staff attitude, tipping and how you treat the staff might affect your ability to break the rules as well.  

 

Person A.  Polite to bartender, tips the bar tender.  Bartender might have better things to do than report to his boss that the rum and coke he served you is front of gf while her diet coke is now in front of you.

 

Person B.  Rude to bartender.  Bartender might be more inclined to notice and report to boss that drinks got swapped.

 

My personal experience back when I was underage is rules were less enforced when we were generous tippers.  Didn't work 100% of the time, but definitely was a factor.   

Edited October 15, 2019 by ed01106

[coevan]

1 hour ago, ed01106 said:

My personal experience back when I was underage is rules were less enforced when we were generous tippers.

 

 

NO WAY, your S&S has your age and specifically says minor and is strictly enforced, tipping or not.  Sharing you might get away with, if this is the lesson you want your kid to learn. 

[Joebucks]

6 hours ago, coevan said:

Elaine, really? no one is getting booted off the ship for underage drinking

 

While it may be unlikely, it is certainly possible. Imagine something happening to a 20 year-old that was drinking, and Carnival knew about it.

 

I just did Cheers again last week, and I wish I didn't. We spent more than we normally would, to drink more than we normally would. To gain more weight. To feel sluggish. My favorite combo is to bring on wine, buy a bottle, and to pay out of pocket for a few cocktails, especially for a longer cruise. Cheers is more reasonable for 3-4 days. For 7+, it is completely out of the question.

 

If you're constantly worried your bar bill is going to exceed $1000, chance are, you have other, more pressing issues.

[Purvis1231]

The question of whether are not Cheers is worth it is up to the person buying. For one adult the price would be around $420.00. Too me this is a lot but if you plans to drinks three or four drinks day plus non-alcoholic drinks it maybe worth the peace of mind to have a set price. Enjoy the cruise.

[coevan]

10 minutes ago, Joebucks said:

Imagine something happening to a 20 year-old that was drinking, and Carnival knew about it.

 

 

there are no state laws, 21 is an arbitrary age Carnival made because they port in the U.S., I believe European cruises are 18 or 19. 

[geoffrywillhardt]

9 hours ago, coevan said:

NO WAY, your S&S has your age and specifically says minor and is strictly enforced, tipping or not.  Sharing you might get away with, if this is the lesson you want your kid to learn. 

Pretty sure I've never seen a sail and sign card with an age printed on it. I could be wrong here but I'm fairly certain that my sons card did not have anything identifying him as a minor. I'm sure if they checked it in the computer they could see his age and info but possibly not at a POS and even if they could there is no guarantee that the particular employee would adhere to the rules. Could be that if you slipped a bar tender enough cash that they could ring up the drink as non alcoholic. Highly doubt this but again mostly replying to the comment about S&S card identifying minors. 

8 hours ago, coevan said:

there are no state laws, 21 is an arbitrary age Carnival made because they port in the U.S., I believe European cruises are 18 or 19. 

There are plenty of state laws about drinking. Most states have made it Illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to purchase or posess alcohol due to the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984. And if I'm not mistaken in order to drink alcohol you must be in possession of it. All of the major cruse lines have offices within the United States which puts them at risk of being sued within US jurisdiction. And with the recent events on cruse ships leading to them being sued such as the rape case where the underage girl was drinking I would not put it past the cruise lines to crack down on underage drinking to ensure they are no liable. 

[coevan]

8 hours ago, geoffrywillhardt said:

There are plenty of state laws about drinking.

 

 

not on the ship

 

8 hours ago, geoffrywillhardt said:

All of the major cruse lines have offices within the United States which puts them at risk of being sued within US jurisdiction

 

incorrect, 8 miles out Maritime Law takes precedent.