Cheers price increase for 3 and 4 day cruises

[jimbo5544]

Per John H, Carnival has increased the price of Cheers on 3 and 4 day cruises only to $59.95/day. The pre cruise discount purchase still applies. 

[CruisinChandler]

Effective January 1, 2020 Cheers will increase $3 per day on short (3-4 day) cruises. 
 

https://cruiseradio.net/carnival-increases-cheers-price-on-some-cruises/

[CruiseHealing]

That is still too cheap, $4 per drink on 15 drinks. It should be $5 to $6 per drink, or $75 to $90 per day. As a long term shareholder, I believe this program has hindered revenue growth. Just like FTTH should be increased by 20%. 

[Linda the Book Lover]

I can't help but wonder when the longer cruises will have a change.

[ray98]

20 minutes ago, CruiseHealing said:

That is still too cheap, $4 per drink on 15 drinks. It should be $5 to $6 per drink, or $75 to $90 per day. As a long term shareholder, I believe this program has hindered revenue growth. Just like FTTH should be increased by 20%. 

 

That is an oversimplification.   A program such as this is designed around the bell curve and not the maximum allowed because only a small percentage of cruisers will max it out.  Profitability comes as a whole and if it is priced to only address the outliers at the upper end you have alienated most of your customer base.

[rukkian]

19 minutes ago, ray98 said:

 

That is an oversimplification.   A program such as this is designed around the bell curve and not the maximum allowed because only a small percentage of cruisers will max it out.  Profitability comes as a whole and if it is priced to only address the outliers at the upper end you have alienated most of your customer base.

Exactly, I would say the average person is not buying anywhere near 15 a day.  The average person with the package is probably around 8, whereas without the package is probably more like 3.  The only thing this needs to do is have the average amount spent per cruiser be higher with the package than without.  If this were not the case, drink packages would not exist, plain and simple.  

 

The reason for the increased cost, is probably due to the large proportion ordering the package on shorter sailings (many times referred to as booze cruises on most budget lines).  Especially the weekend (fri-sat-sun) three day getaways probably have allot of purchasers of the package.  This is testing to see if raising the cost effects the overall spent (either positively or negatively).

[M2LR]

I also think that people can drink more when it is just a few days. Once you start talking about a whole week it starts to get hard to keep up the pace (or maybe that is just me getting old). I would have to guess Carnival looked at the average number of drinks and found it to be higher on those shorter cruises so they increased it to cover themselves and make them equally profitable (or at least closer).

Edited December 26, 2019 by M2LR

[2PinaColadas]

1 hour ago, CruiseHealing said:

That is still too cheap, $4 per drink on 15 drinks. It should be $5 to $6 per drink, or $75 to $90 per day. As a long term shareholder, I believe this program has hindered revenue growth. Just like FTTH should be increased by 20%. 

If it goes up to $75 to $90 a day, there is no way I would purchase it.  I don't hit the 15 drink limit, as any don't, so it would no longer be worth it. 

[crzndeb]

1 hour ago, Linda the Book Lover said:

I can't help but wonder when the longer cruises will have a change.

Back in 2012, they did experiment with cruises over 10 days was $34.99 plus 15% gratuity. It didn’t last more than about 3 months, and then went back to normal price. 

[NightOne]

I wonder why they are raising the price ...

 

Oh, never mind LOL

 

[Joebucks]

From a business standpoint, I think this makes sense. Few will admit it, but more drinks are consumed per day on shorter cruises. The average person can definitely keep up a higher pace on a 3-4 day cruise vs a 7-10.

 

In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't change the world. However, I was already done with Cheers after my last one. Hundreds of dollars, weight gain, feeling like crap, taxes in port, etc when all I want is straight bourbon most of the time.

[Doggielover68]

Even though most people don't consume 15 alcoholic drinks per day, don't forget that cheers also includes non alcoholic drinks. A frozen cocktail alone is around $10. Have few of those, a few sodas, a fancy coffee, and some bottles of water, and you will break even. 

 

Alcohol is expensive. Why are people surprised?

[StolidCruiser]

23 minutes ago, Doggielover68 said:

Even though most people don't consume 15 alcoholic drinks per day, don't forget that cheers also includes non alcoholic drinks. A frozen cocktail alone is around $10. Have few of those, a few sodas, a fancy coffee, and some bottles of water, and you will break even. 

 

Alcohol is expensive. Why are people surprised?

 

The whole reason the price is inflating is due to those who desperately feel the need to get their monies worth by proudly declaring their stockpiling abilities from the simplistic bottled water pick-up at every bar and "don't open that beer, please" to the more die-hard draining mixed cocktails into a yeti mug for transfer to an even bigger thermos.  Not to mention those justifications of "It's not sharing if I just let my kid have a taste of my milkshake!".

 

The "leak cost" has to be absorbed somewhere.  Some lines hide it under the guide of "freebies" that bloat the cruise fare.    Carnival puts it right out there in fairly honest and reasonably-priced terms with restrictions aimed at keeping those prices attractive to the masses.

 

CHEERS! is still a bargain compared to any other mass market cruise line with a similarly offered beverage package and I believe there is still room to nudge the per diem more without losing customer count.

[ParrotRob]

On 12/26/2019 at 11:13 AM, CruiseHealing said:

That is still too cheap, $4 per drink on 15 drinks. It should be $5 to $6 per drink, or $75 to $90 per day. As a long term shareholder, I believe this program has hindered revenue growth. Just like FTTH should be increased by 20%. 

 

As a shareholder, you should be well aware of why things are priced the way they are.  Everything (and I mean literally everything) is priced at the point at which profit is maximized.  Not volume sold.    Sure, $75-$90 would make more profit per person, but an increase in price will reduce demand, and overall profit will suffer.

 

Consider this: you manufacture widgets that cost $100 for you to make.  You can probably easily sell them for $300 and profit $200 per widget.  1000 people will buy them at that price and you'll profit $200,000.  But if you sell them for $250, you'll only profit $150 per widget but 1500 people will now buy them, creating $225,000 in profit.  Which would you do?

 

THAT'S why Cheers is priced exactly the way it is.  Supply, demand and price are very basic economics.

 

 

[rukkian]

10 minutes ago, ParrotRob said:

 

As a shareholder, you should be well aware of why things are priced the way they are.  Everything (and I mean literally everything) is priced at the point at which profit is maximized.  Not volume sold.    Sure, $75-$90 would make more profit per person, but an increase in price will reduce demand, and overall profit will suffer.

 

Consider this: you manufacture widgets that cost $100 for you to make.  You can probably easily sell them for $300 and profit $200 per widget.  1000 people will buy them at that price and you'll profit $200,000.  But if you sell them for $250, you'll only profit $150 per widget but 1500 people will now buy them, creating $225,000 in profit.  Which would you do?

 

THAT'S why Cheers is priced exactly the way it is.  Supply, demand and price are very basic economics.

 

 

You are correct, and there is also an added thing here, in that they are also pricing against themselves - IE the individual drink prices.  If they raise the cost of cheers allot, but not the individual drinks, then the only people that will buy cheers are the ones that normally hit the limit.  If they raise both, many people will either not book, or will just not drink.  I am not a big drinker, but since the package is cheaper on RCCI, I have bought it before, and then drank more than I normally would (but barely break even still), and hence the cruise line actually gets money from me.  The next cruise, I went with replenish (all non-alcoholic drinks) and then simply only bought one alcohol drink the entire 7 days, as I do not want to spend $13 on a drink, I can just go without, or get the included drinks.

 

 

[Purvis1231]

On 12/26/2019 at 10:13 AM, CruiseHealing said:

That is still too cheap, $4 per drink on 15 drinks. It should be $5 to $6 per drink, or $75 to $90 per day. As a long term shareholder, I believe this program has hindered revenue growth. Just like FTTH should be increased by 20%. 

I am a stockholder also, I am sure that Carnival is not losing money with Cheers since the actually cost of the drinks are pennies on the dollar. With Cheers Carnival collects a certain amount of money from each cabin. Cheers is a little less expensive than RCL drink package but they often offer up to  25% discount pre-cruise so most people are paying the asking price plus on RCL not all adults in a cabin have to purchase the drink package so sharing is a little more of a problem. (My comment on RCL are not from personal experience but from what I have read.)  On Carnival, I am concerned that the servers are losing money since they do not earn the 18% per drink like they do on single drink orders.  I know a lot of folks on here claim they tip in cash with every drink on my cruises I have not noticed too much of this. 

[garyh9900]

The alcohol on a 3 and 4 day cruise is cheaper than the alcohol served on a 5+ cruise.

[cruisingguy007]

I highly doubt CCL is losing money at the current rates. In fact, I'll venture to guess they are making money hand-over-fist because of it. Cheers purchasers probably even help subsidize the fares of the non-purchasers/non-drinkers to some extent. Alcohol doesn't spoil, can be left unrefrigerated, and is cheaper to buy in bulk. There is a reason that restaurants make most of their money from alcohol sales and not as much on food. The margins are much better.   

 

I know other states are different and some have backwards booze laws but booze is super cheap in CA so IMO the package is priced just right. It's enough to make you second guess its value but enough of a value that you don't feel totally taken advantage of. Heck, I just did the math on my Cheers/Bubbles packages and if we were to forgo those on our next 7-day cruise, the family could take another 4 day cruise for that same cost! I'll also venture to bet that drinkers gamble more and that is another profitable angle for CCL.

 

I think if they raised the price significantly it would cause people to pause and reconsider the package. I know it would for me. I'd probably just make sure every adult brought a bottle of wine and then think of other ways to reduce costs like drinking more on port days, buying cost effective offerings from the cruise line, or even smuggling some on in port. There is a limit that people will pay and when you factor in all the costs of a cruise it can really add up. The higher it goes the less people will buy. Pricing it for maximum utilization is the smartest move. Actual wholesale costs are pennies on the dollar. That $9 bottle (cost) has 22 shots in it, Cheers package limit is 15 @ $61.30 per day. The math doesn't lie. Soda is also very cheap with huge profit margins. Coffee as well.  

Edited December 27, 2019 by cruisingguy007

[daisymay1960]

Your calculations  are based on menu  prices of the drinks, these prices are hugely  inflated in the first place

[simplelife]

On 12/26/2019 at 12:15 PM, M2LR said:

I also think that people can drink more when it is just a few days. Once you start talking about a whole week it starts to get hard to keep up the pace (or maybe that is just me getting old). I would have to guess Carnival looked at the average number of drinks and found it to be higher on those shorter cruises so they increased it to cover themselves and make them equally profitable (or at least closer).

Also, shorter cruises are less port-intensive. East Coast short cruises usually go to Freeport and/or Nassau, where many people spend little or no time in port (thus drink more on the ship)