Carnival Cruise Line Cheers! Package

[ultimateDragon]

I am a little confused on the Carnival Cruise Cheers! Drink package. The limit is 15 drinks per day and from what I have been reading, once you hit that limit, you still cannot purchase a 16th or any additional drinks beyond that. However, on the FAQ it meantions this:

 

"If a guest purchases a round of drinks for himself and a group of friends who have not purchased the drink package, one drink will go on the CHEERS! account and the rest will be credited to the guest's Sail and Sign account to pay with the credit card on file."

 

I am confused, if you can buy a round of drinks for your friends (out of pocket for others), does that count against your 15 limit? What if you purchased a drink for your friend once you hit that 15 limit, would that be allowed or is your card locked out from ANY purchases of alcohol, even for others? What would prevent me from going up after hitting that 15th drink limit and say "I am buying this drink for a friend" and then walk away to my cabin and drink it?

[cruisingguy007]

One drink in the round (for yourself) counts toward your 15 if you want it to. The 15 limit is for alcoholic beverages only and THEY WILL cut you off at that point IF you have cheers. You CANNOT even buy any after 15 with cheers (personally verified). You can avoid this by getting to 14 and paying for the rest. Then when you are ready to call it a night go ahead and order your 15th on cheers. If your spouse or travel companions have drinks remaining on their cheers packages they can continue purchasing but they must order and receive the drink from the bartender/server. Anyone can also purchase alcoholic beverages without cheers and the 15 limit isn't applicable. What they do with it afterwards is up to them (besides giving it to minors of course).  

Edited January 13, 2020 by cruisingguy007

[ultimateDragon]

Cruisingguy007 this is great info, thank you so much! So you can purchase drinks OR use your drink package if you so choose, it just locks you out once you get your 15th drink on the package?

[cruisingguy007]

28 minutes ago, ultimateDragon said:

Cruisingguy007 this is great info, thank you so much! So you can purchase drinks OR use your drink package if you so choose, it just locks you out once you get your 15th drink on the package?

 

Correct. Though I wouldn't wait until 14. I'd start buying at 12/13 in case a bartender made an error and charged it to the cheers. That would then lock you out. Be sure to say "not on cheers, charge to sign and sail". If you fail to notify them, they will most likely automatically slap it on cheers. You can also buy things that aren't available to purchase with the cheers package. That would also avoid a mistaken cheers hit since it's not possible to charge them to cheers (large format beers, large format drinks, buckets, pitchers etc).   

[jdemps]

We buy a liter of booze from the room service or online store before we cruise to have in the room to take care of the extras we would likely want during a 7 night cruise.  Make room drinks for earlier in the evening and then finish up with cheers through the night.  Better deal this way than buying each drink at cost at the bar.  A liter is usually around $80 - $100 through the online in-room beverage section.  Have a great cruise!

[ultimateDragon]

Thanks for all the info, great stuff!

[Earthworm Jim]

I'd have thought this 15 drink limit was more a theoretical problem than a limit anyone would actually hit, but apparently I would've been wrong. Out of curiosity, what time of day does the new day start and you get a new 15? Is there at least 1 bar open at all hours, maybe in the casino?

[idraconis]

6

6:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. You can also go to Carnival web site, under FAQ type in cheers program rules. 

[Qchell]

The casino bar does tend to stay open later than the rest of the bars on the ship, but I am not sure it is 24/7.  15 is not as hard to hit as one would think.  If you start with a mimosa with breakfast, a fruity drink or two mid-morning while lounging at the pool (you are on vacation!), beer with lunch, a couple of fruity drinks in the afternoon, a glass of wine or two with dinner, maybe a spiked coffee with dessert, and then a few drinks after dinner while at the shows, etc.  you can get pretty close to 15  in a day without really overdoing it.  The Alchemy Bar is where we like to take advantage of the package because it is so much fun to 'geek' out with the bartenders and try all sorts of combos on and off the menu.  

[PhillyFan33579]

18 hours ago, ultimateDragon said:

Cruisingguy007 this is great info, thank you so much! So you can purchase drinks OR use your drink package if you so choose, it just locks you out once you get your 15th drink on the package?

Cruisingguy007 is 100% wrong on this issue. If you have Cheers, you cannot decide to buy a drink for your self at any point, whether you are on drink 1 or drink 14. Every drink you order goes under your Cheers program. The current software they use on their registers will not let bartenders do anything else. In the past there used to be several work arounds, but every one I knew about and/or tried has gone by the way side, mainly due to the computer systems on the ships that all bartenders use. The only thing you can get away with these days is if you hit 15 drinks, is have someone else order a drink for you and discretely give it to you, preferably no where close to the bar where the drink was ordered. 

[wolft927]

So, my wife and I do some serouse drinking while on vacation. We will hit 15 maybe on see days but honestly if i am at drink 15 its probobly a good idea i call it a night lol...or just head to the room and open up the bottles of wine i have brought on lol. 

[dlphn501]

40 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Cruisingguy007 is 100% wrong on this issue. If you have Cheers, you cannot decide to buy a drink for your self at any point, whether you are on drink 1 or drink 14. Every drink you order goes under your Cheers program. The current software they use on their registers will not let bartenders do anything else. In the past there used to be several work arounds, but every one I knew about and/or tried has gone by the way side, mainly due to the computer systems on the ships that all bartenders use. The only thing you can get away with these days is if you hit 15 drinks, is have someone else order a drink for you and discretely give it to you, preferably no where close to the bar where the drink was ordered. 

I am curious when you have tried to PAY for a drink off Cheers?  I have read recently that the bar tenders no longer allow you to do this, but I was able to buy myself a bucket when I cruised in June.  I wasn't messing around though - I ordered the bucket around noon because I knew I was going to hit 15 on that day (it was a sea day).  I also had a 4-pack bucket of beer delivered to my room that I ordered pre-cruise.  I had called Carnival about it before I sailed because I was curious about it and the effect, if any, on Cheers.  I was told "those are room beers and do not count towards the 15 drink limit".  

[cruisingguy007]

1 hour ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Cruisingguy007 is 100% wrong on this issue. If you have Cheers, you cannot decide to buy a drink for your self at any point, whether you are on drink 1 or drink 14. Every drink you order goes under your Cheers program. The current software they use on their registers will not let bartenders do anything else. In the past there used to be several work arounds, but every one I knew about and/or tried has gone by the way side, mainly due to the computer systems on the ships that all bartenders use. The only thing you can get away with these days is if you hit 15 drinks, is have someone else order a drink for you and discretely give it to you, preferably no where close to the bar where the drink was ordered. 

 

So it's your position that anyone on the Cheers package is prohibited from buying others drinks (paying for rounds) or buying anything not included in the cheers menu? Sounds preposterous and that would be the only way to remove any work around to the 15 drink limit. As long as you can buy drinks for others and off cheers menu items, a work around is automatic. I bought two bottles of wine at dinner one day with Cheers because I was at 10 drinks already and planned to meet some folks at the bar later and needed some "reserves". Even if they've now somehow prohibited Cheers folks from buying others a drink with some software (which I highly doubt as it seems very nanny like) there would still plenty of other ways.     

[PhillyFan33579]

1 hour ago, dlphn501 said:

I am curious when you have tried to PAY for a drink off Cheers?  I have read recently that the bar tenders no longer allow you to do this, but I was able to buy myself a bucket when I cruised in June.  I wasn't messing around though - I ordered the bucket around noon because I knew I was going to hit 15 on that day (it was a sea day).  I also had a 4-pack bucket of beer delivered to my room that I ordered pre-cruise.  I had called Carnival about it before I sailed because I was curious about it and the effect, if any, on Cheers.  I was told "those are room beers and do not count towards the 15 drink limit".  

In the past buying a bucket of beer was one of the work arounds, but we tried that on a couple of cruises this Fall and they wouldn’t let us buy them because we had Cheers. I have had similar experiences trying to buy fish bowl drinks in the Red Frog Pub. 

[cruisingguy007]

9 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

In the past buying a bucket of beer was one of the work arounds, but we tried that on a couple of cruises this Fall and they wouldn’t let us buy them because we had Cheers. I have had similar experiences trying to buy fish bowl drinks in the Red Frog Pub. 

 

Interesting, did you express to them your desire to purchase these items outside of Cheers? Many times the bartenders assume people want to stay within the boundaries of their Cheers package. I've had them tell me "can't buy with Cheers/not included with Cheers" and a "and" or a "so" plus "then charge me" would git her done. I'll have to try this again next week but if they are really limiting people's ability to buy others a drink or buy off Cheers menu items then I suspect Cheers will become less popular. I want the large tube of beer for football!    

Edited January 14, 2020 by cruisingguy007

[PhillyFan33579]

5 minutes ago, cruisingguy007 said:

 

So it's your position that anyone on the Cheers package is prohibited from buying others drinks (paying for rounds) or buying anything not included in the cheers menu? Sounds preposterous and that would be the only way to remove any work around to the 15 drink limit. As long as you can buy drinks for others and off cheers menu items, a work around is automatic. I bought two bottles of wine at dinner one day with Cheers because I was at 10 drinks already and planned to meet some folks at the bar later and needed some "reserves". Even if they've now somehow prohibited Cheers folks from buying others a drink with some software (which I highly doubt as it seems very nanny like) there would still plenty of other ways.     

That’s actually a good work around, buying wine, although it could get expensive. We have bought champagne in the steakhouse many times with the “BIG” Cheers discount. I know the first time we did that I was surprised to find out the champagne bottle counted as one of your 15 drinks.  
 

The program still allows you to buy drinks for other people like you mentioned, so there has to be a way you can use that to your advantage.  When I was at the Alchemy Bar on Victory recently, the alchemist was showing me on the computer that it wouldn’t let him order me anything alcoholic because I was at 15.  The only thing it let him order was a bottle of water. Most of the information I have posted concerning Cheers on this site has come directly from bartenders who I am friends with on another site I won’t mention because I got suspended for doing that in the past. 

[cruisingguy007]

1 minute ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

That’s actually a good work around, buying wine, although it could get expensive. We have bought champagne in the steakhouse many times with the “BIG” Cheers discount. I know the first time we did that I was surprised to find out the champagne bottle counted as one of your 15 drinks.  
 

The program still allows you to buy drinks for other people like you mentioned, so there has to be a way you can use that to your advantage.  When I was at the Alchemy Bar on Victory recently, the alchemist was showing me on the computer that it wouldn’t let him order me anything alcoholic because I was at 15.  The only thing it let him order was a bottle of water. Most of the information I have posted concerning Cheers on this site has come directly from bartenders who I am friends with on another site I won’t mention because I got suspended for doing that in the past. 

 

I've already acknowledged that at 15 you are cut off entirely. This is what I was objecting to: 

 

"100% wrong on this issue. If you have Cheers, you cannot decide to buy a drink for your self at any point, whether you are on drink 1 or drink 14." 

 

I just don't see how that can be true unless Cheers folks have been banned from buying others drinks or off Cheers menu items. It doesn't make sense. Also, my wine bottles did not count towards my 15 limit either, not sure why your champagne bottle did, it shouldn't of. Cheers is Cheers, everything else is separate.  

[PhillyFan33579]

1 minute ago, cruisingguy007 said:

 

Interesting, did you express to them your desire to purchase these items outside of Cheers? Many times the bartenders assume people want to stay within the boundaries of their Cheers package. I've had them tell me "can't buy with Cheers/not included with Cheers" and a "and" or a "so" plus "then charge me" would git her done. I'll have to try this again next week but if they are really limiting people's ability to buy others a drink or buy off Cheers menu items than I suspect it will become less popular. I want the large tube of beer for football!    

Another point that could be significant is this may not be the same on every ship. I only cruise out of Florida, so that limits the number of Carnival ships I go on.  I also know there are software differences between ships. For example, last year I was on Liberty and Victory back to back weeks. I don’t remember which ship it was, but one ship printed the drink number you were on (on the receipt) once you hit drink 10 while the other ship didn’t do that. 

[PhillyFan33579]

17 minutes ago, cruisingguy007 said:

 

I've already acknowledged that at 15 you are cut off entirely. This is what I was objecting to: 

 

"100% wrong on this issue. If you have Cheers, you cannot decide to buy a drink for your self at any point, whether you are on drink 1 or drink 14." 

 

I just don't see how that can be true unless Cheers folks have been banned from buying others drinks or off Cheers menu items. It doesn't make sense. Also, my wine bottles did not count towards my 15 limit either, not sure why your champagne bottle did, it shouldn't of. Cheers is Cheers, everything else is separate.  

I should have used a better comment than 100% wrong. I was just trying to convey that there is a good chance 15 drinks will be the maximum for most new people, who aren’t familiar with or know about work arounds like you know,  which apparently may or may not work depending upon what ship you are on, who the bartender is, etc. We have bought a bottle of champagne at least a half dozen times in the steakhouse. Every time it has counted as one of our drinks.  I always make my wife put it on her card since she never comes close to 15. 

[dlphn501]

39 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

In the past buying a bucket of beer was one of the work arounds, but we tried that on a couple of cruises this Fall and they wouldn’t let us buy them because we had Cheers. I have had similar experiences trying to buy fish bowl drinks in the Red Frog Pub. 

I wonder if they are just cracking down on it?  There's still the option to have beers delivered to your cabin.

[dlphn501]

12 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

I don’t remember which ship it was, but one ship printed the drink number you were on (on the receipt) once you hit drink 10 while the other ship didn’t do that. 

I was just on Liberty a week ago, and it prints the "alcohol count" on the receipt once you hit 10.

[cruisingguy007]

6 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

I should have used a better comment than 100% wrong. I was just trying to convey that there is a good chance 15 drinks will be the maximum for most new people, who aren’t familiar with or know about work arounds like you know,  which apparently may or may not work depending upon what ship you are on, who the bartender is, etc. We have bought a bottle of champagne at least a half dozen times in the steakhouse. Every time it has counted as one of our drinks.  I always make my wife put it on her card since she never comes close to 15. 

 

Interesting, bought my wine in the MDR at dinner and it didn't hit Cheers for me. The plot thickens! 🙂

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

Just wondering... if adults are on cheers, and kids don't have a package at all, if you can't buy anything separate from cheers, then how would the adults buy their kids a milkshake or soda (as they are supposed to buy it, and not give them a "cheers" milkshake).

 

If they can't buy anything separate from cheers, then adults with cheers would not be able to get non-alcoholic drinks for their kids (assuming the kids don't have their own charging privileges, which many don't).

[coevan]

4 hours ago, cruisingguy007 said:

I bought two bottles of wine at dinner one day with Cheers

 

 

  You can only get glasses of wine on Cheers, bottles are 20% off and do not go against Cheers

[ricew001]

On 1/14/2020 at 6:01 PM, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

Just wondering... if adults are on cheers, and kids don't have a package at all, if you can't buy anything separate from cheers, then how would the adults buy their kids a milkshake or soda (as they are supposed to buy it, and not give them a "cheers" milkshake).

 

If they can't buy anything separate from cheers, then adults with cheers would not be able to get non-alcoholic drinks for their kids (assuming the kids don't have their own charging privileges, which many don't).

non-alcoholic drinks (sodas, milkshakes, bottled water,) do not count toward Cheers limit of 15 drinks - the 15 drink limit is 15 alcoholic drinks.