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Free drinks on board

Camden72

By Camden72,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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Camden72

Camden72

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With the new casino offers where is says free drinks anywhere on board (not drinks on us in the casino), is there a catch to that?  Seems too good to be true that they will basically give us the cheers program.  Is there a lower drink minimum than the cheers program or only certain drinks applying?  We booked the promotion so I assume we would not need to buy Cheers but I don’t want to be disappointed if there is some catch.

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TBBucman

TBBucman

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We got a Carnival casino offer two weeks ago that included "Free Drinks Anywhere" and $500 OBC. After we booked a 7 day cruise, our TA checked with Carnival  after reviewing our booking  and learned that there had been a "mistake" in the email offer and only "Drinks in Casino" would be included. After numerous calls to the Casino it was determined that they would not be honoring the initial offer that was received. If our TA hadn't been so diligent,  we would have boarded that ship and had a huge problem at Guest Services. Not a good way to start a vacation. I hope by posting this, anyone  who had booked with this Carnival Casino offer double checks their booking to ensure they are getting the perks they were offered.

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kdr69

kdr69

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They have many different versions from drinks on us in casino for you and a guest to drinks anywhere on board to sometimes just you and not a guest.  No catch other than you got the offer.

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Camden72

Camden72

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I got nervous about which offer I booked and just called to confirm.  She said I booked the free drinks on board so hopefully everything goes smoothly on check in and there is no bait and switch happening!

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kwokpot

kwokpot

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3 hours ago, Camden72 said:

I got nervous about which offer I booked and just called to confirm.  She said I booked the free drinks on board so hopefully everything goes smoothly on check in and there is no bait and switch happening!

Just remember that's only for you, not for the 2nd passenger, assuming there is one. If you look at the casino offers in the initial ads if it applies for 2 people it clearly states it. When it doesn't say drinks for you and a passenger it's only for you.

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MRVEGAS711

MRVEGAS711

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Posted

YES THERE IS A CATCH. Book the cruise ala carte and it cost you $1000. Book the same cruise with "Free Drinks on Board" and the cruise costs you $1625.

Free isn't free like you were taught in school.

 

(Cheaper than $700 per person YES, Free NO)

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walkintheplank

walkintheplank

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, MRVEGAS711 said:

YES THERE IS A CATCH. Book the cruise ala carte and it cost you $1000. Book the same cruise with "Free Drinks on Board" and the cruise costs you $1625.

Free isn't free like you were taught in school.

 

(Cheaper than $700 per person YES, Free NO)

Exactly. I got an offer for "free cheers" cruises. When I did a fake booking without the "free Cheers" the prices were $800 lower. They gonna get yo $$$ one way or another.

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d12j28

d12j28

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1 hour ago, MRVEGAS711 said:

YES THERE IS A CATCH. Book the cruise ala carte and it cost you $1000. Book the same cruise with "Free Drinks on Board" and the cruise costs you $1625.

Free isn't free like you were taught in school.

 

(Cheaper than $700 per person YES, Free NO)

 

 

10 minutes ago, walkintheplank said:

Exactly. I got an offer for "free cheers" cruises. When I did a fake booking without the "free Cheers" the prices were $800 lower. They gonna get yo $$$ one way or another.

 

This is for a casino offer, not the Cheers promo. 

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d12j28

d12j28

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Just now, walkintheplank said:

Correct, but the point is still valid. It is not free.

It is not valid under a casino offer. The cruise will be cheaper than other rates and the free drinks is just that, free. Now if you are talking about the Cheers promo I would agree that the cost of the cruise is jacked up and it would not be totally free. 

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kwokpot

kwokpot

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Posted (edited)
49 minutes ago, walkintheplank said:

🙂 It's still not free. You are dropping $$$ in their casino with a very high probability that there will be no return. There is a much higher chance that you will get lung cancer though.

The general logic for cruisers on comped casino offers is that if one is a regular gambler and enjoys gambling as a leisure pastime the amount of money that is allocated to gambling on a cruiseship would have been spent regardless of getting a comped cruise. On our latest comped cruise the comp was worth over $2300 for the cabin. That's not including the free drinks and casino free play that was offered. My gambling budget probably will be $3-4,000 on this particular trip, so more than half of my gambling allotment came from NOT having to pay for the cruise directly.

 

This is the calculus for gamblers on land based casinos. The 'agreement' between the gambler and casinos is "We come and gamble for our enjoyment in your casino, and you will give us return benefits such as free rooms, food, gifts, and gambling money". When casino companies tinker with that formula gamblers will show their displeasure but not patronizing those casinos that gamblers feel don't reward enough complementaries commensurate to the money spent.

Edited by kwokpot
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bgrmini

bgrmini

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Posted (edited)

  

5 hours ago, MRVEGAS711 said:

YES THERE IS A CATCH. Book the cruise ala carte and it cost you $1000. Book the same cruise with "Free Drinks on Board" and the cruise costs you $1625.

Free isn't free like you were taught in school.

 

(Cheaper than $700 per person YES, Free NO)

 

It's free, just like NCL's 'Free at Sea' promo has free drinks, specialty dining, shore excursion credits, internet, gold plated diamond encrusted unobtanium rings, and tap water. Just pay gratuities, a 40% higher base fare, and your 2nd born uncle's roommate's lawyer's son's soul!

Edited by bgrmini
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Envelope21

Envelope21

Posted
Posted
On 3/15/2021 at 2:22 PM, bgrmini said:

  

 

It's free, just like NCL's 'Free at Sea' promo has free drinks, specialty dining, shore excursion credits, internet, gold plated diamond encrusted unobtanium rings, and tap water. Just pay gratuities, a 40% higher base fare, and your 2nd born uncle's roommate's lawyer's son's soul!

Good One! So true! LOL!

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MRVEGAS711

MRVEGAS711

Posted
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On 3/15/2021 at 10:55 AM, walkintheplank said:

🙂 It's still not free. You are dropping $$$ in their casino with a very high probability that there will be no return. There is a much higher chance that you will get lung cancer though.

OMG HATE THE SMOKE

 

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bgrmini

bgrmini

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24 minutes ago, MRVEGAS711 said:

OMG HATE THE SMOKE

 

While not for the entire casino, on my last cruise (March 2020 on Paradise) they had made the casino bar non-smoking. The cruise prior to that, January 2020 on Paradise, smoking was allowed at half the casino bar. Not sure if it was a fleetwide change, but it was a welcome change none the less. With some other major cruise lines having non-smoking casinos, perhaps Carnival will move in that direction within a few years.

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twpion

twpion

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Posted

I have kind of same question, got an offer that was too good to pass up for next January (hopefully), but when I called it seems the drink package is only for me. I need to find out what best course of action will be for my wife...pretty sure she will be able to get through the casino by first night, but know Carnival can be kind of picky when only one person has a drink package? I would rather not pay for Cheers deal. 

 

Kind of thinking it may be best to actually call a host when we get closer to it. 

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jetsfan58

jetsfan58

Posted
Posted
On 3/15/2021 at 8:46 AM, MRVEGAS711 said:

YES THERE IS A CATCH. Book the cruise ala carte and it cost you $1000. Book the same cruise with "Free Drinks on Board" and the cruise costs you $1625.

Free isn't free like you were taught in school.

 

(Cheaper than $700 per person YES, Free NO)

Teach Mr. Vegas711!!! Great analysis.

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SNJCruisers

SNJCruisers

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3 hours ago, twpion said:

gamblers may well pay way more for their cruises after all said and done 😄

Top 3 money makers on board. 1. casino  2. bars  3. excursions

Top 3 money losers on board. 1. cruisers removing gratuities  2. see #1  3. see #1

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rch3

rch3

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Yesterday we received casino promotion offering free balcony stateroom (or below) requiring a non refundable deposit of $200, $200 OBC, “Free drinks on us, everywhere on the ship,” and $200 in “FunPlay Credits.”  Limited number of fall and winter sailings.

 

Many of the offered sailings were sold out of balcony cabins,  but several were open.  Booked Horizon 6-day Western for Feb. 2022. Balcony cabins available “free” were Coves or unassigned.  Was able to “buy up” to an 8T spa balcony for $20pp/day.  Best offer we’ve ever received, but screen-shot taken to be safe. Seemed too good to be true.

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