Just FYI: New Limitation on Non-Alcoholic beverages included the Beverage packages

[boards]

4 hours ago, boards said:

Sorry you are wrong.  I have gotten soda pop for free many times from the exploration cafe and not with any card, just being 4-star got us the pop, but only at the exploration cafe.  If you ordered it at a bar, you were charged, or from your mini-bar in your cabin.

I am sincerely sorry and apologize I am completely wrong.  I checked back on our 2017 cruise and we were charged 50% for the pop.  I cannot explain where I got my train of thought.  Please forgive me,

[Mary229]

3 minutes ago, boards said:

I am sincerely sorry and apologize I am completely wrong.  I checked back on our 2017 cruise and we were charged 50% for the pop.  I cannot explain where I got my train of thought.  Please forgive me,

Don’t take it too hard. I am really surprised by the passion expressed in this thread.   It has given me a lighthearted chuckle.   I can’t imagine choosing a vacation by beverages 🙂

[jcbc522]

We had an NCL cruise booked last year and part of the promotion was ‘free drinks’.  I don’t remember what the cap was but we were going to have to pay the gratuities on the value of the package which would have amounted to over $200.  I’m happy with the HAL promotion.  If I go over the 15 per day I will get my water for the next day and pay for that and use the 15 for more expensive items.  

[Florida_gal_50]

1 hour ago, boards said:

I am sincerely sorry and apologize I am completely wrong.  I checked back on our 2017 cruise and we were charged 50% for the pop.  I cannot explain where I got my train of thought.  Please forgive me,

Thank you for coming back and letting us know.  Seems to me I read on the board that they aren’t giving that discount any more although they have in the past.  Don’t quote me on that though.  I may be wrong.

[Florida_gal_50]

1 hour ago, Boytjie said:

How so?

Because it’s counted as an alcoholic drink.

[srpilo]

47 minutes ago, jcbc522 said:

 

 

Just curious if you have the beverage package now, and want to pay $  for the waters, coffee's, etc , you can't.   Since you're using your cruise card to pay, those waters, etc instead being charge the couple of bucks$, instead will be  automatically deducted from the beverage package first at a $11.00 value, and not charged to your account until you exceed 15 beverage .

It may be that the only way to save the Beverage Package daily limit specifically for pricier beverages is maybe to buy a low value beverage card and use that instead of your cruise card for waters, coffee's, etc.

 

IMO not a great value to use the limit on a Premium Beverage package to buy $1.70 bottles of waters at a $11.00 value

[BigMattT]

I’ve never hit 15 combined drinks, but now that there’s a limit, I still FEEL like the packages provide a lesser value to me LOL
 

Pity HAL didn’t proactively bring this change to their fanbase’s attention. Wouldn’t feel like HAL is just being sneaky.

[Boytjie]

1 hour ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Because it’s counted as an alcoholic drink.

If the package costs $55 a day, 15 drinks would be under $4 each. That’s not bad for a decent bourbon!

 

[madera1]

This change won’t impact me nor my friends as we don’t drink that many beverages of any sort daily. 

[dobiemom]

4 hours ago, boards said:

I am sincerely sorry and apologize I am completely wrong.  I checked back on our 2017 cruise and we were charged 50% for the pop.  I cannot explain where I got my train of thought.  Please forgive me,

No worries. 😉 

[Florida_gal_50]

9 hours ago, Boytjie said:

If the package costs $55 a day, 15 drinks would be under $4 each. That’s not bad for a decent bourbon!

 

The person was referring to the retail.  I get that is not what is being paid so no explanation of that is required. If I drank 15 alcohol drinks a day I wouldn’t be able to function the next day.  I had the drink package on my cruise before I canceled it for another one that didn’t have it.  It was very little value to me.

Edited August 28, 2021 by Florida_gal_50

[VMax1700]

If we are getting close to the 15 beverage limit, we will use the mini bar water (50% discount for 4/5 star) and pray for a miracle 🍷 😁

[kazu]

43 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

If we are getting close to the 15 beverage limit, we will use the mini bar water (50% discount for 4/5 star) and pray for a miracle 🍷 😁

 

Or order a sommelier/wine package 😉 

[Boytjie]

2 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

The person was referring to the retail.  I get that is not what is being paid so no explanation of that is required. If I drank 15 alcohol drinks a day I wouldn’t be able to function the next day.  I had the drink package on my cruise before I canceled it for another one that didn’t have it.  It was very little value to me.

Sorry but my math brain kicks in. 😆

Not all alcoholic beverages are  $11 so it makes no sense the pick the maximum limit. 
 

If you drink about 5 or 6 alcoholic beverages, you break about even for the day. 
 

I wouldn’t want to consume 15 alcoholic beverages a day but a beer at lunch, a cocktail around 5, a few glasses of wine at dinner and a night cap or two and I have gotten my money’s worth. The coffees in the morning and afternoon are bonus. (I only too water once, because it was convenient while playing Bananagrams in the Crow’s Nest). 
 

Even though I was not aware that the limit was 15 beverages, I did my calculations and it worked for us! (We did upgrade our packages when we boarded. It still was worth it). 

[Florida_gal_50]

1 minute ago, Boytjie said:

Sorry but my math brain kicks in. 😆

Not all alcoholic beverages are  $11 so it makes no sense the pick the maximum limit. 
 

If you drink about 5 or 6 alcoholic beverages, you break about even for the day. 
 

I wouldn’t want to consume 15 alcoholic beverages a day but a beer at lunch, a cocktail around 5, a few glasses of wine at dinner and a night cap or two and I have gotten my money’s worth. The coffees in the morning and afternoon are bonus. (I only too water once, because it was convenient while playing Bananagrams in the Crow’s Nest). 
 

Even though I was not aware that the limit was 15 beverages, I did my calculations and it worked for us! (We did upgrade our packages when we boarded. It still was worth it). 

I was just trying to explain because you seemed confused..  I don’t have a dog in the race because I really don’t care for the drink packages etc.  I’d rather have a lower price then pay for what I enjoy.  It makes no difference to me if people do or don’t want this.  I know people that love drink packages.  It just doesn’t do anything for me.  

[Dismomx5]

14 hours ago, jcbc522 said:

We had an NCL cruise booked last year and part of the promotion was ‘free drinks’.  I don’t remember what the cap was but we were going to have to pay the gratuities on the value of the package which would have amounted to over $200.  I’m happy with the HAL promotion.  If I go over the 15 per day I will get my water for the next day and pay for that and use the 15 for more expensive items.  

I was coming to say the same thing. My sister loves NCL "for the free drinks"and so when we travel with family it is usually with NCL. And we pay over $200 for the gratuity on the free drinks, whether we use it as much as others or not. Having it included with HAL is a bonus. I'm looking forward to wine at dinner, and some smoothies throughout the day. DH loves his soda, so I'll have to keep a running tab on what he is drinking so he doesn't go over the 15. 😉

[roxybear135]

We just finished our cruise and found out about this new limitation when we went over our limit and they started charging us for drinks. We had a number of things happen that made my fiancé go over his limit including them charging my drinks to his card (we assumed they could look up my account by his card since we were in the same room and charge my drink to me that way), charging drinks that he ordered one day to the next day’s drink count (for Irish coffees ordered during glacier bay day), etc. We ended up having to talk to the beverage manager to get things fixed and have the charges removed which was frustrating. We had booked the package with the expectation that we would be able to order unlimited water bottles and sodas so not being able to do so left a bad taste in our mouths. It was annoying to have to constantly count and keep track of what we were ordering so we didn’t go over our limit and took some of the fun out of our trip

[Petrocelli]

So would this include beverages ordered with breakfast?  For example, if I get coffee  and orange juice at breakfast, is that 2 drinks?

[Boytjie]

2 minutes ago, Petrocelli said:

So would this include beverages ordered with breakfast?  For example, if I get coffee  and orange juice at breakfast, is that 2 drinks?

 

No, since those are never charged for.

[Josie201]

Ok, so I am not too familiar with HAL so unsure how they work the beverage package.  We have the signature package included (and plan to upgrade to the Elite which I understand I must do on board).  We drink ALOT of water, easily 4-6 bottles each per day.  And we mostly drink wine at dinner.  Our experience on Celebrity is that after the first day or so, the waiter in the MDR gets to know us and our preferences and often will simply leave a bottle of wine on the table for us.  And/or not charge us separately for every glass consumed.  Is this similar to HAL's experience?  Also, I'm thinking we would be best off to buy a beverage card, perhaps $100 and use that for waters so that we never have to think about the 15 limit.  Is this easy to do or a hassle?  For example, I assume my sea pass will have my beverage package loaded on it so when they swipe it, if I purchase a water, it would count against my beverage package (and limit of 15).  Or, can I just give the bartender the beverage card, or both cards?  Also, I note there is a water package available but it seems a bit pricey as well at almost $50 for 12 bottles.  Any experienced HAL cruisers can you provide any info on this?  Thanks. 

[Florida_gal_50]

24 minutes ago, Josie201 said:

Ok, so I am not too familiar with HAL so unsure how they work the beverage package.  We have the signature package included (and plan to upgrade to the Elite which I understand I must do on board).  We drink ALOT of water, easily 4-6 bottles each per day.  And we mostly drink wine at dinner.  Our experience on Celebrity is that after the first day or so, the waiter in the MDR gets to know us and our preferences and often will simply leave a bottle of wine on the table for us.  And/or not charge us separately for every glass consumed.  Is this similar to HAL's experience?  Also, I'm thinking we would be best off to buy a beverage card, perhaps $100 and use that for waters so that we never have to think about the 15 limit.  Is this easy to do or a hassle?  For example, I assume my sea pass will have my beverage package loaded on it so when they swipe it, if I purchase a water, it would count against my beverage package (and limit of 15).  Or, can I just give the bartender the beverage card, or both cards?  Also, I note there is a water package available but it seems a bit pricey as well at almost $50 for 12 bottles.  Any experienced HAL cruisers can you provide any info on this?  Thanks. 

I think you would have pretty much a zero percent chance of the wine bottle being left on the table but you can always ask.  I would buy the beverage card for the water.  That sounds like a good way to handle it.  I believe the water packages are new so I’m not sure you will be able to get much information on that.

[madera1]

At meals you can get free glasses of water, iced tea, juice and lemonade or hot teas/coffee for no charge.

Edited August 28, 2021 by madera1

[Mrsfrz]

1 hour ago, Petrocelli said:

So would this include beverages ordered with breakfast?  For example, if I get coffee  and orange juice at breakfast, is that 2 drinks?

The only orange juice they charge for is the freshly squeezed one. It's $3.50. 

[Mrsfrz]

23 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Its actually a little print on the room card...it says "SBP" or "EBP" in small print in one corner.

I sailed this week, and it wasn't on our room card. 

[CruiserBruce]

53 minutes ago, Mrsfrz said:

I sailed this week, and it wasn't on our room card. 

Interesting. Our last cruise (pre Covid) DW's room key card didn't have the SBP on it (mine did) and every single bartender pointed that out as a flaw, for the two days it took to get another card that had the SBP on it.