Last Minute Cheers Debate

[AMediator]

Hi everyone 

 

I just love to get all of the amazing experts opinions here.  I leave in a couple days for my first cruise back post covid. 

 

Initially - we decided to not go with the cheers package because we we're not sure we could drink the value -  so to speak. 

 

We decided to order a nice bottle of whiskey for a room and we added one bubbles package. I don't really drink soda so I didn't need that for both of us. 

 

As I'm sitting here figuring out the cost of alcohol in the room plus the soda package, etc. I am second guessing my choice to not go with the cheers package. I now have 24 hours to make this decision.

 

So my first question is ...if I've already placed a cabin order for alcohol. Can I cancel it and just go ahead and apply it to the cheers package? I already have a bubble package for one of us. Same question.  

 

And I know I read this - but I want to confirm that the cheers package includes the soda package as well for both of us. Because then that kind of makes sense for us to go that direction

 

I welcome any comments. We both drink. I drink more than him. And frankly I'm just starting to get concerned about all the nickel and diming that is happening. 

 

It would be really great to just have one price that covers everything one day. 

 

[Caps_Shield]

IMO, if you can drink 5 drinks in a 24 hour period then the CHEERS! package makes a lot of sense.  Yes, it includes soda and any mocktails that you want in addition.  We get CHEERS! every time for two reasons.  One, we can drink the 5ish drinks you need.  Two, I hate seeing a bar bill after a cruise and handling it with CHEERS! is easier for us.  I guess a third reason would be that we are more likely to try new drinks with CHEERS! because if you hate it, just wait the time limit and get a new one. 

 

Good luck with your decisions.  

[slavigne5577]

On our first cruise years ago, we thought we did not want cheers and pre-purchased as you have. When we got on board we realized we wanted Cheers. We spoke to the bartender and he had a customer serviced person credit us back the purchases to original payment method and charged our Cheers! Never cruise with out  pre-purchasing Cheers now. Always come out better paying for Cheers than we would buying drinks one by one.   

[WorkerBee74]

22 minutes ago, AMediator said:

Hi everyone 

 

I just love to get all of the amazing experts opinions here.  I leave in a couple days for my first cruise back post covid. 

 

Initially - we decided to not go with the cheers package because we we're not sure we could drink the value -  so to speak. 

 

We decided to order a nice bottle of whiskey for a room and we added one bubbles package. I don't really drink soda so I didn't need that for both of us. 

 

As I'm sitting here figuring out the cost of alcohol in the room plus the soda package, etc. I am second guessing my choice to not go with the cheers package. I now have 24 hours to make this decision.

 

So my first question is ...if I've already placed a cabin order for alcohol. Can I cancel it and just go ahead and apply it to the cheers package? I already have a bubble package for one of us. Same question.  

 

And I know I read this - but I want to confirm that the cheers package includes the soda package as well for both of us. Because then that kind of makes sense for us to go that direction

 

I welcome any comments. We both drink. I drink more than him. And frankly I'm just starting to get concerned about all the nickel and diming that is happening. 

 

It would be really great to just have one price that covers everything one day. 

 

 

Would you enjoy a) drinking the expensive top shelf whiskeys and cocktails or would you settle for b) the well ones?  If the answer is A, the answer is Cheers.  If you are drinking only beer, sometimes it doesn't make sense.

I personally love to be able to order the absolute best cocktail with no guilt and not worrying how much it is.

[slavigne5577]

Just now, WorkerBee74 said:

 

Would you enjoy a) drinking the expensive top shelf whiskeys and cocktails or would you settle for b) the well ones?  If the answer is A, the answer is Cheers.  If you are drinking only beer, sometimes it doesn't make sense.

I personally love to be able to order the absolute best cocktail with no guilt and not worrying how much it is.

we agree!!! We have a friend that cruises sometimes and he only drinks beer. He says it does not make sense to pay for Cheers for just beer. He also does not like being limited to 15 beers. He can drink a lot of beers through out the day. I know I have heard that everyone is limited to 15 drinks a day but there must be a loop hole because he has never been cut off. He does not get stupid.

[Abr155]

43 minutes ago, AMediator said:

Hi everyone 

 

I just love to get all of the amazing experts opinions here.  I leave in a couple days for my first cruise back post covid. 

 

Initially - we decided to not go with the cheers package because we we're not sure we could drink the value -  so to speak. 

 

We decided to order a nice bottle of whiskey for a room and we added one bubbles package. I don't really drink soda so I didn't need that for both of us. 

 

As I'm sitting here figuring out the cost of alcohol in the room plus the soda package, etc. I am second guessing my choice to not go with the cheers package. I now have 24 hours to make this decision.

 

So my first question is ...if I've already placed a cabin order for alcohol. Can I cancel it and just go ahead and apply it to the cheers package? I already have a bubble package for one of us. Same question.  

 

And I know I read this - but I want to confirm that the cheers package includes the soda package as well for both of us. Because then that kind of makes sense for us to go that direction

 

I welcome any comments. We both drink. I drink more than him. And frankly I'm just starting to get concerned about all the nickel and diming that is happening. 

 

It would be really great to just have one price that covers everything one day. 

 

Having this same debate!  We were so sure we'd get by with Bubbles and the wine we bring aboard with buying maybe one bottle.  Then I pulled up some drink menus and starting pricing things out - if I indulge in 2 mimosas at brunch, two pool cocktails, and 2 glasses of wine with dinner, I will spend more than the daily Cheers cost, so, Cheers it is for us haha

[ober134]

We are light drinkers, and usually don't buy cheers. But we've developed a liking for high end craft cocktails. Cheers also includes coffee from the Cafe on board, bottled beverages, soda. Weve opted to get it for our sailing next week. We don't drink soda much but I think we will get value this time... We are celebrating our retirements, so an extra libation or 2 may be in order. Good luck on your decision and have a great cruise. Btw I actually put the drinks we are likely to consume on a spreadsheet, and we will potentially breakeven with 3 or 4 drinks, 2 coffees and a few bottles of water daily.

[AMediator]

When the cost of the cheers package is more than your cruise....

 

Greatly appreciate all of the comments. I'm pretty confident we are going with the cheers but now it won't let me add it saying that we have the bubbles. So working with carnival. Looks like we'll be drinking our way through this return cruise back 😎🍾

[Abr155]

1 minute ago, AMediator said:

When the cost of the cheers package is more than your cruise....

Haha, right?! We snagged such a good deal!  I should also add, another consideration is how port heavy is your cruise?  Ours has 3 full sea days not including embarkation day, so, that's a lot of time on the ship to indulge...

[ober134]

This was part of my analysis as well. We booked using a promo offer that included OBC.... Which we could apply when pre ordering Cheers. I think that must be a new option, and kudos to Carnival for that change.

[Elaine5715]

I find this tool helpful  https://cruisespotlight.com/drink-package-calculator/

[AMediator]

1 hour ago, Abr155 said:

Haha, right?! We snagged such a good deal!  I should also add, another consideration is how port heavy is your cruise?  Ours has 3 full sea days not including embarkation day, so, that's a lot of time on the ship to indulge...

5 days with two ports one of which we may not get off. So it makes sense at this point 

[Abr155]

1 hour ago, ober134 said:

This was part of my analysis as well. We booked using a promo offer that included OBC.... Which we could apply when pre ordering Cheers. I think that must be a new option, and kudos to Carnival for that change.

It is a new option, and I agree - I love it!  I was so excited to see the prompt "would you like to apply your OBC" when making purchases and bookings ahead of time!

[jerseygirlinAZ]

We just did cheers on the Radiance earlier this month for the first time since it was short cruise and we had a bunch of OBC.  I have to say it was pretty awesome.  We are moderate drinkers, and it was nice to be able to not worry about things. Also, we had some specialty coffees in the morning and a milkshake or two as well. 

 

I agree with the other posters.  It's nice to be able to have some high end stuff without the worry.  Plus, Cheers helps keep me out of the casino for "free" drinks.

[Schoifmom]

To answer some of your questions that were missed in the great "is Cheers worth it" debate 😉 

 

Yes, everything in BB is included in Cheers.

 

Yes, you can cancel your prepurchased items; however, you cannot then use those funds to put toward your Cheers purchase.  They will be refunded to the original form of payment.

[cruiserbrianj]

3 hours ago, Abr155 said:

Haha, right?! We snagged such a good deal!  I should also add, another consideration is how port heavy is your cruise?  Ours has 3 full sea days not including embarkation day, so, that's a lot of time on the ship to indulge...

This is just my opinion but the whole port day thing is overrated in regards to Cheers.  I"m speaking for only Caribbean-ish cruises I've been on but the vast majority of the time we are back on the ship by 3pm (sometimes earlier due to the short time they keep you in port).  If we're back on by 3ish....have a couple of drinks before dinner and a few during/after dinner....if you're just going by the per day thing it's still worth it imo...and that's just the alcohol, not including the bottles of water or coffees we get here and there after we get back on.

[MistyRo76]

3 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

I find this tool helpful  https://cruisespotlight.com/drink-package-calculator/

Never seen this tool before! This is great! And from what I can see the pricing seems pretty accurate. 

[Abr155]

18 minutes ago, cruiserbrianj said:

This is just my opinion but the whole port day thing is overrated in regards to Cheers.  I"m speaking for only Caribbean-ish cruises I've been on but the vast majority of the time we are back on the ship by 3pm (sometimes earlier due to the short time they keep you in port).  If we're back on by 3ish....have a couple of drinks before dinner and a few during/after dinner....if you're just going by the per day thing it's still worth it imo...and that's just the alcohol, not including the bottles of water or coffees we get here and there after we get back on.

Very true - I wasn't even factoring in sodas (husband is a big soda drinker), specialty coffee, milk shakes, and bottled water! Def worth it - it's funny how I'll rationalize dropping the money while on board, but it makes it hard to pull the trigger seeing the total amount head of time haha

 

We're on a one overnight port (Bermuda) cruise - but even still, we will be  on the ship ALOT

[AMediator]

36 minutes ago, Schoifmom said:

To answer some of your questions that were missed in the great "is Cheers worth it" debate 😉 

 

Yes, everything in BB is included in Cheers.

 

Yes, you can cancel your prepurchased items; however, you cannot then use those funds to put toward your Cheers purchase.  They will be refunded to the original form of payment.

This part was lame. It should just be an account credit at this point. Especially since now I'm sure it'll take two or three days to get the credit back on my credit card..

[scorpioncrawl]

Wait, What? Wait time between drinks? I have never heard of or experienced this. When our drinks are empty, they are right there filling them up....When does the wait time between drinks happen?

 

[hannibal54]

12 minutes ago, scorpioncrawl said:

Wait, What? Wait time between drinks? I have never heard of or experienced this. When our drinks are empty, they are right there filling them up....When does the wait time between drinks happen?

 

 

From the time that you ordered your last drink until you order your next one

[AandBmom]

Also factor in you can get soda, bottled water to take in to port, milkshakes, lattes, etc if you cancel your bubbles and get cheers.  Those add up too. 

[Can'tWait2SetSail]

If you cruised before and did not have Cheers were you shocked by your bill at the end of the trip? If so, Cheers may be for you. Signed, know from experience

[cruisinpips]

 We have gotten the Cheers package for every cruise since it has been available, never regretted it once. Not only do you get all the alcohol drinks, but basically any other drink you may want on the cruise. 
 One thing to consider when having alcohol in the room, when you need a drink by the pool, at a show, or while out and about, it would require a trip back to the room, instead of just walking up to a bar and ordering one….

 If you drink a lot of sodas also, the bill will add up. If you like specialty coffees and milkshakes, it is really a no brainer. 
 Port days can add up also, if you have a coffee, a couple bottles of water to go, and then 4-5 drinks after boarding the ship after a hot day. 

Edited March 23, 2022 by cruisinpips

[Jelly_Toast]

I think cheers is a value if you drink more than the daily cost. The "I don't want a surprise bill at the end" crowd confuses me. If you spend $400 so you don't have to look at a bill for $300 at the end of the cruise, that's a waste of money.

 

As far as my personal experience with cheers, my husband and I went on a four day cruise earlier this month and the cheers to you promo rate was barely more than the regular cabin price so I bought it for us.  In the weeks leading to the cruise I had daydreams about all of the drinks I would try and the debauchery of those four days but by the time I had a few drinks in a day I was done. For longer cruises or cruises where we would have multiple excursions we have learned that cheers is not for us. 

 

With all that being said, this is not the experience of all cruisers and it really can be less expensive to purchase cheers so asking for advice will get you a whole spectrum of answers but only you know whether you will save money buying cheers.

Edited March 23, 2022 by Jelly_Toast