Last Minute Cheers Debate

[cheer25mom]

On 3/22/2022 at 9:55 AM, slavigne5577 said:

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.

He's limited to 15, cheers or not.

[cheer25mom]

On 3/23/2022 at 6:11 AM, Joebucks said:

 

This is the kind of over-simplification that marketing wants you to think of. Well who wouldn't want 5 drinks in a day on vacation? (The number to balance the cost would actually be closer to 6). Day 1 is not equal to all other days.

 

Now do that for 4-7 days. For 2 people. Factoring in ports. How many couples would honestly have 80 alcoholic drinks on the ship alone? For me, it is completely absurd to think Cheers offers some huge value over bringing a bottle of wine and buying a bottle of whiskey. 

 

If you would otherwise have a $800 bar tab, then perhaps it's a good deal. I've sailed with more than enough people to know that Cheers is excessive for most who feel like they are financial advisors because they purchased this savings. The fear of individual charges and obsession with "unlimited" overrides most other logic.

It's not really an oversimplification. Its math, but it only applies to the cocktails and wine by the glass. They are $11-13. If you drink 5 in a day, you break even. Not to mention soda, specialty coffee, ect. If you drink 3 sodas a day, then you only need about 4 cocktails or glasses of wine. We will easily do that. 2 glasses of wine with dinner and 2 cocktails throughout the day. Most people could easily blow through that. We always do on a cruise. We have sailed other lines without the alcohol package. Their drink prices were similar and our bar bill was more than the cost of cheers. Again, simple math. 

[cheer25mom]

On 3/23/2022 at 12:36 PM, Joebucks said:

 

Obviously, if you're going to drink a ton of drinks by the alchemy and pool, then it makes sense. The real question is, are you going to?

 

What many of you don't hear is the people who fueled their decision on this same logic. Then end up getting as many drinks as roughly half the cost of cheers. They'll still defend the purchase to the death. It's peace of mind to overspend on alcohol, because alcohol is the center of the universe.

 

You'll often hear the argument of "you can easily do 5 alchemy drinks in a day!" but will rarely hear "the both of you can easily do 70 alchemy drinks in a week." Why is that?

 

 

1. Alcohol doesn't have to be the center of anyone's universe to enjoy it on a cruise. We rarely drink at home, maybe once a month we will mix a drink in the evening. We enjoy doing so on vacation though. 

 

2. It. doesn't take a "ton of drinks". We like wine with dinner. We will each have 2 glasses. Two or so cocktails by the pool during the day, plus an after dinner drink or 2. A coffee in the morning, and a couple of sodas throughout the day. We will more than break even. 

 

3. 5 drinks a day on a 7 day cruise is 35 drinks, not 70. You are purposely using the numbers for one person, then two to make your example seem extreme. 

[slavigne5577]

24 minutes ago, cheer25mom said:

He's limited to 15, cheers or not.

I know that is what the rules say but He buys four/five buckets of beers while by pool during the day. He is usually sharing with friends. He orders mixed drinks at night. That adds up to more than 15 drinks a day. 

[cheer25mom]

1 hour ago, slavigne5577 said:

I know that is what the rules say but He buys four/five buckets of beers while by pool during the day. He is usually sharing with friends. He orders mixed drinks at night. That adds up to more than 15 drinks a day. 

That should not be possible, unless he is using multiple sail and sign cards to purchase. 

[sparks1093]

24 minutes ago, cheer25mom said:

That should not be possible, unless he is using multiple sail and sign cards to purchase. 

I think the bartenders have discretion in this area. I've seen a warning come up on their screen that the passenger has purchased more than 15 drinks and they've overridden it. If the passenger appeared sloppy drunk they could use the 15 drink limit as an excuse not to serve them which might help keep someone from getting belligerent.

[jerseygirlinAZ]

We got the cheers package on our last cruise, which was earlier this month, because we had a ton of onboard credit and the cruise was a shorty (3 days).  We found it to be worth it for us.  Tried some new drinks, got the specialty coffees, had some milkshakes and sodas.  

 

We were going to buy the bubbles package for our six-year old, but we reminded by the staff that soda is included in cheers package so we could draw our own conclusions (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).  So that made cheers even better.  

 

Happy cruising everyone, no matter what you choose!

[cheer25mom]

4 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

I think the bartenders have discretion in this area. I've seen a warning come up on their screen that the passenger has purchased more than 15 drinks and they've overridden it. If the passenger appeared sloppy drunk they could use the 15 drink limit as an excuse not to serve them which might help keep someone from getting belligerent.

They are not supposed to have the ability to override it. 

[Dancindukes2]

There are loads of calculators on the internet. Just google Carnival Cheers calculator. Only you can answer the questions to get the right answer for YOU! 

[MizMoon]

Love this topic - 39 days from Spirit to Alaska - the cost calculator makes a lot of sense.  I'll probably add CHEERS on before I go.  Latte, bloody mary, beer, margarita, glass of wine and another glass of wine - sounds good to me.  See you onboard - it's been four years since I sailed.  

[sparks1093]

28 minutes ago, cheer25mom said:

They are not supposed to have the ability to override it. 

Do you know this because of inside knowledge or only because the rules say a certain thing? I have seen it done, so whether they are supposed to be able to or not I have to conclude that they can.

[Kealy]

A couple of people mentioned milk shakes -- are they covered with Cheers!?  And if so, where can you purchase them?

Thanks!

[sparks1093]

6 hours ago, Kealy said:

A couple of people mentioned milk shakes -- are they covered with Cheers!?  And if so, where can you purchase them?

Thanks!

Yes they are and you get them at the coffee bar that has all of the cakes for sale (I think that it goes by a different name depending on ship). I meant to try one in February and didn't get around to it. Will have to try again next April.

[Joebucks]

18 hours ago, cheer25mom said:

They are not supposed to have the ability to override it. 

 

I wonder what a bucket of beer counts as. You can buy beer towers too. Are they counting those as individual beers?

[wesorbeth]

You cannot use Cheers to buy a bucket of beer.

[sparks1093]

4 hours ago, Joebucks said:

 

I wonder what a bucket of beer counts as. You can buy beer towers too. Are they counting those as individual beers?

 

4 hours ago, wesorbeth said:

You cannot use Cheers to buy a bucket of beer.

As I understand it the towers aren't covered under Cheers, either.

[KyloRen]

Ok so heres what I did.... you get 10% off booking early BUT they will let you buy the package on day 2. So what I did was get up at 8 and grabbed the package and a mimosa, It made our price 100 bucks cheaper!

 

for me its totally worth it to buy on day one

 

What I would do for you first timers is just see  how much you drink on day 1 and go from there. 🙂

Edited March 27, 2022 by KyloRen

[KyloRen]

On 3/22/2022 at 8:19 AM, AMediator said:

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

 

 

Oh I SO feel this line and I still buy it without any regret!

[KyloRen]

On 3/25/2022 at 4:59 AM, cheer25mom said:

He's limited to 15, cheers or not.

 

Aye, Also the beers are NOT 12 oz they fill a pint glass. Be it Buttweiser or the IPAs

Edited March 27, 2022 by KyloRen

[KyloRen]

On 3/25/2022 at 5:29 AM, slavigne5577 said:

I know that is what the rules say but He buys four/five buckets of beers while by pool during the day. He is usually sharing with friends. He orders mixed drinks at night. That adds up to more than 15 drinks a day. 

 

Yeah I know Ive defo gone past 15 but I think its cause they knew it was the hubby and I? I reached 15 on my last two cruises and they overrode it for me.  I can for sure say I about died when they told me I reached 15 at 2pm on one of my days... Mimosas will get you! Be careful!

Edited March 27, 2022 by KyloRen