Carnival Cheers Beverage Package

[CruzerDeb]

32 minutes ago, 1kaper said:

 

That's what we did the last time on HMC. That was November 2022. 

I’ll have beers waiting for me in my room when I board and I’ve still got the cooler! 😜😎 Ready for HMC in June!

[Top_of_the_Cube]

Had an acquaintance who worked at Carnival Corp.  He claimed that since HMC is owned and run exclusively by HAL, there wasn't really an option for Carnival Cruise Line to extend their CHEERS package to that island.

 

Of course, even if CCL did have that option, doesn't mean they would do it.  CHEERS does not work at Amber Cove, which is operated by Carnival Corp.

[rmajor]

On 4/9/2024 at 10:28 AM, CruzerDeb said:

Ugh. Thanks! I believed this to be the case. Do you know if they’ve changed their policy for Half Moon Cay - can we use the pkg there? The last time I was there, I couldn’t. 

How we did this , is pre-order a four pack of beers in our room pre cruise, then ask for a bucket and ice, we put our starter beers in said bucket, then replenished it all day as we drank them.  Even at night when I was not drinking anymore, id grab beers to start tomorrows bucket and start all over, i kept the bucket with me all week .. happy husband who also LOVES a bucket of cold ones 🙂

[CruzerDeb]

13 minutes ago, rmajor said:

How we did this , is pre-order a four pack of beers in our room pre cruise, then ask for a bucket and ice, we put our starter beers in said bucket, then replenished it all day as we drank them.  Even at night when I was not drinking anymore, id grab beers to start tomorrows bucket and start all over, i kept the bucket with me all week .. happy husband who also LOVES a bucket of cold ones 🙂

Good plan! I have my starter beers pre-ordered. 😎

[dlphn501]

Buy it ... now.  With the aforementioned AARP gift cards.  I am just off Horizon and mixed drink prices have gone up.  I did have Cheers, but alchemy drinks are $14+; there's a drink at Red Frog Rum Bar that is $14.  I saw a handful for $16 I think.   Lots were $12.

The drink package is $70.74 per person per day, after gratuity - a $14 drink is $16.52 after gratuity.  That's only 4 drinks (5 if you get the $12 drinks).  The Starbucks-esque coffee drinks are almost $7 after grat ($13 if you get the spiked ones).

You really have to compare it apples to apples - so the full package price including gratuity vs individual drink prices including gratuity.  A beer or seltzer will be over $9!

I paid $566 for my package for 8 days, and I got my full money's worth after like day 5.

[aborgman]

On 4/9/2024 at 6:58 PM, mz-s said:

 

It's something the company could solve with not much outlay if they wanted to solve it. I work for a College of Engineering and our undergraduate seniors could solve it for them in a semester. But like you said, it's not a big enough issue to Carnival so it doesn't really matter.

 

That's why I say it will never change so there's no sense in looking for a different answer. It's an easily solvable problem but it's not a problem that Carnival wants to solve. It is what it is.

 

Yes... like the "can't start Cheers on Day 1 out of Texas because laws", this is just a convenient excuse for "We don't want to do it".

 

[Pyxie]

It won't go on sale, but even if it *did* you could simply cancel your order and rebuy it.

[n6uqqq]

1 hour ago, Pyxie said:

It won't go on sale, but even if it *did* you could simply cancel your order and rebuy it.

Not only is it unlikely to go on sale, a betting person would have their money on a price increase very soon. Carnival has been dipping into the well of price increases all the time now! They just hit bottled water and cheers cannot be far behind as evidenced by the individual drink prices  of 14 dollars being fairly typical for a mixed drink with gratuity included.

[mz-s]

3 hours ago, n6uqqq said:

Not only is it unlikely to go on sale, a betting person would have their money on a price increase very soon. Carnival has been dipping into the well of price increases all the time now! They just hit bottled water and cheers cannot be far behind as evidenced by the individual drink prices  of 14 dollars being fairly typical for a mixed drink with gratuity included.

 

Yeah I would expect a Cheers price hike before the end of the month, to be honest.

[Joebucks]

On 4/10/2024 at 1:32 PM, Top_of_the_Cube said:

Had an acquaintance who worked at Carnival Corp.  He claimed that since HMC is owned and run exclusively by HAL, there wasn't really an option for Carnival Cruise Line to extend their CHEERS package to that island.

 

Of course, even if CCL did have that option, doesn't mean they would do it.  CHEERS does not work at Amber Cove, which is operated by Carnival Corp.

 

I still don't understand. They still charge you for drinks and it goes to your S&S, doesn't it?

 

Regardless, Carnival doesn't have to extend it to anything. I'm sure the real answer contains more complexities. They would likely need to introduce dynamic pricing because included drinks at private islands undoubtably would be a higher expense for Cheers. Only to get complaints by more people who now "know the reason" why their Cheers was so expensive, and wanting a refund if a port is missed. It sounds like more hassle than it's worth as a whole.

[nc762shooter]

On 4/12/2024 at 11:41 AM, Joebucks said:

 

I still don't understand. They still charge you for drinks and it goes to your S&S, doesn't it?

 

Regardless, Carnival doesn't have to extend it to anything. I'm sure the real answer contains more complexities. They would likely need to introduce dynamic pricing because included drinks at private islands undoubtably would be a higher expense for Cheers. Only to get complaints by more people who now "know the reason" why their Cheers was so expensive, and wanting a refund if a port is missed. It sounds like more hassle than it's worth as a whole.

It does, the main difference being what is charged to your account doesn't need to be instantly updated on board the ship like your drink count on Cheers. Purchases are just added to your bill which you aren't having to actually pay for until the end of the cruise so a slight delay is irrelevant. Whereas a delay in updating your Cheers drink count could potentially allow some enterprising souls to snag more than 15 drinks that day. 😁

[marshalltp]

On 4/9/2024 at 10:08 AM, CruzerDeb said:

For those with more Cheers experience than I - can I use the pkg for a bucket of beer? Can I order a beer and not have it opened so I can take it back to my room for later?

As indicated, no to the bucket of beer.  I will have to go with yes to the unopened beer.  Just off Jubilee, and I just about always got a unopened beer at end of night to keep in cabin fridge (which BTW on Jubilee was icy cold)

[sparks1093]

On 4/22/2024 at 1:52 PM, nc762shooter said:

It does, the main difference being what is charged to your account doesn't need to be instantly updated on board the ship like your drink count on Cheers. Purchases are just added to your bill which you aren't having to actually pay for until the end of the cruise so a slight delay is irrelevant. Whereas a delay in updating your Cheers drink count could potentially allow some enterprising souls to snag more than 15 drinks that day. 😁

All well and good but all passengers are subject to the 15 alcoholic drink limit so it shouldn't matter.

[gatorchinsky]

On 4/9/2024 at 10:08 AM, CruzerDeb said:

For those with more Cheers experience than I - can I use the pkg for a bucket of beer? Can I order a beer and not have it opened so I can take it back to my room for later?

We just got off the Celebration and had Cheers. We don’t drink a lot of beer but anytime we got a beer the bartenders just handed them to us unopened and would ask if we wanted a glass.

[sparks1093]

8 minutes ago, gatorchinsky said:

We just got off the Celebration and had Cheers. We don’t drink a lot of beer but anytime we got a beer the bartenders just handed them to us unopened and would ask if we wanted a glass.

Same on Mardi Gras last week.

[thesmiths]

Does a double count as 2 drinks with cheers?

 

Doing cheers for the first time and my wife doesn't drink.

Its an 11 day cruise (10 days of cheers actually from NY) so I figured based on the spreadsheet It's a break even with Gator aides, bottles a water nice coffee and milkshakes.

 

Paying with the AMEX $150.00 kickback and AARP discounts I felt it was worth it.  

 

[sparks1093]

10 minutes ago, thesmiths said:

Does a double count as 2 drinks with cheers?

 

Doing cheers for the first time and my wife doesn't drink.

Its an 11 day cruise (10 days of cheers actually from NY) so I figured based on the spreadsheet It's a break even with Gator aides, bottles a water nice coffee and milkshakes.

 

Paying with the AMEX $150.00 kickback and AARP discounts I felt it was worth it.  

 

You aren't allowed to order doubles with Cheers. Best you can do is order a drink and 5 minutes later order a shot.

[thesmiths]

49 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

You aren't allowed to order doubles with Cheers. Best you can do is order a drink and 5 minutes later order a shot.

Thank you I'll get them to heavy pour on the first one 🤑

[nc762shooter]

On 4/27/2024 at 2:35 PM, sparks1093 said:

All well and good but all passengers are subject to the 15 alcoholic drink limit so it shouldn't matter.

15 alcoholic drinks per day is all that is "prepaid for" through the Cheers program. You can purchase additional alcoholic drinks at cost that will not count against your Cheers tally as long as you do so before hitting your 15 drink Cheers limit, for example a bottle of wine at dinner or as a round of drinks. If you don't have Cheers there is no limit on the number of alcoholic drinks you can buy. Whether or not you are served is at the discretion of the server or bartender irrespective of how many drinks you have had, if you are visibly intoxicated or behaving poorly you will not be served whether you are on drink 2 or 20, Cheers or not.

[nc762shooter]

1 hour ago, thesmiths said:

Does a double count as 2 drinks with cheers?

 

Doing cheers for the first time and my wife doesn't drink.

Its an 11 day cruise (10 days of cheers actually from NY) so I figured based on the spreadsheet It's a break even with Gator aides, bottles a water nice coffee and milkshakes.

 

Paying with the AMEX $150.00 kickback and AARP discounts I felt it was worth it.  

 

Officially you cannot order a double as stated before. It is possible they will pour heavy for you especially once they get to know you a bit. Many times they would keep pouring from the bottle into the glass as they dumped the jigger in. From my experience if you are always friendly, patient and polite and not heavily intoxicated, the likelihood of this happening is high 😁.

 

Although rare, if you have developed a rapport with a certain bartender you may find one who will make you an actual double by charging your Cheers account when you order, remembering your folio #, and entering the second drink after the 5 minutes have passed. I've only had this happen a few times, always times late at night and the bar was not very busy. A couple times I was planning to order 2 scotches waiting the five minutes in between to have with a cigar, when I told the bartender this he said he would go ahead and do a double pour for me and would enter the second scotch in after the 5 minute interval and not to worry about the wait. The other times were similar, late and not busy, was planning to order my last two Cheers drinks to take back to my balcony, and those bartenders did the same thing. 

 

It is important to note I did not and would not ask them to do this because I'm they aren't supposed to do this. It seems it was very situational and a judgement call on the bartender's part, when I ordered the 1st drink I told them I wanting to order a 2nd one after the 5 minutes passed so I could take them with me to my balcony or up to the cigar smoking area. Each of those times they told me not to worry about it, they would take care of it.  

[sparks1093]

1 hour ago, nc762shooter said:

15 alcoholic drinks per day is all that is "prepaid for" through the Cheers program. You can purchase additional alcoholic drinks at cost that will not count against your Cheers tally as long as you do so before hitting your 15 drink Cheers limit, for example a bottle of wine at dinner or as a round of drinks. If you don't have Cheers there is no limit on the number of alcoholic drinks you can buy. Whether or not you are served is at the discretion of the server or bartender irrespective of how many drinks you have had, if you are visibly intoxicated or behaving poorly you will not be served whether you are on drink 2 or 20, Cheers or not.

It is my understanding that the 15 day limit applies to all individual alcohol sales (but as you mention there are some things that don't count against that number). 

[nc762shooter]

9 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

It is my understanding that the 15 day limit applies to all individual alcohol sales (but as you mention there are some things that don't count against that number). 

Hmmm, the liquor and beverage policy makes no mention of a limit on sales other than they have the right to request ID or refuse sales at any time. The only place I see 15 mentioned is in the section about Cheers. Having a limit of 15 drinks on Cheers makes sense because it limits the damage you can do to their bottom line😂. They don't need to have a numerical limit on individual purchases since they can stop serving you at any time they deem fit, as long as you aren't being a problem they would love for you to keep spending money at the bar! 😁

[sparks1093]

31 minutes ago, nc762shooter said:

Hmmm, the liquor and beverage policy makes no mention of a limit on sales other than they have the right to request ID or refuse sales at any time. The only place I see 15 mentioned is in the section about Cheers. Having a limit of 15 drinks on Cheers makes sense because it limits the damage you can do to their bottom line😂. They don't need to have a numerical limit on individual purchases since they can stop serving you at any time they deem fit, as long as you aren't being a problem they would love for you to keep spending money at the bar! 😁

I have seen it quoted but it might have changed. Yes, they can cut people off when they deem fit but having a limit makes it harder for people to argue when they are cut off and that is what I always figured why they had a limit outside of Cheers (and having one for Cheers does prevent damage to the bottom line, as you note). 

[nc762shooter]

13 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

I have seen it quoted but it might have changed. Yes, they can cut people off when they deem fit but having a limit makes it harder for people to argue when they are cut off and that is what I always figured why they had a limit outside of Cheers (and having one for Cheers does prevent damage to the bottom line, as you note). 

It could very well be they bring up that number actual policy or not if someone is arguing and becoming a problem, but in the instances I've seen where someone needed to be cut off it was well before they hit that many Cheers or not. And getting loud and arguing certainly does not help your case that you should be served another drink at all, drunk or not😉! With one particular guest who clearly shouldn't but was insistent he still be served another whiskey and coke, the bartender ended up pretending to make him one and he just wound up with a glass of coke and stumbled away happy LOL🤣

[StephPS79]

2 hours ago, nc762shooter said:

Hmmm, the liquor and beverage policy makes no mention of a limit on sales other than they have the right to request ID or refuse sales at any time. The only place I see 15 mentioned is in the section about Cheers. Having a limit of 15 drinks on Cheers makes sense because it limits the damage you can do to their bottom line😂. They don't need to have a numerical limit on individual purchases since they can stop serving you at any time they deem fit, as long as you aren't being a problem they would love for you to keep spending money at the bar! 😁

 

I've brought this up in the past - the actual policy wording only indicates a limit under Cheers.  

 

This probably hasn't been confirmed anywhere though because if someone is exceeding 15 drinks in a day and paying as they go along, that is just bad budgeting lol.