Cheers hack for Princess Cays

[Denise72]

I'm pretty sure I saw this here somewhere, but I just wanted to get opinions. We have Cheers and a private island stop. I saw somewhere a suggestion to get several drinks in a row (waiting the 5 minutes of course) and pour them into a bottle to take on shore with you.

 

Would Carnival frown on this?

[nc762shooter]

Sure, you can do this if you want. Carnival isn't concerned much about what you are carrying off the ship in port.

 

Depending on what and how much you want to drink I would consider if the time and effort spent to acquire the drinks, transport, and keep them cold is truly worth it. I've gotten 1 or 2 before as a roadie but personally spending the amount of time it takes to get enough to last you a meaningful amount of time on the island is not worth the hassle in my opinion. 

[skridge]

30 minutes ago, Denise72 said:

I'm pretty sure I saw this here somewhere, but I just wanted to get opinions. We have Cheers and a private island stop. I saw somewhere a suggestion to get several drinks in a row (waiting the 5 minutes of course) and pour them into a bottle to take on shore with you.

 

Would Carnival frown on this?

I always grab a couple of beers at the end of every night to take to the cabin.  You have to find a bartender that is willing to not open it for you.  Then when I get to port I have a cooler that I carry off the ship.  I also grab beers a random times throughout the day when I don't need them and throw them in my book bag for the same purpose.  I figure if I am paying $150 bucks a day for the drink package I am not going to pay for drinks when I am off the boat.

[BlerkOne]

The more people drink against Cheers, the sooner the price goes up. It might be good self-restraint for those who think they must hit 15 drinks every day, though.

[ludocdoc]

Its repugnant that the drinks package doesnt work on their private island.

[Stick93]

4 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

The more people drink against Cheers, the sooner the price goes up. It might be good self-restraint for those who think they must hit 15 drinks every day, though.

They will continue to charge whatever people are willing to pay for it. my last cruise was the first time in many many cruises that I did not buy the package. The funny part was I didn’t miss drinking that much. I maybe bought three drinks the whole day and most day less. 

[nc762shooter]

On 8/27/2024 at 5:28 PM, skridge said:

I always grab a couple of beers at the end of every night to take to the cabin.  You have to find a bartender that is willing to not open it for you.  Then when I get to port I have a cooler that I carry off the ship.  I also grab beers a random times throughout the day when I don't need them and throw them in my book bag for the same purpose.  I figure if I am paying $150 bucks a day for the drink package I am not going to pay for drinks when I am off the boat.

This is the only feasible way if you are wanting to have enough drinks to last your time on island. Otherwise, you will be at the bar for 30-45 minutes before you get off the ship ordering enough cocktails to fill up your Stanley/Yeti monstrosity cups.🤣

 

And while Cheers has increased in price over the years, I think it has stayed relatively consistent in relation to drink prices in general. Sure, it used to $45-$50 a day but you were hard pressed to find more than a few drinks over $7 on the menu. The number of drinks to reach a break even point has never varied much. If anything, I think it is easier than ever before to get your money's worth between higher end cocktails and all of the non-alcoholic offerings as well.

[ProgRockCruiser]

4 hours ago, nc762shooter said:

And while Cheers has increased in price over the years, I think it has stayed relatively consistent in relation to drink prices in general. Sure, it used to $45-$50 a day but you were hard pressed to find more than a few drinks over $7 on the menu. The number of drinks to reach a break even point has never varied much. If anything, I think it is easier than ever before to get your money's worth between higher end cocktails and all of the non-alcoholic offerings as well.

I concur with this statement.

 

And while I'm annoyed the drink prices have gone up on board, they've done the same everywhere else too.  Try to get a Manhattan in Manhattan for under $15 at any place that isn't a dive, for example.

 

Of course, I now expect all the local Manhattanites will pipe up with all the great places you can get cheap Manhattans, which is fine by me, since I'm traveling there a couple of times in the next year...

 

😉

[nc762shooter]

1 hour ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

I concur with this statement.

 

And while I'm annoyed the drink prices have gone up on board, they've done the same everywhere else too.  Try to get a Manhattan in Manhattan for under $15 at any place that isn't a dive, for example.

 

Of course, I now expect all the local Manhattanites will pipe up with all the great places you can get cheap Manhattans, which is fine by me, since I'm traveling there a couple of times in the next year...

 

😉

Definite sticker shock for Cheers especially on a 7-8 day cruise but I would much rather know my bar tab and pay for it upfront so I can act like I'm on vacation instead of worrying about if I should order another expensive drink or settle for something cheaper while trying to keep track of how much I've spent all the time. 

 

Even here in NC bar prices are sadly around the same if not higher than on Carnival if it's a decent place. Short of a dive, the cost for a day of Cheers is about equal to what I would spend on an evening out except I would wind up getting fewer drinks for that money.

[ProgRockCruiser]

15 hours ago, nc762shooter said:

Short of a dive, the cost for a day of Cheers is about equal to what I would spend on an evening out except I would wind up getting fewer drinks for that money.

Indeed.  Same here.

Edited August 30 by ProgRockCruiser

[Denise72]

On 8/27/2024 at 4:36 PM, BlerkOne said:

The more people drink against Cheers, the sooner the price goes up. It might be good self-restraint for those who think they must hit 15 drinks every day, though.

Believe me, I won't be anywhere near 15 drinks a day. I may not even hit half of that. I just want to have a few drinks while enjoying the beach. 

[BlerkOne]

2 hours ago, Denise72 said:

Believe me, I won't be anywhere near 15 drinks a day. I may not even hit half of that. I just want to have a few drinks while enjoying the beach. 

You don't have to. If the average number of Cheers drinks served per person per cruise goes up, profit goes down.

[jimbo5544]

On 8/27/2024 at 8:21 PM, ludocdoc said:

Its repugnant that the drinks package doesnt work on their private island.

Worse than the Hindenburg…..the humanity

[nc762shooter]

On 8/30/2024 at 11:03 AM, Denise72 said:

Believe me, I won't be anywhere near 15 drinks a day. I may not even hit half of that. I just want to have a few drinks while enjoying the beach. 

Those of us that do get close to or hit 15 drinks a day sincerely appreciate those of you that don't!😁🥂

 

If you are good with just a few drinks for the beach then absolutely grab them onboard and take them with you, I'd recommend having a container/containers that seal just to ease transport. Depending on the drink you can always grab a cup with ice at one of the bars on the island if you want. 

[pohlerbear]

I've done this at HMC several times. I bring a small funnel and gets shots in a water bottle, then add to lemonade or ice tea at the island.  

[Saint Greg]

You can do it. They don’t look At what you take off the ship. There’s also a bar just outside of the port with significantly cheaper prices.

https://www.saintgregtravel.com/princess-cays-cruise-port/

 

 

 

[Sgwscruiser]

On 8/27/2024 at 4:36 PM, BlerkOne said:

The more people drink against Cheers, the sooner the price goes up. It might be good self-restraint for those who think they must hit 15 drinks every day, though.

Limited to 15 drinks per day even if you don't have Cheers

[ProgRockCruiser]

21 hours ago, Sgwscruiser said:

Limited to 15 drinks per day even if you don't have Cheers

I think the point was that there some with the Cheers package who feel the need to max it out, even if they've had more than "enough". i.e. "If I've got a package that says I can have 15 drinks, then dang-it, I'm going for it!"

 

If it is only a la carte, even at a lower price per drink, some folks might not "need" more than 5, or 7 or 9, etc.

 

If the package had tiers, say 10-drinks / day for 2/3 the price, there might be some who would find that useful. 

[Gamecock_Cruiser]

I certainly take advantage of this by filling up my 30 oz. Yeti type cup. If I remember correctly 3-4 drinks in this cup of doable. I start filling it at breakfast and have it full before we get off at any of the private ports. I also grab a bottle of water also.

 

For non private ports, I take my cups full of ice water or sometimes a soda. Certainly not worth getting caught with an open drink in a non private island going to foreign jail over it.

 

Just make sure the cups is empty before you re-board the ship is all that they care about.