soda card pros and cons ?

[The4Cruisers]

If you see someone getting sodas for more than one person on a single card, just ask the bartender (in an assertive manner) how you can buy a multi-person card like that other person "must have". :mad:

 

Obviously, there's no such thing, but I'll have no problem pointing out my dissatisfaction that they're giving sodas away when I've paid good money for our cards. You'll probably see the bartender/server check cards more carefully after that! :cool:

[French_Fry]

Does not matter. You do what you feel is right. If you drink only a few during the week, it is not worth it. If you and all your family are avid soda drinkers, then by all means buy each of you a card. I prefer Ice Tea. And will take a glass to make me some in of a morning. I drink on a quart a day. Then with meals get more. But I use special teas, so I have to carry them with me and make it myself. If I don't do that, I will use regular tea if necessary. If it becomes too much of a hassle.

 

But for me, paying 40$ for a soda card is too expensive. that would be like paying 10$ a can. However, my DH and DD drink a lot, so they will get the soda cards. If I am out of tea, and get thirsty, and my DH has a glass of soda, i will take a sip of his. But not have him order it special for me.

 

Are you all thread police going to tell me that a sip is stealing?

 

If you think that, then quit taking your every 30 min cigarette breaks at work, or working overtime when it is not necessary, or tasting the grapes before you buy them. And don't let your kids grab something in the store and eat it then throw the wrapper down. ALL of that is stealing also.

 

Each 10 minute cigarette break you take is stealing from your employeer. All that unnecessary overtime you do is stealing from your boss as well. All those grapes you have tasted over the years to see if they are sweet, or sour, or rotten, that is stealing also. If your kids go with you and eat a banana while walking through the store, that is stealing also.

 

When you bargin with the venders in the countries, is that not stealing? YES because you are stealing from their income.

 

"A SIP" is not stealing, and any intelligent person SHOULD know the difference between a sip and 2 people trying to use one card.

 

Those are the people I am rebuking!

 

And BARGAINING is not STEALING!

 

They say $ 20 for an item that THEY know is only WORTH $ 10!!!!!

 

If YOU don't BARGAIN YOU are the one being STOLEN from!

 

And I DON'T SMOKE SO I DON'T NEED NO SMOKE BREAKS AT WORK (even tho I am allowed a 15 min break in the am & a 15 min break in the pm per my employer!) And I do not get paid for ANY OT I work AS I WORK ON A STRAIGHT BI-WEEKLY SALARY!

 

And I don't taste any food in the store unless it is offered to me by a store employee! And neither did my Daughter when she was young!

 

So get off the high horsey! Unless you feel guilty about your "SIPS!"

[French_Fry]

I think this thread just jumped the shark.

 

Stealing also is charging $2.00 for a soda that costs .15 to make.

 

No one from the cruise line puts a machete or an Uzi under your neck and forces you or anyone to buy the sodas, do they?

[wonderfullife]

It sounds like you are someone who eats food in the grocery store while shopping. That is definitely stealing and I can't believe people do that. I don't care if the kid is hungry, feed him or her before you get there. As far as the soda cards, yes, sharing is stealing. Let the people who do it suffer the consequences. I am not going to do that because I think that it is better to pay a bit extra and have a great time than to worry about if I am getting my moneys worth out of the card. I am not going to share the card because it is things like that which make rules change and ruin it for all. That is my opinion but I am not trying to tell others what to do.

 

Aleece

[TCF]

I have come close a couple of times to breaking even on the ol' soda card...but never beat it!! So is it worth it?? Money wise I don't think so...but convenience wise...for sure it is.

I only drink Diet Coke...we get a six pack every other day for the cabin and I use the card as we wonder around the ship, have meals, etc. The six pack to the cabin is cheaper than the card by the way.

You can ask for the can...and the bartenders/servers will give it to you without any fuss.

Tom:D

[SereneOne]

We are buying a soda card for our teen son...he will drink every soda on the ship and leave none. I drink mainly water and my h mainly drinks iced tea. If I want soda with pizza or what have you, I will buy mine. To each his or her own, some people need to get off their high horse and look at their own behavior...when you point your finger there are four more pointed back at you. There are way more important things than fighting over soda cards for goodness sake. If they are giving leftover soda from a can, I frankly find that stealing. I am not paying for flat, left out soda. They should give you a can and a glass of ice.

 

OP enjoy your cruise and do what you think is right.:)

[BallFour4]

but what I'm saying is, if a glass of fountain soda costs .05 to make...I guess the bottom line is that the market will bear the charge, so they do it. oh well, here's another $40.

Dittos for the Diet Coke addiction.

 

Second, for those that think a glass of soda served at sea costs only a nickel had better do some economics investigation. The bulk product is purchased by the cruise lines, shipped to the dock, moved aboard, stored, carried as weight (fuel use applies) and then served to you and me.

 

Manpower, and the costs involved all add up to more than a nickel a glass. As I posted earlier the same could be said for photos. I can print 8"x10" high quality digital images for less than a dollar a page. Why does the cruise industry charge me so much?

 

Here is the deal. In 1976 my cruise aboard the Carnival Mardi Gras cost almost $3000 for a 7 day adventure in a tiny cabin with a porthole. Today I can cruise on several cruise lines for less than a grand for a week total charges. Why? Cost shifting.

Cruise lines make profits from drinks, alcohol, spa treatments, shore excursions, bingo, gambling and purchases aboard. The actual cost of housing and feeding you and I for 7 nights is more than what we pay to step aboard. Look at your bill under the door and you will see those profits.

 

Here are the options if we want "free" soda. Charge every passenger $20 bucks for a beverage fee and offer sodas all over the ship. Sell a coupon book for a set number of drinks at a discounted cost might also be an option.

 

For me, I drink enough Diet Coke to make it worth it. I show the card to my waiter the first night and a drink is at my table every night waiting for me at dinner. :D

 

Also, the speed at the theater for a quick drink pre-show hits the spot. We also enjoy a great glass of pineapple juice after the morning run and the bars are open to serve them up.

 

So, you know that I feel abusing the soda card is wrong.:mad: The more they are abused the higher the price will be.

 

The cruise lines will not absorb the loss of profits they use to make cruising a very affordable vacation for my (and your)families...

 

 

.

[goLC]

Tom - How do you get a six pack to the cabin? Is it something you can order/pay through room service? That sounds perfect to me! Sorry - obviously I'm a first timer and have no clue!

[big dog daddy]

a glass of fountain soda doesn't cost much more than .05. Realizing they have canned soda perplexes me, because once the sodas are gone, what do they do with all the empty cans that need to be recycled.

 

And yes, they do hold a gun to your head if they don't let you bring your own on, or allow 7-11 access to space on the ship. Like I said, I pay the 40 and hit the server heavy so I get 3 at a time.....

[S.S.Oceanlover]

a glass of fountain soda doesn't cost much more than .05. Realizing they have canned soda perplexes me, because once the sodas are gone, what do they do with all the empty cans that need to be recycled.

 

And yes, they do hold a gun to your head if they don't let you bring your own on, or allow 7-11 access to space on the ship. Like I said, I pay the 40 and hit the server heavy so I get 3 at a time.....

 

since when don't they let you bring sodas onboard? They say a reasonable amount. Some people take 3 12 packs with no problems.

 

so what's really your beef?

 

Bill

[JanesCruisingBuddy]

We are buying a soda card for our teen son...he will drink every soda on the ship and leave none. .:)

Your son will have to compete with my wife and me for all that soda... we are on the same cruise... come on over and join the May 3/08 Roll-Call Thread at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=11295878#post11295878 (I hope that link works - never trid to put one in before).

[GoinCruisin]

a glass of fountain soda doesn't cost much more than .05. Realizing they have canned soda perplexes me, because once the sodas are gone, what do they do with all the empty cans that need to be recycled.

 

And yes, they do hold a gun to your head if they don't let you bring your own on, or allow 7-11 access to space on the ship. Like I said, I pay the 40 and hit the server heavy so I get 3 at a time.....

 

The ship is like a mini-city, they have many different services that most passengers never see, recycling is one of them.

 

And as mentioned, they DO allow you to bring your own :rolleyes:

 

You seem to keep running into dead ends :p

[flyingfree]

Believe it or not ont he other thread about the soda card, they told me I was stealing to take a sip of my DH or even DD soda. I was told to go buy my own soda for a sip.

 

Just curious, from a newcomer--are there a lot of self-righteous posters on these boards?

[GoinCruisin]

Just curious, from a newcomer--are there a lot of self-righteous posters on these boards?

 

Well of course, it's no different than any other message board on the internet :D:D Welcome!!

[LABecca]

We buy the soda card for convienence not value. I try not to keep track of getting my money's worth, why add additional stress to my vacation.

 

DD gets one and so does DH. I don't drink that much soda, the ship's iced tea is fine for me.

[michelle319]

I bought my two older sons the soda cards on our Fascination cruise last December and it was well worth the $$. They could get Shirley Temples with the card and they loved it! I'm a diet coke addict so it's worth it for me to purchase the card. We had no problems with the cards at all.

 

FYI,

When you bargin with the venders in the countries, is that not stealing? YES because you are stealing from their income.

That's just retarded!!!

 

I couldn't help myself but as the mother of an 8 year old son who is both mentally retarded and physically disabled, I really get bothered when people feel the need to use this word. Call me sensitive, I don't care, but there are THOUSANDS of words in the English language that could be used instead.

[cruzin w chris]

the cruise lines pay .1875 cents per can from the coca cola bottling company. this means that you would have to consume 213.3 cans of coke to cover just 1 card. the card is hi-way robbery therefore we share.

[big dog daddy]

I think I can try to hit that number

[faeriechick]

the cruise lines pay .1875 cents per can from the coca cola bottling company. this means that you would have to consume 213.3 cans of coke to cover just 1 card. the card is hi-way robbery therefore we share.

 

Can you buy a can of coke ANYWHERE for .1875 cents?

 

just curious.

[cruzin w chris]

the cruise lines pay .1875 cents per can from the coca cola bottling company. this means that you would have to consume 213.3 cans of coke to cover just 1 card. the card is hi-way robbery therefore we share.

in case anyone is curious i have a relative pretty high up at coke and she checked on it for me.

[angelsfort]

couldn't your relative get fired for doing that??

[Rowan555]

in case anyone is curious i have a relative pretty high up at coke and she checked on it for me.

 

Just be sure to add in the cost of labor to load the cans onto the ship, fuel costs incurred due to the weight of all that soda, labor costs to move the sodas from storage to all the bars, and the salaries of the bar servers who pour the sodas.

[cruzin w chris]

Just be sure to add in the cost of labor to load the cans onto the ship, fuel costs incurred due to the weight of all that soda, labor costs to move the sodas from storage to all the bars, and the salaries of the bar servers who pour the sodas.

arent those included in the cost of your cruise ?????????????????????

[French_Fry]

a glass of fountain soda doesn't cost much more than .05. Realizing they have canned soda perplexes me, because once the sodas are gone, what do they do with all the empty cans that need to be recycled.

 

And yes, they do hold a gun to your head if they don't let you bring your own on, or allow 7-11 access to space on the ship. Like I said, I pay the 40 and hit the server heavy so I get 3 at a time.....

 

You can drink........ water, milk, punch, iced tea, lemonade, coffee, hot tea, all included in the fee you pay to board the ship.

 

Soda is an OPTIONAL purchase, just like booze, gambling, etc, et al, ad infinitum, ad nauseum!. So no machete or Uzi is being held under your neck forcing you to buy a Coke or any other soda!

[French_Fry]

the cruise lines pay .1875 cents per can from the coca cola bottling company. this means that you would have to consume 213.3 cans of coke to cover just 1 card. the card is hi-way robbery therefore we share.

 

 

Therefore you are a THIEF!