Coca-Cola Freestyle Machine

Get your ice first and you will not have the problem of drippage from the machine on the front end and then on the back end as well as the cubes splash into your cup.

I always get my ice first, no matter which type of machine it is. When I get my ice at the freestyle machines after someone else, it's always still dripping.

If Carnival does decide to install them, you would still have the option to get a warm can poured over ice at a bar.

Maybe the Horizon will be a guinea pig.

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All I can see and have read about it happening on RCI is kids standing there playing around and wasting product and holding up the line.

 

 

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Must have been a different ship than the Oasis, I didn't see anyone "playing" with the machines. You have a cup with an RFID tag in it, no cup = no pop. There was rarely a wait for the machines of more than one or two people.

Must have been a different ship than the Oasis, I didn't see anyone "playing" with the machines. You have a cup with an RFID tag in it, no cup = no pop. There was rarely a wait for the machines of more than one or two people.

Concur completely. Many that have made comments on this thread have zero first hand experience with the machines on Royal. The RFID chip will only work for a finite amount of time before it cuts off and there is a time lag before you can get a refill. So there is no game playing and mixing of flavors and dumping it out like can happen with land based versions of the machine.

There are nothing but positives about it. Those that don't wish to utilize it can just go to a bar like they do now. Of course it's all a moot point until Carnival installs them. Maybe the Horizon will be the first. I hope so since I will be sailing on her in 2018 and 2019.

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Concur completely. Many that have made comments on this thread have zero first hand experience with the machines on Royal.

If my experience has been that they create longer lines/wait times in multiple establishments over many different occasions, then it's logical to believe that the same results would happen anywhere they're installed. If it just so happens that it's somehow different aboard a cruise ship, so be it.

I have sailed on Royal with the machines, really never had any wait for them. However on our sailing the machine was quite often empty - as in the staff wasn't paying attention when it would run out of certain sodas. It is nice for a bit of variety, and if they are strategically placed there really shouldn't be any issues. If they placed like 4 around the buffet, 2 outside on the outer decks and then another 2-3 more - ideally one near the casino and another near the lobby would ultimately work out very well. A ship isn't going to do well with 1-2 but suddenly if they have 8-10 they would work very well.

I am surprised to see that this thread is seeing so much action. It also seems that some people pretty passionate about these soda machines. These machines have a big upside in that they have lots of flavors. Aside from that they are full of detractors. I have seen several posts where the poster says their is no downside with the machine. Check my previous post about all the issues these things pose. These are real problems some compounded by being away from a tech that can fix them when they go down. As far as I know they cant be purchased, only leased from coke. Coke is also designing these machines so that they can have ultimate control of the manufacturing and distribution of the cartridges that go in them. You have to buy them from cokesmart.com and they have to come out of Georgia where cokes headquarters is. Look ultimately its a money making ploy through coke. The end user does have some advantages of more choices, and the quality is great so far that I have seen. I know coke is working out the bugs on these and there are multiple models out they will continue to perfect them.

I also saw someone post about the hygienic aspect of these machines and touching the screen. Just an fyi I actually saw a guy in the restroom in the stall taking a dump. I know he did cause I could smell it. He finished, walked out of the restroom went straight to his girlfriend, got his cup and proceeded to touch the screen and get his drink. That was not cool, and it happens all the time. I know what your gonna say people like this are everywhere. I just don't want them near my drinks if I can help it.

My comments have been in reference to the machines themselves and my experiences with them. None of it required first hand knowledge of interacting with them aboard a cruise ship.

Because of this difference, the lines are not as long as at a land based location.

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I also saw someone post about the hygienic aspect of these machines and touching the screen. Just an fyi I actually saw a guy in the restroom in the stall taking a dump. I know he did cause I could smell it. He finished, walked out of the restroom went straight to his girlfriend, got his cup and proceeded to touch the screen and get his drink. That was not cool, and it happens all the time. I know what your gonna say people like this are everywhere. I just don't want them near my drinks if I can help it.

I don't want them anywhere near my SHIP if I can help it. :o

Your objection to the FreeStyle machines on these grounds is pretty specious. That guy could just as easily have touched a handrail or a doorknob or anything else -- and he probably did after he used the machine. It's not the fault of the FreeStyle machine that it happened to get in the way of Mr. Untidy first.

I am surprised to see that this thread is seeing so much action. It also seems that some people pretty passionate about these soda machines. These machines have a big upside in that they have lots of flavors. Aside from that they are full of detractors. I have seen several posts where the poster says their is no downside with the machine. Check my previous post about all the issues these things pose. These are real problems some compounded by being away from a tech that can fix them when they go down. As far as I know they cant be purchased, only leased from coke. Coke is also designing these machines so that they can have ultimate control of the manufacturing and distribution of the cartridges that go in them. You have to buy them from cokesmart.com and they have to come out of Georgia where cokes headquarters is. Look ultimately its a money making ploy through coke. The end user does have some advantages of more choices, and the quality is great so far that I have seen. I know coke is working out the bugs on these and there are multiple models out they will continue to perfect them.

 

I also saw someone post about the hygienic aspect of these machines and touching the screen. Just an fyi I actually saw a guy in the restroom in the stall taking a dump. I know he did cause I could smell it. He finished, walked out of the restroom went straight to his girlfriend, got his cup and proceeded to touch the screen and get his drink. That was not cool, and it happens all the time. I know what your gonna say people like this are everywhere. I just don't want them near my drinks if I can help it.

Why do you call it a ploy? Sounds like a good business model IMO. But then any entity trying to make a profit seems to be vilified in our society today.

I am surprised to see that this thread is seeing so much action. It also seems that some people pretty passionate about these soda machines. These machines have a big upside in that they have lots of flavors. Aside from that they are full of detractors. I have seen several posts where the poster says their is no downside with the machine. Check my previous post about all the issues these things pose. These are real problems some compounded by being away from a tech that can fix them when they go down. As far as I know they cant be purchased, only leased from coke. Coke is also designing these machines so that they can have ultimate control of the manufacturing and distribution of the cartridges that go in them. You have to buy them from cokesmart.com and they have to come out of Georgia where cokes headquarters is. Look ultimately its a money making ploy through coke. The end user does have some advantages of more choices, and the quality is great so far that I have seen. I know coke is working out the bugs on these and there are multiple models out they will continue to perfect them.

 

I also saw someone post about the hygienic aspect of these machines and touching the screen. Just an fyi I actually saw a guy in the restroom in the stall taking a dump. I know he did cause I could smell it. He finished, walked out of the restroom went straight to his girlfriend, got his cup and proceeded to touch the screen and get his drink. That was not cool, and it happens all the time. I know what your gonna say people like this are everywhere. I just don't want them near my drinks if I can help it.

I know this will sound snarky, and don't mean it too. But the regular consumer doesn't care about most of the downsides and detractions you put. Those are things that might be issues for Carnival, but for the guest onboard, they couldn't care about it. You have to get them from cokesmart.com? Has to come from Georgia? Coke is designing to have ultimate control? Who cares. As a person using the machine to get a drink, all of that is immaterial. Now if it's broken I would care, or if that effected the price of the drink. But otherwise I would just care about the experience of getting a drink, what drinks I could get, and the quality of them. The first is easy with the machine on a cruise ship (from seeing them on RCCL), the drinks I can get are much more plentiful with the freestyle machines, so long as the quality is fine I don't see the downside. And if it's broken, I get the old warm can with ice at a bar. Really, seems like the worst case scenario with them equals the regular case without them.

As for hygiene, that person will just be pressing elevator buttons and using handrails instead. It IS a good lesson for why to use your knuckles when using the machine though (or pressing elevator buttons :) )

Really, seems like the worst case scenario with them equals the regular case without them.

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. These are real problems some compounded by being away from a tech that can fix them when they go down. .

CCL can't afford to install these machines and then have them go down during a cruise, however, if they install 10 or so machines on the ship, could they not have a person or two on the crew who know how to maintain and repair them?

On Explorer of the Seas, I believe they had six on board. If by some chance something happens, then the worst case scenario is what they have now...warm cans poured over ice.

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I am sorry I don't have time to read all the post, question, do they have seltzer/soda water in the machine?

Yes they have regular sparkling water or flavored sparkling water

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When sailing on the Allure, I purchased the unlimited sodas, and used the machines and I thought it was great! I could finally have the type of soda I wanted. You can even mix the flavors. Only once was a machine broke down and the staff got it back up and running. Carnival is way behind times not having these freestyle machines.

Carnival is way behind times not having these freestyle machines.

Because of the time and volume restraints of the RFID chip, the lines would move along if used at the height of lunchtime rush on the Lido deck. And there could be one placed in the atrium or somewhere else for 24 hour access.

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I'm a Coke purist and hate these machines. The plain old Coke tastes like a sad imitation from all the different syrups coming through the same nozzle. I found the can drinks to be flat too from the bar. I'll just skip soft drinks unless I can get it from a real fountain (a la DCL) or a bar fountain.

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I like these machines. Last year in Vegas it works great in a buffet restaurant.

So many choices and a lot of flavours that we dont have in the netherlands like coca cola diet cherry :).

Although I don't care for these machines from service standpoint. I will tell you they do have a good variety of flavors and the drinks are top notch made by the onboard computer and micro dosing jets. I found very little to no flavor crossover with these machines. The micro dose jets clean themselves for the most part.

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Carnival is far behind .

I'll just skip soft drinks unless I can get it from a real fountain (a la DCL) or a bar fountain.

Wait, you like the taste of Coke from a bar soda-gun? Whew. Those always seem to taste nasty.

He does have the option to pay twice as much or more to enjoy the "real fountain" on Disney.

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Those bar guns or a regular bag in the box that use a mixing head like at the c store and most fast food are way too inconsistent. It really depends on the local water source and the age of the machinery. What you really like and what you are used to at home might not be what the soda is really supposed to taste like. You then drink from a freestyle and your like this tastes nasty not at all like I'm used to.

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