ryanpatricksmom

Toiletries bags on the Fantasy....twice. I had to laugh, 'cause you would have thought that they would have put something different out for the second leg, but we are now the proud owners of 4 toiletries bags and about 20 Tervis tumblers, lol!

Why don't you send carnival a email and let them know what you did so they can stop this from happening. It's about as dumb as posting on here, they can read.

I could, but it's been posted here a thousand times before. That's exactly how I knew that it was possible.

Five drinks with upgraded liquor at the Alchemy bar and you're just about even for the day. That was one of the main reasons we choose the Freedom for our January cruise. We enjoyed the 2.0 upgrades on the Breeze, but it had no Alchemy or EA Sports Bars.

That's exactly why I think that I should have waited to try it on our Sunshine sailing in March....of course, who knows what the price will be by then! I knew going in that our total liquor costs would be pretty low on the Fantasy using Cheers leg 1, and duty free leg 2, I just underestimated the hassle factor.

If I'm going to drink a 400 calorie cocktail then it better pack some punch or be something special, and neither of those were easily attainable on the Fantasy.

The only reservation that I would have now is, what are the hours that the specialty bars are open? If we could easily get specialty cocktails during the day, then I would even consider a re-do...assuming that the price stabilizes.

I didn't mean redeeming an extra Cheers credit but actually paying additional for the shot as a separate drink. I believe you can pay for additional drinks as long as you haven't ordered your 15th. Just asking because I like bloody marys with double shots...LOL!:D

Maybe, I actually didn't think of that. Of course, since they raised the cost $7.50 per day over the price listed in the Funtimes, I really wasn't inclined to offer up any more $$ though....especially since I had no intention of reaching the 15 drink limit.

Could you have ordered your original drink and at the same time ordered a shot that you paid additional for as the floater? Or can you order a double and just pay for one extra shot?

No, that for me was the issue. I didn't mind redeeming an extra credit, it was the 5 minute (which became 15) rule that caused the problem.

Just wanted to reiterate that there was an additional restriction (on my sailing at least) that was not spelled out. You could not order any drink that was not a pre-defined Carnival specialty drink in anything other than a singles glass. You had to order a drink in a singles glass, then wait the 5 minutes (which always became at least 10 because of the back-up) and order a soda and mix the two.

There was no logical or written explanation for this rule that I could come up with other than Carnival wanted to insure that pax weren't receiving doubles for the deduction of a single drink. The F & B manager didn't offer an explanation either, other than to say that it was the Carnival rule.

As I initially said, this is still a good program if you drink specialty drinks (without floaters), beer, wine, or singles drinks. If you plan to deviate in any way, then prepare to wait because the workaround will take at least 15 minutes per drink, often 20. I wish that we'd tried it for the first time on the Sunshine instead where I would have been more inclined to try a greater variety of specialty drinks. That would have been a far less frustrating experience, imo. Also, the Fantasy had less bars in general, which probably contributed to the problem.

You can still consume plenty of alcohol for the price, it's just a huge waste of time because of the waiting period.

I would have fought the price...regardless of the change they made, it was in writing. It would have been the right thing for them to do.

 

I usually would have, but I knew that our second leg we'd be "sticking it to the man" drinking duty free, so I didn't want to test karma, lol!

You say that the servers are getting stiffed but isn't the gratuity added to the 49.95 at fifteen percent every day automatically?

You are correct. If you receive a total of $49.95 worth of drinks, then yes the servers are being properly compensated. If you use the program less, then you are tipping more than 15%, if you use the program more you will be tipping less than 15%. I would venture a guess that the latter is more frequent. And before we get into a debate on extra tipping, I'm not suggesting that it's the passengers' requirement to right that wrong. It's just another example of why the program is generating less enthusiasm amongst the staff.

While you are correct the rules seem crazy, they are the rules and our specifically stated on the carnival website and the flyer that is given to you on the ship. Floaters are excluded, as it states plainly in the rules and you cannot get more then one drink at a time, you need to wait 5min.. I am not sure why you think that when you bought the cheers program that they would not follow the rules..

Where in the rules does it say that the size of the glass that they pour my drink in is a problem? I wanted a single pour of liquor in a doubles glass.

And frankly, given that the Funtimes on the first day of my cruise clearly stated that the program was $42.50 per day, and they were charging $49.95, I'm not sure if their published materials are always that reliable, lol.

It was the logistics of the program, not the limits that I took issue with. I was fine with paying for the extra shot, unfortunately what was within the rules as a 5 minute transaction invariably became a 20 minute one.

We bought the cheers program on cruise on dream last year at thanksgiving. we had no problem with getting a "double" drink in a tall glass at one time. have they changed that?:confused:

The program was very regulated on our cruise. I don't know if it's a change fleet wide or if it was a Fantasy thing, but I wouldn't do it again. The servers, bartenders, etc. (not just one, every one) were insistent that they had to "follow the rules". Apparently the size of the glass was a huge problem.

The ridiculous part, to me, as I explained to the manager, was that I could have ordered 15 LIITs and gotten bombed over a couple of hours. I was actually trying to drink responsibly, and they were making it nearly impossible. I would say we used on average a total of 7-8 drinks each day on Cheers and then another 4 adding floater shots. It just took forever.

If you go to the gift shop the last night of the cruise after a certain time they will give it to you "to go".....at least that's how they are doing it as of this minute. They way things are changing, they may have the B2B folks flagged on the last night so that it won't work anymore.

Based on my experience (you can see my post from today), you can get a single with any liquor available if the price falls below $10. You can get any of Carnival's specialty drinks if the cost falls below $10. If you want to create your own cocktail, or upgrade a specialty drink (unless it already includes top shelf), prepared to be met with resistance.

It may have been because we were faced with less secure servers on the Fantasy, but I'm here to tell you there was no amount of schmoozing that was going to cause them to the bend the rules. They were downright afraid to color outside of the lines.

The also measured every pour....very carefully. That's not an issue for me because aside from the frozen cocktails I tend to be fully content with a single pour, but for others it may be an issue.

Just back yesterday from a B2B on the Fantasy. We bought the Cheers! program for the first leg. I have to say that we gave the program a big thumbs down....in fact, I met with the Food and Beverage Manager to explain exactly why we would not be purchasing the program again.

To begin with, as we boarded even the rate online and the amount posted in the Funtimes per day was $42.50, the price had been raised to $49.95 per day for our cruise. I was sort of peeved, but worked thru that. I did understand that they advertise that the price could be changed at any time, but the Funtimes printed for our first day clearly said $42.50. Anyway, we sign up a little more reluctantly.

First problem. I like a Miami Vice with a floater shot. Total price would be $9.50. The transaction however, is treated as two transactions. The workaround....buy the Miami Vice wait for the 10 minutes and ask for a Bacardi straight up. Fine if the bartender has nothing better to do than wait on me, not so fine in reality when other people are constantly being served. Long story short, even though the all in price was less than the $10 price point, it counted as two drinks and required a waste of my time and the servers. I wouldn't even have cared if they could have written it up as two transactions at the same time (although that's still outside the spirit of the deal, imo) but that was a no go. For people who don't get free drinks in the casino, this would be a big problem, because you would use up 2 drinks on each transaction.

Second problem. After I get a little buzz on I like to watch my alcohol intake. I like rum and diet sprite in a tall glass, lots of sprite. Again, can't do that. Have to give me the first drink, wait 5 minutes and order a soda. Deja Vu. No drinks in a doubles glass unless it's a specialty cocktail. Now I'm really getting annoyed.

So...after much frustration, I asked to speak to the F&B manager and voiced my displeasure and suggested that if they want the program to succeed, they need to streamline the process. I let him know that I wasn't expecting any special treatment, nor did I blame him or his staff for following the rules, but that the rules were absurd, and not in accordance with the program as explained. If it's less than $10, it should be one drink, any way it is poured.

My recommendation to all would be, unless you are a beer drinker, plan on ordering LIITs or some other cocktail that is in the $9 range, or glasses of wine, forget it. It's way too much trouble.

I should also add that we tipped an additional .50 to 1.00 per drink depending upon how quickly we were acknowledged to begin with, and it never seemed to help. The servers are generally getting stiffed on Cheers, the program is a huge hassle for them, and it's a huge hassle for the passenger. I also was never able to get a can of soda, only a certain amount poured into a glass.

We get Drinks of Us from day one of every cruise, and in the casino we had better luck, but they still were less accommodating than in the past as far as getting my drink in a tall glass.

All in all, they seem to have tightened down the hatches. Good news though, because we did the B2B, we drank duty-free liquor in our cabin the second week.

As often as the Blue Angels perform over various cities across the country, I'm pretty sure that the military is confident that their pilots can safely navigate around a cruise ship. Btw, I have a house within walking distance of Martin State Airport, and have had a Blue Angel fly directly over my deck. It felt like I could reach up and touch him....but I was pretty sure that was a bit of a misconception. ;)

I must be cruising with markandsandy

 

 

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Y'all leave her in good condition....we sail the cruise after that, LOL!

Pretty much all stocks dropped 10%. :(

I forgot my frownie face, LOL!

The Dow's having a pretty bad week in general.

I've never thought that there was a full shot in the umbrella drinks, so I've always gotten a floater shot if I had to pay for the drink. With "Drinks on Us" or "Cheers" I would tell the server to bring a Bacardi straight up as soon as the allotted time passed, and add alcohol accordingly.

The classic cocktails for me are always too strong because of the size of the glass. I have to ask for my single in a doubles glass....so I'm a wimp.

I can't speak to the Alchemy or Red Frog concoctions, but I'll be trying those in March. :)

15% of what? Why not just leave what you want and leave everyone else to do what they like.

 

Reading tipping threads here make it sound like no one tips and tipping doesn't work, yet the workers fall over each other to move from the salary jobs to the tipping jobs. I never lose any sleep over it.

15% of the cost of the drink. They ring each drink up, and know exactly what the price would be. Anyone who was planning on tipping the customary amount should be fine with that.

So I understand you correctly, instead of adding the 15% to the total price of the Cheers package you want Carnival to add the 15% to each drink ordered in the Cheers package? When a person orders at the bar they do not pay for the drink because it is included in the cheers package but they will be responsible for the 15% tip for that particular drink.

Yes, exactly.

Carnival doesn't trust passengers to tip, period. They add tips to all bar bills and add all your standard cruise gratuities to your S&S bill.

 

Why in the world would they remove it from Cheers or Bottomless Bubbles and trust passengers to tip appropriate when they don't trust them anywhere else on the ship to tip?

 

About the only place they leave it up to the passenger is when it comes to room service and maybe the spa.

I don't disagree whatsoever. What I think should happen is that the gratuity should be added per drink, and excluded from the package. They can figure out how to add the tax per drink when that's applicable, so I'm sure adding 15% based on the cost of what the drink would be is do-able as well.

18% of what?

 

In any case, the smart people have decided its included to make things easier for the passenger. Tip is included, so stop worrying about it, and making it bigger than it already is. They are already ripping you off based in what the liquor costs them and what their selling it to you, at different rates, but even the lowest rung is still at a couple of 100 percent.

The 18% referred to what Disney used to tack on to the meal cost and was originally included in their dining plan. Disney used to absorb the gratuity, now they do not. It's expected that the customer add a gratuity.

I only use that as an example because at least in "The Happiest Place on Earth" people can manage to tip their servers even after pre-paying for the meal.

I'm quite sure that Carnival is doing the "smart" thing by adding the gratuity up front but make no mistake, they are doing it so that people will buy the package by keeping the advertised all-in cost low. If they are giving their servers a gratuity based on every drink delivered to a passenger then I would be impressed, but also extremely surprised.

Based upon many responses to tipping threads here, my guess would be the opposite of what you suggest.

At first I thought that too, but then I realized that they are touting it as an all-inclusive package....so most pax, who wouldn't have given it nearly as much thought as Cruise Critic members (and probably have not done spreadsheets on the subject, lol!), would just buy it onboard and never give tipping extra another thought. The servers are guaranteed to be screwed if that's the case, so I wondered what would happen if you started off suggesting that a tip was in order.

Same for Bottomless Bubbles. Wouldn't it make infinitely more sense to advertise the program as "Excluding Gratuity" and let people tip per drink.

I remember when Disney first came out with their dining plan, it included an 18% tip, and then it was amended to exclude it. I'm pretty sure that most people tipped appropriately from that point on. I have to believe that it would work in the server's favor.

Yeah, since the same comedians perform for both the family and adult shows, some of them don't quite make it in the family friendly environment. They either push the envelope a bit or they just can't find their stride without being controversial. Of course I've seen it happen the other way as well. We had one comedian that was really funny during the family hour, but his adult humor could have been written by a teenaged boy....with hand gestures, lol!