SIENA6334

As I read a lot of these posts - clearly Carnival is on board with somewhat encouraging over consumption of alcohol. Yet, in the name of safety, after pushing the alcohol the entire cruise, all liquor purchased in port and in the onboard shops now has to picked up on the morning of debarkation. Me thinks it is really about not drinking your alcohol but finishing the cruise paying and drinking theirs.:rolleyes:

they should offer a second cheers package (call it the cheers lite program) at $22.00/day in price for a qty of six (6) beer and/or wine only for those who would like to drink, but not get totally wasted.

amen:)

The problem I have found with these sales - I am already booked - I see a price drop for my category only to find it is only if you let Carnival choose your room. That has happened the last two sales.:(

Again, I am hoping Carnival comes up with more "cheers" options as other cruise lines have. (Even their own, Princess). They should not assume all people can drink anywhere near enough to justify buying the program but I do believe Carnival would only improve the "bottom line" on the cheers program with a "shared" or at least a smaller limit drink package. :cool:

I wish they would put small K Cup coffe makers in room. When I get coffee from room service it isn't very hot or very good.

Did my first B2B a couple years ago on Breeze; just booked another for Feb. 2017 also on Breeze. There was a deal I just couldn't pass up. Got cove balcony for under $!200 including insurance!! I am doing a Journey cruise in January on Dream - just as excited about that.

I'm on the return Dream Journey from San Juan to NOLA!

That's the cruise I'm booked on. Can't wait. Especially since Southwest air fare dropped over the weekend:D

That's not the same as what OP was referencing. Carnival's wine "packages" are basically just "X bottles of wine for $Y," and it's a smidge cheaper than buying each bottle individually.

 

Meanwhile, Royal Caribbean has different tiers of their Cheers equivalent program. There's one that's tailored for beer and wine drinkers, one for folks like myself who love specialty coffee, one for all the hard liquors and cocktails, etc. They recognize that not everybody drinks the same and so they offer unlimited packages of various types. And the best part? On our last RC cruise I got one of the packages and my wife (in the same stateroom) did not have to get it.

 

That's great if Carnival's offerings work for you, but this is one area where they are years behind brands like RCL and NCL.

I completely agree with you. Carnival needs to catch up and "fix" the cheers program. Merely lowering prices will not increase the bottom line. Adding "tiers" to the existing program can only be a plus for carnival. The people that buy the existing program will continue to buy but you will add a lot of people buying the added programs.

We have this cruise booked and we are both in our 60's. We always travel this time of year, usually in Feb. But couldn't pass this up. This is a great time of year as it's between Christmas and spring breaks so few children. And as others have said the length, itinerary and not being closed loop lends to an older crowd. Also I noticed on carnival website today balconies have dropped to $729-not bad for 10 days!

My wife and I had a similar situation. On paper we had adults in each room sharing with kids. My wife is not a big drinker (she has 2 or 3 a day). So I got the cheers plan for myself and anytime she wanted a drink I would get it for her. It work out great for us.

This is why I think Carnival needs to offer a reduced rate package. There is nothing in place for "lighter" drinkers. They set up the scenario of people trying to share. Simply offer either a reduced rate or shared package with a limit of 4-6 drinks per person. Seems pretty uncomplicated to me. And believe me Carnival will still be making money in the end.

I use a pvp

That may be the answer to my question. I use a TA:(

Getting back to the "subject" of the original post :rolleyes: I have read that several people say they have had this done previously on Carnival. Looking it over it appears they do presently do this on a lot of the smaller ships - but I don't have a good picture of this as it happens on the dream class ships with over 3,000 passengers. It has to be a "cluster"!!

I wonder if using a TA instead of a Carnival PVP makes a difference if you get these offers or not.:confused:

And the $16 bottle of wine you purchase at home is $40 in any restaurant in the same town where you bought it for $16. And you are saying that you want Carnival to lower all their alcohol prices to less than you would pay for the same level drink in your hometown bars and restaurants? Interesting!

Not true. I have found that bottle of wine at several restaurants here in town for under $30.

I agree - their "shop" sales are going to go down. This is simply "micro managing" at its worse. Carnival is not losing "alcohol" sales on the last night of the cruise. People are busy getting their bags packed and so forth; and I'm sure they have already made a significant profit from the total sailing. This, plain and simple, makes absolutely no sense. I have always loved carnival and been loyal to them, but these changes since new management has take over is going over the top. Another side thought - lower the costs of the drinks, wine packages and/or bottles and offer a shared "cheers" program and maybe you won't have to implement these changes. (i.e. the wine I purchase at home for $16 a bottle carnival sells for $40.) Quite the mark up:eek:

Again, I will bring up the need to make the "Cheers" program accessible to more people. I am a light drinker - so the $49 a day package is completely out of reach for me. I firmly believe if they create a "shared" package for a cabin - instead of no one in the cabin buying - you have just increased your sales. It certainly is worth trying it out on a few ships.

I agree - Comic Edge is hilarious. But I have now seen him 2 years in a row and the show is exactly the same. I hope he either comes up with a new routine or they find someone else for variety.

Getting "extras" for money spent is unacceptable to me. Just stick with days sailed. I am only able to afford one cruise a year - and what I spend is neither here nor there. The almighty dollar does not dictate what kind of person or customer I am. No one should be treated special because of the size of their bank account.

I agree with the "one-way" Journey sailings. I believe there are many people that are interested in the longer cruises, but unfortunately Carnival's answer was not to offer "closed-loop" sailings. I am not thrilled with sailing out of San Juan but I am happy with the price and ending in New Orleans. Hopefully, Carnival will note the dissatisfaction and offer longer cruises to and from the same port.:rolleyes: Other cruise lines, including princess and holland which are carnival owned offer these.

We are sailing the 10 day on dream out of san juan. We booked a cove balcony about three months ago and the price has dropped $200 each since so we are getting 10 day cove balcony for $749!

John Heald has a post relating to "adults only" cruise. If Miracle was an "Adult Only" cruise ship would you sail. I think the adult only concept is great rather than a "couples" only. You get the same result but don't omit the sector of "adults" that are not "couples" from enjoying the same reward.:rolleyes:

We booked a Journey cruise on Dream out of San Juan for next January. So far in the last couple weeks our fare has dropped $200 per person the last one a couple days ago for the "senior" crowd. Never thought we would get a fare drop - super happy!!

We just got a $100 per person price drop on our Journey Cruise in January out of San Juan. We already have a $100 OBC and got a total of $300 off our cruise because our TA had a special. :D

We are doing a Journey cruise on the Dream in January next year. If these are a success, do you think Carnival will extend them to 2017 and also use Magic out of Port Canaveral?

I just checked out early 2017 on Magic - never sailed out of Pt Canaveral before - but no cove balconies are available. Maybe just too soon?:confused: