Soda card

[Carnival Platinum Cruiser]

I assume you can purchase them once onboard and not have to buy them prior to cruising?

 

Also I heard to wait till the ship leaves port so you don't have to pay taxes is this true?

Thanks

[bakerintn]

Yes, purchase the cards on board. I'm not sure about the cut-off for sales tax, but I think that they will charge sales tax if still tied to the pier.

 

I would ask a bar tender once you are on board.

 

here is more info from the NCL web site:

 

Unlimited Fountain Soda

Includes: Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Sierra Mist, Mt. Dew, Ginger Ale, Tonic water, Club Soda.

The entire cruise must be purchased. Non-Refundable.

Prepaid @ $6.25 per person per day x Cruise days plus 15% gratuity

and applicable taxes

Souvenir Thermal mug included in the purchase of the program

[goodwrench67]

Not to hijack your post but an additional question... My kids usually share drinks at our local fast food joint, can 2 or more people share a card? Since they're unlimited, they could refill them right?

[Sea Born]

Not to hijack your post but an additional question... My kids usually share drinks at our local fast food joint, can 2 or more people share a card? Since they're unlimited, they could refill them right?

 

Well, you are NOT supposed to share, but I'm sure that some do. A problem with that would be that you can only get 1 soda at a time, so not sure how well that would go over with your kids.

 

Sue

[camz]

There are a couple different soda packages. There is a kids package that has coupons and an adult program that includes a nice refillable beverage holder with an NCL insignia. You don't need to use the container each time, however, you have to show the soda sticker that they place on your key card. My teenage son thought it would be okay to share with some his friends he met in the teen club. However, they took his card from him, for a short time, with a warning that the free sodas were for the owner of the key card only. They seem to be a little strict about this. That being said, if you were going to share the soda plan, it would be more of a hasstle than anything. It really is not worth running around to different bars getting sodas. Just bite the bullet and buy two plans, or in the alternative bring a case of soda onboard with you! :)

[alwalaska]

Although I haven't tried to wait on NCL to avoid the taxes, on Royal Caribbean we were sailing out of NJ and the taxes were pretty high so we decided to wait to get our card until after sail-away. We had been sailing for about 2-3 hours when I went to get our cards on the way to dinner. They still charged tax and said they had to charge the tax until they hit International Waters. They said it would be the middle of the night before they wouldn't charge the taxes.

 

I've since decided it isn't worth worrying about and purchase our cards immediately when boarding.

[alwalaska]

Not to hijack your post but an additional question... My kids usually share drinks at our local fast food joint, can 2 or more people share a card? Since they're unlimited, they could refill them right?

 

If your kids don't drink much soda, it might be better just to buy a can for them every now and then and allow them to share that. You need to drink about 3 or more sodas per day to make the adult cards worth the price. I haven't done the math on the kids cards since my son is too old to qualify for the kid pricing.

 

I don't want to sound preachy, but just like your kids wouldn't be allowed to share a meal at a buffet restaurant, NCL doesn't want them sharing an unlimited drink card intended for one person. Just my opinion.

[Ilivetogo]

There are a couple different soda packages. There is a kids package that has coupons and an adult program that includes a nice refillable beverage holder with an NCL insignia. You don't need to use the container each time, however, you have to show the soda sticker that they place on your key card. My teenage son thought it would be okay to share with some his friends he met in the teen club. However, they took his card from him, for a short time, with a warning that the free sodas were for the owner of the key card only. They seem to be a little strict about this. That being said, if you were going to share the soda plan, it would be more of a hasstle than anything. It really is not worth running around to different bars getting sodas. Just bite the bullet and buy two plans, or in the alternative bring a case of soda onboard with you! :)

 

If you're referring to the coupon booklet for the "Teen Smoothie Pass" -- they did away with this program some time ago and they do NOT offer it any more. We brought all our coupons that we had left over from our last cruise and they would not honor them.

We asked Simon and he said the program didn't have enough "interest". So they did away with it. :mad: My kids were bummed. They liked the strawberry "slushies" (daquiri - no alcohol). They don't drink soda.

 

.

[Ilivetogo]

If your kids don't drink much soda, it might be better just to buy a can for them every now and then and allow them to share that. You need to drink about 3 or more sodas per day to make the adult cards worth the price. I haven't done the math on the kids cards since my son is too old to qualify for the kid pricing.

 

I don't want to sound preachy, but just like your kids wouldn't be allowed to share a meal at a buffet restaurant, NCL doesn't want them sharing an unlimited drink card intended for one person. Just my opinion.

 

 

There are soda machines at the Arcade. I also saw someone else post that it would have been better (financially) if they had just bought an occasional soda there and avoided paying the price for the soda card.

I am a Diet Coke fan, so I brought my own DCs to put in our little fridge in our room. Worked great for me!!

 

.

[ddloml]

My DW doesn't drink liquor and asked about the soda card on our last NCL cruise. The card was only good on bar-served soda from the 'gun', not on any canned soda. She specifically asked about ordering a diet Pepsi during dinner; the answer was that it would come in a can, and that the card was not accepted.

 

She figured that she would order at least half of her sodas during meals, and so the soda card didn't seem to be worth it.

 

So she developed a taste for NA Strawberry Daquiri's instead! :rolleyes:

[alwalaska]

My DW doesn't drink liquor and asked about the soda card on our last NCL cruise. The card was only good on bar-served soda from the 'gun', not on any canned soda. She specifically asked about ordering a diet Pepsi during dinner; the answer was that it would come in a can, and that the card was not accepted.

 

She figured that she would order at least half of her sodas during meals, and so the soda card didn't seem to be worth it.

 

So she developed a taste for NA Strawberry Daquiri's instead! :rolleyes:

 

Either that is a new policy, or your wife was misinformed about the dining room. We have used our soda cards not only on NCL, but all our other cruises in the main dining room. If there is fountain soda "the gun" available, that is what you get. One bar, and the private island, did not have Mountain Dew in a gun when I asked for it, and the opened a can, poured half of it into a glass and gave me the glass. If you have the card, they won't give you the rest of the can.

 

If the soda card no longer works in the main dining rooms, I think they would lose too much business. Most people who drink sodas will want them at meals.

[flowerchild]

I think your wife may have misunderstood. The ONLY place you will get an actual can of soda is at the MDR...everywhere else the soda will come from a fountain gun.

 

NCL sells only Pepsi products, BTW.

 

We only bought the soda card once. The quality of the fountain soda was subpar and the formula was never right. Since the only place we could get an actual can was in the MDR, we did not feel it was worth it. After about day 3, we asked for a refund and we were reimbursed. We bring our own sodas now.

[camz]

The Spinnaker Lounge on the Dawn had actual can sodas. My son is an older teen, so I got him the adult beverage program, however, they still have some sort of program for the younger children.

[rickechambers1@aol.com]

Although I haven't tried to wait on NCL to avoid the taxes, on Royal Caribbean we were sailing out of NJ and the taxes were pretty high so we decided to wait to get our card until after sail-away. We had been sailing for about 2-3 hours when I went to get our cards on the way to dinner. They still charged tax and said they had to charge the tax until they hit International Waters. They said it would be the middle of the night before they wouldn't charge the taxes.

 

I've since decided it isn't worth worrying about and purchase our cards immediately when boarding.

 

I agree...how much can taxes be? $5? That's trivial in the scheme of things. Have what you want when you want it...that's what vacations are for!

[sadiecat]

We have been on cruises where they pour from cans at the bar in the casino There is a spot behind on the bar where they just have an assortment of the choices in cans sitting there.

[dispachcops]

Restock your mini-fridge in every port... cans of soda are cheap in port and you can bring them back on the boat with you.

[flowerchild]

Restock your mini-fridge in every port... cans of soda are cheap in port and you can bring them back on the boat with you.

 

The only problem with restocking in port is that you may get soda that is not made in the US. My husband is a Diet Coke addict and he hates the Coke Light and Coke products made in Mexico, for example. Completely different animal than what you are used to. If you aren't oicky about that, go for it.

[flowerchild]

We have been on cruises where they pour from cans at the bar in the casino There is a spot behind on the bar where they just have an assortment of the choices in cans sitting there.

 

This was back in 2007 on the Star...maybe things have changed a little bit since then...

[newmexicoNita]

Not to hijack your post but an additional question... My kids usually share drinks at our local fast food joint, can 2 or more people share a card? Since they're unlimited, they could refill them right?

 

tech no, who is watching though. You would have to have an extra glass. I don't beleive in cheating the company, on the other hand, unless the kids are huge soda drinkers I am sure the ship will not lose any money.

 

Nita

[yazeee1]

We don't drink a lot of soda, and we don't drink Pepsi. I can see the sense in bringing our own Coke products onboard with us. Would we get funny looks from our waiter at dinner if we asked for glasses with ice?

[newmexicoNita]

We don't drink a lot of soda, and we don't drink Pepsi. I can see the sense in bringing our own Coke products onboard with us. Would we get funny looks from our waiter at dinner if we asked for glasses with ice?

 

Bringing it to the table, yes, you might get some strange looks, but I doubt anyone will say anything. As long as it is not breaking the company policy rules.

 

Nita

[emmtee]

I'm a diet coke junkie, so I bought the soda card on my NCL cruise. I didn't find it to be a good value. I'm not a coffee drinker, but I do like my diet coke in the morning. We usually had breakfast at the buffet, and I didn't see any soda available there. (Maybe I should have asked?) I did enjoy my diet coke at lunch and dinner - but only on sea days. This was a Baltic Capitals cruise in 2008 - 13 days departing from Dover with 8 days at port. On those days, we were off the ship at lunchtime (sometimes dinnertime as well) so I didn't use the card for those meals. I think I got about half my money's worth.

[alwalaska]

I'm a diet coke junkie, so I bought the soda card on my NCL cruise. I didn't find it to be a good value. I'm not a coffee drinker, but I do like my diet coke in the morning. We usually had breakfast at the buffet, and I didn't see any soda available there. (Maybe I should have asked?) I did enjoy my diet coke at lunch and dinner - but only on sea days. This was a Baltic Capitals cruise in 2008 - 13 days departing from Dover with 8 days at port. On those days, we were off the ship at lunchtime (sometimes dinnertime as well) so I didn't use the card for those meals. I think I got about half my money's worth.

 

I use my souvenir cup and get my pop (soda) at the pool bar on the way to breakfast.

 

You are right though about port intensive itineraries diminishing the value of the soda card. We don't drink alcohol, so I also use mine in the evening at the shows or bars.

[Curlyfry]

We just took a case of Pepsi, a case of 7-up and a case of Root Beer on board with us last year. We taped the cases up and put a luggage tag on them.

[leslierx]

When you take soda in cases onboard and "tape them up" and put a luggage tag on them....what does that actually mean. Do you take duct tape and tape them together? Do you also tape the ends, so the package doesn't bust and the cans roll out? Give me more info on this technique....I would like to do it, but don't want to end up making a mess!