Whats Up With All The Cards Thingy

[Iamcruzin]

[quote name='sultan_sfo']May be Princess should introduce a Jumbo Card for say $75 pp per day which makes all drinks free. Costa has that for all drinks including all wine and bar drinks at about that price. Costa requires each occupant in the same cabin to buy one to minimize sharing. It has to be purchased prior to boarding.[/quote]
That's a terrible idea since I only spent $52 a day (not including port charges, tax and tip) for my last 7 day cruise. Even if I add in the ultimate card I purchased my cost was still less than $75 a day.

[rdsqrl]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=indigo]Who knew the right to drink soda was one of Jefferson's inalienable rights, perhaps even enshrined in the Constitution? Must be one of those fuzzy 20th century amendments one can never remember, somewhere between income tax and presidential succession. I'll have to have a pop quiz for my students on Friday . . . [/COLOR][/FONT]

[donna5]

;)[quote name='cruzsnooze']I got it first hand sailing Princess when soda was included in the dining room. I guess I've been cruising a lot longer then most because I remember it as if it was yesterday.[/QUOTE]

Well it had to be before 1993.

[cruze doggy]

The princess unlimited sodas are a good deal. I was on HAL last May, and they charged a little more than princess and you only got 25 punches on your card. Plus waiting to get it punched every time was a pain.

[1 HappyCruiser]

[quote name='donna5'];)

Well it had to be before 1993.[/quote]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS]Are you sure it was Princess & not RCI. I can't remember them having any free soda. [/FONT]

[Pia1913]

[quote name='1 HappyCruiser'][FONT=Comic Sans MS]Are you sure it was Princess & not RCI. I can't remember them having any free soda. [/FONT][/quote]

I don't recall free soda either, and I'm cruising Princess since Sitmar.

[Pam in CA]

[quote name='cruze doggy']The princess unlimited sodas are a good deal. I was on HAL last May, and they charged a little more than princess and you only got 25 punches on your card. Plus waiting to get it punched every time was a pain.[/QUOTE]I got the soda card once with HAL and never again. They served me soda in small juice-sized glasses and if I asked for it without ice, I got half a glass. It was absolutely no bargain since it wasn't unlimited and was a punch for each glass. As a matter of fact, since then, I've bought soda by the can and gotten far more soda for less.

[quote name='Pia1913']I don't recall free soda either, and I'm cruising Princess since Sitmar.[/QUOTE]I've never seen free soda on Princess, ever. It's possible that a TA or group gave soda cards to their customers as a perk and while I've never heard of that, I suppose it's possible.

[dudeagain]

[quote name='Pam in CA']I've been to an all-inclusive resort (more expensive than a cruise) that included free drinks of all kinds. Getting the kind of soda I wanted was a hassle as they appeared to be out most of the time, and people were lined up at the bars from early morning and drunk by noon. I thought that was kind of sad.

The cards are for consumables that are specialty items.[/quote]

AI's like cruises, come in all varieties, choose an inexpensive one and you are bound to get drunken antics, bad service and worst of all bad food.

High end AI's are an excellent value.....my litmus test for AI's is...if there is a buffet then don't book it, if its all non reservation ala cart restuarants and top shelf liquer, you are probably good to go. :D

[dudeagain]

[quote name='mytime53']I agree. If specialty coffees were free, I'd never get one, because I wouldn't stand in line that long. I love ice cream, but when you could have it for one hour (or however long it was), there was no way I was going to go stand in that line for it.[/quote]

What line? Your waiter would deliver it to you with your dessert if it was free.....he still will now but you will have a receipt to sign! :D

[donna5]

[quote name='1 HappyCruiser'][FONT=Comic Sans MS]Are you sure it was Princess & not RCI. I can't remember them having any free soda. [/FONT][/QUOTE]

I was saying I have never seen free soda on Princess and since I first sailed in 1993 on the Old Crown then if they did indeed have it, it would have been before then. I am NOT saying they ever had free soda.

[Cash123]

[quote name='mytime53']Why? What is it that makes many people associate having fun with spending money and thinking that other people can't have fun without spending?[/quote]

Are you seriously telling me that you think there are people that go on cruises and dont spend a penny ?????

No drinks (coffee/soda/beer/wine/alcohol)
No Tours
No Buying any goods or pressies when ashore
No eats when ashore
The list could go on, but you get my drift....

[Pia1913]

[quote name='Cash123']Are you seriously telling me that you think there are people that go on cruises and dont spend a penny ?????

No drinks (coffee/soda/beer/wine/alcohol)
No Tours
No Buying any goods or pressies when ashore
No eats when ashore
The list could go on, but you get my drift....[/quote]

Yes, very possible. We don't buy drinks except for having the coffee card. We bring our own wine aboard and exchange our Elite setup for diet cokes and beer.

No tours. We've been almost everywhere and if we tour it's usually only private ones.

No buying "stuff." Have enough junk already.

No eats ashore. Definitely not. Never!

I think it all depends on the cruiser; how often they cruise, where they've been, etc. In our case it's not trying to save money, it's just that there's really nothing to "buy."

[pablo222]

[quote name='Cash123']Are you seriously telling me that you think there are people that go on cruises and dont spend a penny ?????
[/quote]

I have done this, although not every cruise, and it isn't a particular goal.

I exchange the elite bar setup for soft drinks; buy a coke sticker;
and leave the auto-tipping on the folio. If the cruise calls at
Princess Cays, I'll buy soft drinks there, too.

This covers my drinks for the cruise, as I don't drink
alcohol -- either at home, or on the ship.
(nothing stuns the waiters more at the most-traveled-pax
party than asking for a soft drink)

The charges are offset by any TA shipboard credit,
stockholder shipboard credit, and loyalty Captains Circle
shipboard credit.

I learned through a bad experience to not end the cruise with a positive
balance, so I always take care of that -- one way or another on the
last day.

Having no balance is not a goal, and I do like to go to Sabatini's
or Crown Grill. But, when I'm traveling along, it's not that much
fun to do, so I save it for when Mrs. Pablo is along.

[Pam in CA]

[quote name='Cash123']Are you seriously telling me that you think there are people that go on cruises and dont spend a penny ?????

No drinks (coffee/soda/beer/wine/alcohol)
No Tours
No Buying any goods or pressies when ashore
No eats when ashore
The list could go on, but you get my drift....[/QUOTE]Sure. Why not? On my 10-day Sapphire cruise last month, I had enough OBC from various sources (TA, Elite, FCC, and stockholder) to cover tips, nightly cocktails, bottle of wine, etc. And my final folio was $15.47. I didn't take any tours but did do a little jewelry shopping onshore. I spent a total of $230 for a sterling silver omega and a beautiful fire opal pendant set in silver and gold.

[mytime53]

[quote name='dudeagain']What line? Your waiter would deliver it to you with your dessert if it was free.....he still will now but you will have a receipt to sign! :D[/quote]

I prefer my specialty coffees in the early afternoon. Even if free, I wouldn't have them in the evening--it's just black coffee with my dessert for me.

[Cash123]

i dont want to be pickey here but the 3 cruisers that have replied have said.

"Yes, very possible. We don't buy drinks except for having the coffee card. We bring our own wine aboard and exchange our Elite setup for diet cokes and beer."

"I exchange the elite bar setup for soft drinks; buy a coke sticker;
and leave the auto-tipping on the folio. If the cruise calls at
Princess Cays, I'll buy soft drinks there, too."

"Sure. Why not? On my 10-day Sapphire cruise last month, I had enough OBC from various sources (TA, Elite, FCC, and stockholder) to cover tips, nightly cocktails, bottle of wine, etc. And my final folio was $15.47. I didn't take any tours but did do a little jewelry shopping onshore. I spent a total of $230 for a sterling silver omega and a beautiful fire opal pendant set in silver and gold. "

So in some way you have all spent money albeit for some it meant using OBC's. And Pam $230 is not spending nothing LOL.

I dont say you have to spend £1000's to enjoy yourself its just the thought of going on a cruise without any money to spend seems foreign to me, and of course lets not forget that we have all spent our hard earned dosh paying for the cruise in the first place.

[mytime53]

[quote name='Cash123']Are you seriously telling me that you think there are people that go on cruises and dont spend a penny ?????

No drinks (coffee/soda/beer/wine/alcohol)
No Tours
No Buying any goods or pressies when ashore
No eats when ashore
The list could go on, but you get my drift....[/quote]

Well, for starters, I was talking onboard spending. And yes, I seriously do think that.
Not everyone drinks alcohol (in our party of 6 last month, 2 don't drink--one for religious reasons and one for health reasons. They're still a really fun group, and although it doesn't matter on a cruise ship, we always have a designated driver when with them!)
We did all our tours for 10 ports on our own, except for one Princess tour. Could just as easily skipped that one, but we had OBC to burn.
On a cruise, we usually do without our soda for the duration of the trip. Lots of other stuff to drink. Funny how we don't miss it that much. In a hot climate, we need good ole H2O.
And buying stuff--well, I have too much stuff now. I won $50 credit in the gift shop last month--it wasn't easy to spend, to be honest. I finally found some t-shirts and puzzles for the grandkids that they'll like, a sea horse magnet to commemmorate our first sea horse sighting, and an angelfish keychain to remind us of the 2 that followed us all over the reef on Bonaire. All stuff that wouldn't take up too much space in our bags for the trip home.

We disembarked owing $80 for the 2 of us for 2 weeks. We weren't trying to do it, I'm just not interested in most of what costs extra on a cruise ship. Quite honestly, could have done without the 2 coffee cards--by the time we got back on board each day it was too late for us to have our specialty coffees most days, but that's okay--we'll use them on another trip. And if we hadn't gone to the pub lunch 2x (and if we'd been on board another week we probably wouldn't have gone again), we wouldn't have had those Guinness. Without the coffee cards and the Guinness, we would have had OBC left over.

[Pam in CA]

Cash, I spent that on shore, which I don't think counts since the discussion is about onboard spending. :)

[mytime53]

[quote name='u2cruiser'] You don't really need to spend a penny extra if you really don't want to.[/quote]

[quote name='Cash123']Now wouldnt that be a sad cruise LOL[/quote]

[quote name='u2cruiser']It would, but you can bet your life some people do exactly that ;).[/quote]


My original comment about people equating money with fun was in reply to the above posts, and was referring to [I]extra OB[/I] spending.
There's really only 5 ways to spend money on board:
eat more
drink more
buy more stuff
gamble
spa treatments

I'd be willing to bet that [I]most[/I] people get home and think they did too much of [I]at least one[/I] of the above. Which kind of detracts from the fun had during the cruise.

[icyfrost]

[quote name='Cash123']Are you seriously telling me that you think there are people that go on cruises and dont spend a penny ?????

No drinks (coffee/soda/beer/wine/alcohol)
No Tours
No Buying any goods or pressies when ashore
No eats when ashore
The list could go on, but you get my drift....[/quote]my neighbors do this, heaven forbid they go to a specialty restaurant. 14 cruises and only book inside rooms too. Sad way to live being so darn cheap.

[paul929207]

[quote name='mytime53']My original comment about people equating money with fun was in reply to the above posts, and was referring to [I]extra OB[/I] spending.
There's really only 5 ways to spend money on board:
eat more
drink more
buy more stuff
gamble
spa treatments

I'd be willing to bet that [I]most[/I] people get home and think they did too much of [I]at least one[/I] of the above. Which kind of detracts from the fun had during the cruise.[/QUOTE]
i would add shore excursions to the list.

[mytime53]

[quote name='paul929207']i would add shore excursions to the list.[/quote]
You're so right--I knew I was forgetting something.

[jbeb]

[quote name='Pam in CA']That's awful! What if the other person doesn't drink anything other than tea, coffee or water? They're forced to buy a card? $75/pp/day seems extreme and excessive.[/QUOTE]
Hello!?
$75.00 /Day is about what we paid for our simple outside booking on our last cruise. Most port days we are in port. Wow! Double the cost incase we might be thirsty and onboard?
Guess I will not count myself a Costa fan...
LOL
Jan

[Pam in CA]

[quote name='jbeb']$75.00 /Day is about what we paid for our simple outside booking on our last cruise. Most port days we are in port. Wow! Double the cost incase we might be thirsty and onboard?
Guess I will not count myself a Costa fan... [/quote]Make that two of us. Why should one person be penalized because another drinks?

[donna5]

Since I have never had a soda card, someone above said they get a soda card and then they said they buy soda on Princess Cays. Since the last two times we didn't get into Princess Cays I haven't seen all the improvements. I would have thought they had a soda fountain there by now. So is the soda card not good on Princess Cays. (They need soda for Rum and Coke and Cuba Libres:eek: