How much would you pay for unlimited drinks?

[CanadianMAG]

I saw this in another section and thought it was interesting:

 

 

If HAL had an alcoholic drink card, how much would you be willing to pay? For the sake of clarity, let's assume that, like the soft drink card, you would be required to buy it for the whole duration of your cruise and that it would apply only to standard brands of liquors and beers. Premiums would cost extra. Wine is not included except for some skanky house label. A 15 % gratuity would be added to the price you chose and some would tend to tip the bar staff for quicker refills.

 

 

I should have added this too: I'd rather a punch card then "unlimited"

[Balliett]

What a concept. It acutally exists (unlimited free drinks). It's called "Vegas." One's only hope is that the waitresses don't come 'round every ten minutes. On a more sober note, most HA cruises have Friends of Bill meetings.

[ekerr19]

I'd pay - but I think it should be limited (didn't vote for that, though) - maybe 3-4 drinks per person, per day, not sure the ideal cost for a 7-day cruise... but "unlimited" would be totally taken advantage of and not very realistic, imo.

[tokorchk]

IIRC on our last HAL trip to the carribean, on Half Moon Cay we bought unlimited drink cards for the day to go with our cabana. I think they were about $15 each, but the entire day is kind of hazy in my memory (the rum punch was very strong.....)

[Scrumpy]

Very interesting question. I haven't even been able to decide how to vote! I know that when we've stayed at all-inclusive resorts it seemed like most mixed drinks had very little liquor in them. I wonder how a drink card would affect the ratio of mix to liquor. It also seemed that sometimes the selections were limited and that the big 'push' was on the more filling frozen drinks. Hmmm, very good question!

[Tarkus]

back when i was younger i would've paid a lot more - now it's not that big of a deal. i answered <30, but since i'm usually found diving each port of call - and it's not safe to have gotten blitzed the night before then try to safely scuba - i likely wouldn't buy one even if it became available. wouldn't be cost-effective for me at this point.

[bdmarine]

DW and I would gladly pay $300 apiece for an open bar for 7 days. BTW, we don't think HAL would have the nerve to water down the drinks any more than they already are.

[remixernyc]

i don't think I'd pay for an unlimited drink card unless it included "all" drinks.... :)

[Oceanwench]

I'd pay - but I think it should be limited (didn't vote for that, though) - maybe 3-4 drinks per person, per day, not sure the ideal cost for a 7-day cruise... but "unlimited" would be totally taken advantage of and not very realistic, imo.

 

I agree. Some type of card allowing 3-4 drinks/day makes sense.

And of course you could have the rollover drinks for the next day, if you don't use them all up!

 

When I sailed on Windjammer back in 1994, I bought one of their drink cards. I forget what it cost, but the bartender would punch the card according to what you ordered. Beer might have been 2 punches, the drink o' the day three punches, etc.

It worked out that you saved $$$ by buying the card.

[BCEagle78]

Unlimited drinks encourages people to try to get their money's worth. This isn't the style that I have come to observe on HAL cruises. Although there are some who drink to excess, it is much less common than on Carnival.

 

So, I don't think this would be a good idea and could negatively impact those who have to co-exist with a higher number of intoxicated passengers.

[sail7seas]

I agree with BC Eagle.

Even though DH and I drink (I almost exclusively drink wine), I would be very opposed to them offering an 'open bar' drink card. There are always a handful of folks who will do something to excess in order to "get their money's worth" and that could lead to an unpleasant experience for other cruisers. It could lead to too many folks having too many drinks. JMHO

[jhannah]

And I agree as well. It's not HAL's style to offer unlimited booze. But to answer the OP's question, no, I wouldn't purchase one.

[bepsf]

I wouldn't purchase one either - not becasue I don't enjoy my cocktails, but because I always specify 'top-shelf' liquors and premium wines.

[Odd Ball]

I would only buy one if premium brands were included.

[DLepard]

what if they had tiered cards....

 

Standard... beer, call drinks with standard liquers say, blocks of 10 or 20 drinks... maybe $30 for 10, $50 for 20?

 

Premium.... premium drinks and frozen concoctions say... $45 for 10 and $80 for 20??

 

I think that would be the way to go... unlimited would encourage waste, overimbibement, roudiness and i think would CHEAPEN the atmosphere. IF you buy in blocks, maybe make them a "per cabin" rather than a per person card... or even if it were a "per person" card, not a bad deal. Most people think they are going to drink more than they do anyway... Last cruise I drank about 12 drinks, but I would have opted for a 20 drink card. IN essence, the cruise ship would make more money on it in most instances.... because NOT EVERYONE is going to drink 20 drinks in 7 days. SURE, some will, and some will drink more.... but i think it would all average out... benifit the cruise savvy people, AND the cruise line. OF course they would ad a 15% gratuity on the card, so the tip would be taken care of regardless if the buy has 6 out of 10 drinks or 10 out of 10.

 

Just my theory....

 

I would not go unlimited. Can you imagine the lines at the bar? ACK

[fridayeyes]

Hmm, I don't think I'd go for the card idea. I just don't drink enough. I would love to have wine included with dinner, though, and would pay extra to have my meals presented as pairings - different wine with each entree, etc. On big days, I might have three cocktails (bbc, margarita), but usually it's more like 1 or two, or even none.

 

Cheers,

 

Friday

[Scrumpy]

I would really like this, too. I am woefully under-educated about wine, but have found my tastes much broader than I'd expected when we've had meals where this was done FOR US.

I would love to have wine included with dinner, though, and would pay extra to have my meals presented as pairings - different wine with each entree, etc.

IIRC, my cocktails are about $5 apiece, possibly $6. To get my "money's worth" out of a $30 drink card, I would have to consume 6 cocktails. Over the course of an entire day, that could happen. If you have a few by the pool, a few before dinner and a few after dinner, most people would be able to do fine and would probably not be noticeably intoxicated - or even legally intoxicated, as long as they also ate meals. However, to do that, I'd have to give up wine with dinner and a possible coffee drink after dinner. I can't usually drink in the sun either, so the whole afternoon "drink allotment" would be bumped up into evening. At that point, all bets are off. Put that much liquor into me over the course of 4 or 5 hours, and odds are that strange things will happen. So, I might buy a card if it was under $30/day and included alcoholic beverages & wine. Truly high-end liquor would not be included. We buy the wine package already and even at $30/pp, a daily drink card for a week would add $420 to our cruise costs PLUS the extra wine cost...Yikes!

[tlmlb]

This is one of the reasons that A-I's are better than mainstream cruise lines. I would pay extra as part of the fare rather than a card type system. It should include all drinks (premiums but not ultra-premium brands), beer and a decent wine with dinner. Also, I would support a culture where the servers are tipped extra (in cash) for this service. I would also expect that I would take care of the sommelier at the end of the trip. Also, there would be no reason to limit byob.

[tlmlb]

... unlimited would encourage waste, overimbibement, roudiness and i think would CHEAPEN the atmosphere.......

 

I would not go unlimited. Can you imagine the lines at the bar? ACK

 

You really think it would change people's behavior? If I want a drink I get a drink.....

[RuthC]

I voted that I wouldn't buy one. IRL I'm allowed a drink/week, and on a cruise a drink/day. Even on a long cruise I'd lose $$$ on this deal.

 

There was a time that there was a drink card, though. On the Veendam in '98 (the one and only time I saw this) you could purchase a drink card for $50, then buy $50 worth of drinks---even so far. But then you could re-load the card to get $60 worth of drinks for $50. And you could keep re-loading the card as many times as you wished. You could purchase any kind of drink with it that you wanted.

My husband went through several re-loadings---saved a bundle on the deal.

Never knew if that's why I never saw it offered again. :confused:

[ryansmemom]

I would not buy one. I just don't drink enough to make it anywhere near cost effective. If HAL were to depend on me to off set costs using my bar bill they would go out of business.

 

Linda

 

:D

[jhannah]

You really think it would change people's behavior?

I certainly believe that. Not all people, of course, but I've seen too many people who do all they can to get all they can when there's no thought of cost involved. Just look at our Las Vegas buffets! It's incredible how high folks stack their plates with food, then go back again and again. These folks would be the same way with liquor if drinks were unlimited, IMO.

[Tarkus]

it's interesting... i posted my answer, then started thinking about the others in my group that are sailing on the z... they all hail from new orleans and most are championship-calibre drinkers! i'm confident most-if-not-all would avail themselves of such a card - so that measurements would be taken in bottles per day rather than drinks per day! :eek: :D

[tlmlb]

I certainly believe that. Not all people, of course, but I've seen too many people who do all they can to get all they can when there's no thought of cost involved. Just look at our Las Vegas buffets! It's incredible how high folks stack their plates with food, then go back again and again. These folks would be the same way with liquor if drinks were unlimited, IMO.

 

I give folks a little more credit than that. I would hope the clientele would be classy and responsible.

 

Are you saying there is a significant segment of HAL passengers who would do the Homer Simpson and say "its free, so give me all I can stuff in my face and pour down my throat?"

 

A drinker is a drinker and a glutton is a glutton....costs have little to do with sobriety.

[debblue]

yes i would purchase the card as when i cruise i will buy my champagen which at the last cruise was 55.oo a bottle so a drink card would would wonderful. for a 7 day cruise i normally would have 3-4 bottles reserved for me so if the drink card included champagen sign me up yes i wouldpurchase it...:) :) :)