Drink Coupons - What am I missing?

[CruzerDeb]

I know I must be missing something. What's the point in buying drink coupons? You pay for the coupons, then use the coupon to buy a drink onboard; however, if the drink is more than the coupon's value (and it seems like they are all more), you pay the difference . . .

 

What's the point?

 

I don't want to miss out on a good deal just because I'm clueless!

[All4fun&fun4all]

On our last sailing the tip ended up being less, so in a way you do save money. I didnt notice this until I looked at receipts later. For example:

 

When I bought a drink for $7.50, and I handed over my coupon and s&s card, the computer would minus the $5.75 for a total of 1.75. It would then add the 15% gratuity to the $1.75. (not to the $7.50)

 

I hope I explained that properly. Math is not my strong suit. :o

[Oskial]

There is a slight savings. When you present the coupons there is no added 15% gratuity on the amount of the coupon. If you buy a drink that is more than the coupon then you are charged 15% on the added value. Sometimes (not often) the bar tender will not even charge you the difference of the drink if it is more than the coupon. It's also a good way to help pre-pay for your stay on the ship.

[tracyanns]

It does save a few cents on the tip or if you are a domestic beer drinker it will cover the cost for the beer, so you just hand over the coupon and owe nothing...

 

Plus, they make nice gifts...if you know someone cruising you can call and have them onboard for them...it is a minor convenience to have to sign for $1 or $2 to use the coupon and save the other $5...

 

Would make more sense to have only 3 levels of drink prices and to have coupons available for all of those...

 

Something like:

Tier 1: domestic beer/cheap wine/non alcoholic smoothies

Tier 2: frozen drinks/better wine/imported beer

Tier 3: best wine/specialty drinks/champagne

[elcuchio24]

I know I must be missing something. What's the point in buying drink coupons? You pay for the coupons, then use the coupon to buy a drink onboard; however, if the drink is more than the coupon's value (and it seems like they are all more), you pay the difference . . .

 

What's the point?

 

I don't want to miss out on a good deal just because I'm clueless!

 

You're not missing anything. Just a way to 'prepay' in essence for drinks. Also you save a very small amount on the tip. Pretty pointless if you ask me.

[cawagner]

We buy them all the time for our cruise, we buy enough for us to have X amount of drinks per day. We are not big drinkers and we also do not like to have a big SS charge at the end (we also prepay tips & excursions, just like to have just about everything prepaid before we go)

[JO-TRAVEL ALOT]

My husband and I are beer drinkers. We purchased drink coupons before our last cruise and we really liked using them. We purchased a few books every couple of paychecks, and it was nice having them prepaid. We drink Miller Lite and the coupon covered the whole cost. Some people think they are pointless, I don't like charging on our credit card when I can prepurchase on my debit card and have it all taken care of before we sail. I have a few left over and will be using them next month on the Glory and have purchased a few more. They also make great gifts.

[CruzerDeb]

Okay, now I get it! Thanks!:)

[Silent Penguin]

We buy them all the time for our cruise, we buy enough for us to have X amount of drinks per day. We are not big drinkers and we also do not like to have a big SS charge at the end

 

 

That sounds good to me, too. I'm guessing you can buy the drink coupons on the Carnival website?

[elcuchio24]

That sounds good to me, too. I'm guessing you can buy the drink coupons on the Carnival website?

 

Through the BV department....

[dst]

You can purchase the drink tickets on the website as well.......Just need the booking info

 

We always purchase a few for us and recently one of my Directors was sailing on the Ecstasy and I put some in the cabin as a thank you. She was thrilled that we thought of her and helped her kick off her vacation :D

[Disneycruisers]

I know I must be missing something. What's the point in buying drink coupons? You pay for the coupons, then use the coupon to buy a drink onboard; however, if the drink is more than the coupon's value (and it seems like they are all more), you pay the difference . . .

 

What's the point?

 

I don't want to miss out on a good deal just because I'm clueless!

 

On a $5.75 drink you save .86 cents ( the tip amount). For our trip next month I bought 48 coupons which will save me $41.28.

[tracyvansmith]

by saving the 15% tip after 7 drinks you have saved about $6 which is a price of a drink.

 

So if you have two people and they drink 6 drinks a day between them for 7 days with out coupons it would be $5.75 x 15% = $277.62

 

or if you have two people and they drink 6 drinks a day between them for 7 days with coupons it would be $5.75 = $241.5

 

So a difference of $36.12. To me that is a big deal.

[me-shel]

If I purchase drink tickets now (June '12, Inspiration) and have any left over, can I keep them and use them on our next cruise (Mar '13, Freedom)? I'd assume if prices went up between now and then they'd still just be worth the 5.75? I'm not necessarily looking for a big cost savings, I just like the idea of pre-paying for things to minimize the on-board charges. It makes it seem a little less painful (even when the total is really the same).

 

I don't think there's a huge chance of having leftovers if we do buy them... but you never know! ;)

[golfadj]

You're not missing anything. Just a way to 'prepay' in essence for drinks. Also you save a very small amount on the tip. Pretty pointless if you ask me.

 

We never know how much we will decide to drink before a cruise so would never know how many to buy.

 

Unless you want to prepay stuff it is useless IMHO.

[Not_Done_Living]

i received 4 drink tickets in my cabin on my birthday (courtesy of my MIL) and i didn't use them -- i didnt even think about them and the were in my pocket.

[Disneycruisers]

If I purchase drink tickets now (June '12, Inspiration) and have any left over, can I keep them and use them on our next cruise (Mar '13, Freedom)? I'd assume if prices went up between now and then they'd still just be worth the 5.75? I'm not necessarily looking for a big cost savings, I just like the idea of pre-paying for things to minimize the on-board charges. It makes it seem a little less painful (even when the total is really the same).

 

I don't think there's a huge chance of having leftovers if we do buy them... but you never know! ;)

 

Yes they are good on all future cruises.