Open bar cruise?

[rok233]

Is anyone with a group or know of a group that has the open bar card for a december cruise?

[beverland]

Huh? What is that?

[Merion_Mom]

Even if there were such a group, you can't just hook onto them. You have to be part of the group from booking time on. They are usually some sort of affinity group - all employees of the same company, for instance.

And they are very unusual on RC - they don't happen often at all.

Just buy your drinks.

:)

[rok233]

[quote name='Merion_Mom']Even if there were such a group, you can't just hook onto them. You have to be part of the group from booking time on. They are usually some sort of affinity group - all employees of the same company, for instance.

And they are very unusual on RC - they don't happen often at all.

Just buy your drinks.

:)[/quote]

Not true, I added on with groups that I didn't know on two different occasions in the past. And it is buying your drinks, just pre-paid. Paying over $400 isn't buying your drinks? :)

[skandls]

If you really want drinks included try Celebrity - they have drink packages.

[mommabean]

I just got off Monarch today and the "open bar cruise" was on board. That was exactly their name. They had a separate check in desk, after official check in, where they received their credentials, whatever those may have been. There were over 600 people who were part of the group. There were extra bars set up all around the pool deck and it was unlike any cruise I've ever been on.

I booked 2 days prior to the cruise having no idea what was in store. It was my first solo cruise. I was on deck 2 for the first AND LAST time. I had 3 horrible night's sleep (the first being the worst) due to the college dorm atmosphere. There was swearing and running around, screaming and yelling and banging. My stateroom attendant was even shocked and said just this morning that they were like a bunch of children, and he was young himself. I saw men staggering into the windjammer on more than one occasion with bare feet and no shirt and they were asked to leave. After refusing, a supervisor would be called. I saw one young man running down the stairs crying and carrying on over what some girl did at the dance party on the pool deck.

That being said I ended up having a really nice time due to someone from cruise critic who befriended me and let me hang out with them. That was the highlight of the weekend. Otherwise it would have been a weird situation for me.

And for the record, Monarch of the Seas is the highest revenue ship in the fleet and this was the highest revenue cruise for the ship this entire year. That is directly from the Hotel Director himself.

Gina

[tinkerbell_82]

[quote name='rok233']Not true, I added on with groups that I didn't know on two different occasions in the past. And it is buying your drinks, just pre-paid. Paying over $400 isn't buying your drinks? :)[/quote]

That's right- I hooked up to the one sailing 9/28. :)

And yes, I paid for my drinks too, trust me!

[mommabean]

This coming weekend - Open Bar Cruise - Monarch of the Seas

$379 pp Cat M double occupancy
$419 pp Cat G (ocean view) double occupancy

[oneputt18]

Google "open bar cruise"
These are some of the upcoming cruises:Ship and Sail Date*
February, 22nd 2013 - Monarch of the Seas - Port Canaveral, FL
March, 1st 2013 - Monarch of the Seas - Port Canaveral, FL
March, 8th 2013 - Monarch of the Seas - Port Canaveral, FL
March, 10th 2013 - Mariner of the Seas - Galveston, TX
April, 20th 2013 - Oasis of the Seas - Fort Lauderdale, FL
April, 27th 2013 - Oasis of the Seas - Fort Lauderdale, FL
September 21st 2012 - Monarch of the Seas - Port Canaveral, FL
September 28th 2012 - Monarch of the Seas - Port Canaveral, FL
I hope this doesn't violate any board policy.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[mechcc]

[quote name='oneputt18']Google "open bar cruise"
These are some of the upcoming cruises:Ship and Sail Date*
February, 22nd 2013 - Monarch of the Seas - Port Canaveral, FL
March, 1st 2013 - Monarch of the Seas - Port Canaveral, FL
March, 8th 2013 - Monarch of the Seas - Port Canaveral, FL
[SIZE=4][COLOR=red]March, 10th 2013 - Mariner of the Seas - Galveston, TX[/COLOR][/SIZE]
April, 20th 2013 - Oasis of the Seas - Fort Lauderdale, FL
April, 27th 2013 - Oasis of the Seas - Fort Lauderdale, FL
September 21st 2012 - Monarch of the Seas - Port Canaveral, FL
September 28th 2012 - Monarch of the Seas - Port Canaveral, FL
I hope this doesn't violate any board policy.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk[/quote]

Not good - that's spring break week in Texas. Open bar and spring break - hope the Mariner survives.

[dz9yvr]

[quote name='mommabean']I just got off Monarch today and the "open bar cruise" was on board. That was exactly their name. They had a separate check in desk, after official check in, where they received their credentials, whatever those may have been. There were over 600 people who were part of the group. There were extra bars set up all around the pool deck and it was unlike any cruise I've ever been on.

I booked 2 days prior to the cruise having no idea what was in store. It was my first solo cruise. I was on deck 2 for the first AND LAST time. I had 3 horrible night's sleep (the first being the worst) due to the college dorm atmosphere. There was swearing and running around, screaming and yelling and banging. My stateroom attendant was even shocked and said just this morning that they were like a bunch of children, and he was young himself. I saw men staggering into the windjammer on more than one occasion with bare feet and no shirt and they were asked to leave. After refusing, a supervisor would be called. I saw one young man running down the stairs crying and carrying on over what some girl did at the dance party on the pool deck.

That being said I ended up having a really nice time due to someone from cruise critic who befriended me and let me hang out with them. That was the highlight of the weekend. Otherwise it would have been a weird situation for me.

And for the record, Monarch of the Seas is the highest revenue ship in the fleet and this was the highest revenue cruise for the ship this entire year. That is directly from the Hotel Director himself.

Gina[/quote]


It doesn't surprise me, this is what I would expect. I hope everyone that what's an unlimited drink package reads your post. Sure, everyone can say they don't act like a drunken jerk, but there will be enough drunken jerks to make it miserable for a lot of the other cruisers.

Please no more unlimted drink cruises or packages.

[cruisegirl1]

[quote name='mommabean']I just got off Monarch today and the "open bar cruise" was on board. That was exactly their name. They had a separate check in desk, after official check in, where they received their credentials, whatever those may have been. There were over 600 people who were part of the group. There were extra bars set up all around the pool deck and it was unlike any cruise I've ever been on.

I booked 2 days prior to the cruise having no idea what was in store. It was my first solo cruise. I was on deck 2 for the first AND LAST time. I had 3 horrible night's sleep (the first being the worst) due to the college dorm atmosphere. There was swearing and running around, screaming and yelling and banging. My stateroom attendant was even shocked and said just this morning that they were like a bunch of children, and he was young himself. I saw men staggering into the windjammer on more than one occasion with bare feet and no shirt and they were asked to leave. After refusing, a supervisor would be called. I saw one young man running down the stairs crying and carrying on over what some girl did at the dance party on the pool deck.

That being said I ended up having a really nice time due to someone from cruise critic who befriended me and let me hang out with them. That was the highlight of the weekend. Otherwise it would have been a weird situation for me.

And for the record, Monarch of the Seas is the highest revenue ship in the fleet and this was the highest revenue cruise for the ship this entire year. That is directly from the Hotel Director himself.

Gina[/QUOTE]

Oh – I would have NOT enjoyed the cruise. Glad it worked out for you. I have a CC friend (I think) on your sailing as part of a b2b. I’ll have to follow up when they return.

I am sure RCCL is pleased with the revenue, but I am not happy with the arrangement.

Thanks to the poster who listed the schedule. I’ve looked at the company site to get a bit more info. Clearly they are after a population segment. If the traveler would do some homework, they might find that paying for a cabin at standard rates and then paying to drink may turn out cheaper in the long run. At least there will no need for alcohol smuggling for those sailings.

M

[rok233]

[quote name='tinkerbell_82']That's right- I hooked up to the one sailing 9/28. :)

And yes, I paid for my drinks too, trust me![/quote]

I was booked on the September 21st Monarch cruise and couldn't make it at the last minute because I broke my ankle last week. :mad:

[rok233]

[quote name='oneputt18']Google "open bar cruise"
These are some of the upcoming cruises:Ship and Sail Date*
February, 22nd 2013 - Monarch of the Seas - Port Canaveral, FL
March, 1st 2013 - Monarch of the Seas - Port Canaveral, FL
March, 8th 2013 - Monarch of the Seas - Port Canaveral, FL
March, 10th 2013 - Mariner of the Seas - Galveston, TX
April, 20th 2013 - Oasis of the Seas - Fort Lauderdale, FL
April, 27th 2013 - Oasis of the Seas - Fort Lauderdale, FL
September 21st 2012 - Monarch of the Seas - Port Canaveral, FL
September 28th 2012 - Monarch of the Seas - Port Canaveral, FL
I hope this doesn't violate any board policy.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk[/quote]

I already had a cruise booked from that site but couldn't make it. I'm looking for a December cruise because I really want to get a vacation in before Christmas. Thanks for the info though. :)

[rok233]

[quote name='mommabean']I just got off Monarch today and the "open bar cruise" was on board. That was exactly their name. They had a separate check in desk, after official check in, where they received their credentials, whatever those may have been. There were over 600 people who were part of the group. There were extra bars set up all around the pool deck and it was unlike any cruise I've ever been on.

I booked 2 days prior to the cruise having no idea what was in store. It was my first solo cruise. I was on deck 2 for the first AND LAST time. I had 3 horrible night's sleep (the first being the worst) due to the college dorm atmosphere. There was swearing and running around, screaming and yelling and banging. My stateroom attendant was even shocked and said just this morning that they were like a bunch of children, and he was young himself. I saw men staggering into the windjammer on more than one occasion with bare feet and no shirt and they were asked to leave. After refusing, a supervisor would be called. I saw one young man running down the stairs crying and carrying on over what some girl did at the dance party on the pool deck.

That being said I ended up having a really nice time due to someone from cruise critic who befriended me and let me hang out with them. That was the highlight of the weekend. Otherwise it would have been a weird situation for me.

And for the record, Monarch of the Seas is the highest revenue ship in the fleet and this was the highest revenue cruise for the ship this entire year. That is directly from the Hotel Director himself.

Gina[/quote]

I completely understand where you're coming from. I'm well past the college frat party stage and that is completely unacceptable. They should have a zero tolerance when it comes to that kind of behaviour, especially not listening to staff. My two previous open bar experiences were much better than that with no problems at all. Maybe it was because they were 7 day cruises and the groups were around 50 people.

[debshomespun]

This is probably the last type of cruise I would want to be on. We have never done any of the 3 day (weekend) cruises. Seems alot of them tend to be weekend parties. I prefer to have peace and quiet on our seadays. We did Majesty 4 day back in March/04, and had our daughter and her friend, and it was not a college party time. I would rather pay for my couple drinks I might get on our cruise. As some others have said, prefer not to be in the college dorm atmosphere while on a cruise!

[Karter]

Not sure how good a deal this really is. I am on the Sept 28th cruise and booked it during the Tuesday sale at $129 for a window cabin.

So $419-$129 = $290 If you assume $8 per drink then it comes out to 36 drinks or 12 per day. I know I couldn't drink that much and have any time to enjoy the cruise.

[ksuds]

We were also on the open bar cruise last weekend, and we will be back on with the same group on the 28th. We aren't involved, but we were given the option to "buy in" to the open bar cruise.

We spoke with the F&B MGR and Hotel Director and the drink per diem breaks down to 50.00 per day per person. Considering how much they all drank, some people really made out. But in the end, RCL is the big profit winner. Yes, I agree, they also told us this was the larges money making cruise they've had yet.

There were 580 open bar passengers last weekend, and this weekend will have over 300+.

[cruisegirl1]

Interesting per diem amount as that is basically what the drink package costs on Celebrity. Not worth it for us, – but many (on Celebrity) are happy with the package.

I can imagine RCCL senior officers were happy with the revenue.

M

[Familygoboston]

[quote name='mommabean']I just got off Monarch today and the "open bar cruise" was on board. That was exactly their name. They had a separate check in desk, after official check in, where they received their credentials, whatever those may have been. There were over 600 people who were part of the group. There were extra bars set up all around the pool deck and it was unlike any cruise I've ever been on.

I booked 2 days prior to the cruise having no idea what was in store. It was my first solo cruise. I was on deck 2 for the first AND LAST time. I had 3 horrible night's sleep (the first being the worst) due to the college dorm atmosphere. There was swearing and running around, screaming and yelling and banging. My stateroom attendant was even shocked and said just this morning that they were like a bunch of children, and he was young himself. I saw men staggering into the windjammer on more than one occasion with bare feet and no shirt and they were asked to leave. After refusing, a supervisor would be called. I saw one young man running down the stairs crying and carrying on over what some girl did at the dance party on the pool deck.

Gina[/QUOTE]
What a nightmare!! You've scared me off of ever taking one of those short cruises. Sometimes I think it would be nice to take my mom (who lives in FL) on one, but no way! There are other fish in the sea!
[quote name='Karter']Not sure how good a deal this really is. I am on the Sept 28th cruise and booked it during the Tuesday sale at $129 for a window cabin.

So $419-$129 = $290 If you assume $8 per drink then it comes out to 36 drinks or 12 per day. I know I couldn't drink that much and have any time to enjoy the cruise.[/QUOTE]
Obviously, it worked well for those pax who were probably well over 12 a day...probably had 12 by lunch.:D

[mommabean]

[quote name='Familygoboston']What a nightmare!! You've scared me off of ever taking one of those short cruises. Sometimes I think it would be nice to take my mom (who lives in FL) on one, but no way! There are other fish in the sea!

[/QUOTE]

When we lived in Miami we went on several 3 night cruises on Majesty of the Seas. I took my daughters who were teenagers at the time. There was never anything like this happening. We always had a good time and got a good night's sleep. In fact there was never anything going on that doesn't go on during any other Caribbean beach/pool type cruise.

You can probably just check up on dates for open bar cruises and not go during spring and christmas breaks and you will likely not encounter this sort of behavior.

Also, book a room on a higher floor since they won't spend that much for a better category room. :)

On the last night I went to the Schooner bar to hear the piano player. The younger group of drinkers didn't seem to be anywhere around this location. There was a large group of 30ish people wearing Happy New Year hats enjoying them selves sanely and singing along with the piano player. They were actually quite nice and entertaining in spite of alcohol consumption. Apparently they had crossed that line of knowing when to draw the line and having an awareness that other people are around them.

You could probably be safe from "them" :rolleyes: by not going to the windjammer for meals, the disco or late night pool parties AND not booking the bargain prices in the lower locations.

There was no childish behavior in the main dining room. In fact, what I saw of Coco Cay was not anything out of the norm.

In other words, don't be scared. Be selective.

Gina

[mommabean]

[quote name='Karter']Not sure how good a deal this really is. I am on the Sept 28th cruise and booked it during the Tuesday sale at $129 for a window cabin.

So $419-$129 = $290 If you assume $8 per drink then it comes out to 36 drinks or 12 per day. I know I couldn't drink that much and have any time to enjoy the cruise.[/QUOTE]

I doubt that most of these people are savvy enough to shop the Tuesday sale. And they likely weren't looking for last minute deals either. They probably are more likely to compare it to the cost of a hotel + meals + clubbing and it was a bargain for them. Not to mention no one had to be a designated driver.

Gina

[Karter]

[quote name='mommabean']I doubt that most of these people are savvy enough to shop the Tuesday sale. And they likely weren't looking for last minute deals either. They probably are more likely to compare it to the cost of a hotel + meals + clubbing and it was a bargain for them. Not to mention no one had to be a designated driver.

Gina[/QUOTE]

You're right I should have said it wouldn't be a good deal for me. I'll just buy my drinks and still come out ahead.

[cruisegalfl]

[quote name='mommabean']I doubt that most of these people are savvy enough to shop the Tuesday sale. And they likely weren't looking for last minute deals either. They probably are more likely to compare it to the cost of a hotel + meals + clubbing and it was a bargain for them. Not to mention no one had to be a designated driver.

Gina[/quote]

Hi Gina,
It was great meeting you. I agree if you add everything up for the normal person $400 weekend is cheap. Not everyone stokes the interenet like us looking for a deal.:)

[mommabean]

[quote name='cruisegalfl']Hi Gina,
It was great meeting you. I agree if you add everything up for the normal person $400 weekend is cheap. Not everyone stokes the interenet like us looking for a deal.:)[/QUOTE]

HI Michelle, it was great to meet you and Karen on board, too. You two were another high point of the cruise for me. Next time, it's a high deck for me, too! :)

After speaking to you two, I've come home and started strategically planning my PC freebie. With the use it or lose it mentality they have, I have to figure out the what and where to fit it in.

Maybe we'll see you a week from Sunday at JD's.

Gina