SODA CARD if youve bought one would you again?

[greatful]

SODA CARD if youve bought one on a past cruise would you again on your next cruise? Thanks

[safein]

Absolutely! I tend to drink a lot of soda on a cruise, with at least 2 glasses during dinner alone. Just remember, they use Coca Cola products!

 

Anita

[BobbyK]

A Definite yes to buying the soda card. It's convenient in getting your sodas, especially at meal times.

Robin

[MizzCard]

Have bought one every cruise so far!

[davehau]

Nope... my first cruise, my 16 year old son was with me. He normally drank lots of soda, so it seemed the card would be a good deal. He ended up drinking one soda the entire cruise.

 

He said the easy availability of other good stuff to drink, such as good water, lemonade, and punch made getting a soda during the day rather pointless, particularly since he was engaging in a lot of outdoor activities, and he knew the soda would simply make him more thirsty. He could simply duck into the buffet, fill up at one of the many dispensers, and be back at his activities. At dinner, he opted for iced tea, which in the dining room is incredibly good. In contrast to the swill they called iced tea in the buffet area, the iced tea in the dining room seems fresh brewed. He also said he often got a hot chocolate or coffee late in the evening while he and his new friends were hanging out on an aft deck.

 

Based on the price of the card, vs sodas bought shore-side, if I was a big soda drinker I think I'd simply bring a 12 pack with me when I boarded, then replenish at ports-of-call as needed (Coca Cola and Pepsi seem to have penetrated everyplace in the world.) Personally, I may drink one soda a year, and that's only if it's the only thing available when I am desperate ;)

[Iamboatman]

Nope. During our first few cruises we got them and they never paid off. Our kids seem to drink less soda and more of everything else on cruises. Unless you, or your kids, drink alot of soda while on board (and if you are on a port intensive cruise you will be off the ship alot) they really aren't a good value. If you do enjoy that sort of bubbly, it can save you some real money.

[ladyandchristian]

definitely, if you are used to drinking it daily. Also, my husband doesnt really drink those fruit punch types juice drinks, especially not every day all day, so the pop is great. Also great because you can fill the water container from your room to use in mixed drinks, and also because they are fairly lax about people sharing them. My husband got the card, but I would often have some of his soda with dinner and no one seemed to mind.

[Cruisin Rick]

No, it was a bust as far as I'm concerned. Maybe if you like lot's of soda with your meals it might work out though. We don't drink soda with most meals. We also found that servers durring shows and other entertainment activities wouldn't go out of their way to serve soda card drinkers because more tip money was earned in getting pay per drink customers. It wasn't really blatant but enough to discourage buying another card.

[giggglius]

Absolutely, wouldn't miss it. Plus, if you don't drink alcohol how else are you going to meet the bartenders who are some of the friendliest people on the ship???

 

 

 

SODA CARD if youve bought one on a past cruise would you again on your next cruise? Thanks

[phtktz3]

My teenage son always gets one, and it has always paid off, although on this last cruise on the Summit he had a hard time getting waited on while using it. He would often be ignored by the bartender or not treated with much respect while using it. On one occasion instead of bringing his soda down to where we were standing the bartender simply raised the glass in the air so he could seee it and then set it down, so my son had to walk down the bar to get it. He is 19 and on RCCL he is allowed to drink beer or wine so on RCCL we have found that the soda card for him does not pay off, as he will have a few beers through out the day or night and not so much soda. The cost of the card last week was $45.00 tip included

[Arubalisa]

SODA CARD if youve bought one on a past cruise would you again on your next cruise? Thanks

Dh & I had each purchased a soda card on our HAL cruise last year. We felt it was well worth the money.

[Cruisenrev]

Although this is our first Celebrity cruise, we have purchased cards on the other trips. We have this soda habit and will go though 4-5 cans a day each. (diet folks- I am round enough).

 

So the question for you is, how much will you drink per day? Then do the math. Last cruise one of my friends was buying his drinks by the shot, then doing his own mixing with his soda. Claimed it was cheaper. I don't know - I drink beer.;)

[dmarch@islc.net]

Never again, they have gotten so expensive I can't get my moneys worth out of them any more. I bring a 12pac of Diet Coke with us when we get on, and grab more as needed in port. No problem.

[teedee]

I bought the card one time, but I wouldn't do it again. I just don't drink enough soda to make it worth the price. The very most I would drink would be 1 a day and usually not that much so it makes more sense for me to just buy as I go. I agree that most of the time it was hard to get service. I did find tipping a dollar every now and then helped out with that problem.

 

Terri

[Fang]

I never thought about buying soda in a port and bringing it on. I guess it was so simple it never entered my mind!!

 

I know that you may or may not be able to bring booze onboard. What about soda? I can not believe that they would keep it, when you get on the ship, and give it to you on the last night.

 

Do you just walk right on the ship with it or have to hide it?

[Blazerboy]

Was on a cruise where I wasn't drinking alcohol (no comments for the peanut gallery about the low profits for the cruise line that trip!:D ) so I bought a soda card. In seven days, I had eight gingerales. Definitely a bad deal for me, but for those who drink a lot of soda...whoever said "do the math" is right. See if you drink enough EVERY day, including port days, and then go for it.

 

Andrew

[CaribbeanBound]

We bought the card twice. Once for my wife (who has since decided it's not worth it and drinks the free beverages instead --- coffee, tea, iced tea, milk, juice). The other time I offered the soda card or the cash equivilent to my kids. My 15-year-old took the card (and drank so much soda that it came out to 5 cents a glass) and my 11-year-old daughter took the cash and drank milk.

[mahdnc]

Our son won a soda sticker for our 10 night Horizon cruise earlier this year. On top of that, the dining room staff allowed us to use the sticker for getting Cokes for both of our kids during dinner each night. Still, I don't think we would purchase one during our next cruise.

[sowindct]

I am leaving on the Connie in 2 weeks and will definately be buying a soda card. As far as having trouble getting waited on, I always tipped $1 when getting a soda. After doing this a couple of times, they always came right over to help me. It helped having the $1 ready in my hand with my soda glass.

[dspencer]

We are pretty much teetotal so buy adult soda cards and that is our entire drinks cost for the cruise. our daughter drinks water.

We go to a bar and take them back to our cabin if we want a drink in room.

Never had a problem getting served.

We find a bar we like that is quiet and get to know the staff. often they serve us first!

I wouldn't dream of tipping for my drink! I paid already!!!

It is great value.

Fay

[cookie1961]

I don't think we'll get one again. We purchased the soda card on a Royal cruise a few years ago but my daughter really didn't drink that many. So this past cruise, we decided to bring aboard six cans of pop for her on an 11 night cruise. It worked out quite well and she actually had one left on the day of disembarkation. She really enjoyed the tropical drinks provided on Galaxy.

[flagger]

Nope. We brought our own soda on board last cruise. I found that the 10 oz mugs were not just enough when you add ice, so we brought our own bigger cups with us. I also rarely like fountain drinks as usually the mix between CO2 water and syrup is never right.

[trcori]

a cruise or two ago, my husband actually managed to get one for the last couple days of the cruise, pro-rated. it wasn't even worth that. we usually manage to end our cruises without having spent huge amounts of $ on beverages in general. we do spend for the special things we really want -- his daily martini, some fancy Cova coffees for me -- but at meals and elsewhere, we chug lots of water (the basic ship stuff tastes great to us, not much different from the Brita-filtered water we drink at home) and iced tea; our son likes the standard ship fruit punch! -- TR

[dcwlopez]

My husband got a soda sticker on our Century cruise last week. He had a soda with dinner every night, but sometimes had a hard time getting sodas during the day. On sea days, he'd hang out at the bar waiting to get a soda for about 10 to 15 minutes. Only to get a glass filled mostly with ice. By the time he was 20 feet away he'd already finished off the little bit of soda in the glass. He didn't really use the soda card at all on port days so I don't think we really got our money's worth out of it. For us, it would have been cheaper to just buy a couple of sodas when he wanted one rather than have the card.

[flashdog_1]

Yes, you can carry on sodas. No problem. There is no restriction in the rules about bringing sodas with you. I've done it most times when I'm not flying, or buy it in the first port. With all the nice juices/punches and other beverages offered 24/7 on the ship we sometimes don't even drink a 12 pack for the entire cruise.

 

You can remove the set ups in the mini-fridge, but tell your steward you are doing so and place them in the drawer above the fridge. If you bring a thermal mug from home you can also fill it with the punch and drink it in the cabin later in the day when you don't feel like walking to the lido. Take it to the pool, too, if you like.