The definitive Cheers program Thread

[RedDevil]

We go on the Liberty in just over 2 weeks. Did you come across anyone that reached their 15 drinks per day and did you find out whether at that point you could purchase further drinks at regular prices, or is your s&s card blocked completely until the next day?

[teddygurl28]

My info came straight from the bar manager on the Liberty. He told us that per Carnival policy, Cheers card purchases could only be charged to one s&S in the room no matter how many people or individual s&s accounts were in the room. We were introduced to him later in the cruise and asked about what had happened to our friends.

 

In the case of our friend (she is on the boards here - will see if I can get her to stop by this thread and explain furhter) there were three separate accounts with three separate credit cards. She was assured when purchasing it would be split amongst the three accounts only to find out later that policy was to charge only the primary account in the room. It was a huge ordeal that involed the bar manager to get it fixed.

 

 

Ugh so ok my card is going to get charged for both people? Thats insanely unfair and im not very happy. but whatever. I get in a way its easier for the bar people, and my husband and i will figure something out. But Id be verrrry unhappy if I were sailing with a friend and we had to use one card...

[Silvestri4]

We go on the Liberty in just over 2 weeks. Did you come across anyone that reached their 15 drinks per day and did you find out whether at that point you could purchase further drinks at regular prices, or is your s&s card blocked completely until the next day?

.

There was a group of 8 of us on glory in early jan. Almost all of us hit the 15 drink limit almost daily...the bartenders told us we needed to talk to a manager to purchase more drinks.......We never saw a bar manager, and the bartenders continued to serve us, just charging per drink after the 15...We were standing straight, able to put English sentences together and well composed. Seemed as though the bartenders would just talk to someone for us.

 

Also as far as sharing goes, my GF who was sailing with me, would never hit 15 in a day....i had brought some extra cash on board, realizing that the bartenders would be more apt to work with us, if some dead presidents were involved in the situation. My suspicions were correct...one night she went to bed early, i tapped out my card, and then commenced to work with hers for the remainder of the evening/early morning.

 

I personally feel that the last thing carnival wants to do is cut someone off, however the also must be responsible, and if you can't hold yourself up, talk straight, and have visible signs of being highly intoxicated...well they must.

 

Another thing i noticed is that those dead presidents also make your drinks come quicker and stronger, we had waiters on board that wouldn't let us out of their sight...they knew our drinks and how we liked them...we started calling the Long Islands we were getting from one of them Mind erasers...

 

Loved the cheers package, there didn't seem to be a drink we couldn't get, and everything went off smoothly throughout the week with the package. TOTALLY worth the money for someone that likes to drink throughout the day as heavily as we do.

 

Just hoping this package gets added to the sunshine before Jan of next year...since that is our next booked sailing...it really cut down on the cost of our S&S

[teddygurl28]

okay just got confirmation from John Heald- they charge one card for both people. In our case we will just put down cash under my card and then purchase it. He did say at any time during the cruise we could go to guest services and have accounting split the charges. But for us its easier to put the cash down. Just wanted to give the answer here in case anyone else needed it.

 

Thanks everyone!

[TOgirl47]

THANK YOU - was hoping to find a summary :)

[KG1924]

.

There was a group of 8 of us on glory in early jan. Almost all of us hit the 15 drink limit almost daily...the bartenders told us we needed to talk to a manager to purchase more drinks.......We never saw a bar manager, and the bartenders continued to serve us, just charging per drink after the 15...We were standing straight, able to put English sentences together and well composed. Seemed as though the bartenders would just talk to someone for us.

 

Also as far as sharing goes, my GF who was sailing with me, would never hit 15 in a day....i had brought some extra cash on board, realizing that the bartenders would be more apt to work with us, if some dead presidents were involved in the situation. My suspicions were correct...one night she went to bed early, i tapped out my card, and then commenced to work with hers for the remainder of the evening/early morning.

 

I personally feel that the last thing carnival wants to do is cut someone off, however the also must be responsible, and if you can't hold yourself up, talk straight, and have visible signs of being highly intoxicated...well they must.

 

Another thing i noticed is that those dead presidents also make your drinks come quicker and stronger, we had waiters on board that wouldn't let us out of their sight...they knew our drinks and how we liked them...we started calling the Long Islands we were getting from one of them Mind erasers...

 

Loved the cheers package, there didn't seem to be a drink we couldn't get, and everything went off smoothly throughout the week with the package. TOTALLY worth the money for someone that likes to drink throughout the day as heavily as we do.

 

Just hoping this package gets added to the sunshine before Jan of next year...since that is our next booked sailing...it really cut down on the cost of our S&S

 

Well, I am VERY jealous of you!!! My husband reached the max a few of the days on the Dream 2 weeks ago and they absolutely would not let him purchase a drink-claimed that the computer physically blocked them from ringing anything through until 6am the next morning. And we were tipping the entire time, both in cash and on the SS (depending if we had cash on us or not) We inquired at 3 different bars, all said the same thing. We were on good terms w/ the bartenders we were inquiring to (knew our names and folio numbers w/ out showing the card) so I don't think that they were being selective....at least I hope not!!! Plus, I had only reached mine by myself once, so they were absolutly fine with me using my card to purchase my husbands drink-they actually told us to one night. That was my concern before doing it, and we couldn't get a straight answer prior to purchasing it. We were traveling with family and we wanted to have the option to purchase (pay for) drinks for others, especially my parents, but we were cut off from even paying for drinks. Like your group, we were all standing, talking, non-beligerant, etc. Maybe it's different from ship to ship???

[PlanoTim]

Good info, pbsteve.

 

When Carnival announced their Cheers program a while back, I created a spreadsheet to help me decide if the program made sense for us (yep, nerd here :p). I included some of our typical adult beverages, but the spreadsheet certainly does not include every drink possible. It is based on two over-21 adults in the cabin. So I calculate the total cost of what the purchases would add up to without the program. This can help decide if Cheers would make sense even if one person doesn't drink their $49.40 (including gratuity) cost of the program.

 

Is it possible to attach spreadsheets to a post? I'll try and see what happens. Assuming I'm able to attach it, please understand that the spreadsheet may not be perfect (all prices may not be correct) and may not suit your needs. As they say - your mileage may vary.

Cheers Program Calculation.xls

[Silvestri4]

Well, I am VERY jealous of you!!! My husband reached the max a few of the days on the Dream 2 weeks ago and they absolutely would not let him purchase a drink-claimed that the computer physically blocked them from ringing anything through until 6am the next morning. And we were tipping the entire time, both in cash and on the SS (depending if we had cash on us or not) We inquired at 3 different bars, all said the same thing. We were on good terms w/ the bartenders we were inquiring to (knew our names and folio numbers w/ out showing the card) so I don't think that they were being selective....at least I hope not!!! Plus, I had only reached mine by myself once, so they were absolutly fine with me using my card to purchase my husbands drink-they actually told us to one night. That was my concern before doing it, and we couldn't get a straight answer prior to purchasing it. We were traveling with family and we wanted to have the option to purchase (pay for) drinks for others, especially my parents, but we were cut off from even paying for drinks. Like your group, we were all standing, talking, non-beligerant, etc. Maybe it's different from ship to ship???

 

We actually interrogated the bar manager before purchasing the program...then pulled out our cell phones and all video recorded him...upon pressing record...we asked once you hit your 15 drinks, CAN you purchase more.

 

His response... yes sir you can, but if you are drunk you will get cut off.

 

We reiterated the question once more, with different verbiage, got the exact same answer, and then purchased the package.

 

I have seen many differences through the "pilot program" on a ship to ship basis, just from trolling these boards you notice major inconsistencies...

 

Sorry things didn't work out as well for you with the package as it did for us.

 

One thing i can say....my extra tipping would have come to an abrupt halt if someone told me the system locked me out after 15 and there was nothing they could do. I'll take care of you, as long as you take care of me....

 

I've said this before, the 4 cruises i took before this past one, I drank heavily also, and was never cut off....i was not willing to sacrifice my good time just to purchase the cheers program...if 15 is the max allowed in a day and thats that on any of the ships i sail on, then i will be doing things the old fashioned way, and just pay drink for drink...god knows if they are squeezing every penny out of you they aren't going to stop...

[lorijeannj]

Even though on a 7 day cruise, like I stated earlirer my husband and I broke even, BUT, we had 4 port days and drank off the ship.

Now, had one day been an at-sea day, we surely would have come ahead.

But it wasn't about coming ahead, it was about paying up front and not worrying about a bar tab at the end.

There was a gentlemen who was approaching or had exceeded his limit, bartender made him drink 2 glasses of water before his next.

Totally worth the cheers in my opinion, I tried drinks I never would have otherwise and called liquor as well.

[dewke]

.

There was a group of 8 of us on glory in early jan. Almost all of us hit the 15 drink limit almost daily...the bartenders told us we needed to talk to a manager to purchase more drinks.......We never saw a bar manager, and the bartenders continued to serve us, just charging per drink after the 15...We were standing straight, able to put English sentences together and well composed. Seemed as though the bartenders would just talk to someone for us.

 

Also as far as sharing goes, my GF who was sailing with me, would never hit 15 in a day....i had brought some extra cash on board, realizing that the bartenders would be more apt to work with us, if some dead presidents were involved in the situation. My suspicions were correct...one night she went to bed early, i tapped out my card, and then commenced to work with hers for the remainder of the evening/early morning.

 

I personally feel that the last thing carnival wants to do is cut someone off, however the also must be responsible, and if you can't hold yourself up, talk straight, and have visible signs of being highly intoxicated...well they must.

 

Another thing i noticed is that those dead presidents also make your drinks come quicker and stronger, we had waiters on board that wouldn't let us out of their sight...they knew our drinks and how we liked them...we started calling the Long Islands we were getting from one of them Mind erasers...

 

Loved the cheers package, there didn't seem to be a drink we couldn't get, and everything went off smoothly throughout the week with the package. TOTALLY worth the money for someone that likes to drink throughout the day as heavily as we do.

 

Just hoping this package gets added to the sunshine before Jan of next year...since that is our next booked sailing...it really cut down on the cost of our S&S

 

My wife and I are sailing on the Breeze with my brother and sister-in-law. We're all heavy drinkers and I can see some or all of us hitting 15 drinks in a sea day easily, and probably on a day where we leave a stop early.

 

We're going to get it and see how it goes.

[Avril]

Does anyone have a current list of the ships that have the program? I'm sailing on the Imagination in December and am really hoping it will be onboard the ship by then!!!! :D

[MyDogRudy]

I am fortunate to have been on group cruises where we got a Open Bar Card and could get any drink up to $8.95 and there was no limit to the number of drinks and soda and water was included (but the last time they started taking the caps so you couldn't easily take a few for shore excursions). The cost was about the same as Cheers but you need a group of 30 to qualify.

 

Just trying to compare Cheers to Open Bar Card in case the group cruise disbands (and if we ever have the money to cruise again) but with these stipulations it might not be worth it to us. Might be better off purchasing liquor from bon voyage and lugging on wine water and soda and getting a wine package. {Not a lush but I like to mix up the types of drinks I have throughout the day. Tropical during the day, wine for dinner, cocktail pre and post dinner}

 

Will be interesting to learn more about some of the inconsistencies and experiences from those who have participated to see how this evolves.

 

Sent from my Motorola Electrify using Tapatalk 2

[pbsteve]

Does anyone have a current list of the ships that have the program? I'm sailing on the Imagination in December and am really hoping it will be onboard the ship by then!!!! :D

 

First post, hasn't changed this year yet.

 

 

As far as the buying more drinks goes. Carnival said that you can buy more drinks after 15 if you are not intoxicated. Again though, that's carnival's blanket answer, and it could be that some ships are doing slightly different things to tweak the program. I've worked in retail for about 15 years, and everytime there's a new program, it seems everyone starts the same, then a few stores would try something a little bit different, if it worked better, it rolled back to the other stores, if worse, it went away. There will not be any 100% answers for every ship until the program is out of it's pilot stage. I simply posted all the info that Carnival confirmed as being part of the program as of this month.

Edited February 20, 2013 by pbsteve

[kerovick]

I'm sailing on the Fasination in April, I hope they expand this program to her by then. It would actually enable me to cruise more often knowing I could save money on the booze.

[KG1924]

We actually interrogated the bar manager before purchasing the program...then pulled out our cell phones and all video recorded him...upon pressing record...we asked once you hit your 15 drinks, CAN you purchase more.

 

His response... yes sir you can, but if you are drunk you will get cut off.

 

We reiterated the question once more, with different verbiage, got the exact same answer, and then purchased the package.

 

I have seen many differences through the "pilot program" on a ship to ship basis, just from trolling these boards you notice major inconsistencies...

 

Sorry things didn't work out as well for you with the package as it did for us.

 

One thing i can say....my extra tipping would have come to an abrupt halt if someone told me the system locked me out after 15 and there was nothing they could do. I'll take care of you, as long as you take care of me....

 

I've said this before, the 4 cruises i took before this past one, I drank heavily also, and was never cut off....i was not willing to sacrifice my good time just to purchase the cheers program...if 15 is the max allowed in a day and thats that on any of the ships i sail on, then i will be doing things the old fashioned way, and just pay drink for drink...god knows if they are squeezing every penny out of you they aren't going to stop...

 

Ha! I never thought about getting video proof of response before purchasing...sad that it would have to come to that, but good idea none the less! Unfortunatly, the entire first couple hours started on a sour note to begin with. We boarded a little before 11:30 and went right up to the lido deck to purchase the package-there was already a line, but we figured we'd just get it out of the way and start our vacation after. We waited in line for 15 minutes or so and when we got up to the table, we were told that only Bottomless Bubbles could be purchased, the Drink package wouldn't start being sold for about 20 minutes. Frustrating, yes-but it's vacation so we bought a drink (computer system wasn't up yet, hand written reciept) Waited 20 minutes and then got back in line just to find out our card wasn't going through. Went to wait in line at the pursers desk (about 30 minutes) and the check-in lady had never linked our CC to our SS! Then back in line again and FINALLY purchased the package. So the vacation was a little delayed, but we got over it!

 

It did work well for us still, and while they wouldn't let us purchase more, it was nice of them to let us "share" since we were on the same SS. We will do it again IF we sail Carnival again....we're leaning towards other lines from now on for a lot of reasons.

[detroitlions]

Ugh so ok my card is going to get charged for both people? Thats insanely unfair and im not very happy. but whatever. I get in a way its easier for the bar people, and my husband and i will figure something out. But Id be verrrry unhappy if I were sailing with a friend and we had to use one card...

Have them give you cash and then credit your account with the cash. You know how much it will be upfront

[crusnbee]

Thanks to whoever posted that spreadsheet. Yes, I am a nerd too.

 

I am going to send it to my friends who can figure out if it will be worth it for them to buy in or not.

 

In my case, its a big yes!!!! Doesn't really take more than about 6 mixed type drinks a day to break even....

 

CJ

[teddygurl28]

Have them give you cash and then credit your account with the cash. You know how much it will be upfront

 

yes thats what we plan on doing. but we are putting the cash down first- then purchasing the drink program, so that it will remove it from the cash before increasing the hold on my credit card. Thats why it was a tad bit frustrating since people have had different experiences. Now that its confirmed it goes on the primary room holders card, then i will put all of the cash on my card, and then purchase the drink program- easy fix in the end, but again as with everything with carnival the rules and proceses are clear as mud (still love carnival though so please dont yell at me haha)

[Avril]

First post, hasn't changed this year yet.

 

Ok, thanks!! :D Do you (or anybody else) happen to know how fast they expand the program to other ships? Meaning is it 1 ship a month or 3-4 ships every 6 months or something like that?

[ViolaSwamp]

Thank you for posting this. I'll be referring back to it often before our cruise... I can't imagine we'll drink enough to make it worthwhile but we do have four sea days and only three port days on our 8-night trip, so we will have to think about this carefully!

[oharoldo]

Thanks for this post. I will be on the Dream March 2nd and will update if there are any changes.

[Crusin Kelly]

Just got off the Victory (2/9-14)... my DD's boyfriend(DBF) and I were assigned to a cabin while my DW and DD were assigned to another. Something my TA did to get past guest discounts... but i digress. . .

the 2 males (in one cabin) both purchased the Cheers program. Each of us had assigned a separate Credit card to our SS cards. . . the charges (~250) for the 5 days each went to the separate cards - no one had to deal with paying the other back, etc - they were separeated as to the credit card that was assigned to each individual. There was no problem by the bartender in the lobby bar when he scanned our cards and saw that we were assigned to the same room.

 

As for access to the "correct" rooms.... we went to the Guest Services desk and I asked for an extra room key and DD asked for one. I gave her my extra, she gave me her extra... worked just fine. could not charge anything on that extra key, only used it for access to the correct rooms.

 

We never hit the 15 drink limit - at least I didn't.

 

I was ~$15 to the good for the 5 days SO a good enough deal for me. Would I have drunk more? Probably... IF there had been more waiters and bartenders.

 

The hassle is ... that even tho the drinks are free (prepaid), you still have to sign EACH receipt - just like it was being charged to your SS card. It was handy that it showed up on your statement... lots of "0.00" charges. I guess that is the way they keep track of the accounting at the bars and your limit.

 

AS for sharing.... there were times, when one would purchase a drink for someone else - the waiters did not seem to notice nor did they make a big deal of it. The bartenders DID enforce the 5 minute rule, but one could sit at their bar and drink the first drink while waiting the required time before ordering the 2nd.

[kerovick]

I really hope they extend this to the Fascination by April.... :D

[KPfromCT]

So, I have a question. If we buy the Cheers program, but one afternoon we decide we want to go to the Red Frog Pub and order a tube, and just charge it on our normal Sail and Sign, that is NO WAY affects our Cheers package?

[Ksea1961]

Hubs and I will be traveling with our 20 year old son who likes Frozen Virgin drinks. I know we are not allowed to share our drinks with him, but, has anyone tried and what happened? He only gets 1 or 2 a day.