Cheer's program analysis

[Breezy72]

DH & I participated in the Cheer's program while on our 8 day, 4 port cruise on the Breeze.

Here are the numbers...

 

The first thing we did when on the ship was hit the Atrium Bar for our Cheer's stickers. For an 8 day cruise, the cost was $395.14/person ($790.28). $51/person in tips is also included in that price.

(while in Miami port, we were charged tax on our drinks. FYI)

 

On average DH and I drank about 9 drinks a day on Cheers. Those drinks averaged $7/drink. (everything from bloody mary's to draft beer, margaritas, to high end tequila and Crown...and banana daiquiris that DH fell in love with!)

Keep in mind that this average is including 4 port days. If we had more sea days, that number would have been higher! ;)

 

We did also partake in the "premium wine package" our first night which was already a 25% discount on 6 bottles of their higher end wine. If we just went with a couple glasses of wine at dinner then the Cheer's program would have paid 100%... but we didn't want to wait on the dinner bartender. Our savings would have been much better to have gone the Cheer's route.

 

We would have spent roughly $1000 in OBC just in cocktails, not including the wine package or the 3 bottles of wine we purchased through room service (not covered under the 25% discount. I asked customer service.). DH also purchased a bucket of beer (4 bottles) and I did order a few things from Bon Voyage (one wine, one champagne, one cooler of 4 beers) before Cheer's was introduced. So again, we could have made Cheer's work much better if we were seriously concerned about saving serious money.

 

In addition to the $100 tips included for the two of us, we tipped an extra buck every other drink... so, for instance DH and I were both ordering a drink, one would tip a buck. We didn't feel $100 was enough for these hard workers who took very good care of us.

 

Just some other facts:

 

I've read posts regarding "weak" drinks if on the Cheer's program and I can tell you that is not the case. We both witnessed how they pour a mixed drink which is about 1.5-1.75 shots of alcohol for just one alcohol (think vodka in a bloody mary) And since DH and I are both retired bartenders, I can attest that these are very good drinks!

 

Tip the bartenders and cocktail servers! Yes, they are already getting a 15% tip from your order, but a buck here and there shouldn't hurt your budget. We have found that on busy sea days with busy pool areas and lots of thirsty people, these bartenders/servers are working extra hard blending and mixing your favorite concoction (as an ex-bartender, I resented people who ordered blended drinks!). A nice gesture is to throw a few extra bucks their way. I will not say that our service was better than others as the crew seemed happy to serve all, but it did seem that once it was known we were happy to tack on a few bucks here and there, our servers were a bit more excited to tend to us with a smile, and perhaps a bit quicker than others. ;)

Note: We tipped about $50 OBC on top of the $100 tacked on Cheer's. Considering there were about 13 different servers taking care of us, the $50 seems low.

 

If you are port heavy and an low-average (4-6 drinks/day) vacation drinker, I don't suggest Cheers. DH and I can put away the alcohol :rolleyes: and we barely broke even. Perhaps if we were more inclined to order the expensive stuff, then yes, it would've paid off, but I love my beer and basically stuck with what I knew wouldn't make me need that Tylenol PM! ;)

I will admit that on port days I was ordering bloody mary's before getting off the ship just to make up the difference...yep, arm was twisted!:p But under normal conditions, I would not have ordered those 8AM libations.

 

DUH!!! DD loved the non-alcoholic blended drinks aka: "smoothies". I was with her half the time she ordered and didn't think of charging them to my card! *smack forehead* The smoothies were just under $6 and she ordered like 6 of them... that would have helped with our numbers. :rolleyes:

 

Hope this helps some of you pondering the pro's and con's of Cheer's. Bottom line: If I got to do it all over again, YES, I would do Cheer's again.... but order Grey Goose in those bloody mary's!

 

Any questions or comments, please let me know!

[alrichards4003]

Thanks for the analysis, we are doing the 8 day Breeze with 4 ports and 3 sea days. I had already decided we would do Cheers program. I reviewed the bill form our 7 days NCL Dawn cruise last month, and if we had done the similar Cheers program we would have saved over $150.

[mickide]

 

Hope this helps some of you pondering the pro's and con's of Cheer's. Bottom line: If I got to do it all over again, YES, I would do Cheer's again.... but order Grey Goose in those bloody mary's!

 

Any questions or comments, please let me know!

 

I totally agree, it only took me 5 vodka (absolut) and cranberry before I started ordering them with Grey Goose :).

I did the Freedom 8 nt/4 pt cruise 2 weeks ago and my bestie and I did the Cheers pkg. I knew I would save money and she was going to be happy if she just broke even. It was just nice to pay for it as soon as we entered the ship (we also bought it immediately at the atrium bar) and not have to worry about what our sail & sign account balance would be at the end of the cruise.

My husband and I will do it when we cruise in October also. It's a great program for those who like to indulge a bit while on vacation.

Here's my analysis, short & sweet. Over the 8 nt trip I drank a total of 90 drinks. With 15% gratuity added to each drink my total would have been over $726, instead I paid $395 for cheers and saved over $330. I must admit, had I been watching my S&S, I probably wouldn't have drank quite so much. I didn't get trashed, but I did have fun :p.

[Chris41]

My Wife and I enjoyed the Cheers package and found it to be a very nice way to go. I drank when and what I wanted (like I do on all cruises), hit the limit twice and was served (had to pay full price), utilized the 25% off on the wine package which we would have bought anyway. and saved money