New Freestyle cups - yay, or nay?

[Oshawapilot]

Just looking for others thoughts on the new Freestyle cups. We were surprised (and soon disappointed) with the new cups. First off, at least on our latest cruise, there was NO different designs available - all the cups were identical. With 8 out of the 12 people in our latest cruise having bought packages, and us all being frequently together about the ship, it potentially made for a cup-mixing nightmare. Luckily one of our group members brought along coloured rubber bands (with phrases printed on them) which we each stuck on our own cups which helped us keep them sorted out.

 

At least with the previous cups there was several different designs. In our own stateroom at least were able to keep them sorted out, if not elsewhere...

 

Secondly...the scream "Cheap". Solid plastic, no rubber bottom like the old style. The slider/close mechanism was hard to clean - often things got gummed up under there.

 

They were selling the old style cups (sans beverage package, just the cups) on the pool deck a few days into our cruise and I actually bought 4 of them for $6/each because we actually use them all the time here at home - they make GREAT coffee travel mugs, and we use them for drinks around the pool in the summer as well. They come in handy and serve a long life even years after we stop using them on the ship. These new style cups won't serve the same purpose as they look basically disposable, and they're certainly not suited to hot drinks like coffee.

 

Overall, not impressed at all. But alas, we enjoyed the Freestyle program nonetheless. I just wish they stuck with the old style cups.

[fischymom]

I love the old style cups and to be fair I have not seen the new ones so I really cant say but to harold a guess, I am going to assume that they may have needed to change the style to discourage people from bringing their cups from prior cruises to use the freestyle machines for free. I bet they were seeing more people using the old cups as the years go by. Just a guess though.

[Oshawapilot]

The old style cups used the same programmable RFID chips to interact with the machines as the new ones, so that wasn't an issue. The old cups "expired" the same as the new ones do.

 

The only complaints I heard about the old cups was that they occasionally leaked at the seam between the base of the cup and the lid if they weren't tightened enough, or the gasket fell out. Neither ever happened to us during our cruises, although I have had the gasket fall out a few times while using them (for years now) afterwards.

 

Admittedly the new cups were a lot easier to seal (the gasket is much simpler and in a more secure spot), but that's the only plus I could identify. Everything else was a negative.

[Darstime]

I like the new cups but I did not like the old ones. First time I'm still using after a cruise

[kruzerci]

I don't love how they look, but they don't leak when they get knocked over and they keep the drinks colder for longer!

[BekkaW]

Does anyone have a picture of the new cups? I'm curious to see what they're like

[kcdancerkc]

The slider close.....wouldn't stay closed well..... Dripped on me.....left it in the departure lounge....some guy carried it away.....guess he needed a souvenir ! So I can't show you a new picture!:)

[ncsteeler]

Does anyone have a picture of the new cups? I'm curious to see what they're like

 

Here's one for sale on Ebay

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ROYAL-CARIBBEAN-2013-COKE-COCA-COLA-THERMOS-MUG-w-LID-TRAVEL-CAR-HOT-OR-COLD-/350960127539?_trksid=p2054897.l4275

 

All our others have gone to goodwill. We like the new cups but either way they are kind of a hassle to carry around on the ship. I would rather you could just swipe your seapass at he machine and have normal or disposable cups.

[matj2000]

You actually use those things?

My kids didn't even use them while on the ship.

I have about 10 in a box out in the garage waiting to be tossed.

 

Basically cheap Chinese junk.

Edited December 27, 2013 by matj2000

[slhb]

Will these fit a straw? Are straws available? First cruise in 3 days :)

[time4u2go]

Are the new cups smaller than the old ones? If so, that's probably the reason they switched.

[jo24]

Hi

 

Here is a picture of the old style vs new style cups - I had both in the cupboard! The both hold approx 600ml of liquid so no difference in what they can hold. The new style is much more in keeping with the coke glass style. Personally, I prefer the old style as the new style lids can be a bit tougher to get off but that's just my opinion.

 

Jo :)

 

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

Edited December 27, 2013 by jo24

[davelliott]

I like the new style cups simply because they seal better. I have 6 of the old style and they have always leaked around the seam even when new. The newer ones have a different type of gasket that makes them better.

 

I measured them and they hold exactly the same amount as the old cups.

 

I do wish that there were more colors/styles. When several of us in the same cabin got them, it was much more convenient to be able to just look at the color of the cup to see whose it was. I am surprised that the marketing people at Royal didn't think of that - people might be more willing to buy the package on future cruises to collect a set if there were different colors.

 

I have never used them for hot beverages, but like a previous posted stated, they keep cold drinks longer.

 

The new style cups fits in the cup holder in my truck, whereas the older ones were just a bit too big.

[Oshawapilot]

I wouldn't necessarily say that I found the new style cups kept my drink cooler any longer – I used my new-style cup this morning for my hot coffee on the way to work (in the same fashion as I use the old-style cups) and I did notice that it transferred a great deal more heat to the outside of the cup – logic would dictate that they therefore don't hold temperature as well as the old-style.

 

And yes, the lack of different styles makes it very difficult to keep everyone's cups organized. Given how concerned the cruise lines are about germs it seems odd that they would introduce reusable cups that invite being mixed up amongst passengers and subsequently turn into germ-sharing devices. Like I said, the forethought of one of the cruisers in our group to bring coloured bands to go around our cups (to distinguish them from one another) was the only thing that avoided that for our large group.

 

And if anybody has a large quantity of the old-style cups that they are looking to get rid of, I would be interested in taking them off your hands if you're willing to package and ship. :) Like I said, we use the old-style cups constantly and I know eventually they will begin to break and wear out – seeing as how they are no longer available I would like to stock up on them. ;)

[JohnSnowGOT]

You actually use those things?

My kids didn't even use them while on the ship.

I have about 10 in a box out in the garage waiting to be tossed.

 

Basically cheap Chinese junk.

 

Well some people like beverage cups.........Besides how much of our every day stuff is not cheap Chinese junk?

 

I personally think carrying around a soda cup is silly. Soda especially diet soda is treacherous on your health. Carrying that cup around sipping soda all day is just patently unhealthy. Drink a couple of glasses of water every morning when you wake up, you'll feel better.

 

I enjoy the Premium beverage package...and a good argument can be made that this is treacherous to good health also........To each his own.

The new soda cups seem too small to me.

[reallyitsmema]

I wouldn't necessarily say that I found the new style cups kept my drink cooler any longer – I used my new-style cup this morning for my hot coffee on the way to work (in the same fashion as I use the old-style cups) and I did notice that it transferred a great deal more heat to the outside of the cup – logic would dictate that they therefore don't hold temperature as well as the old-style.

 

And yes, the lack of different styles makes it very difficult to keep everyone's cups organized. Given how concerned the cruise lines are about germs it seems odd that they would introduce reusable cups that invite being mixed up amongst passengers and subsequently turn into germ-sharing devices. Like I said, the forethought of one of the cruisers in our group to bring coloured bands to go around our cups (to distinguish them from one another) was the only thing that avoided that for our large group.

 

And if anybody has a large quantity of the old-style cups that they are looking to get rid of, I would be interested in taking them off your hands if you're willing to package and ship. :) Like I said, we use the old-style cups constantly and I know eventually they will begin to break and wear out – seeing as how they are no longer available I would like to stock up on them. ;)

Logic should tell you not to put hot liquids in a cup that specifically states cold drinks only.

[BillOh]

I just caught one on Majesty in October that was different than the one from Allure in May, so I'm not sure how often they change. I am less concerned with the looks than I am the functionality. I'm clumsy and about half the designs seal better than the others. When I put my drink down I close the top. About half will still leak, but not real bad, others don't leak at all. The last ones from Majesty looked like a regular tall Coke Soda fountain cup with an easy to work lid, but it doesn't seal well and its harder than any other to thread the top on.

[BillOh]

I like the new style cups simply because they seal better. I have 6 of the old style and they have always leaked around the seam even when new. The newer ones have a different type of gasket that makes them better. .

 

They change them frequently, at least in the past for obvious reasons. Maybe when all the ships have the Freestyle with the embedded chip reader they can settle on one design. I see you were last on Majesty about 3 weeks after I did. I don't know if we are talking about the same cup or not. It did seal well at the screw on lid, but the little latch you drink from didn't seal well at all.

[Oshawapilot]

Logic should tell you not to put hot liquids in a cup that specifically states cold drinks only.

 

Yeah yeah. It was a test, I didn't put scalding hot liquid in it, and please explain to me how it is somehow dangerous or life-threatening that I disregarded what is clearly a CYA warning?

[Oshawapilot]

With regards to the previous generation cups, we did see two different styles of lids for them over the years. One of the people in our group on our last cruise on enchantment received one of the different less common style lids with his cup and it dribbled every time he drank from it, so he ended up switching it for one of the more common style lids.

 

As for the leakproof quality of the seal at the actual drinking port, I didn't necessarily find one better than the other – they are both designed to not seal 100%, they're designed that way I'm confident given as how they are designed to hold carbonated beverages – a tight seal with generate lots of soda fizz disasters when people opened them after the cup had been agitated.

[BillOh]

Does anyone have a picture of the new cups? I'm curious to see what they're like

 

I'll post one shortly, at least what I call the new cup. I got it on our Halloween cruise on Majesty. It is different that most cups I have gotten in the last 7 or 8 years.

[BillOh]

Hi

 

Here is a picture of the old style vs new style cups - I had both in the cupboard! The both hold approx 600ml of liquid so no difference in what they can hold. The new style is much more in keeping with the coke glass style. Personally, I prefer the old style as the new style lids can be a bit tougher to get off but that's just my opinion.

 

Jo :)

 

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

 

Good post, in my mind these are what I would have called the old and new. My new one is the same style as the one on the right, but the design insert looks a little different. With regard to the old, I got this design on Allure in 2011 and thought it sealed really well when knocked over. There was a similar design before that (maybe 2010 and earlier) that didn't seal as well on the top. To me this new design doesn't seal as well at the very top where you open for drinking but it seals well at the gasket, but its easy to cross thread. Ive stood in line behind people trying to get the lid on before walking away.

[Oshawapilot]

Will these fit a straw? Are straws available? First cruise in 3 days :)

 

Sorry, your question for lost in the shuffle. Yes, a straw does fit in the hole easily, and straws themselves are readily available at any bar.

[reallyitsmema]

Yeah yeah. It was a test, I didn't put scalding hot liquid in it, and please explain to me how it is somehow dangerous or life-threatening that I disregarded what is clearly a CYA warning?

Get as defensive as you want, but you chose to put a hot liquid in a cup that specifically states cold drinks only.

[mapleleafvoyage]

Will these fit a straw? Are straws available? First cruise in 3 days :)

 

Just off the Explorer, and found that normal sized straws are too short... go to the bars and get the longer ones-- they work perfect!