Yet another beverage package question... how do they know?

[languageartslady]

Sorry for asking, but I've searched and not found my answer, so I'm either bad at searching, or no one has said.

 

How do they know you have the package? Do they swipe your card each time? Or is it like the soda package where they print a symbol or stick a sticker on your card?

 

If it's a printed thing on your card, does anyone happen to have a picture of the card? Curious to see what it looks like!

 

Thanks for any and all help! :)

[Chazteach1]

They swipe your card. Remember your picture comes up on their screen that you took upon boarding. That pic is referenced with your add-ons to your stateroom.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app - My next cruise - Equinox - B2B 6/2014

[HappyTvlr]

There is a preprinted code on the card, and they do swipe it each time. It is a sequence of letters and not a symbol, but I can't recall what it was. The only exception is if you get to know a bartender or sommelier and they remember your number, but they still enter each beverage into the system. No idea how they handle upgrades after the seapass is issued since I have always prepaid for premium. Perhaps they get you a new one????

[lazydayz]

When you upgrade or purchase onboard, they add a sticker to your card. They usually take your card to scan it, but some servers may just remember your folio number. It is quite a treat to get your final bill with a bunch of zeros.

[Mrswood83]

Last year when I had preordered the premium package I had PAL on my card. But yes they will "charge" your card every time but when you see the bill at the end it will all be $0.00!!!!

[Maligator]

I looked at our old cards and don't see any stickers. I do recall a bartender having to swipe our cards to see which one we had, but nothing obvious on the cards, themselves. If you're on a fixed dinner seating, your regular waiter/asst waiter/sommelier only needs your card the first night. Other than that, our cards got swiped with every trip to the bar.

[purrlinda]

It showed PALL as the package type on my SeaPass. I had pyrchased the premium package prior to going on the cruise.

 

I had 4 pages of drinks "charges" at 0.00 per charge. What a relief!

[Oville]

They swipe and the classic passage has "CALL" printed on your Seapass card.

[languageartslady]

Thanks for all the answers! So it's basically the same as if you're paying for each drink, but then it comes up as zero dollars.

 

Quite excited about having a beverage package! Never have before... Can't wait to try new things!

[Bobal]

We purchased part-way through our last cruise and they put a sticker on the card.

[Lsimon]

... So it's basically the same as if you're paying for each drink, but then it comes up as zero dollars. ...

 

While they do need to swipe your card to register the transaction they do not print a slip and there is nothing to sign as there is if you are buying individual drinks without a package.

[kayehall]

Ok....say my hubby has the drink package and he goes to the bar and orders a bucket of beers. How do they know if he shares them with others???

[If only]

Ok....say my hubby has the drink package and he goes to the bar and orders a bucket of beers. How do they know if he shares them with others???

 

He cannot order a bucket of beer only 1 at a time.

[cynbar]

Ok....say my hubby has the drink package and he goes to the bar and orders a bucket of beers. How do they know if he shares them with others???

 

As answered above, the package only gets you one drink at a time, although you can take 2 cards up to the bar and get 2 drinks. But also, there have been reports that the ship staff are trained to watch and make sure they don't see any sharing. One cruiser was chastised for giving a "sip" to someone else to try, and another poster gave away a drink she didn't like and it was immediately confiscated. I suppose you could get around this by going to a bar, picking up a drink and taking it to someone at another place, but even then, staff might notice and it seems like a lot of work. Mind you, I haven't seen this myself, but there have been multiple threads that discuss how diligent the staff is about sharing.

[20pluscruises]

While they do need to swipe your card to register the transaction they do not print a slip and there is nothing to sign as there is if you are buying individual drinks without a package.

 

Probably has more to due with the timing...how soon you went back for a second drink...puts the staff on alert to keep on eye on said guest

[miched]

Some passengers get concerned or worried about the sticker. I found that the sticker only means anything when ordering water or taking one as you leave the ship. The employee may notice what package you have and may give you the so called better bottle if you have the premium packaged. I had the premium and were given both brands of water. It didn't matter to me as I am also satisfied with tap water.

 

As posted your card will always be swiped and the correct package will show. The warning is when you are asked to sign for something other than when leaving the ship as there is no scanner for them to swipe your card so you have to sign a slip for their records.

 

.🌴🍸🍻🍺

[Redtravel]

Between drinks there is a wait of 10 minutes. My spouse gets thirsty especially on hot days by the pool. Often drinks a quart at one time. The best option for thirsty people is the bottle of water. If you do not have a drink package, you can buy anything anytime.

[shoelover536]

Usually its one drink at a time, but as they got to know us (some, but not all) of the bar staff would let me order a diet coke and a glass of wine or other cocktail at the same time. My husband would get whatever drink he wanted as well. And we were always able to get a bottle of San Pellegrino and order wine or cocktails at the same time. We were both on the premium package, so they knew we weren't trying to share. But YMMV on that one. It depended on where we were on the ship.

 

PALL or CALL is printed on the card if you have prepurchased, a sticker is added if you purchase/ upgrade on board, as others have already said.

[Solution]

Do go to the Guest Relationship and get a print out to verify your purchase from time to time. Mistakes happen. I had a classic package last time but there were a few occasions where I got charged. Some of them got reversed automatically, but a couple of the entries were still there. Guest Relationship staff are very polite and they will help you remove the charge (after some waiting for verification).

[gsb]

Between drinks there is a wait of 10 minutes. My spouse gets thirsty especially on hot days by the pool. Often drinks a quart at one time. The best option for thirsty people is the bottle of water. If you do not have a drink package, you can buy anything anytime.

 

We have not experienced any "wait time" between drinks and have ordered a second one many times before 10 minutes elapsed.

[purrlinda]

Between drinks there is a wait of 10 minutes. My spouse gets thirsty especially on hot days by the pool. Often drinks a quart at one time. The best option for thirsty people is the bottle of water. If you do not have a drink package, you can buy anything anytime.

 

I had one evening at the Martini Bar where I discovered the joys of Sweet Tea Vodka and lemonade. I will say that there were numerous times where my drink orders were less than 10 minutes apart with no problem. (Admittedly, I don't normally drink like that, but I was having a great time!)

[cherylroslyn]

Between drinks there is a wait of 10 minutes. My spouse gets thirsty especially on hot days by the pool. Often drinks a quart at one time. The best option for thirsty people is the bottle of water. If you do not have a drink package, you can buy anything anytime.

There is no ten minute waiting time, where did you hear that. That is not true.

[gsb]

There is no ten minute waiting time, where did you hear that. That is not true.

 

Maybe it is bartender's judgment call??:D

[languageartslady]

Didn't think about time between drinks... that's interesting. I wonder how often they enforce something like that? I would want a soda and a glass of wine, to take back to my room. I guess we'll see!

[jb456]

So is there a cutoff limit? Reading other cruise line packages for instance Carnival your only allowed 15 drinks in 24 hours. Celebrity does not have something like this?

 

Please don't take this the wrong way as I'm not talking about someone getting completely intoxicated.

 

What I mean is if someone only likes to drink Bud Light which is 4% alcohol.. They have maybe 10 by the pool during the day in a 5 hour period. That's only 2 beers an hour but with the combination of sun, sweating out some liquor, having some lunch/water they might have a little buzz.

 

By the time they shower/change, have dinner back to sober.

 

Now evening comes along and they have 6 more beer while watching shows, playing in the casino... Then the night gets later and they might have a few more drinks and the nightclub before going to bed.

 

So maybe 18/20 beers for the entire day.. Which sounds like a heck of a lot but really it's not when it's broken down by some in the day then some at night.

 

Would Celebrity cut a person off like Carnival just because of the "amount" ordered?

 

I presume some might say that Celeb might think your sharing the drinks... So what if you sat at the pool bar in front of them the entire time. They seen you drink all of them and also seen that you were no where near drunk. Same for the evening, sat at the bar and they seen you consume the drinks.