My experience with Cheers

[figdu]

This is good information! The Cheers program would never work for me personally, but I don't mind that it is there for others.

The one thing that surprises me is how many people give $1 in cash per drink above and beyond the normal tip. I consider myself a good tipper (always give steward and wait staff extra in cash above autotips) but am happy with the $1 - $1.50 that is auto-added for drinks. I guess not being much of a drinker has an affect on my perception?

 

The 15% tip is on the cost of cheers and break even is between 6 and 9 drinks depending on what you have. I drink more than that and know it so I take care of the bartenders and waitstaff at each drink. I am still saving money and they know they will be taken care of.

Edited May 29, 2015 by figdu

[Karebear98]

It's worth the money, plus get to know your bartenders tip them and they will definitely give you your money's worth on pours and suggestions never had an issue with prompt service, also plan on getting cheers again next time if we didnt get cheers I know I would not have tried anything different but my goto drink.

 

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[momof3cruisers]

Hi Lyndamr -

 

My mom didn't have to show her sail and sign card either when she was in the Casino using her "Drinks on Us" card. They just looked at her "Drinks on Us" card. My guess is that the "Drinks on Us" card is LINKED to the sail and sign card.

 

Maybe things are done differently on a Premier Cruise, and that is why you didn't have any issues. Or maybe you guys never hit the 15 drink limit so it never came up.

 

My mom even went down to guest services to clarify the drink limit. If you have the Cheers program you are limited to 15 drinks PERIOD. When you hit that limit you can't get another alcoholic beverage AT ALL. Not with the "drinks on us" card and not if you are willing to buy it with your sail and sign card.

 

They said it was for the safety of their guests. Funny they don't have a limit on what you can purchase each day without Cheers. The only way she could have had another alcoholic drink would have been for someone to buy her one and sneak it to her.

 

Since it wasn't that important to us....we just went up for free pizza instead.

 

On a side note; we all attended the past guest party where they free drinks were flowing and no one kept track. I guess she could have had over 15 limit on that day since there was no record of the 2 drinks she had there.

That is the one thing I think is silly. (Well, that and everyone over 21 in the cabin having to buy it. I swear they'd make more money w/o that rule.) if you are just buying drinks, you can have as many as you want, but if you have Cheers, no matter what you can't get more than 15. I'm sure I'd never get past 15, but I still think it's a stupid rule.

[peekinglemer]

Hey Momof3cruisers.

 

Never say Never.

 

My mom was so embarrassed when she was told she had hit her limit. She is going to have a hard time living that one down.

 

My dad even bought her a shirt in Grand Cayman that says something like "I only had 1 in DOG BEERS". :D

[GranysT]

Not sure what the actual count was on our 7 day, but it was this many!

 

 

HOLY CRAP :eek: I'd hate to see what your total bill came to

[jmvideopro]

Instead of another "is it worth it thread", I though I would recount our experience using the Cheers program for the first time. My wife and I are platinum cruisers on Carnival but had never done the Cheers package before. Because I am one of those people that that analyze our bill after every cruise, I know that on average we spend $30 to $35 per person per day on drinks.

 

The cruise we decided to try in on was an 8 day southern Caribbean on the Valor. This was the perfect storm opportunity because it was just us on this cruise and it had 4 sea days along with a port (Grand Turk) that we did not care about getting off at. So basically, 5 of the 8 days would be sea days.

 

For the purposes of making the math easy I am going to talk in rounded numbers without the 15% tip. The Cheers package for 8 days for 2 people was then $800. We ended up drinking 143 drinks at an average of $7, which would have been $1001. So we saved about $200.

 

Here are the bullet points:

- Started drinking about 10:00am each day (I know why so late?)

- Never made it to 15 drink limit, highest was 12 or was it 13

- Most of the drinks we like were $6.95, some more & beer less

- My wife got a "drinks on us" card in the casino on day 6

 

Final notes: If you want to make the most of it find a waiter that you like on the Lido deck and give him a cash tip. You will never want for a drink after that. There did seem to be a negative reaction by some of the bar staff when they realize you are on the Cheers package. This was most evident in the casino. For this cruise it worked out for us, but I don't plan to do it again unless we get a similar cruise with a lot of sea days.

 

 

My pros and cons, first I thank it is a far price and a far amount of drinks. But I don't like that fact that if you have anyone over 21 in the same cabin as you, they must purchase Cheers as well. My wife normal averages 2 or 3 drinks a day, so Cheers for her would be a wast.

 

So on this particular trip we had our kids, so my wife was listed in one cabin and I in the other. I did get the Cheers. I averaged about 10 drinks a day. But I kinda found myself drinking just to make sure I got my money's worth. Plus I did make sure I did collect all 15 drinks per day. What I did not drink I got in unopened beer. Them took it home. ;)

[Runaway Parent]

I'm not a big drinker, so I just keep thinking for $800 I could buy another cruise!

 

To each his own- have a good time your own way.

[BartRock]

Surely, I'd be able to get a shot for myself on the Cheers package and buy a beer on S&S for a friend in another cabin and have that beer not count toward the total, right?

[momof3cruisers]

Hey Momof3cruisers.

 

Never say Never.

 

My mom was so embarrassed when she was told she had hit her limit. She is going to have a hard time living that one down.

 

My dad even bought her a shirt in Grand Cayman that says something like "I only had 1 in DOG BEERS". :D

 

That is a riot. Your family sounds like a lot of fun!

[pbmsmile]

My only wish is that all parties in the cabin didn't have to purchase it. I can't drink alcohol because of a medication I am on. It seems like there should be a waiver for a certified Dr. excuse..and at the very least..for pregnant people! My hubby would love this program..but with only one of us drinking it just isn't worth it :(

[jacmo24]

We found that waiters loved us once they saw the cheers sticker. We've done it twice and never, ever waited that long for service. Had several waiters that 'claimed us' and made sure we stayed full. We tipped $1 extra every now and then but when I asked them, they said that cheers guaranteed tips basically and they liked it. Had a couple of waiters that said they weren't sure how it worked but didn't care. Had a couple of bartenders (Alchemy) that could have cared less because they love their job and also said they would not charge for any drink we hated.

[mrak]

Surely, I'd be able to get a shot for myself on the Cheers package and buy a beer on S&S for a friend in another cabin and have that beer not count toward the total, right?

 

Correct, if buy two drinks at the same time, only one can be charged against your cheers package and the other is purchased at regular price and doesn't go against your 15.

 

As for tipping extra, I mainly did this on a case by case basis. I found the Alchemy Bar staff to be very friendly and they put considerably more effort into the drinks there than any of the other bars so I did it there most often. But I got to know some of the other bartenders as well and threw them an extra buck here and there.

Edited June 1, 2015 by mrak

[TheOhioCruiser]

Purchased the Cheers program on my last Carnival cruise for me and my wife and saved $300 on a 6 day cruise. Since we're leaving on our next cruise in 21 days without the kids I asked my wife and she said definitely get it again. We both got 2 $9.95 glasses of wine at dinner each night, so that didn't leave much of a challenge to break even during the rest of the day.

[cknserenity]

Can you get wine or mixed drinks (with cheers) in the MDR? We drink wine with dinner but we'd like to get the cheers package.

[TheOhioCruiser]

Can you get wine or mixed drinks (with cheers) in the MDR? We drink wine with dinner but we'd like to get the cheers package.

 

You can definitely get wine in the MDR with the Cheers program. We ordered the $9.95 option of our favorite type of wine the first night. The rest of the cruise they brought us a glass of the same thing as soon as we sat down.

[happy cruzin]

Can you get wine or mixed drinks (with cheers) in the MDR? We drink wine with dinner but we'd like to get the cheers package.

 

 

Yes - bar service is provided in the MDR just like all other bars.

[daisychain11]

Purchased the Cheers program on my last Carnival cruise for me and my wife and saved $300 on a 6 day cruise. Since we're leaving on our next cruise in 21 days without the kids I asked my wife and she said definitely get it again. We both got 2 $9.95 glasses of wine at dinner each night, so that didn't leave much of a challenge to break even during the rest of the day.

 

I read it as if you were going on a 21-day cruise and getting the cheers package! LOL! Now THAT would be expensive!

 

You guys are all inspiring me. I want to be that Mom! (Actually, it's nearly a safe bet.) However, since we go to so many ports, we don't drink very much. I also found that when the ship rocked, I drank even less since it already felt like I had been drinking.

 

Last time I drank beer (it was cheaper) but this time I am determined to have some "fun" drinks!:D

[patrice1]

Good report, we always get Cheers and we tip $1.00 for every drink in cash. Never had an attitude from anyone.

On our next cruise 11 days we will get it before we even put our stuff in our cabin, never too soon to get our money's worth! [emoji12]

 

Agreed! We always do the same. While we never hit the 15 drink limit, we have calculated that drink 8 is our break even point, so it works well for us.:D

[Cruisin_Cheesehead]

My question with the CHEERS! program is this:

 

My husband and I will be cruising WITHOUT OUR KIDS in November. We're going with our best friends and will all be purchasing CHEERS!

 

If my husband hits his 15 limit, and I'm at say, 8, how closely (if at all) do they monitor me ordering a drink and giving it to him? I'm picturing him at a table in the casino, tries to order a drink, is told he hit the limit, then a few minutes later suddenly has a cocktail in front of him....will they care?

 

Anyone had any experience with this?

[Laurie S.]

The best we have ever done was my them taking my card for one drink for my husband. We didn't ask, the bartenders simply asked for my card. I doubt he could get away with more than one drink.

[AandBmom]

Can someone just clarify this for me as I haven't sailed Carnival in a few years. We are a family of 6. We have 2 cabins total. Technically we have 1 adult per cabin, even though we may end up sleeping with the kids all in one and us in the other. But since on paper we have 1 adult per cabin does this mean that we can just have one of us buy it? I don't drink (other than maybe 5-6 beers in total the whole 8 days which I can pay for myself). We've always disregarded Cheers b/c we've had both of us adults in the same room and it doesn't make sense...but now with us having 2 cabins it would make sense. Is it $50/day? That would make the $400 the OP referenced. Right?

Edited June 5, 2015 by AandBmom

[dvond]

My question with the CHEERS! program is this:

 

My husband and I will be cruising WITHOUT OUR KIDS in November. We're going with our best friends and will all be purchasing CHEERS!

 

If my husband hits his 15 limit, and I'm at say, 8, how closely (if at all) do they monitor me ordering a drink and giving it to him? I'm picturing him at a table in the casino, tries to order a drink, is told he hit the limit, then a few minutes later suddenly has a cocktail in front of him....will they care?

 

Anyone had any experience with this?

 

If you just go up to the bar and get one, they will have no clue you just cannot sit at the bar and do it

[honestguy]

SOmeone mentioned on longer sailings the price was less, can anyone confirm this? I'm going on an 11 day sailing

[jmvideopro]

Can someone just clarify this for me as I haven't sailed Carnival in a few years. We are a family of 6. We have 2 cabins total. Technically we have 1 adult per cabin, even though we may end up sleeping with the kids all in one and us in the other. But since on paper we have 1 adult per cabin does this mean that we can just have one of us buy it? I don't drink (other than maybe 5-6 beers in total the whole 8 days which I can pay for myself). We've always disregarded Cheers b/c we've had both of us adults in the same room and it doesn't make sense...but now with us having 2 cabins it would make sense. Is it $50/day? That would make the $400 the OP referenced. Right?

 

 

My wife and I had a similar situation. On paper we had adults in each room sharing with kids. My wife is not a big drinker (she has 2 or 3 a day). So I got the cheers plan for myself and anytime she wanted a drink I would get it for her. It work out great for us.

[goduckies05]

For me it depends on the mood I want for the cruise. If i want to drink a bunch it is worth it. I just did the Miracle and had 75 drinks. Saved about 200 bucks. Then got off the Legend two weeks ago and only had maybe 30, so not worth it. But that was Alaska and a different vibe.