How Beverage Cards Work/Cost?

[RuthC]

Can the Soda Fountain Value Cards that are worth $50 but cost $25 also be purchased on the ship?

Yes.

[Tripper10]

If we have a $250 Beverage card, Can we purchase drinks for both of us on one card?

 

I'm sure it's just me, but why would anyone get a beverage card with no discount when you already have your key card to charge stuff. It makes zero sense to me. Keeping track of the receipts is not a real reason.

[KirkNC]

I'm sure it's just me, but why would anyone get a beverage card with no discount when you already have your key card to charge stuff. It makes zero sense to me. Keeping track of the receipts is not a real reason.

 

No it's me as well; however some like the convenience of not having to accumulate and verify a bunch of receipts to their shipboard acct. I wish no one would buy them and maybe they would go back to the days when a $250 card cost $225.

[RuthC]

Keeping track of the receipts is not a real reason.

It's a "real" enough reason for me, and that's what matters. :rolleyes:

 

Do you have any idea how many receipts you can have at the end of a 39-day cruise? :eek:

I, for one, do not care to be reconciling all of them that last morning when I am trying to finish packing, and eating breakfast.

I have better things to do.

[knittinggirl]

OK' date=' i am getting confused with the 15% gratuity (not tax as I stated above). I understand now.

 

 

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Does that mean we must tip the server over and above the 15% gratuity?

[RuthC]

Does that mean we must tip the server over and above the 15% gratuity?

No; one never "must" tip the server over and above.

You may leave an extra tip if you so choose, and it will be accepted graciously.

[knittinggirl]

No; one never "must" tip the server over and above.

You may leave an extra tip if you so choose, and it will be accepted graciously.

Thanks for the help, Ruth. I just wondered if the service charge was for managers that order the supplies, and gratuities (based on actual service) are for the people that bring us the drinks.

 

On Celebrity, I actually had a waiter ignoring me serving the people around me because I wasn't holding a dollar for her.

Edited March 5, 2016 by knittinggirl

[Krazy Kruizers]

Does that mean we must tip the server over and above the 15% gratuity?

 

 

 

The only time we tip the bar servers is when we have the same ones and then we tip them extra at the end of the cruise.

There was one cruise where every time we went to the Ocean Bar we had a different server. No extra tips.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I'm sure it's just me, but why would anyone get a beverage card with no discount when you already have your key card to charge stuff. It makes zero sense to me. Keeping track of the receipts is not a real reason.

 

I don't like keeping track of a ton of slips at the end of the cruise.

Maybe you only take short cruises, but we don't. And maybe you don't order a couple of drinks a day.

[canadarocks]

Another reason for pre-ordering the beverage cards is because some of us like not having a huge bill at the end of a cruise. "Already bought and paid for" drinks and shore excursions isn't necessarily a bad thing. ;)

[Hlitner]

When the beverage cards got you a discount on drinks (about 10%) we used to buy the things. But with no discount they just make absolutely no sense. It is just one more card you have to carry (and not lose) along with your regular cruise card. Buying drinks with the beverage card is no easier (and sometimes more difficult) then with your cruise card. And we never understood the comment about the "receipts" which really are useless. Consider that a receipt only shows what you bought but does not show what you did not buy. So why would you ever need (or even want) a receipt. Many other cruise lines have finally stopped with those silly receipts which are just more trash to blow onto deck, into the sea, etc.

 

We do understand the argument of pre paying although you might consider that on HAL you get cruise day "points" for spending money onboard (this will get you to 4, 5 * faster) but you get no points items pre purchased since they are not on your onboard account. And call me an old fashioned financial guy, but Finance 101 always taught you never pay for things in advance unless you get a discount. And if you get onboard credits (easy to get when you book through cruise agencies) there is little reason to pay in advance (it will not go against your credits).

 

Hank

Edited March 5, 2016 by Hlitner

[iancal]

I am in the no discount no early pay crowd. We buy the coffee card on Princess. Often the server does not even mark it off.

 

We reconcile our shipboard account every three or for days. Very easy on those lines where we have in cabin,on line access to our accounts. If there is an issue we can deal with it in a timely manner. Cannot imagine waiting until the end of a cruise to reconcile our shipboard account.

[Boytjie]

So a $6.75 drink plus 15% plus another 30% becomes $11.25 Australian - not cheap to drink on board........

 

What is the 30% that you are adding on?

[Boytjie]

We do understand the argument of pre paying although you might consider that on HAL you get cruise day "points" for spending money onboard (this will get you to 4, 5 * faster) but you get no points items pre purchased since they are not on your onboard account.

 

Not so; anything you pre-purchase (except casino credit, I think) counts towards Mariner cruise days.

 

14. Are any onboard charges excluded from the onboard purchases bonus?

 

All casino charges, cash advances, Future Cruise deposits, and associated fees are excluded. All other onboard purchases, for example, Hotel Service Charge, Beverage Service Charge, taxes, shore excursions and all gift items purchased online or through Ship Services count towards bonus Cruise Day credits.

Edited March 5, 2016 by Boytjie

[Lizzie68]

When the beverage cards got you a discount on drinks (about 10%) we used to buy the things. But with no discount they just make absolutely no sense. It is just one more card you have to carry (and not lose) along with your regular cruise card. Buying drinks with the beverage card is no easier (and sometimes more difficult) then with your cruise card. And we never understood the comment about the "receipts" which really are useless. Consider that a receipt only shows what you bought but does not show what you did not buy. So why would you ever need (or even want) a receipt. Many other cruise lines have finally stopped with those silly receipts which are just more trash to blow onto deck, into the sea, etc.

 

We do understand the argument of pre paying although you might consider that on HAL you get cruise day "points" for spending money onboard (this will get you to 4, 5 * faster) but you get no points items pre purchased since they are not on your onboard account. And call me an old fashioned financial guy, but Finance 101 always taught you never pay for things in advance unless you get a discount. And if you get onboard credits (easy to get when you book through cruise agencies) there is little reason to pay in advance (it will not go against your credits).

 

Hank

 

Where on earth did you get that idea? Of course you get points for everything you pre-purchase for your cruise. That includes shore excursions, OBCs, Beverage cards, wine packages, spa items etc etc. In the unlikely event that you do not use all of your OBCs or Beverage cards, you do not get points for the unused amount.

[Lizzie68]

Another reason for pre-ordering the beverage cards is because some of us like not having a huge bill at the end of a cruise. "Already bought and paid for" drinks and shore excursions isn't necessarily a bad thing. ;)

 

Exactly. That was the topic for a long thread quite recently, and it's entirely up to the individual, but count me as one of those who spreads cruise costs, and is darned good at budgeting, contrary to the insistence of one or two posters who declared we must not be able to manage a budget:rolleyes: - and I leave the ship after a cruise with very little on my onboard account. But it is entirely a matter of choice and neither side of the argument is wrong - what they do just suits them.

[knittinggirl]

Exactly. That was the topic for a long thread quite recently, and it's entirely up to the individual, but count me as one of those who spreads cruise costs, and is darned good at budgeting, contrary to the insistence of one or two posters who declared we must not be able to manage a budget:rolleyes: - and I leave the ship after a cruise with very little on my onboard account. But it is entirely a matter of choice and neither side of the argument is wrong - what they do just suits them.

With a beverage card, do they even need to see your seapass card? If not, another point in favor of beverage cards, because we don't have to worry about them mixing up cruise cards.

[RuthC]

With a beverage card, do they even need to see your seapass card?

Just the first time you use the beverage card, so it can be activated. After that, no need to get your cabin card out.

If you purchase the beverage card in advance, your name is on the card; if purchased on board, then your name does not show.

 

One time I was traveling in a group of 16, and we went to cocktail time together every evening, arriving in close proximity to each other. One of the stewards was smart enough to stick a white strip on each card, and note our names on them. Made it a lot easier to keep everything straight.

[Hlitner]

Where on earth did you get that idea? Of course you get points for everything you pre-purchase for your cruise. That includes shore excursions, OBCs, Beverage cards, wine packages, spa items etc etc. In the unlikely event that you do not use all of your OBCs or Beverage cards, you do not get points for the unused amount.

 

Perhaps we are mistaken, but when you pre purchase items they are immediately charged to your credit card (pre cruise) and do not appear as an item in your onboard account. When points are calculated (and we really have no personal interest in the entire point or Mariner thing) you get points (I believe it is currently 1 point for every $300) for expenditures posted to your onboard account. Since pre purchases are not part of that accounting we have never been aware of HAL giving credit for those items.

 

Lancal mentioned buying the coffee card on Princess....and we also buy the coffee card on Princess. The reason is because with the coffee card not only do you get premium coffee drinks (at a small discount) but also get unlimited free coffee at the International Cafe. Without the card there is a small charge for that IC coffee....which is the best coffee at sea since it is brewed from very good beans in small batches.

 

Hank

Edited March 6, 2016 by Hlitner

[RuthC]

Perhaps we are mistaken, ...

You are.

... but when you pre purchase items they are immediately charged to your credit card (pre cruise) and do not appear as an item in your onboard account.

On this, you are correct.

When points are calculated you get points for expenditures posted to your onboard account.

This is where you are wrong. Mariner days based on spending are calculated by the amount attributed to your booking number. That amount includes both on-board and pre-board spending.

[Boytjie]

Perhaps we are mistaken, but when you pre purchase items they are immediately charged to your credit card (pre cruise) and do not appear as an item in your onboard account. When points are calculated (and we really have no personal interest in the entire point or Mariner thing) you get points (I believe it is currently 1 point for every $300) for expenditures posted to your onboard account. Since pre purchases are not part of that accounting we have never been aware of HAL giving credit for those items.

 

 

You are wrong.

 

I quotes the Mariner FAQ that states that online purchases and those through Ship Services all count towards cruise days.

[Hlitner]

You are wrong.

 

I quotes the Mariner FAQ that states that online purchases and those through Ship Services all count towards cruise days.

 

We thank you both for clearing up my incorrect assumption :)

 

Hank

[DrMark]

For all of you who don't like keeping all of those receipts, has anybody ever found a mistake when reconciling your on-board account, and if so, how did you prove it? Did they credit your account?

[elizamar]

Does any unspent balance on a beverage card get automatically credited to your credit card or room account?

 

 

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[Krazy Kruizers]

Does any unspent balance on a beverage card get automatically credited to your credit card or room account?

 

 

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A couple of times we did not use the entire Beverage Card. The balance was credited to our shipboard account.

 

And if you still have left over over shipboard account money, that will be credited back to your credit card.