To Cheers or not....

[AprilJ]

I'm on the fence about purchasing the Cheers package. If I order 2 bottles of liqour, can we make drinks in our room and take them out on the deck or to eat with us? It's hard to swallow spending $500+ on alcohol alone, even though we will drink quite a bit during our 2 at sea days. I guess I'm torn between saving $$$ and drinking the same thing all week or buying Cheers and drinking whatever I feel like at that moment. Looking for insight from the pro's as this will be our first cruise. Thanks!!

[jennraycruise]

On my last cruise I spent more than what Cheers would have cost me on drinks. It was a 3 day cruise. So for me it's a no brainer. I will be getting Cheers on my next cruise. There is a break even spreadsheet out there. http://www.cruisewithgambee.com/carnival-cheers-program-drink-package/

 

Even with the bottles in my room the drink of the day still tempts me on deck and when I am at dinner I have a drink.

[A&Jfamily]

I'm on the fence about purchasing the Cheers package. If I order 2 bottles of liqour, can we make drinks in our room and take them out on the deck or to eat with us? It's hard to swallow spending $500+ on alcohol alone, even though we will drink quite a bit during our 2 at sea days. I guess I'm torn between saving $$$ and drinking the same thing all week or buying Cheers and drinking whatever I feel like at that moment. Looking for insight from the pro's as this will be our first cruise. Thanks!!

 

Do the math. What is your typical bar bill without Cheers? And is the difference between that, Cheers and say $150 for liquor worth it to you, to have variety and to drink what you want?

 

We don't do Cheers because with the port days, there is no way I could get my money's worth.

[familycruzr]

On port days, I don't usually have more than 2 or 3 drinks on the ship. Even though we have more drinks on sea days, it's not enough to make the cheers package worth the cost for us.

 

You really just have to think about how much you are likely to spend on drinks. If you are planning excursions that include drinks, you may find that you drink very little on the ship that day.

[evandbob]

I'm on the fence about purchasing the Cheers package. If I order 2 bottles of liqour, can we make drinks in our room and take them out on the deck or to eat with us? It's hard to swallow spending $500+ on alcohol alone, even though we will drink quite a bit during our 2 at sea days. I guess I'm torn between saving $$$ and drinking the same thing all week or buying Cheers and drinking whatever I feel like at that moment. Looking for insight from the pro's as this will be our first cruise. Thanks!!

 

Sounds like you already booked Carnival - for others concerned with drinking costs, price compare what Carnival costs with and without Cheers to some of the other lines free drinking packages. You may be surprised at the savings!

[sc4125]

I purchased cheers when I went on the Conquest in July - but that was because I was celebrating my birthday & thought that I would drink more than usual. I did like the convenience BUT I learned pretty quickly that I'm not as young as I once was & 3-4 drinks over a period of about an hour and a half and I was toast. Then I really wasn't interested in drinking more that day. Now I know I could have spread it out, but what fun is that.

 

I use to buy a bottle of vodka from CCL, but the cost kept going up & then I had to hassle with bringing on the mixers I liked. So, this past cruise on the Glory, I decided to plan on 3 drinks a day (about $30) - for the seven days I figured about $250 for the cruise vs. over $400 for Cheers. This worked out perfectly, especially since by day 5 I had earned drinks on us in the casino. My bar bill actually was just under $200.

 

So, bottom line, figure out how much you will drink & whether you'd save with the Cheers. I say, try it once and then you'll know what works for you. I was glad I tried it.

'

[BiggDawg]

...

If I order 2 bottles of liqour, can we make drinks in our room and take them out on the deck or to eat with us?

...

Far be it for me to suggest what you should do, or with what you could get away, :D but...

 

I bought a bottle and mixers in advance for our upcoming cruise through the Carnival website. When I checked out they required certification that:

• We agreed that bottled liquor was for consumption
  in the room ONLY,
  and;
  
  
• We would
  NOT
  carry drinks into any public areas of the ship.
  
  

Just sayin'... :rolleyes:

From the

Carnival Website

:

The Fun Shops (pre-cruise orders)

All alcohol purchased through The Fun Shops (via telephone order or online) for on board consumption is designed for in-stateroom entertainment only. Guests cannot take liquor bottles with them to public areas. Only wine or champagne that was ordered through The Fun Shops can be served in the dining room or Steakhouse.

Edited December 30, 2015 by BiggDawg
Added web link

[notyours75]

DW and I have weighed these options heavily for our upcoming cruise on the Freedom this Jan. She is not a big drinker, 2 or 3 a day for her would be expected, I on the other hand would make a go of it. I thought about getting a bottle or two for the room but one bottle and mixers alone would cost nearly 25% of the cheers program and then we'd be committed to drinking that all week and the DW and I have different tastes. I finally decided to do it not just on a cost analysis but more on a convenience and peace of mind.

 

While we could easily say that we're going to have a set dollar amount budget for drinks, I don't want to spend my cruise trying to keep up where I'm at and constantly evaluating whether I want to spend our budget on this drink or that drink. So for us we're going to do Cheers. We tend to like the more expensive mixed drinks anyway and this will be our first cruise with the Alchemy bar. We know what the cost will be and we've budgeted for that and I'm not going to worry about if we break even or not, in fact I'm not going to worry about it at all, just drink what we want to, when we want to.

 

One cost concession we did make was to purchase enough Verizon & Citibank gift cards to cover the cost so essentially its like getting a 10% discount on it which will move the break even point down slightly. At the end of our cruise our goal is to have $0 balance on our S&S account. Nothing but memories!

[AprilJ]

We've discussed it and are going up try Cheers...it's our first cruise, our 25th anniversary and his 45th birthday - plenty to celebrate, might as well go all out. 😊👍

[singbluesilver1]

We get it because we don't want to worry about the bill at the end of our trip, plus with the red from rum bar and alchemy we like to drink!! Besides its a pain to keep going back to your room for a refill

[Cruisegirl6]

We always get the Cheers package, just think...your up at 9am you may like a bloody mary or mimosa during breakfast, your up late, the drinks do add up. My day starts around 10am out of the cabin till 2am....that is 16 hours and we do usually average 12/13 drinks a day, which means we get past our monies worth.

 

You are right, its a celebration, your on a cruise, it doesn't happen often so just go for it and enjoy your cruise. What I like also, is that you know the cost of the drinks, you don't have to worry about charges on your account that may happen that aren't yours....you can have what you want and when you want and not worry about the money ordering.

 

The way I see it, when your on a cruise its to relax and have fun, no worries, no thinking about money, just have a good time, because life can be too short, one never knows what tomorrow brings, enjoy the cruise and get the cheers and celebrate your birthday and anniversary!

[peachesncream4u]

Just FYI cheers only covers drinks under $10.

[nissach]

We always get the Cheers package, just think...your up at 9am you may like a bloody mary or mimosa during breakfast, your up late, the drinks do add up. My day starts around 10am out of the cabin till 2am....that is 16 hours and we do usually average 12/13 drinks a day, which means we get past our monies worth.

 

You are right, its a celebration, your on a cruise, it doesn't happen often so just go for it and enjoy your cruise. What I like also, is that you know the cost of the drinks, you don't have to worry about charges on your account that may happen that aren't yours....you can have what you want and when you want and not worry about the money ordering.

 

The way I see it, when your on a cruise its to relax and have fun, no worries, no thinking about money, just have a good time, because life can be too short, one never knows what tomorrow brings, enjoy the cruise and get the cheers and celebrate your birthday and anniversary!

 

Good points, I agree :)

[Indytraveler83]

On my last cruise I spent more than what Cheers would have cost me on drinks. It was a 3 day cruise. So for me it's a no brainer. I will be getting Cheers on my next cruise. There is a break even spreadsheet out there. http://www.cruisewithgambee.com/carnival-cheers-program-drink-package/

 

Even with the bottles in my room the drink of the day still tempts me on deck and when I am at dinner I have a drink.

 

This!!!!

 

Use the spreadsheet! We thought we would use Cheers, but after looking at this, we realized we couldn't possibly drink enough to make it worth it. Others have reached the exact opposite conclusion as we did, but this tool is the best!

[TEXASMUNK]

Not sure they hand you bottles!

They pour and actually count your drinks per day

[mmckm]

Casino drinks are not free. Figure out what you spend to get those so called free drinks and the drink package is cheap.

[teddybear231]

I don't consider myself a big drinker, but while on vacation I certainly do enjoy more than I do while at home. With that being said, I couldn't see myself spending over $400 in liquor, so I chose not to purchase cheers. When I got my statement on the last night, I had spent over $650 in liquor... I should of went with cheers and I will be next time.

[alrichards4003]

We did Cheers once, on an 8 day cruise and I got bronchitis on the second day, I had one pina colada a day because it made my sore throat feel better. I did not think we would do it again, but we had the "free' drink package on the NCL Breakaway and it was nice to not worry about the bill at the end. DH mostly drinks beer, but I am a martini drinker so it does not take long to break even. I ordered Cheers for our six day cruise coming up in a few weeks, and am looking forward to not having the bar bill at the end of the cruise. I also drink a few cokes during the cruise and those are included as well.

 

I disagree with the 15 drink limit, my husband will drink a portion of a beer and it gets hot so he does not drink the whole thing. If Carnival thinks no one should have more than 15 drinks a day, I understand, but using Cheers you can't but if you are buying individually you can have as many as you like?

[bobsfamily]

nevermind

Edited January 1, 2016 by bobsfamily

[bobsfamily]

I'm on the fence about purchasing the Cheers package. If I order 2 bottles of liqour, can we make drinks in our room and take them out on the deck or to eat with us? It's hard to swallow spending $500+ on alcohol alone, even though we will drink quite a bit during our 2 at sea days. I guess I'm torn between saving $$$ and drinking the same thing all week or buying Cheers and drinking whatever I feel like at that moment. Looking for insight from the pro's as this will be our first cruise. Thanks!!

For out upcoming 7 night cruise we opted to not. We most likely will have the Drinks On Us card either waiting on us (from the Casino) or have it in a couple of days (yes we like to gamble). We also have ordered booze and beer for the room and it's already paid for. We will have a few drinks and the bill might get high but for 2 of us the cost of Cheers for a 7 night cruise is over $800. That's a lot of drinks! We have 3 ports days right in a row and one of them is Half Moon Cay which Cheers does not work at.

[patrice1]

We always get Cheers now, as our break even is 6-7 drinks per day. When you consider wine with dinner, bloodies in the morning, beer with lunch (nap, lol) and pre & post-dinner drinks, it's worth it.

[bobsfamily]

mistake, sorry

Edited January 1, 2016 by bobsfamily

[cruzelover55]

We definitely get our monies worth.:D But, 1st time we bought it I drove myself nuts trying to keep up with it, afraid we would "miss" hitting 15. Then, found out every time you order they will tell you where you are at. We consider ourselves big drinkers, but only hit 15 one day. And that was when I found a bartender that let me take unopened cans back to the room. (some were sodas) After that time, I now don't give it a 2nd thought. I just order what and when I want, I know how high our bill is without Cheers so know it is a good deal for us. Have a great cruise!:)

[AprilJ]

I think we would easily drink the 6+ drinks per day to make it worth it...my only real concern I think is being first time cruisers I worry I may get seasick and not drink at all if my stomach is upset.

[AprilJ]

Was just looking at one of the drink menus, frozen colada $7.50 + $2.00 for a floater.....this would be ok on Cheers right? And what about the $9.50 drink in the souvenir glass?