Carnival beverage program changes- will SBC follow?

[frankc98376]

Interesting changes to Carnival's beverage package. Wondering if others in the company will follow. Need to keep up with X, NCL, etc...

Interesting that their package specifies 15 alcoholic drinks per day- appears soda/coffee is unlimited.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=6831&UTM_Source=Social&UTM_Medium=Facebook&UTM_Campaign=News&UTM_Content=Carnival&UTM_Term=Carnival

Edited February 25, 2016 by frankc98376

[Clarea]

Interesting, thanks for sharing.:)

[sail7seas]

HAL seems to follow what Princess does a bit more so than Carnival Cruise Line. Will be interesting to see what they do.

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for the link.

Interesting.

[POA1]

I hope so. Keeping hydrated is *so* important. ;)

[SLOTheta]

The package includes drinks that are less than $50 each. I'd love to see a list of those $49 drinks!

 

 

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[sail7seas]

One would guess there could be a cognac or brandy that may not be included in the under $50 list.

[DaveOKC]

The package includes drinks that are less than $50 each. I'd love to see a list of those $49 drinks!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

Especially a $49 glass of wine! Might have to fill an empty wine bottle back in my cabin with that!

[Keith1010]

Thanks for sharing.

Keith

[cubfan63]

HAL seems to follow what Princess does a bit more so than Carnival Cruise Line. Will be interesting to see what they do.

 

 

 

 

 

Princess's all-inclusive beverage package does not limit the number of drinks to 15 per day (which for HAL includes soda and other non-alcoholic drinks as part of the limit).

 

Princess also has a higher price limit of $10. When Princess raised some drink prices, they didn't have to change the price limit as drink prices still stayed on the limit. HAL raised drink prices and then had to change the price limit for the SBP, as most drinks exceeded the $7 limit they initially had.

 

Princess's package is available for use on Princess Cay, while HAL's version is not usable on Half Moon Cay.

 

Also, HAL offered their package before Princess offered theirs.

 

Please help us understand how HAL's package is following what Princess does, in your opinion. I see a lot of differences.

[sail7seas]

I understood the OP to be speculating if HAL would be changing their SBP to be in line with Carnivals' new policy.

 

My comment was not about the existing plan but speculated if they were to change it, I have noticed HAL seems to follow Princes' lead in many things.

 

Will Princess be changing their plan?

Will HAL?

 

NCL actually has a very good UBP. I had it last summer on Dawn and it was very much better than HAL's.

Edited February 26, 2016 by sail7seas

[K&RCurt]

I hope HAL emulates their direct competitor Celebrity for the drink package.

 

The "Classic" and "Premium" packages on X are great, IMO. On our cruise a couple weeks ago, I started with the "Classic" and upgraded halfway through the cruise, mostly in order to enjoy better beer and wine by the glass plus premium non-alcoholic offerings (Evian, San Pellegrino and Perrier waters.) The huge upside is that, unlike the CCL lines (Carnival, HAL and Princess) each person in a cabin can pick the package that best suites them.

 

My DW drinks absolutely ZERO alcohol. She was able to get a "Premium" Non-Alcoholic package, that included unlimited amounts of any beverage without alcohol. I was able to get a package that included unlimited amounts of both alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages. This was a huge savings over both of us being forced to buy the same alcohol package, with limited number of drinks as would be the case on HAL. One of the reasons we never got a package on HAL.

[frankc98376]

I hope HAL emulates their direct competitor Celebrity for the drink package.

 

The "Classic" and "Premium" packages on X are great, IMO. On our cruise a couple weeks ago, I started with the "Classic" and upgraded halfway through the cruise, mostly in order to enjoy better beer and wine by the glass plus premium non-alcoholic offerings (Evian, San Pellegrino and Perrier waters.) The huge upside is that, unlike the CCL lines (Carnival, HAL and Princess) each person in a cabin can pick the package that best suites them.

 

My DW drinks absolutely ZERO alcohol. She was able to get a "Premium" Non-Alcoholic package, that included unlimited amounts of any beverage without alcohol. I was able to get a package that included unlimited amounts of both alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages. This was a huge savings over both of us being forced to buy the same alcohol package, with limited number of drinks as would be the case on HAL. One of the reasons we never got a package on HAL.

 

I have thought it would benefit HAL to have a two tiered beverage card program like Celebrity. That way the "Explore 4" or other promos would offer the base program and passengers would need to upgrade to the premium if desired.

Edited February 26, 2016 by frankc98376

[sail7seas]

I like NCL's Plan.

All drinks $15 and under are covered including soft drinks, beer and wine. If you purchase something that costs more than $15, they credit the first $15 toward the cost and you only pay the balance. It is unlimited how many drinks you may have each day.

 

That is my understanding of the plan I had last summer. I never had anywhere near the value of that package on my cruise as I only had at most 2-3 glasses of wine a day and maybe a club soda but it was a benefit of the category cabin I booked and was included in the price of my cruise.

Edited February 26, 2016 by sail7seas

[Ryten]

For those interested the Remy Martin XO is $120 a snifter.

[frankc98376]

I like NCL's Plan.

All drinks $15 and under are covered including soft drinks, beer and wine. If you purchase something that costs more than $15, they credit the first $15 toward the cost and you only pay the balance. It is unlimited how many drinks you may have each day.

 

That is my understanding of the plan I had last summer. I never had anywhere near the value of that package on my cruise as I only had at most 2-3 glasses of wine a day and maybe a club soda but it was a benefit of the category cabin I booked and was included in the price of my cruise.

 

My biggest complaint about the is that if the limit is $8.00 and my drink is $8.01 I have to pay full price and not the difference. My second biggest complaint is that soda and coffee are included in the 15 drinks. DH can drink a LOT of soda during the day.

[sail7seas]

Some of the Johnny Walker Scotch are very pricey.

[sail7seas]

My biggest complaint about the is that if the limit is $8.00 and my drink is $8.01 I have to pay full price and not the difference. My second biggest complaint is that soda and coffee are included in the 15 drinks. DH can drink a LOT of soda during the day.

 

I totally agree and think it very bad policy to not credit the $8 and charge the guest only the overage. To pay nothing toward that drink is not equitable. If you sell a card that credits $8 drinks, then credit the $8. :rolleyes:

 

Edited February 26, 2016 by sail7seas