Non drinker Cheers program?

[sheila59]

We are on the Magic later in the year, I would like to purchase the cheers package, I'm sharing a room with my brother 26yrs old, he is a non alcohol drinker, never touched it in his life, I have read that everyone in the cabin over a certain age needs to purchase the package, is this true, could I not explain to Carnival?

[jocko4279]

unfortunately every person over 21 MUST purchase it. I think it's a ridiculous rule. They will not make any exceptions, no matter what reasoning

[sparks1093]

We are on the Magic later in the year, I would like to purchase the cheers package, I'm sharing a room with my brother 26yrs old, he is a non alcohol drinker, never touched it in his life, I have read that everyone in the cabin over a certain age needs to purchase the package, is this true, could I not explain to Carnival?

 

I have heard that if they haven't met their numbers they will sometimes make exceptions onboard but otherwise it doesn't matter- even people with a medical note are required to purchase the program. Remember that the program is designed to make CCL money, not to save the passenger money.

[sparks1093]

unfortunately every person over 21 MUST purchase it. I think it's a ridiculous rule. They will not make any exceptions, no matter what reasoning

 

It's only ridiculous from your point of view, from CCL's point of view it makes perfect sense. Since it's their company their point of view is the one that matters most.

[Bookbug53]

We are on the Magic later in the year, I would like to purchase the cheers package, I'm sharing a room with my brother 26yrs old, he is a non alcohol drinker, never touched it in his life, I have read that everyone in the cabin over a certain age needs to purchase the package, is this true, could I not explain to Carnival?

 

 

You can try to explain but it won't help. They are still enforcing this ridiculous rule and I have never heard of any exception.

 

They have made it a bit more palatable by adding the specialty coffees, energy drinks, bottled water, frozen non-alcoholic drinks etc. and you get unlimited soda. Perhaps your brother may find this worth his while.

[Purvis1231]

I have heard that if they haven't met their numbers they will sometimes make exceptions onboard but otherwise it doesn't matter- even people with a medical note are required to purchase the program. Remember that the program is designed to make CCL money, not to save the passenger money.

 

Cheers is Carnival making program that benefits customers and the cruise line. If it did not save the passenger money then no one would buy it and it would not take up so much discussion time on Cruise Critic.

[Pyrate13]

Sorry, but I don't see it as ridiculous. These boards are full of people looking for ways to circumvent the rules. How many threads have we seen on smuggling booze, smoking on the balcony, etc, etc? It would take one cruise before some start saying their cabin mate doesn't drink so only they should need to purchase Cheers. Once aboard they would be getting a drink, give it to the cabin mate and five minutes later, go get one for themselves. I know, some will say that wouldn't happen, but we all know it would, and so does Carnival.

[sparks1093]

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Cheers is Carnival making program that benefits customers and the cruise line. If it did not save the passenger money then no one would buy it and it would not take up so much discussion time on Cruise Critic.

 

Of course it saves the passenger money but the primary purpose of the program is to make money for the cruise line, just as any other program or product offered by any other retailer. Sure, they could change the rules but by doing so they would not make as much money on the program, even though the changes could save the passengers more money.

[doneinne]

You need to drink roughly 7 drinks a day to break even (depending on what you drink of course). They are counting on people not doing that (like my wife and some days me). If it was shared, it would be easier to reach the break even point with 2 people instead of one. Carnival would loose more times then they win. I for one am very glad they added all of the non alcoholic options.

[Bookbug53]

Sorry, but I don't see it as ridiculous. These boards are full of people looking for ways to circumvent the rules. How many threads have we seen on smuggling booze, smoking on the balcony, etc, etc? It would take one cruise before some start saying their cabin mate doesn't drink so only they should need to purchase Cheers. Once aboard they would be getting a drink, give it to the cabin mate and five minutes later, go get one for themselves. I know, some will say that wouldn't happen, but we all know it would, and so does Carnival.

 

Why should they care? 15 drinks and the program is done for the day. I do not understand why they care if two people drink 7 and a half drinks or 15 people each have one. If it was unlimited drinks that would be different. And do you think that people have not passed on a drink to a friend in a different cabin? And plenty of people get around the restriction by the way they book names in multiple cabins.

 

A lot of people do not buy the program because their cabin mate doesn't drink or is pregnant, etc. Carnival is losing a sale there. I don't see the benefit to them to have this restriction in place. I just can't follow their logic.

[asalligo]

Why should they care? 15 drinks and the program is done for the day. I do not understand why they care if two people drink 7 and a half drinks or 15 people each have one. If it was unlimited drinks that would be different. And do you think that people have not passed on a drink to a friend in a different cabin? And plenty of people get around the restriction by the way they book names in multiple cabins.

 

A lot of people do not buy the program because their cabin mate doesn't drink or is pregnant, etc. Carnival is losing a sale there. I don't see the benefit to them to have this restriction in place. I just can't follow their logic.

 

They care because as soon as you order your 8th drink of the day, they are losing money versus if you had bought the drink outside of the cheers program. The Cheers program is Carnival betting that you think you can drink 15 drinks a day, but that during your overall cruise you actually drink 7 or less average per day. Two people sharing severely decreasing their odds of winning that bet.

Edited May 27, 2016 by asalligo

[Wheatie59]

Why should they care? 15 drinks and the program is done for the day. I do not understand why they care if two people drink 7 and a half drinks or 15 people each have one. If it was unlimited drinks that would be different. And do you think that people have not passed on a drink to a friend in a different cabin? And plenty of people get around the restriction by the way they book names in multiple cabins.

 

A lot of people do not buy the program because their cabin mate doesn't drink or is pregnant, etc. Carnival is losing a sale there. I don't see the benefit to them to have this restriction in place. I just can't follow their logic.

 

Because their statistics no doubt show that most Cheers purchasers DO NOT consume 15 drinks a day. I'm sure some do, but most do not. Ultimately they are NOT selling you 15 drinks for a fixed price. They are selling you the right to get up to 15 drinks for your own consumption for a fixed price. The Cheers pricing is based on the typical number of drinks consumed for each Cheers purchase. If that number starts trending up, the price will go up.

 

Yes, you and I well know that a handle of Jack Daniels is, what, $35 at a store. And that's about 38 1.5 oz shots. So, under $1 per shot. No doubt Carnival and any bar or restaurant pays less than that. The $50 price of Cheers easily covers the liquor cost of 15 drinks, even adding in mixes. IDK what the multiplier for bar drinks is, but typically the selling price of a product needs to be 4X or 5X the cost of the raw materials in order to make a profit. That means they need to be getting something like $4-5 a drink to be break even. Any Cheers purchase that results in under about 10 drinks per day is profitable. Over that and they're losing money. That's not even considering the non-alcoholic drinks now included. I'm 100% sure they carefully monitor the numbers for Cheers. If its unprofitable at current prices, the will raise the price.

[sparks1093]

Why should they care? 15 drinks and the program is done for the day. I do not understand why they care if two people drink 7 and a half drinks or 15 people each have one. If it was unlimited drinks that would be different. And do you think that people have not passed on a drink to a friend in a different cabin? And plenty of people get around the restriction by the way they book names in multiple cabins.

 

A lot of people do not buy the program because their cabin mate doesn't drink or is pregnant, etc. Carnival is losing a sale there. I don't see the benefit to them to have this restriction in place. I just can't follow their logic.

 

There are two rules in place that protect them- everyone 21 and over in a cabin has to purchase and there is a 15 drink per day limit. As you point out sharing does occur now even though it's not supposed to be. How much sharing do you think would happen if only one person in the cabin had to buy a package? I would guess that CCL figures it would be a lot. So instead of two people buying a package and each person drinking 6 drinks a day you now have 1 person buying the package and both people still drinking 6 drinks a day.

 

Cheers doesn't work for everyone and it's not intended to.

[KevInPitt]

Why should they care? 15 drinks and the program is done for the day. I do not understand why they care if two people drink 7 and a half drinks or 15 people each have one. If it was unlimited drinks that would be different. And do you think that people have not passed on a drink to a friend in a different cabin? And plenty of people get around the restriction by the way they book names in multiple cabins.

 

A lot of people do not buy the program because their cabin mate doesn't drink or is pregnant, etc. Carnival is losing a sale there. I don't see the benefit to them to have this restriction in place. I just can't follow their logic.

 

It's their monkey and their circus. They see the benefit to the restriction so following their logic is irrelevant.

[ryano]

Royal Caribbean bean counters somehow figured out it is no longer necessary to require ALL adults in the same cabin to buy their drink packages nor do they have a 15 drink limit. I really wished Carnival would follow suit. I cruise with my 72 year old mom as thats the only time a year I get to spend much time with her. Because of health reasons and her medication she CANT drink alcohol. While I wont call it ridiculous, I do wish there were at least exceptions. I really wanted Cheers even though I knew I would likely not even break even but couldnt get it. Oh well. If thats my ONLY "complaint", I had pretty damn good cruise I think :) They could have gotten a little over 400.00 out of me for alcohol by selling me Cheers. Instead they only got about half that.

Edited May 27, 2016 by ryano

[sparks1093]

Royal Caribbean bean counters somehow figured out it is no longer necessary to require ALL adults in the same cabin to buy their drink packages nor do they have a 15 drink limit. I really wished Carnival would follow suit. I cruise with my 72 year old mom as thats the only time a year I get to spend much time with her. Because of health reasons and her medication she CANT drink alcohol. While I wont call it ridiculous, I do wish there were at least exceptions. I really wanted Cheers but couldnt get it. Oh well. If thats my ONLY complaint, I had pretty damn good cruise I think :)

 

Just set your drink budget at the cost of two Cheers packages. If you drink it all away you are no worse off, if you don't then you've saved money.

[dave_k58]

Do other CCL Lines like Princess and HAL have the same rule that all people in the cabin over 21 must purchase drink packages?

[sparks1093]

Do other CCL Lines like Princess and HAL have the same rule that all people in the cabin over 21 must purchase drink packages?

 

Cruisers on other lines aren't as, um, budget minded.;)

[Saint Greg]

Does your brother REALLY like specialty coffee?

Edited May 27, 2016 by Saint Greg

[poz222]

CCL makes money even if everyone who purchases cheers drinks 15 drinks... It is a no fail system for them... But the fewer drinks consumed, the higher the profit margin.

 

Cheers is not a popular as they would like... Mostly due to the 2 in a cabin rule. If the new "enhanced" cheers does not drive up the sales,mthey will consider this everyone must by or "no exceptions rule (as they already do make exceptions once onboard (not for ahead of time purchases. The math says that many pax choose not to buy cheers because one person in the cabin does not use to justify, and together, the revenue from that non cheers cabin is less than one person cheers one not would be. Eventually it will change.

[sparks1093]

CCL makes money even if everyone who purchases cheers drinks 15 drinks... It is a no fail system for them... But the fewer drinks consumed, the higher the profit margin.

 

Cheers is not a popular as they would like... Mostly due to the 2 in a cabin rule. If the new "enhanced" cheers does not drive up the sales,mthey will consider this everyone must by or "no exceptions rule (as they already do make exceptions once onboard (not for ahead of time purchases. The math says that many pax choose not to buy cheers because one person in the cabin does not use to justify, and together, the revenue from that non cheers cabin is less than one person cheers one not would be. Eventually it will change.

 

Or they will eliminate Cheers and bring back drink tickets.

[Retired_to_Cruise]

Of course it saves the passenger money but the primary purpose of the program is to make money for the cruise line, just as any other program or product offered by any other retailer. Sure, they could change the rules but by doing so they would not make as much money on the program, even though the changes could save the passengers more money.

 

If no one buys the Cheers program, but have some drinks, Carnival makes money. Their goal is not to break even on anything. The Cheers program break even point (for the cruiser) is 5 to 6 drinks (and Carnival does make money on those 5 to 6 drinks). As someone drinks more then the 5 or 6, Carnival still makes money based on the markup on the alcohol in the first 5 or 6 drinks. But their total profit gets smaller and smaller as the cruiser drinks more and more drinks. If you knew the actual markup on the alcohol in a single drink you could figure out where Carnival's break even point is. If I were to guess at that break even point for Carnival, it would be much closer to the 15 limit than to the cruiser's break even point of 5 or 6.

[sparks1093]

If no one buys the Cheers program, but have some drinks, Carnival makes money. Their goal is not to break even on anything. The Cheers program break even point (for the cruiser) is 5 to 6 drinks (and Carnival does make money on those 5 to 6 drinks). As someone drinks more then the 5 or 6, Carnival still makes money based on the markup on the alcohol in the first 5 or 6 drinks. But their total profit gets smaller and smaller as the cruiser drinks more and more drinks. If you knew the actual markup on the alcohol in a single drink you could figure out where Carnival's break even point is. If I were to guess at that break even point for Carnival, it would be much closer to the 15 limit than to the cruiser's break even point of 5 or 6.

 

My guess (and it is just that) is that CCL's break even point is 15, after which they would start losing money. Why do I guess that? Because that is the limit CCL established and I don't believe it to be an arbitrary one.

[babygrljaz]

Do other CCL Lines like Princess and HAL have the same rule that all people in the cabin over 21 must purchase drink packages?

 

Princess doesn't

[Cr2zCr8zy]

I hope it changes soon!