Cheers or a' la carte?

[cindyg1963]

This will be my first cruise, and after reading all these posts, I have to ask, what does a bottle of water cost on board? Coffee? Gatorade? I had looked at the Cheers program and couldn't see how my daughter and I could possibly spend $800 on drinks. Now, however, I'm starting to wonder. Can anyone give me some idea what the individual drinks cost?

[Clarea]

This will be my first cruise, and after reading all these posts, I have to ask, what does a bottle of water cost on board? Coffee? Gatorade? I had looked at the Cheers program and couldn't see how my daughter and I could possibly spend $800 on drinks. Now, however, I'm starting to wonder. Can anyone give me some idea what the individual drinks cost?

Assuming you are on a Carnival cruise, I would also ask on the dedicated Carnival forum here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=215

 

More folks with Carnival experience on that forum.

[Essiesmom]

Since you mention Cheers, I assume you are on Carnival. Free to drink in the buffet area is coffee, tea hot and iced, lemonade, plain water with or without ice. You can bring a sports bottle and refill it as needed. I do not believe Gatorade is available, but I understand you can buypackets of powdered Gatorade and add it to water. A large bottle of water is about $4. You can pre-order cases of water through the Bon voyage dept online. For more info about sailing Carnival, go over to the Carnival board here, under Cruise Lines A-O. EM

[Sixtytwo]

Welcome to Cruise Critic and to the addictive vacation! Unless you are a pretty heavy drinker (more than ~8 per day, including port days), then it is probably not cost effective for you to purchase the Cheers package. We are moderate drinkers and have never been able to justify the cost.

 

Whatever you do, have a great first cruise and don't worry if you start planning your next cruise before this one is done! :cool:

[Sauer-kraut]

You might look into the soda package, it pays for itself after 3 drinks a day. Water on board is fine to drink, no need to purchase bottled water.

[cb at sea]

Included in your fare will be: ice water, coffee, tea(iced or hot), lemonade, milk and juice at breakfast. Sodas will run around $2.50+...drinks from $5-10...wine...who the hell knows...they think wine was made by the gods, with the prices they charge.

 

Only you can figure out if you need a package.

[tradeshowgirl]

When I did a carnival cruise I found their drink prices cheaper than on royal Caribbean making it harder to get value out of the drink package. You can usually google something like "carnival drink prices" to find out the cost of what you would typically drink. Multiply it times the average number you drinks you would have per day and see if it's in the range of the package price. Some people like to buy the package regardless of the math so they don't stress about racking up charges on the boat. Some people don't like buying the package because they feel they drink for the sake of getting value out of the package. I think it all depends on the person. Good luck!!!

 

 

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[bajae]

My daughter and I are also going on our first cruise. We debated about getting the cheers package since l am not a big drinker. We have decided to get it, mainly because I want to try a variety of drinks. If I was paying for each drink individually, I would stick to drinks I know I would like. I want to expand out of my comfort zone. I am going to have a martini [emoji3] even though I think I will hate it, I still want to try one.

 

I've never been drunk in my life and I plan to continue never drinking that much but I can see getting the value of the package just drinking throughout the day. Bloody Mary in the morning, frozen drink or two by the pool, wine at dinner, a couple of drinks later at night, add all the other free drinks and you made it worth while. Remember you don't have to drink enough to get your value each day (port days), just over the course of the entire cruise.

 

We are also going on a shorter cruise than you are. (Assuming based on the cost of the package.) I wouldn't get the package if we had a longer cruise. I think it would be hard for me to drink that much for many days.

 

As others said, only you can decide if it is worth while for you. I was in the same undecided place until reading some comments by others. This is a good place to get different perspectives.

 

 

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