How to make Carnival's cheers program worth it

[cmichael1279]

Could one order a bucket of beer towards the drink package and then not drink it all to take one or two off the ship?

 

I had no problems ordering a bucket OUTSIDE of the Cheers program, just paid the normal rate for it. We did it strictly for the convenience of having cold beer in the room and the option of taking them off the ship. I can't remember if they charged one towards Cheers and made me pay for the rest or not.

[jdemps]

We tip a buck on each drink so when you do your printout at the end of the cruise, you can count how many buck charges you have. Our last 7 day we had 126 drinks and we paid $805 for the package +$126 for the extra tips. I think we got a good deal because we never drink beers or low price alcohol. I don't think we tried to drink more, it just ended up that way for the two of us with everything we tried at alchemy and getting drinks around the pool area and in the other bars.

[Shaded Lady]

Sorry, I disagree. That mentality would make me bonkers if I paid for the package. It may put you at ease, but unless I was better off dollarwise with the package, I could not justify the purchase by citing convenience.

While I agree with your sentiment to a degree, the poster has already purchased Cheers, so I think they were asking for ways to maximize the value out of the program, not justify purchasing it.... I think the suggestions made here are great!

[Cruisin 4 Ever]

Do they have smoothies on Carnival Breeze? I saw that those are included in cheers too.

 

I'm pretty sure that I could take beer/cider off the boat, right? Then we wouldn't have to buy any while on the beach in Mahogany bay (even though we're just a few hundred yards from the boat!

My husband sometimes gets a few beers over a couple of days unopened and saves them for when we are in port if we are somewhere like Half Moon Cay. If it's a port in Mexico or Bahamas the local beer is only a dollar or two so not worth the effort. The bartenders aren't supposed to give you an unopened can but some do. In fact on our last cruise some of the time without asking it would come to my husband unopened so he'd take it back to the room come back and get another and the 5 minutes is up by then.

[csr10236]

Will they give you more than one bottle of water at a time? Or a bottle of water and a vitamin water at the same time?

[hftmrock]

Will they give you more than one bottle of water at a time? Or a bottle of water and a vitamin water at the same time?

 

5 minutes between all drinks 99% of the time

[tallnthensome]

One bartender by the pool would give my wife and I an alcohol drink and a bottle of water at the same time last week on the Vista. She said it was ridiculous to have to wait in line again for a water ......

[hftmrock]

One bartender by the pool would give my wife and I an alcohol drink and a bottle of water at the same time last week on the Vista. She said it was ridiculous to have to wait in line again for a water ......

 

bartender was giving herself extra work by putting it in the system 5 minutes apart . I'm sure she was looking for a nice tip. This is not the norm but does happen

[patrice1]

I love Cheers! I ONLY drink Grey Goose on a cruise because I have Cheers. We get a specialty coffee every morning and at least one milkshake - my husband's fave. We get San Pelligrinio water for dinner & the cabin. We enjoy pricy ports in the steakhouse and order drinks we don't even know if we'll like. We usually hit 8-10 drinks/day, unless the piano bar is great or the comics are. It's still less than we used to pay for drinks, without the premium, on cruises before it was offered. Wouldn't cruise without it.

[JMAE]

They should add a beer only package.

[Dilligaff]

I was on the triumph a few weeks ago and You can get a bottle of water at the same time you order an alcoholic beverage. But you can not get 2 non-alcoholic or 2 alcoholic at the same time but can get one of each. My wife and I did it when we would get drinks so we could stock up on water for port day.

 

When I was getting a beer it was a 16oz aluminum can with a twist top. And they did not open it from any bar.

 

We averaged 7-12 alcoholic drinks a day each. Plus the coffee milkshake and waters. Cheers was $460 including gratuities. Had it not been for cheers is would have cost us $600 for all the drink we got.

[vxjester]

The way I would justify it is like this. You need about 5 alcoholic drinks a day to break even. So that works out to be a bloody marry for breakfast. A Margarita for lunch. A frozen drink by the pool. A drink for dinner. Then a night cap. Now we are not talking about anything other types of drinks in between these times. This example is without heavy drinking.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[beerman2]

I was on the triumph a few weeks ago and You can get a bottle of water at the same time you order an alcoholic beverage. But you can not get 2 non-alcoholic or 2 alcoholic at the same time but can get one of each. My wife and I did it when we would get drinks so we could stock up on water for port day.

 

When I was getting a beer it was a 16oz aluminum can with a twist top. And they did not open it from any bar.

 

We averaged 7-12 alcoholic drinks a day each. Plus the coffee milkshake and waters. Cheers was $460 including gratuities. Had it not been for cheers is would have cost us $600 for all the drink we got.

Just for the newbies that $460/$600 was per person correct!

[ItsAllAboutTheSass]

Just for the newbies that $460/$600 was per person correct!

 

They were on the triumph, so this works out to the price for a 4 day cruise for 2 passengers.

[helene109]

A bottle of water can be purchased from any bar and just put in your refrigerator in your room and save it for ports? Thanks just trying to understand it as it really does sound worth it even if I buy the discount gift cards!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Edited May 8, 2017 by helene109

[dna529]

They should add a beer only package.

Exactly this!

 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Forums mobile app

[beerman2]

They were on the triumph, so this works out to the price for a 4 day cruise for 2 passengers.

Gotcha! Makes perfect sense when all info is known!

[Rowlett]

Just got off the Breeze yesterday. You can do it without trying. Like it's been said. Get some water and or soda a couple of times a day. See a bar, get a drink. Definitely hit up the Alchemy. We also found ourselves in the Red Frog Pub just about every day. Get a wine or drink with dinner. Get one at a show. It adds up. I hit 43 on our 7 day with really only 6 days of drinking the package. I kept track on paper and came out about $150 ahead.

[Dilligaff]

They were on the triumph, so this works out to the price for a 4 day cruise for 2 passengers.

Yea it was for me and my wife both.

[Dilligaff]

90% of the stuff I've read about people asking about cheers they only care and count for the alcoholic drinks. We looked at the complete package and we like the idea of being able to get any drink we wanted without having a bill for drinks at the end of the cruise. Yes we did tip for our drinks. But we got most of our drinks from red frog rum bar and had great service. We had to wait at other bars. So we stuck with the bar that took care of us and we took care of them.

[robin13]

I did the Cheers package on The Freedom last September and found myself making sure that I drank at least 6 drinks a day. I had a Bloody Mary every morning then a frozen drink at the pool, then I would get a glass of wine and bring it back to my room before dinner, then several more drinks at dinner, then a Chocolate Martini after dinner, then drinks at the comedy show or the casino. As you can see I did hit that magic number of 6 and since I was sailing solo I was the only one that had to have the program. Since I sailed out of Galveston I just had to pay for 6 days instead of 7 and on the first day I bought a bottle of wine with me so I didn't buy much liquor. I am going on the Breeze again in September and will probably do the drink package again. And as people have said it is great to try new drinks that you would never had paid for. This way if you don't like it you can just throw it away and try something else.

[mindyiswonderful]

We are planning on getting Cheers, and I will always ask for top shelf! lol

[DaisyandMoe010]

One word. Alchemy.

 

 

My favorite place on the ship!

[Robo1098]

Just got off the Breeze yesterday. You can do it without trying. Like it's been said. Get some water and or soda a couple of times a day. See a bar, get a drink. Definitely hit up the Alchemy. We also found ourselves in the Red Frog Pub just about every day. Get a wine or drink with dinner. Get one at a show. It adds up. I hit 43 on our 7 day with really only 6 days of drinking the package. I kept track on paper and came out about $150 ahead.

 

Did you ever update your XLS spreadsheet with the drinks you had? We are going on Vista and we are debating on the drink package.

[Purvis1231]

Do they have smoothies on Carnival Breeze? I saw that those are included in cheers too.

 

I'm pretty sure that I could take beer/cider off the boat, right? Then we wouldn't have to buy any while on the beach in Mahogany bay (even though we're just a few hundred yards from the boat!

 

On our last cruise, they repeatedly announced that no alcohol could be taken off the ship. The crew did not search but port authorities in Cozumel searched some bags and had food detecting dogs. (I doubt the dog where trained to search for beer/booze.

 

I am not sure if the no alcohol rule was a Carnival rule or a port rule.