Cheers Question In Galveston

[It's a Ship!!!]

Since you had a drink package on RCI and CCL, which package did you like the best?

At the time, it was Royal Caribbean, but they have raised some of their drink prices to the point where you can't get them with the drink package. So now I would say they each have good things and bad things. Royal Caribbean has no limit on the amount of drinks per day, just one person in a cabin can get it if the other doesn't drink, and you can use it on the first day out of Galveston. Carnival has more restrictions, but on Carnival you can get drinks up to $50, where Royal you get drinks up to $12. Since Royal Caribbean raised their prices so high, there are actually a lot of specialty drinks priced at $13-$15. If you don't drink that kind of thing it won't matter, but one of the best things about the drink package for me is trying the higher priced specialty cocktails I wouldn't normally want to pay for.

[happy cruzer]

Thanks for the comparison. I appreciate the insight into the price limit and cost per drink. Yes, the $12 limit probably effects the choice of wine by the glass too.

Price per day is a little less for the Carnival plan, I think. Just have to look at the entire cost for the cruise with package per person per night to see what you prefer.

[traci_money]

I have a question about this topic sort of. We are doing our first cruise out of Galveston in November and I'm confused on the Cheers program. I know I have to pay for both my husband & I but I'm not sure on how many days I have to pay for. Thanks

[christyran1228]

I have a question about this topic sort of. We are doing our first cruise out of Galveston in November and I'm confused on the Cheers program. I know I have to pay for both my husband & I but I'm not sure on how many days I have to pay for. Thanks

 

 

For a 7-day cruise, you pay for 6 days, a 5-day, you pay for 4 ... etc.

 

 

You get a little discount if you purchase it online up to a couple of days before you leave, if you didn't know that already. :)

[SNJCruisers]

I have a question about this topic sort of. We are doing our first cruise out of Galveston in November and I'm confused on the Cheers program. I know I have to pay for both my husband & I but I'm not sure on how many days I have to pay for. Thanks

Assuming you're on a seven day cruise, you will pay for 6 days. The cost is 49.95 plus 15% gratuity if you pay ahead of time. You get up to 15 alcoholic drinks per person and unlimited non-alcoholic.

 

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[SNJCruisers]

Cheers on day 2 is the most ridiculous law in existence and the reason we decided to no longer sail out of Galveston, even though it's our closest port. It's NOLA or Florida only for us from now on.

The same frustration comes into play embarking from NYC area, where NCL has their package and Carnival does not and of course RCI and X have theirs since they embark from Bayonne, NJ.

 

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[bury me at sea]

It's not complicated. Sailing from Galveston you pay for Cheers beginning on day two. You pay for whatever you buy on embarkation day separately. You are not double paying.

 

Sunday to Sunday cruise is considered a 7 day cruise, but in reality it's a 7 night cruise, Sunday night through Saturday night.

 

If you buy Cheers on day 2, you are charged for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, which is six days.

 

You pay for anything you buy on Sunday, embarkation day, and the following Sunday, debarkation day. Monday through Saturday is covered by Cheers, since you paid for six days.

[LadyBeBop]

Take a look a the policy:

Promotions {16 TAC 45.103}

Retailers may not sell serve or offer an undetermined quantity of alcoholic beverages for a fixed price or “all you can drink” basis.

Here's the pdf link: https://www.tabc.state.tx.us/marketing_practices/advisories/MPB012a.pdf

 

Not sure of how the two cruise lines interpret this different.

 

.

 

Actually (and just my non-lawyer opinion), Carnival should be fine. It's not "all you can drink." It's 15 drinks for $49.99 plus tip. I don't know how RCCL gets by with it. That is an unlimited package.

[BallFour4]

Actually (and just my non-lawyer opinion), Carnival should be fine. It's not "all you can drink." It's 15 drinks for $49.99 plus tip. I don't know how RCCL gets by with it. That is an unlimited package.

 

 

I'm there with ya. I've never bought either. I'm also 58 and can't find my car at Target.

 

.

 

 

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[NovCruisin]

Assuming you're on a seven day cruise, you will pay for 6 days. The cost is 49.95 plus 15% gratuity if you pay ahead of time. You get up to 15 alcoholic drinks per person and unlimited non-alcoholic.

 

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Just to expand on this, the math breaks down to being a better deal FOR GALVESTON DEPARTURES to just buy the next day:

 

Pre-Cruise Purchase: $49.95 + 15% = $57.44/day x 7 days = $402.08 per person

On Board Purchase: $54.95 + 15% = $63.19/day x 6 days = $379.14 per person

 

If you have to buy the alcohol on the first day anyways...might as well just wait to buy the CHEERS package until the next day. That would leave a difference of $22.94 per person to use towards drinks the first day.

 

Hope this helps someone :D

[winddawn]

Cheers on day 2 is the most ridiculous law in existence and the reason we decided to no longer sail out of Galveston, even though it's our closest port. It's NOLA or Florida only for us from now on.

 

Well stated. Galveston is close for me too, and I have more direct flight options to HOU at reasonable prices. I cruised out of Galveston once and that will be the last time. Between the hassle of airport transfers from HOU and the archaic alcohol laws in Texas, I much prefer to cruise out of NOLA. With the long transfer to the Port of Galveston, Carnival transfers seemed the best option after flying in. But I ended up sitting in the airport for several hours until the Carnival transfer bus was full before leaving for the port. That ended up rendering priority embarkation worthless because by the time the first Carnival transfer bus got to the port (and I was on the first bus) it was well after priority embarkation started. And then after finally making it onto the ship and looking forward to that first drink, the "Texas" bar menu was a let-down. New Orleans is a much more welcoming place for cruise passengers. The people of NOLA are warm and friendly, the city has so much more to offer pre-cruise, and the food is amazing!

[SNJCruisers]

Just to expand on this, the math breaks down to being a better deal FOR GALVESTON DEPARTURES to just buy the next day:

 

Pre-Cruise Purchase: $49.95 + 15% = $57.44/day x 7 days = $402.08 per person

On Board Purchase: $54.95 + 15% = $63.19/day x 6 days = $379.14 per person

 

If you have to buy the alcohol on the first day anyways...might as well just wait to buy the CHEERS package until the next day. That would leave a difference of $22.94 per person to use towards drinks the first day.

 

Hope this helps someone :D

You're wrong. If you pre-pay upfront for the program Carnival will charge you for 6 days @ 49.95, if you wait till you're on board, you pay the 5.00 per day surcharge.

 

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[bury me at sea]

Just to expand on this, the math breaks down to being a better deal FOR GALVESTON DEPARTURES to just buy the next day:

 

Pre-Cruise Purchase: $49.95 + 15% = $57.44/day x 7 days = $402.08 per person

On Board Purchase: $54.95 + 15% = $63.19/day x 6 days = $379.14 per person

 

If you have to buy the alcohol on the first day anyways...might as well just wait to buy the CHEERS package until the next day. That would leave a difference of $22.94 per person to use towards drinks the first day.

 

Hope this helps someone :D

 

I believe this is incorrect. If you put Cheers in your cart for a 7 day cruise out of Galveston the charge is 49 .95 per person for 6 days, or 299.70 plus 15%, for a total per person of 344.66.

[Saint Greg]

Just to expand on this, the math breaks down to being a better deal FOR GALVESTON DEPARTURES to just buy the next day:

 

Pre-Cruise Purchase: $49.95 + 15% = $57.44/day x 7 days = $402.08 per person

On Board Purchase: $54.95 + 15% = $63.19/day x 6 days = $379.14 per person

 

If you have to buy the alcohol on the first day anyways...might as well just wait to buy the CHEERS package until the next day. That would leave a difference of $22.94 per person to use towards drinks the first day.

 

Hope this helps someone :D

 

 

[NovCruisin]

You're wrong. If you pre-pay upfront for the program Carnival will charge you for 6 days @ 49.95, if you wait till you're on board, you pay the 5.00 per day surcharge.

 

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I believe this is incorrect. If you put Cheers in your cart for a 7 day cruise out of Galveston the charge is 49 .95 per person for 6 days, or 299.70 plus 15%, for a total per person of 344.66.

 

Oh really!! :o

 

MY BAD! I thought they charge you for 7 days. My mistake!

 

So question then - if you booked a cruise out of another port (let's use NOLA as an example) and you pre-booked, would they also only charge you for 6 days? Surely they wouldn't give you a free day since in NOLA you can drink under the package on embarkment day. Or in that instance would they charge you for 7 days - is the being charged for 6 days only because Carnival knows you can't use it the first day?

[NovCruisin]

 

HAHAHA! That is literally my FAVORITE gif to use :') My husband and I even do that gesture in person (to each other) and we each know that the other is referencing this scene.

 

BTW sorry if I misinformed anyone - It appears I was wrong in my knowledge of the CHEERS program :(

[bury me at sea]

Oh really!! :o

 

MY BAD! I thought they charge you for 7 days. My mistake!

 

So question then - if you booked a cruise out of another port (let's use NOLA as an example) and you pre-booked, would they also only charge you for 6 days? Surely they wouldn't give you a free day since in NOLA you can drink under the package on embarkment day. Or in that instance would they charge you for 7 days - is the being charged for 6 days only because Carnival knows you can't use it the first day?

 

Yes. Carnival is not double charging in any way. They charge, whether pre-purchasing or buying on the ship, for the number of days the program is in effect. The difference is you can pre-purchase at a cheaper rate per day.

 

Happy sailing.

[SNJCruisers]

So question then - if you booked a cruise out of another port (let's use NOLA as an example) and you pre-booked, would they also only charge you for 6 days?

Carnival would charge you for each day that the program is legally in effect. If you're on an 8 day cruise, you'd be charged for 8 days. The only exceptions to this rule are those cruises that emanate from either Texas or NYC. In both cases, the first day there is no Cheers and it would officially start at 6 am on day two.

 

 

 

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[Saint Greg]

HAHAHA! That is literally my FAVORITE gif to use :') My husband and I even do that gesture in person (to each other) and we each know that the other is referencing this scene.

 

BTW sorry if I misinformed anyone - It appears I was wrong in my knowledge of the CHEERS program :(

 

Yeah I prepaid when I sailed on Freedom in Feb and I only had to pay for the 6 days...at the 49.99/day rate...about 57.50/day after gratuity.

[jimmyzwei]

At the time' date=' it was Royal Caribbean, but they have raised some of their drink prices to the point where you can't get them with the drink package. So now I would say they each have good things and bad things. Royal Caribbean has no limit on the amount of drinks per day, just one person in a cabin can get it if the other doesn't drink, and you can use it on the first day out of Galveston. Carnival has more restrictions, but on Carnival you can get drinks up to $50, where Royal you get drinks up to $12. Since Royal Caribbean raised their prices so high, there are actually a lot of specialty drinks priced at $13-$15. If you don't drink that kind of thing it won't matter, but one of the best things about the drink package for me is trying the higher priced specialty cocktails I wouldn't normally want to pay for.[/quote']

 

When Royal raised the price of their drinks recently they also raised the limit on what you can have for the package. I believe it is now $14 per drink. That said this per drink limit really only affect wine by the glass for the more expensive wines and a handful of specialty liqueurs like Johnnie Walker Blue Label.

 

the normal pre sail price is $55 + 18% gratuity

the on board price is $65 + 18% gratuity i believe -- i only buy pre-sail

the also run special fairly often -- always was able to snag one last 2 years as low a $44 to $48 per day plus gratuity.

 

hope that helps someone trying to compare

[It's a Ship!!!]

When Royal raised the price of their drinks recently they also raised the limit on what you can have for the package. I believe it is now $14 per drink. That said this per drink limit really only affect wine by the glass for the more expensive wines and a handful of specialty liqueurs like Johnnie Walker Blue Label.

 

the normal pre sail price is $55 + 18% gratuity

the on board price is $65 + 18% gratuity i believe -- i only buy pre-sail

the also run special fairly often -- always was able to snag one last 2 years as low a $44 to $48 per day plus gratuity.

 

hope that helps someone trying to compare

On Royal Caribbean's website, it shows the limit is still $12 per drink. I just saw menus that at the end of last year, a lot of the specialty drinks had been bumped up to $13 and $15 instead of the $12 and $14 that they were on my last cruise with them. If they changed it to $14, then that would be great, but they haven't updated their website.