Anyone regret purchasing the Cheers program

[SNJCruisers]

On 3/6/2019 at 3:38 PM, pacruise804 said:

😉 NCL was an inexpensive way to learn that alcohol packages aren't for us at the level we drink. 

You realize that you paid substantially more than the 15-18 or 20% gratuity on the NCL drink package.  The price difference over the non perk sailaway rate is usually around 300 or so.  Teetotalers and light drinkers usually pick the sailaway rate.  There are many threads about it over on the NCL boards.  We did enjoy our package on the Bliss as well as multiple times on the Escape.

[SNJCruisers]

On 3/8/2019 at 11:46 AM, asalligo said:

....but for me I have a number in my head and if I am not reaching that break even number I feel like I wasted money. Then I found that there was no way I could really meet that number without ordering when I often did not feel like it, especially on port days.

What was your break even number?  In reality, it's 5, unless you're a strictly beer drinker.  And even on a port day, when you're back on board at 400 and you never even had a coffee drink before you went ashore, if you have ONE drink every 90 minutes from 400-1130, you have hit your 5.  Is it too much to have a drink before dinner, a glass of wine with dinner, a shot of some sort in your coffee with dessert and two drinks after dinner?

[SNJCruisers]

19 hours ago, slinky221 said:

Wish I could say the same.  I buy Cheers and I still sneak on rum. 

 

I may have a problem.  

If you need that extra rum, try 15 Foster's Oil Cans if you like beer or 15 Long Island Iced Teas if you like alcohol.  If you still need that rum after polishing off either of those, then yes, you may have a problem.

[slinky221]

19 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

If you need that extra rum, try 15 Foster's Oil Cans if you like beer or 15 Long Island Iced Teas if you like alcohol.  If you still need that rum after polishing off either of those, then yes, you may have a problem.

 

15 Foster's is too much bloat and while I enjoy a Long Island, when I'm relaxing on a ship or beach, I like a foofy drink.  There's just not enough punch to the frozen and blended drinks Carnival dishes out, so I bring some rum for a floater.  I realize I could wait five minutes and order a shot of rum for the floater, but honestly my tolerance is quite high and I have no problem hitting the 15 drink limit throughout the day so this works for me.  

[skywalkr2]

Cheers - bought it once - and regretted it.  Personally I can't drink enough to make it make sense for me.

[SNJCruisers]

6 minutes ago, skywalkr2 said:

Cheers - bought it once - and regretted it.  Personally I can't drink enough to make it make sense for me.

You obviously did not do enough research beforehand and it was an expensive lesson learned.

It's a simple formula, 8 beers or 5 higher end alcoholic drinks and you're there.  The non alcoholic stuff is then all gravy. 

[skywalkr2]

5 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

You obviously did not do enough research beforehand and it was an expensive lesson learned.

It's a simple formula, 8 beers or 5 higher end alcoholic drinks and you're there.  The non alcoholic stuff is then all gravy. 

This was the first year the program was instituted.  Long before the excels were created and the pricing was in its infancy.

[SNJCruisers]

21 minutes ago, skywalkr2 said:

This was the first year the program was instituted.  Long before the excels were created and the pricing was in its infancy.

So it was 40 or 42.50, plus 15%.

[crzndeb]

38 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

You obviously did not do enough research beforehand and it was an expensive lesson learned.

It's a simple formula, 8 beers or 5 higher end alcoholic drinks and you're there.  The non alcoholic stuff is then all gravy. 

This is great for people that are on shorter cruises, but even for some on a 7 day (or more), they might drink 5 or 6 alcohol drinks on 1 day, but then don’t want any for the next couple of days. It’s nice there is a choice for everyone.

 

 

[SNJCruisers]

11 minutes ago, crzndeb said:

This is great for people that are on shorter cruises, but even for some on a 7 day (or more), they might drink 5 or 6 alcohol drinks on 1 day, but then don’t want any for the next couple of days. It’s nice there is a choice for everyone.

 

 

You're correct, but if someone is averaging 2 drinks per day over 3 like you suggested, it's obvious they should pay as they go.

[realtorgranny]

Galveston Cruisers..... I was just reading the terms of the Cheers pkg and saw that for those sailing out of TX the Cheers pkg does not start until the 2nd day of the cruise. So for a 7 day cruise would you then be charged for 6 days and the drinks etc.  you consume on embarkation are charged per drink? I’d like to hear from those that sailed from Galveston and your experience. Thank you.

[monykalyn]

30 minutes ago, realtorgranny said:

Galveston Cruisers..... I was just reading the terms of the Cheers pkg and saw that for those sailing out of TX the Cheers pkg does not start until the 2nd day of the cruise. So for a 7 day cruise would you then be charged for 6 days and the drinks etc.  you consume on embarkation are charged per drink? I’d like to hear from those that sailed from Galveston and your experience. Thank you.

Yep every drink until 6 am (?) the next day is per drink charged to your account. Which means you gotta be careful at that deck party on embarkation!

[mamiamjo]

1 hour ago, realtorgranny said:

Galveston Cruisers..... I was just reading the terms of the Cheers pkg and saw that for those sailing out of TX the Cheers pkg does not start until the 2nd day of the cruise. So for a 7 day cruise would you then be charged for 6 days and the drinks etc.  you consume on embarkation are charged per drink? I’d like to hear from those that sailed from Galveston and your experience. Thank you.

Yes, on a 7 day cruise you only pay for 6 days of Cheers

[SandiLynn]

1 hour ago, monykalyn said:

Yep every drink until 6 am (?) the next day is per drink charged to your account. Which means you gotta be careful at that deck party on embarkation!

I would hope you can still be on you bottle of wine to drink first day.

[PhillyFan33579]

4 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

If you need that extra rum, try 15 Foster's Oil Cans if you like beer or 15 Long Island Iced Teas if you like alcohol.  If you still need that rum after polishing off either of those, then yes, you may have a problem.

 

Carnival no longer sells Fosters Oil Cans, but your point was a good one. 

[Jerseygirl1416]

5 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

If you need that extra rum, try 15 Foster's Oil Cans if you like beer or 15 Long Island Iced Teas if you like alcohol.  If you still need that rum after polishing off either of those, then yes, you may have a problem.

15 Foster’s Oil cans would be almost 3 gallons of liquid. If you polished that off I think you’d spend most of your day in the bathroom instead of enjoying your cruise. Hopefully you were kidding but you never know when people are trying to get there monies worth

[Cruiser_1977]

So, here is my spreadsheet using my final bill from my January trip on the Fantasy. I input for Gentleman Jack where I drank Woodford Reserve and Robert Mondavi when I drank Layer Cake (as these were the same price if I recall). Totally worth it for me....I also used the Allstate Gift Cards so I didn't pay the full $242.50. More like $210. So, I saved over $230. 

Was it worth it.xls

[ray98]

One things these threads always point out.....the inability of a large percentage of the population to do basic math.

 

 

News flash, if you only consume 2 drinks a day then an alcohol package may not be the best investment.

[monykalyn]

19 hours ago, SandiLynn said:

I would hope you can still be on you bottle of wine to drink first day.

Yes-we took a bottle of wine on to have in room as desired while hanging on balcony. No issues with using that first day!

[coevan]

7 hours ago, ray98 said:

One things these threads always point out.....the inability of a large percentage of the population to do basic math.

 

 

News flash, if you only consume 2 drinks a day then an alcohol package may not be the best investment.

 

 

 

thank you Sherlock  

[OC SeaPA]

On 3/11/2019 at 2:44 PM, monykalyn said:

Yep every drink until 6 am (?) the next day is per drink charged to your account. Which means you gotta be careful at that deck party on embarkation!

Is the cheers package available throughout the cruise to purchase, or only the first day?  Om some cruise lines you can buy it on day 3 or 4 for a 7 day cruise, and only pay for those days.  I have found that when I had the drink package I really wasn't drinking that heavy by the end of the cruise, especially if the beginning was port intensive and the end had more sea days. 

 

Is this available for Carnival? 

[christyran1228]

We've fully utilized the Cheers! package in the past, but on our cruise last week we each ended up not feeling well for a couple of days and didn't drink, so it ended up being a bust for us this time.

[lottiegreen56]

On 3/5/2019 at 3:52 PM, bdever said:

No regrets. I Brake even on non-alcoholic beverages alone, alcoholic drinks 🍹 are simply the icing on the cake. My son is my cruise partner and he buys the package to order drinks 🍹 for women he meets onboard while he sticks to mainly bottled water. 🙄

That’s not how consent works 🙄

[outdoors27]

5 hours ago, christyran1228 said:

We've fully utilized the Cheers! package in the past, but on our cruise last week we each ended up not feeling well for a couple of days and didn't drink, so it ended up being a bust for us this time.

That  happened to my wife and I a few years ago, but overall its always been money well spent for us and as a few people pointed out, it has decreased the need to pack extra bottles of wine for us.  We would usually bring 5-6 bottles on with us successfully over the years but its nice not having to find a store near the port or hotel the day before the ship sails. 

[RWolver672]

We personally never buy the Cheers package but our son did on his last cruise.  I ask him if he would ever do it again and he said NO!.  I asked why and he said because he drank way more than what he should have.