Coke Freestyle Machine

[MsSoCalCruiser]

1 hour ago, DrivesLikeMario said:

The idea of all those people using the same cup every day for a week (or more) without washing it in hot, soapy water after each use grosses me out.  I'd love all those caffeine-free options but not at that risk.  Seems a great way to spread Norovirus.  I don't know how RCI and others avoid spreading all kinds of germs with that program.  If you could use the regular cups for every use, it'd be a totally different thing.  

Ugh,  well that just stopped my happy dance dead in its tracks.   I never thought of that and I am a total germaphobe 😳

[MsSoCalCruiser]

12 hours ago, Kingofcool1947 said:

Yes.  It is on board now.

😊 Thank you 😊

[Pierlesscruisers]

25 minutes ago, Shmoo here said:

Not to mention, since all the varieties of sodas available will be dispensing through the same spigot, I'm not a fan of lingering "off" flavors being in my drink.

 

We just bring our own sodas onboard.  

 

Do you really believe that the minuscule amount of the particular flavor that will remain on the spigot will really be tasteable?  Doubt it.

 

Tom

[Shmoo here]

Just now, Pierlesscruisers said:

 

Do you really believe that the minuscule amount of the particular flavor that will remain on the spigot will really be tasteable?  Doubt it.

 

Tom

And how many "minuscule amounts" will be passing through that same spigot?  How often will it be really cleaned?  Not to mention that a "minuscule amount" of an allergen could be really bad for someone.  

[Rusty10]

1 hour ago, DrivesLikeMario said:

The idea of all those people using the same cup every day for a week (or more) without washing it in hot, soapy water after each use grosses me out...

That’s a good point. I bring my own insulated mug that I use every day.  I actually do wash my mug with hot soapy water each use since I use for it for coffee, tea and hot water. It never occurred to me that no one else will do the same. 

[Thrak]

OMG!!! I tipped up my chair the other day to vacuum under it and found a chocolate chip. I scarfed that sucker right down. Whatever have I done??? GAH!!! I will likely DIE!!!!! ---- Or not. People boggle my mind. There are germs everywhere. If you breathe the air - especially on a ship!!!!!! - you will likely suffer a horrible fate. Sigh... Maybe I'm just old but I really can't worry about all the stuff others seem to stress over.

[Geoffa30]

People do realise that all soft drinks served from a standard gun are also open to cross contamination be it from the waiters or different types of drinks being dispensed? 

[donaldsc]

The other problem is that some people either can't figure out how to use the machine or they take forever to decide which of the 100s of flavor to select.  I want to go up to a counter and say "diet coke please".  That takes only 10 seconds.

 

DON

[Shmoo here]

56 minutes ago, Geoffa30 said:

People do realise that all soft drinks served from a standard gun are also open to cross contamination be it from the waiters or different types of drinks being dispensed? 

I've always gotten sodas in a can, opened at my table, in the bars.  

[satxdiver]

Most self serve restaurants like BK, McD, etc have the soda dispensers with a large selection of sodas available and they are self serve.  Customers freely return to the dispensers to get refills using their "dirty" glasses.  As others have pointed out the bars use a soda gun to dispense your soda and there are maybe 6 different sodas being served into your "dirty" cup.  For the germaphobes there is always the alternative of buying a can of soda.  The problem with the can is that most ask for a glass with ice. The ice comes from the bar well where the ice is stored and scooped out with a scoop that generally stays in the ice well after the bartender has held it in his hand.  

 

Shall we start talking about the ice and water dispensers in the HC/WFM?  

[MissP22]

6 hours ago, donaldsc said:

The other problem is that some people either can't figure out how to use the machine or they take forever to decide which of the 100s of flavor to select.  I want to go up to a counter and say "diet coke please".  That takes only 10 seconds.

 

DON

Like everything else, train them once & it'll be normal procedure. 

Just look at the Medallion system. 

[voljeep]

8 hours ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

😊 Thank you 😊

I hope you realize who made the ONLY post about the machines currently being onboard ... right ? ...

[Jeter02]

14 minutes ago, voljeep said:

I hope you realize who made the ONLY post about the machines currently being onboard ... right ? ...

And we still were never told which ship it was on. Hmmm.

[jenf22]

10 hours ago, DrivesLikeMario said:

The idea of all those people using the same cup every day for a week (or more) without washing it in hot, soapy water after each use grosses me out.  I'd love all those caffeine-free options but not at that risk.  Seems a great way to spread Norovirus.  I don't know how RCI and others avoid spreading all kinds of germs with that program.  If you could use the regular cups for every use, it'd be a totally different thing.  

On Royal the cup has to be sitting on the base for the RFID to activate the machine.  The dispenser is inches from the top of the cup.  Not to mention the lid is off the cup and most people drink with the lid on.  There were 16 of us on Allure last October and no one got sick... didn't see anyone sick on the ship the whole trip. 

 

LOVE the Freestyle machines!  Hope it's on Regal next summer!

[voljeep]

2 minutes ago, jenf22 said:

On Royal the cup has to be sitting on the base for the RFID to activate the machine.  The dispenser is inches from the top of the cup.  Not to mention the lid is off the cup and most people drink with the lid on.  There were 16 of us on Allure last October and no one got sick... didn't see anyone sick on the ship the whole trip. 

 

LOVE the Freestyle machines!  Hope it's on Regal next summer!

Royal - as in Royal Caribbean ships, not the Royal Princess ship, correct ???

 

signed

hand tossed pizza made to order in the buffet on 'cruise ships'

[jenf22]

26 minutes ago, voljeep said:

Royal - as in Royal Caribbean ships, not the Royal Princess ship, correct ???

 

signed

hand tossed pizza made to order in the buffet on 'cruise ships'

Whoop, yeah.  On RCCL.

[Paula_MacFan]

9 hours ago, donaldsc said:

The other problem is that some people either can't figure out how to use the machine or they take forever to decide which of the 100s of flavor to select.  I want to go up to a counter and say "diet coke please".  That takes only 10 seconds.

 

DON

This is my problem with these machines as well.  Many of our local fast foot restaurants have been using these machines for years so we are very familiar with them (Qdoba, Subway, etc).  The problem is since everything dispenses from one point, and there are so many choices, you have people who stand there and swipe through multiple screens trying to decide what to select.  Meanwhile the line is growing and growing.  Unlike traditional soda dispensers that have multiple ice and soda points, where multiple people can be filling at the same time.  

 

I'm somewhat surprised many people here seem to be unfamiliar with these machines since they have been around for years.  Maybe it's a regional thing?  

[drowelf]

1 hour ago, Paula_MacFan said:

I'm somewhat surprised many people here seem to be unfamiliar with these machines since they have been around for years.  Maybe it's a regional thing?  

Probably a bit of that and what stores you patronize. Newer builds will probably have them, while older ones will either have the old style self serve or still have it served behind the counter. 

[toads45froggy]

10 hours ago, Shmoo here said:

I've always gotten sodas in a can, opened at my table, in the bars.  

and you think those cans are properly washed before they fill them at the factory...

[antsp]

27 minutes ago, toads45froggy said:

and you think those cans are properly washed before they fill them at the factory...

I would think they are filled in a sterile atmosphere, to think they are not would you trust any food stuff

[jondfk]

1 hour ago, donaldsc said:

 

Some people have terminal intelligence problems and/or a total inability to make up their minds if presented w more than 2 of 3 alternatives.   Also consider the age demographics of the typical cruise population.  Some of them will never be able to use these machines.  It only takes a few of these people to create a very long line at the new drink machines.

 

DON

 

Actually nearly all humans suffer from the inability to quickly make a decision when presented with too many choices.  Want to test this theory with your friends, do this:

 

a)  Ask them to pick a number between 1 and 10, most folks have a 'lucky' number that pops into their heads right away.  They'll answer in a second or two.

 

b) Ask them to pick a number between 1 and a million.  Folks will stall, ponder, consider, contemplate and nearly always end up picking a number fairly close to 1 (something between 1 and 100) or fairly close to 1 million. 

 

We're wired to make quick choices from a limited menu of alternatives but we struggle mightily to find the 'right' answer from a myriad of choices.  Just a fun fact (well, I made myself chuckle anyway).

[Shmoo here]

1 hour ago, toads45froggy said:

and you think those cans are properly washed before they fill them at the factory...

Don't know.  I know I wipe the top before I open them, though.

Edited August 2, 2019 by Shmoo here

[Colo Cruiser]

Soon chips removed from the cups will be available on eBay.  

[jenf22]

45 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:

Soon chips removed from the cups will be available on eBay.  

On Allure, they were programmed to work for a specific time.  So they "expired" at the end of our cruise.  I think the drink package at Disney works the same way.  People used to bring back their mugs from a previous visit to reuse them.  The RF chip prevents that now.

 

On a ship with 6,000 people there were 2 Freestyle machines in the main, center area of the ship (Central Park? by the pizza place).  There were also 2 machines in the buffet.  We never waited more than a couple of minutes.  I think the longest line was about 6 people.  Typically, we wait longer at the machines in Qdoba. :)  This is just my one sample case though.  Could be worse on Princess.  Could be worse on Allure during a different time of year.

[LeeW]

Cans and lids are manufactured by a company like American Can and shipped to the soda company.  Not sterile at all.  But the filling lines have a wash station that cleans the inverted cans and lids and then they are routed to the fill machine.  

 

Problem we have had with Freestyle machines on RCCL is that they can take 5 seconds or more to respond to the touch screen.  And then you wind up with the wrong selection and have to start over.  Typically a ship has 4-5 machines (atrium and buffet) but one or more is often out of order.

 

On RCCL (and I assume will be on Princess) the machines are interconnected, so once you start using a cup it will only work for about 14 days (varies).  Although some have speculated that cups are activated when brought onboard this would require someone to add the RFID numbers from a box to the ship's database even if that box isn't actually used for months.  Nobody has reported that a used cup on one ship will or will not work on a different ship - machines are interconnected by ships probably are not.  We have at least a dozen unused cups and haven't checked.  Last B2B we got 4 cups for the second half but didn't bother opening them since first cups still worked.  

 

I like using the Freestyle machine but DW prefers to have cup filled at a bar.  Bartender checks cruise card to see if we have the drink package until they recognize us.