Cheers Program Frustration

[maryhou]

One of our adult children are insisting on buying the package and the other is not wanting to waste their money. We have four port days, I am gonna let them fight it out.  I wish they'd just let the people who want to drink buy it......... I know my husband and I will get our money out of it 🙂

[rukkian]

13 minutes ago, maryhou said:

One of our adult children are insisting on buying the package and the other is not wanting to waste their money. We have four port days, I am gonna let them fight it out.  I wish they'd just let the people who want to drink buy it......... I know my husband and I will get our money out of it 🙂

Other lines do, it is just one of the minor differences.  If one kid wants it, have the first one buy both, and then the 2nd can pay the first for the drinks they order.  My wife would get it if we didn't both need to, but I rarely drink, and without the package will probably only order 1 or 2 the whole cruise.

Edited December 3, 2019 by rukkian

[James4me]

I’m so sorry but it hurts my eyes trying to read with your font chosen, pretty as it is😑

[eagletwo]

1 hour ago, James4me said:

I’m so sorry but it hurts my eyes trying to read with your font chosen, pretty as it is😑

i agree, the font is really hard to read.

[Lottacruises]

I didn't bother 

[crewsweeper]

4 port days often isn't very Cheers friendly.  But letting your kids hash it out for themselves is good. 

And yes other cruise lines offer options such as where one can buy the alcohol package and another can buy just the juices, soda, coffee package.  But each line is different. And not everyone likes other lines setups either. 

[idraconis]

Not knowing your children or their drinking habits I'll share my experience. My first cruise was back in 2002 before drink packages came about. The cruise I on was an 8 day, My bar tab was a little over $900.  Sticker shock! Most of the cruises I've been on were 7 day cruises and my tab was always $700 +( been on 13). Granted I did buy rounds of drinks, but still pricey. And now we have a drink package.  A 7 day drink package will run around $430 or $61 a day . And don't forget soda, bottle water and specialty coffees are not free. Little hard to keep a bar tab under $61 a day. I hope they both agree on the drink package. Enjoy your cruise

[Joebucks]

Depending on what your children drink, they may want to consider buying bottles. ~$110 will get you a liter of alcohol.

[VentureMan_2000]

My wife and I have discussed this as we will be cruising with my SIL on a 6 day cruise.  She drinks, but we don't think she would consume the requisite 6 drinks average per day to break even with the CHEERS package.  My wife and I -- well, no problem there.

We have not yet discussed with SIL as we are still trying to do the math ( I like doing the math ).  😅

 

Assumptions:  SIL will consume 4 - 5 drinks on Sea days... and perhaps a glass of wine at dinner.  On port days, 2 - 4 drinks... and perhaps a glass of wine at dinner.   There are 3 Port days, but one is Ensenada, so perhaps treat this port day as a cross with a Sea day. 

Doing the rough math, SIL will consume 5 total drinks on the 3 Sea days, 4 drinks on Port days, and 5 drinks on Ensenada day.

So, assuming $10 - $11 drink prices that includes the TIP, she would spend $280 to $308 for the purchase of 28 drinks.

 

The Drink package for a 6 day cruise would cost $368 per person, which is $60 to $88 more then SIL would spend.

Now... my Lovely Bride and I will consume 8 - 10 drinks on a Sea day... 6 drinks on a Port day, and 8 on Ensenada day.  So, we'll average 8 per day.  So, assuming $10 - $11 drink prices that includes the TIP, we would spend $480 to $528 each for the purchase of 48 drinks.  

 

CHEERS for our cabin of 3 would be $1,104.  With the break even point being 6 drinks pp, and SIL averaging of 5 drinks per day and us averaging 8, we come out 3 drinks ahead each day.  

So, should we purchase the CHEERS package ?  Perhaps we could pay the difference if she doesn't consume 6 drinks ?  Perhaps she will have a couple specialty coffees along with her cocktails and wine.
  

We now need to discuss this with SIL as we just completed the math ( I like doing the math ).  😂

[ricew001]

1 hour ago, VentureMan_2000 said:

  

We now need to discuss this with SIL as we just completed the math ( I like doing the math ).  😂

 

I've attached the Excel spreadsheet that does the math for you...I don't like doing math.🤣 

Carnival Beverage Package Evaluator (2).xls

[VentureMan_2000]

OK... so I visited St. Gregg's blog where he has all the drink menus and current pricing, and see that non-ice-y cocktails are $9.95, with better cocktails at 10.95.  add an 18% TIP, and a cocktail is $11.75 to $13.00.  So the break even point is really 5 cocktails or glasses of wine.  So perhaps it would be worth it to SIL to purchase the CHEERS package.

No one in our group drinks beer... and are not likely to have many ice-y drinks.  We are more of a Long Island Iced Tea, Mai Tai/Hurricane, or Alchemy elixir crowd. 

[Purvis1231]

If all four of you are staying in one cabin and three of you want to buy it, then buy it and pay part of the non-drinkers portion.  We can disagree with the Carnival rules but their business model seems to be working. I personally wish they would just sell a set number of drinks at a discounted price. Many years ago  Holland American they sold a $50.00 drink card for $25.00 before sailing. I thought this was a great option. 

[simplelife]

On 12/4/2019 at 10:44 AM, idraconis said:

Not knowing your children or their drinking habits I'll share my experience. My first cruise was back in 2002 before drink packages came about. The cruise I on was an 8 day, My bar tab was a little over $900.  Sticker shock! Most of the cruises I've been on were 7 day cruises and my tab was always $700 +( been on 13). Granted I did buy rounds of drinks, but still pricey. And now we have a drink package.  A 7 day drink package will run around $430 or $61 a day . And don't forget soda, bottle water and specialty coffees are not free. Little hard to keep a bar tab under $61 a day. I hope they both agree on the drink package. Enjoy your cruise

Soda, bottled water, and specialty coffees are free with Cheers.

[idraconis]

Yes I know soda water (bottled) and specialty coffees are included with cheers. That was the point, w/o cheers those products can add up.

[stetucke]

Do you only have the 2 kids? If you have a third kid put the one who wants the cheers package in your room on paper. They can then buy the cheers package as everyone in the room must have it. Once you get on the boat no one does a bed check they just go back to the room you intended them to go on. 

[Galatz]

I am obsessed with this thread! The math got me so happy....and dont even get me started on that spreadsheet (which of course I have now saved). I do all this stuff and my wife thinks I am crazy....

[2wheelin]

2 hours ago, stetucke said:

Do you only have the 2 kids? If you have a third kid put the one who wants the cheers package in your room on paper. They can then buy the cheers package as everyone in the room must have it. Once you get on the boat no one does a bed check they just go back to the room you intended them to go on. 

It helps if people read the previous posts before commenting

[stetucke]

6 minutes ago, 2wheelin said:

It helps if people read the previous posts before commenting

The original post said 1 adult kid wanted it 1 did not. It could be possible that a third child not of drinking age kid is in the mix but was not mentioned because they would not buy a package.