Cheers package discount

[Ferris1]

Hello all. I’ve done a search for this topic and have read several posts regarding cheers and am actually shocked this hasn’t been asked before. In the couple months before the cruise does carnival offer any cheers package discounts, aside from the 10% off by booking ahead? I have had a few friends cruise with RC and have had discounts offered for their packages. Thanks!

[Saint Greg]

It’s cheaper if you buy it ahead of time. It’s like 51.99/day now or 56.99/day if you book on board. It’s a “discount” but really what they did is raise the price onboard.

[Ferris1]

Thank you, this is the only “discount” carnival offers? My friend who just returned from a RC cruise was offered a bogo 50% off drink package prior to sailing 

[Saint Greg]

3 minutes ago, Ferris1 said:

Thank you, this is the only “discount” carnival offers? My friend who just returned from a RC cruise was offered a bogo 50% off drink package prior to sailing 

That’s it.

[Jamman54]

2 minutes ago, Ferris1 said:

Thank you, this is the only “discount” carnival offers? My friend who just returned from a RC cruise was offered a bogo 50% off drink package prior to sailing 

Not happening on Carnival. 😀

[Ferris1]

Sadly, that’s what I was thinking. Just needed confirmation. Thank you 

[Sean_B]

42 minutes ago, Ferris1 said:

Thank you, this is the only “discount” carnival offers? My friend who just returned from a RC cruise was offered a bogo 50% off drink package prior to sailing 

and NCL has their "6 for free" which gives you the drink package for free. That's not happening on Carnival and the 10% pre-sail discount (or the day of sailing) is all you're going to get.

[cruisegus]

12 hours ago, Sean_B said:

and NCL has their "6 for free" which gives you the drink package for free.

and then makes you pay a gratuity on the non-discounted package price that alone costs you more than half the price of anyone else's full cost package.

[MemphisFan]

the package is the discount, so odds are you won't get much additional discount on top of that.

 

But, another way around it is to buy the gift cards at 10% discount, and use those to pay for the package. That saves an additional $5 or so a day.

[Sean_B]

6 hours ago, MemphisFan said:

the package is the discount, so odds are you won't get much additional discount on top of that.

 

But, another way around it is to buy the gift cards at 10% discount, and use those to pay for the package. That saves an additional $5 or so a day.

Wait...what are these gift cards you're speaking of, lol? Can they be used to buy cruise cash?

[MemphisFan]

14 hours ago, Sean_B said:

Wait...what are these gift cards you're speaking of, lol? Can they be used to buy cruise cash?

 

sign up for Allstate rewards (don't have to be an Allstate customer), earn points mainly through getting codes (there's a thread on here where you can go back for a ton of recent codes which will give you tens of thousands of points), then buy the carnival gift cards using your points at a 10% discount.

 

It's basically already cruise cash in a sense. You can pay for cruises with it, excursions, drink package, whatever. Or when you get on board, add the gift card to your sign and sail and use it during the trip.

 

But I don't know if you can actually buy cruise cash with it. Haven't tried that.

[surmy555]

Beware of RCCL 50% BOGO sale marketing. The drink package price on our upcoming RCCL cruise under this sale has ranged from $54 PP to $65 PP plus gratuity. Most of the RCCL sales are just marketing

[bar1068]

35 minutes ago, surmy555 said:

Beware of RCCL 50% BOGO sale marketing. The drink package price on our upcoming RCCL cruise under this sale has ranged from $54 PP to $65 PP plus gratuity. Most of the RCCL sales are just marketing

While I agree with that, lots of marketing mumbo jumbo with RCI's BOGO and other sales. And the prices they charge vary by which ship/cruise you are on. However you can get deals/discounts on their drink packages that for us have been better "deals" then what Carnival has offered. Of course you have to stalk their website daily to catch when the deals are available, plus do some "figurin" ie. sometimes the drink package "bundled" with the internet package come out "cheaper". We've paid less than $50, closer to $40 per day for their drink package on the last couple of cruises we've been on with them. Last May we cruised with RCI...paid just under $53 per day for booze and internet package. As we like to have internet when we cruise, that we thought was a good deal, but again, I caught it "at just the right time" to get the lower cost. 

 

Not bashing Carnival here. cruising Horizon in May, will probably get Cheers, pay for it with discounted gift cards of course, but RCI can offer some savings if you catch it at the right time and weed through their sales rhetoric.

 

[jdemps]

The cruise lines that offer the "free" items charge more for the base cruise fare so I don't see the benefit at all.  In fact, when I research a cruise, NCL & RCL are usually higher than carnival with the cheers package and tips added in.  Don't drink the kool-aid, do the math.

[Sean_B]

4 hours ago, MemphisFan said:

 

sign up for Allstate rewards (don't have to be an Allstate customer), earn points mainly through getting codes (there's a thread on here where you can go back for a ton of recent codes which will give you tens of thousands of points), then buy the carnival gift cards using your points at a 10% discount.

 

It's basically already cruise cash in a sense. You can pay for cruises with it, excursions, drink package, whatever. Or when you get on board, add the gift card to your sign and sail and use it during the trip.

 

But I don't know if you can actually buy cruise cash with it. Haven't tried that.

Ahh, US residents only  😞