Carnival Cheers Program: Considering it again?

[VentureMan_2000]

17 minutes ago, sanger727 said:

well. Fine. But one of the unintended consequences of this decision is that now Norwegian or celebrity is getting my cruise fare over carnival due to this perceived value. So they are being penny wise and pound foolish buy forcing me to pay an extra $385 and therefore losing out on $1,000+ in cruise fare.

 

I'm not sure I'm following.  Are you saying that you save $1000 by cruising Carnival, or one of the other cruise lines mentioned ?  

Norwegian Cruise Line's Ultimate Beverage package currently costs $99 plus 20% TIP ($118.80) per person, per day (max $15 drink price).  Their Premium-Plus package costs $153.60 person, per day.

Celebrity's drink package is $59 + 20% TIP (max $9 drink price) or Premium package $69 + 20% TIP (max $15 drink price).

Carnival's Cheers drink package is $51.95 + 18% TIP, per person, per day (max $20 drink price).

[ibarrio]

My daily plan with Cheers 

Spiked Coffee and regular coffee from coffee bar (no MDR coffee for me)

Bloody Mary (x2)

Water/Gatorade 

Mixed/Boat/Frozen drink

Water/soda

Beer with lunch (x2)

Gatorade 

Mixed drinks/Alchemy bar (at least 2)

Water/ Gatorade 

Beer with dinner (x2)

After dinner drinks/shows/ other bars (at least 3 more)

At least 10+ alcohol drinks per day. Add Coffee,  water, Gatorade, and soda and it easily makes sense money wise. 

 

 

 

[sanger727]

9 hours ago, VentureMan_2000 said:

 

I'm not sure I'm following.  Are you saying that you save $1000 by cruising Carnival, or one of the other cruise lines mentioned ?  

Norwegian Cruise Line's Ultimate Beverage package currently costs $99 plus 20% TIP ($118.80) per person, per day (max $15 drink price).  Their Premium-Plus package costs $153.60 person, per day.

Celebrity's drink package is $59 + 20% TIP (max $9 drink price) or Premium package $69 + 20% TIP (max $15 drink price).

Carnival's Cheers drink package is $51.95 + 18% TIP, per person, per day (max $20 drink price).

im not saying that I save $1,000. I’m saying the carnival loses my cruise fare when I cruise with a different line. I’ve never paid full price for a drink package but Norwegian and celebrity are always running promotions where you can get it included in your booking so you don’t have to pay for it.

[ilovetotravel1977]

3 hours ago, sanger727 said:

...but Norwegian and celebrity are always running promotions where you can get it included in your booking so you don’t have to pay for it.

 

On NCL, you are definitely paying for it.  In your cruise fare and the 20% you pay on it.  And they don't include most items that Cheers does (specialty coffee, milkshakes, water, etc).

[CruiserErin]

Slightly off topic, but rather than starting another Cheers post....how do you get the bottled water and Gatorade....just go to the bar and order it?   If I get Cheers, I’d want to get enough water to take into port.   Can I just Ofer 4 bottles at once?

[M2LR]

1 hour ago, ilovetotravel1977 said:

 

On NCL, you are definitely paying for it.  In your cruise fare and the 20% you pay on it.  And they don't include most items that Cheers does (specialty coffee, milkshakes, water, etc).

 

Agreed. I always price out all the companies since I am not not sold on one cruise line and consider each vacation separately. Pricing out our upcoming trip even with all the "freebies" I still would have been paying more for NCL. Because I am a light drinker I actually prefer to cruise Carnival because I can easily opt-out and not purchase Cheers vs with other lines where it is included I am paying more money and not getting the full benefit.

Edited February 6, 2020 by M2LR

[kylesplash]

18 hours ago, pacruise804 said:

 

If $500 was more than enough for your cabin for drinks (an example, I don't know your drinking habits) - rather than nearly $800 for 2 adults on 7 days - would pre-loading your account (cash, Cruise Cash, Cruise Bar Cash, or gift card) - would you be able to relax about the drinks and take a chance on new drinks?

People can spend their money however they want, I just wonder if this option is considered much.  I know I would rather spend $300 less for all I can drink, but I'm only a moderate alcohol drinker and wouldn't do the other drinks regardless.  Many of our cruises have had rough enough seas that I might not drink as much on a sea day as I first thought.

 

Each adult 21 or over can take one 750mL bottle of wine.  Non-alcoholic beverages (including water) are limited to twelve 12 oz or smaller cartons or cans.  Bottled water is available from the website for cabin purchase at $5 for twelve 16.9 oz bottles.

I do get an additional 10% off of cheers by using gift cards. I'm sure I would still skimp out on certain drinks knowing that my money is counting down with every purchase.  Even with cheers I will bring 2 bottles of wine and purchase water for the room.

[M2LR]

I think most people look at it as for $52/55 per day I can have pretty much unlimited drinks (15 but that is a generous amount). If you start breaking it down into a cost benefit analysis then you probably are better off not purchasing it. It is like paying more for a spa room, you book it because you enjoy going to the spa, not because you are certain you will go to the spa enough times it will be cheaper than day passes. 

[Joebucks]

4 hours ago, sanger727 said:

im not saying that I save $1,000. I’m saying the carnival loses my cruise fare when I cruise with a different line. I’ve never paid full price for a drink package but Norwegian and celebrity are always running promotions where you can get it included in your booking so you don’t have to pay for it.

 

What is your definition of not having to pay for it? Please don't tell me it's because there is no separate fee. Sometimes, NCL may be cheaper with drinks, sometimes it is not.

[pacruise804]

15 hours ago, eileen2664 said:

Thank you.  That's the way we've decided to look at it for our upcoming first cruise too.  Between dh and I we'll probably break even.  We could save money by ordering a bottle, taking on soda, drinking tap water instead of bottled, etc. but that all sounds like a hassle to us.  I figure if we don't quite break even then the extra cost we'll just call a "convenience fee".

 

FWIW we always get the Disney Dining Plan (even the deluxe plan on occasion) too because packing sandwiches or eating burgers all week just isn't the way we choose to vacation.  I know some people say to just buy gift cards and "prepay" that way but I know myself and I'd spend my week ordering the sirloin instead of the filet I want to try just to save a few bucks (not that that few bucks would make or break us, its an unconscious thing).

 

Thank you for addressing this.  I know others with a similar thought process, which is why I sometimes suggest Cruise Bar Cash even though it isn't refundable (or usable at the casino) because it is "spent" money like Cheers but for the mid-level drinker who doesn't come close to Cheers it's a smaller "convenience fee" 🙂 

 

5 hours ago, sanger727 said:

im not saying that I save $1,000. I’m saying the carnival loses my cruise fare when I cruise with a different line. I’ve never paid full price for a drink package but Norwegian and celebrity are always running promotions where you can get it included in your booking so you don’t have to pay for it.

 

I'm pretty sure on NCL, and possibly on X, you are still paying the gratuity on the price of the package.  At a minimum (not counting higher base fare) you would pay $20 and $12 per day for each line.  That's still less than Cheers, but something to be counted.

[Sagittarius traveler]

Maybe you should bring wine in the luggage and buy the bucket of beer or pitcher .

[Stick93]

2 hours ago, ilovetotravel1977 said:

 

On NCL, you are definitely paying for it.  In your cruise fare and the 20% you pay on it.  And they don't include most items that Cheers does (specialty coffee, milkshakes, water, etc).

Agreed as well - NCL package is a bit of a scam. They charge you a higher fare and you pay for a "card" that is the least inclusive of any other line and you think its free. Its not free and to get anything decent there is an "upcharge" which is really Norwegians middle name. The CEO brags about getting people to pay the highest fares in the industry and most add ons. Compare carefully when cruising them as its not always "included". I have sailed them 4 times and enjoy their product but am not fooled by the "promotions"

[oumagic]

I did it once, then didn’t do it and I will be doing it again in March. I found I missed the non-alcoholic drinks that I had with cheers. I don’t drink a ton of alcohol, but I was probably close to the break-even point if I just added up the booze. 6 drinks when chilling on vacation is not much for me.That said, I noticed that I enjoyed my morning coffees and bottled waters when I had cheers that I just didn’t want to pay for without it.
 

I am a worrier and a little tight in the wallet region. Having cheers makes it a better overall vacation experience for me with less worries. As long as I don’t try to trick myself into getting every last drop of alcohol out of the package, cheers is a big win for me. But that one night I did hit my limit added up to zero alcohol the next day 😉

Edited February 6, 2020 by oumagic

[sanger727]

2 hours ago, Stick93 said:

Agreed as well - NCL package is a bit of a scam. They charge you a higher fare and you pay for a "card" that is the least inclusive of any other line and you think its free. Its not free and to get anything decent there is an "upcharge" which is really Norwegians middle name. The CEO brags about getting people to pay the highest fares in the industry and most add ons. Compare carefully when cruising them as its not always "included". I have sailed them 4 times and enjoy their product but am not fooled by the "promotions"

true. But the question becomes if the package of the vacation is a value at the package of the price. If I can get a Norwegian Cruise with the gratuity and enough inclusions to be a better deal with carnival and cheers. 

[Jamesatgsu]

20 hours ago, VentureMan_2000 said:

 

Well sure, this is why you and others should not get the package.  If a person does not think they can average 5 drinks a day or more over the duration of the cruise will be better off purchasing drinks on their S&S card.

As mentioned, some have other reasons for wanting Cheers that include the need to not worry about the final bill, and to try new cocktails.  

 

The break even is 6 drinks, unless you are drinking at the Alchemy bar (which I do love), but they don't usually open until late afternoon.  If you factor in Beer, Happy Hour, & daily drink specials, it could take more to get there.  Then add in cheaper port drinks and the bottle of wine you can bring on board, and its hard to justify it as a good deal unless you are a heavy drinker, or also use the non-alcoholic drinks too. To me you get it either for a booze cruise or for the not worrying about the final bill.

 

MSC has a far cheaper drink package if you are looking to drink (granted with a far more limited selection for that package).  I really liked the open bar on Norwegian Sun, because it was so much faster with them not needing cards or receipts, but sadly that is no more. Don't know if any other cruise lines offer a similar alcohol included cruise.

 

[pacruise804]

25 minutes ago, Jamesatgsu said:

 

The break even is 6 drinks, unless you are drinking at the Alchemy bar (which I do love), but they don't usually open until late afternoon.  If you factor in Beer, Happy Hour, & daily drink specials, it could take more to get there.  Then add in cheaper port drinks and the bottle of wine you can bring on board, and its hard to justify it as a good deal unless you are a heavy drinker, or also use the non-alcoholic drinks too. To me you get it either for a booze cruise or for the not worrying about the final bill.

 

MSC has a far cheaper drink package if you are looking to drink (granted with a far more limited selection for that package).  I really liked the open bar on Norwegian Sun, because it was so much faster with them not needing cards or receipts, but sadly that is no more. Don't know if any other cruise lines offer a similar alcohol included cruise.

 

 

The luxury lines do 😉 

 

Many premium lines also include some drinks.  We are sailing Viking Ocean in November for our Silver Anniversary and they include all specialty coffees throughout the day as well as soft drinks, beer, and house wine with lunch and dinner.  Their drinks are around $5 for most drinks and they have a Silver Spirits package for $20 pp/day, both guests need to purchase.  Since it is a milestone celebration we are splurging for the package to give us more choice even though we may not average 4 drinks per day.

[Stick93]

1 hour ago, sanger727 said:

true. But the question becomes if the package of the vacation is a value at the package of the price. If I can get a Norwegian Cruise with the gratuity and enough inclusions to be a better deal with carnival and cheers. 

Yes they have been cheaper at times with all included than a Carnival fare but it is rare.

 

[VentureMan_2000]

44 minutes ago, Jamesatgsu said:

 

The break even is 6 drinks, unless you are drinking at the Alchemy bar 

 

 

I agree it's 6 drinks if you only purchase the icy blended foo-foo drinks.  Otherwise, most drinks are $1 or more, and a fair assumption that most Cheers folks wouldn't be big icy blended foo-foo drinkers, which is why I said 5 drinks to break even.   

 

Let's do the math... ( I like doing the math ).

Cheers daily price of $61.30 pp, per day:
Beer                         $  6.50 + 18% TIP:    $ 7.67       -- 8 to break even    

Blender drinks        $  8.95 + 18% TIP:    $10.56     -- 6 to break even

Most other drinks  $  9.95 + 18% TIP:    $11.74     -- 5 to break even

Pricier drinks          $11.50 + 18% TIP:    $13.57     -- 4.5 to break even

Mocha coffee         $  3.75 + 18% TIP:    $ 4.43

Spiked coffee         $  6.50 + 18% TIP:    $ 7.67

Bottled Water         $  1.25 + 18% TIP:    $ 1.48

Milkshake               $ 4.50 + 18% TIP:     $ 5.31

I would think that many folks on Cheers would have a coffee and 3 bottles of water each day -- $8.87 (or some simular scenerio).  Subtracting this from the $61.30 Cheers daily price leaves $52.43 for drinks.

 

Cheers remaining balance of $52.43 pp, per day:
Beer                          $  6.50 + 18% TIP:    $ 7.67       -- 7 to break even    

Blender drinks         $  8.95 + 18% TIP:    $10.56     -- 5 to break even

Most other drinks   $  9.95 + 18% TIP:    $11.74     -- 4.5 to break even

Pricier drinks           $11.50 + 18% TIP:    $13.57     -- 4 to break even  

          

[fendersrule]

The bottle of water is a murky topic. Everyone knows (I hope) that pre-buying water in a case for your stateroom is just as cheap as the supermarket. I think it's like, $5 for 12-16 bottles or something. So let's leave water out of it, or just include $5 over the course of the trip, and just add a nice coffee per day. That won't effect your estimates very much though, just wanted to throw that out that if you are actually buying water individually on a cruise, you are doing it wrong!

 

I would also leave out the tip, because it's 18% percent regardless whether or not you have cheers or not. 🙂

 

It's still basically 6 drinks per day average to break even on. That would mean 42 drinks are necessary to break even, plus your bottle of wine that you brought onboard. All I'm saying is that this requires some heavy drinking.

 

For a 7 day cruise with my included 750ml bottle of wine on board:

 

This is my drink record for my last cruise, not including the $3.75 mocha that you may have each morning. Keep in mind that I personally like to start my day with some exercise before getting trashed and I don't start drinking until noon, so for me, all of this has to happen starting at 12:00PM on sea days:

 

Sail off: 2 drinks + 1x bottle of wine

Sea Day: 10 drinks

Port Day (beach day that included about 13 drinks: 0 drinks

Port Day (excursion + several drinks): 6 drinks

Port Day (excursion + several drinks): 5 drinks

Sea Day: 15 drinks

Sea Day: 7 drinks

 

= 45 drinks. The beach day I didn't want to even look at alcohol when I stumbled back on the cruise ship. The last sea day I had to slow down to just 7 drinks because it was just wearing on me at that point. But you can see that I broke into the positive, but not by a huge margin. That doesn't include the 7 coffees that I got either. So for me, Cheers worked, but again, it's was an uphill battle and a true test of endurance. There were times that I felt that I didn't "need" to drink (and probably shouldn't/wouldn't have), but because I had the card, why not? Did I mention I was 223 lbs and 6'4" that can hold alcohol very well?

 

For many people, this is not an easy feat. "It's a marathon, not a sprint".

 

Without cheers you'd still be spending around the same amount, if not less if you plan to do some cool port days. Without cheers, your game plan should be:

 

1) Bring a VERY healthy ABV Wine on port. A port wine, or something. Try to get near 20%.

2) Use the beer dispenser in the buffet if on a Vista class ship. It works out to a little less than $5 per 16Oz pour.

3) The most common "mixed drink" price on Carnival is $8.50, you should feel more than welcome to get as much as you'd like without thinking about your wallet. You're not going to get caught with a $15-20 drink on Carnival. The most expensive hard alcohol drink on Carnival is Don Julio, and it's $11.50. Everything else is around $6.50-8 if you like drinking hard alcohol straight. This point of this is to remind you that drinks are really not that expensive on Carnival to begin with.

4) Pre-buy a case of water. You shouldn't need to ever buy water individually.

5) Drink drip coffee most mornings. It's free. Coffee's job is to wake your ass up.

6) Splurge with drinks on port days. The nice thing about not having Cheers is because you are not paying for drinks that will be very difficult to do when you get back to the ship after being pretty loaded.

7) Add a bottle of Champagne pre-book. It's $24.95, which works out to $5 less than if you bought champagne individually.

 

I can easily see how you can still drink your ass off on Carnival, without the cheers card, and many cases spend less to around what Cheers would cost. Think about it. I haven't met much people that can out drink me.

 

 

 

Edited February 6, 2020 by fendersrule

[lindsay0526]

Cheers isn't something that *I* feel like works in our favor because even if I prepay it's $306.50pp or $613 for DH and myself, I just don't see us drinking enough. I did a quick math of likely drinks we would order (and gave us a generous *for us* quantity) and also picked above-ish average priced options:

Embarkation Day: 2 drinks (9.50), dinner: wine (10.50), double espresso w/dessert (2.25), evening cocktail (11)

     Daily Total: 42.75 + 7.70 gratuity= $50.45

Port Days: specialty coffee (3.50), dinner: wine (10.50), double espresso w/dessert (2.25), evening cocktail (11)

     Daily Total: 27.25 + 4.91 gratuity= $32.16

Sea Days: specialty coffee (3.50), 3 drinks (9.50), dinner: wine (10.50), double espresso w/dessert (2.25), evening cocktail (11)

     Daily Total: 55.75 + 10.04 gratuity= $65.79

 

Our trip is 5 days (2 port days and 2 sea days)- $246.35pp or 492.70 for DH and myself and I honestly don't think we will drink this many drinks nor do I think we will get a specialty coffee every morning (I think we will likely be about $200pp), but it's nice to look at it and see that even if we decide to indulge a little more we won't be breaking the bank. 

 

(We also will take some sodas, sparkling waters, and 2 bottles of wine with us)

Edited February 6, 2020 by lindsay0526

[VentureMan_2000]

1 hour ago, fendersrule said:

 

I would also leave out the tip, because it's 18% percent regardless whether or not you have cheers or not. 🙂

 

It's still basically 6 drinks per day average to break even on. 

 

Removing the 18% TIP does not change the math.  It's still 5 drinks as the break even point unless, as I stated, you only purchase the $8.95 foo-foo drinks -- in which case, the break even would be 6 cocktails average per day over the duration of a cruise (see math in previous post above).  That's only 35 drinks for a 7-day cruise.

I agree there are options that may be better choices for folks -- bringing wine, soda, ordering water, ordering cabin booze, looking for BOGO's, etc.  I show the math to help folks decide if the Cheers program is worth it for them.  No guessing or fuzzy numbers when the math is in front of you.  

 

[fendersrule]

Sorry, it is not 5 drinks on average. It is 6 drinks. The average price of drink including beers, shots, and mixed drinks is $8-9ish. 

Edited February 6, 2020 by fendersrule

[VentureMan_2000]

30 minutes ago, fendersrule said:

Sorry, it is not 5 drinks on average. It is 6 drinks. The average price of drink including beers, shots, and mixed drinks is $8-9ish. 

 

fuzzy numbers...

[fendersrule]

45 minutes ago, VentureMan_2000 said:

 

fuzzy numbers...

Trust me on this as I did the research. You need closer to 6 drinks per day on average to break even. I spent time to google the menus. I took pictures when I was on the ship. 5 drinks per day means you are ordering the most expensive drinks that are only found in certain places (10.50ish). It assumes you are sitting at the alchemy bar all day and ONLY ordering the the best each time (which isn't most of the menu) or are doing Don Julio tequila shots only. People don't really do that on a cruise. Realistically, you'll order a range of things from 6-10.5 throughout the day depending on where you are at. The average is $8.25 per drink. I'm saying this to keep it simple. The average is closer to 6 drinks. It sounds stupid to argue over "5 or 6", but for 7 days, 6 drinks makes a difference when comparing the cost for Cheers vs non-Cheers.

 

Believe it or not, we are mostly in agreement, I think. You need to be a DRINKER in order to get the Cheers package. If you can manage a little more than a bottle of wine every day for 7 days straight, including your port days in which you drink off the ship,  you should probably get cheers. Many people I know should get cheers. Many other people who "think" they drink a lot (but really don't) should NOT get cheers. If you're falling over after drinking a bottle of wine you should NOT get cheers....it's geared towards people that are thirsty...

Edited February 6, 2020 by fendersrule

[klfhngr]

On 2/5/2020 at 8:58 AM, fendersrule said:

Guys, drink prices are not really that bad on the ship for the most part. Beers are $6.50 for a 16Oz pint (craft). Mixed drinks are around $8.50. Compared to many airports, stadiums, this is actually considered "cheap". That's only "a little more" than my neighborhood bar, although my neighborhood bar makes stronger mixed drinks that the Lido deck place. 🙂

 

Some people on this thread buy Cheers and don't even calculate if they are coming out or not. They just buy it for the convenience. I get it, but it doesn't aid or help the discussion. You really should figure out if you're coming out ahead or not. Coffees are $3, so don't over-value those. Two coffees = 1 "cheaper" drink like a Beer.

 

8 Beers on Carnival is $52. If you are a beer drinker, you will have to average 8 beers per day over 7 days including port days, to break even. This may sound easy to most, but keep in mind if you are getting shitfaced at an all inclusive beach and manage to get back into the ship, you'll need to drink 8 beers on that day, OR you will need to + 2 beers for the other days. That's what happened to me in Cozumel at Mr. Sanchos. 🙂

 

6 Beers on Carnival is $51. If you are a mixed drink person, you will have to average 6 mixed drinks over 7 days, including port days, to break even. Same as above, it's a marathon, not a sprint, so if you have a zero day, or got heavily loaded in port, you will have to make up on the other days.

 

Get Cheers if:

 

1) You are mentally and physically booze-cruising, not just "having a couple drinks a day."

2) You are a "luxurious" drinker that demands only the best quality liquors. Cheers is great for that.

3) You plan to drink "semi heavily", like to try new things, and love specialty coffee. 

4) You don't do port days. 

These numbers might convince me to get Cheers.. Reason being, I'll have about the same amounts of beer that you mentioned, plus water, plus coffee, plus a few cokes.. I mean pepsi now, oh, and a few shots of tequila also. So the package is starting to make more sense!