Carnival Cheers Program: Considering it again?

[216Cruiser]

On 2/11/2020 at 1:26 PM, fendersrule said:

 

Order a single shot of crown next time. It will taste exactly like a single shot of crown.

 

I did. I had the wife order one to dump into my drink to make it the way it should be. And then it was. 

I had her do it several times. A few of those, I would just take the shot and then carry on with my watered down version. 

I clearly said nobody is going to change my opinion lol, it was a fair warning. If you don't believe so, thats ok. I know what I know. 

[HWC_Mom]

We have been debating getting the Cheers program or not for this cruise and the hubs decided just get it as it's just way easier than getting the huge bill at the end. 🤣 And he likes just flashing his card 

 

I have asked bartenders what to get and they will tell you what drink gets the most bang for your buck.  I think one introduced me to the margarita with fancier booze and was 16 oz.  

 

Hubs is also a coffee drinker and can have fancy coffees all day long.  Always a double espresso after dinner, then he'll have several while he sits at the casino at night.   I'm more a day person so I sit by the pool with my son and have a few.  While we probably don't break even, although I'm sure I could make it so we do, it's just the convenience we like and it also means you can get something "weird" at the alchemy bar and if you don't like it you can just leave it.  I think I have tried a few drinks this way 

[PhillyFan33579]

On 2/8/2020 at 7:13 PM, SNJCruisers said:

Just to set the record straight.  Every drink at the Alchemy Bar is over 11.50.  Roca Patron at the tequila  bar is around 15.00. Grey Goose VX is 17.00 neat and 20.00 made in a cocktail at Alchemy.   This is from first hand experience on the Horizon from August of 2018 and 2019.

And regarding Don Julio, the tequila bar has Don Julio Silver, Don Julio Reposado and Don Julio Anejo. Each slightly  more than their predecessor.

Did they raise the prices in the Alchemy Bar within the last several weeks?  Drinks on the menu have been $10.95 for quite awhile.
 

i know things can change fast on Carnival. Back in 2018 I was drinking Bud Light Lime on a cruise one week and less than a week later I was on another cruise and was told Carnival was no longer carrying Bud Light Lime. 

[dltvermont]

On 2/4/2020 at 7:08 PM, fendersrule said:

Hey now, I make beer...lots of beer. I definitely am I drinker. 

 

There's probably others who have tallied this up for themselves. I'm curious to hear others that may have done this.

 

The BIGGEST problem with Cheers however, is that you're forced to place it on everyone in the room. My GF is a very light drinker. So that's actually one of the reasons why I should probably decline the Cheers this time. 

 

I forgot about that restriction. 

 

Exactly why we dont get it. We had it as a perk on NCL cruise and we both drank when we wanted to but dont believe in the end we would have broken even. If only one person could get it, Im sure I could probably put a good dent in the numbers but I find for us, we will put the money aside and then just pay our tab at the end.

[Joebucks]

On 2/11/2020 at 1:26 PM, fendersrule said:

Order a single shot of crown next time. It will taste exactly like a single shot of crown.

 

I agree that it's not an accurate depiction that they are watering down their bottles. However, I will agree the pours are generally light and/or heavy on the sugary fillers. Nothing out of the ordinary for big companies.

 

I generally order bourbon on the rocks. It tastes exactly like bourbon. The portion leaves little to imagination.

[joy4ron]

We didn't think we were big drinkers, but apparently on a cruise with no responsibilities we just might be.  LOL

 

I got it after doing the math and nerding out on it, I figured out 6 and half drinks a day apiece would break even. I assumed that we'd have a couple glasses of wine at dinner, a beer or two each day, and likely a drink at a show, and we'd be close. I also thought we might end up "overpaying" by about $200 for the whole cruise by getting Cheers!

I decided that the peace of mind that came with not having to think about the bar bill at the end of the cruise, combined with the freedom to try new drinks would be worth it.

I was waaaaay wrong.

I checked the app every morning and did the math- we "made money" each day.  It wasn't a lot, but we always seemed to hit the threshold, and I always felt good about our choice.  

\I never felt like we had to "pound" drinks to get there. WE just hung out with friends, had fun, and were able to order drinks whenever we wanted. We never hit the 15 limit. I think we got close once.

I was definitely worth it, but it may not be for everyone

[Don Kehote]

Our last cruise, we spent $460 something for cheers in advance.  We conservatively estimated that we would have dropped over $900 on the drinks a la carte.  (side note, alchemy rules)

 

Neither of us ever got sloppy drunk, neither of us hit 15 drinks once (I made it to 14, and just got too tired)

[Pyxie]

10 hours ago, 216Cruiser said:

You're entitled to your opinion and I'm entitled to mine. I'm not just making it up lol. I know bars at home that do it. It's certainly not out of the realm of possibilities. Any way to truly test it?

 

What you're referring to is also highly illegal (watering down bottles of booze) and if Carnival, the #1 cruise corporation in the world, were ever caught doing such a thing, can you imagine the scandal? No, it isn't impossible and yes I know there are sketchy local bars who do it, but I highly doubt Carnival is risking that sort of negative publicity not to mention the hefty fines that they would be hit with if caught. And they'd eventually be caught.

[fendersrule]

Especially watering down crown, which is close to bottom shelf. This is just false. 
 

if any drunkard could easy get slammed on a cruise, it would be me. They are not watering down booze. 
 

I’ve ordered Macallon and the other scotch that starts with the “G” (help me here) by the glass on rocks. Definitely the real deal. 
 

216, your opinion is simply wrong and libel.

Edited February 21, 2020 by fendersrule

[Stick93]

If you get a heavy pourer - tip them as these are few and far apart in carnival. Most are light pourers and I think as well they will add “body” to the mixed drinks with all types of syrups and fillers. 

[HWC_Mom]

54 minutes ago, fendersrule said:

Especially watering down crown, which is close to bottom shelf. This is just false. 
 

if any drunkard could easy get slammed on a cruise, it would be me. They are not watering down booze. 
 

I’ve ordered Macallon and the other scotch that starts with the “G” (help me here) by the glass on rocks. Definitely the real deal. 
 

216, your opinion is simply wrong and libel.

 

Glenfiddich?

 

Drinks can end up "watered down" of you have too much ice in them.  But a major cruise line certainly isn't going to be watering down their bottles of booze.  

[SDPadreFan]

We've done our research (used the spreadsheet calculator) and decided we will try the Cheers program for the first time this Oct. But I had a brainstorm along the way. We have a B2B scheduled for Oct 10-24 on the Magic. We don't really need the Cheers package for the second week. Since we can bring 2 bottles of wine each (two 7 day cruises), we can do the Cheers the first week and save our bottles of wine for the second week. So for the second week, we will have 4 bottles of wine to consume for that week. We will also bring our 2 (12 packs) of soda and hold them for the second week as well.

 

First week - Cheers - Specialty coffee (probably 2 each) in the morning. Afternoon, I'll probably have 2-3 beers, wife will have more coffee/bottled tea/bottled water as she wishes. Dinner, 2 glasses of wine (each) and then 2-3 cocktails (each) during the evening's entertainment. We don't really do the AI beach breaks in port. We will either do an excursion or a little exploring/shopping on our own and then return to the ship. For the most part, we eat our meals on the ship unless something is included in an excursion. So I think we'll do ok with the Cheers package for the first week. And we will certainly check out the offerings at the Alchemy Bar during that week.

 

Second week - no Cheers - We'll have the Carnival coffee (wife might still get a specialty coffee) for breakfast. Carnival Iced Tea will be good enough for me in the afternoon (or I'll bring some Crystal Light). For dinner, we'll bring a healthy pour from our 4 bottles of wine (till we run out) and in the evening we can bring drinks made in our stateroom for the evenings entertainment. Our drink of choice during the week will be Diet Coke (from our two 12 packs) and a little added elixir from a couple of food grade plastic bags with convenient pour spouts that we will bring from home. We can supplement from Carnival's offerings as necessary.

 

We have a 15 night Hawaii cruise on the Miracle booked for next year so this experiment with Cheers will help us decide if it works for us for the 15 nighter. There are 8 sea days on that one so it probably will.

 

Only thing left to do is figure out where to get the two 12 packs of Diet Coke before we board in Miami. We will fly in the night before. The wine we can bring from home. Our daughter is a wedding planner so we get all the free "unopened" left over wine we want from her weddings and most of it is pretty high end stuff.

[smgardner]

23 hours ago, 216Cruiser said:

I did. I had the wife order one to dump into my drink to make it the way it should be. And then it was. 

I had her do it several times. A few of those, I would just take the shot and then carry on with my watered down version. 

I clearly said nobody is going to change my opinion lol, it was a fair warning. If you don't believe so, thats ok. I know what I know. 

No, you didn’t. Order a straight shot and drink it. Is it watered down or not? Having 6our wife dump it into a drink is not a true way to tell. If you are going to make a claim like this, which is pretty serious, don’t dilute the drink with soda pop or have your wife dump it Ning another drink. That’s goofy. You are already diluting it and stating that you know that they are. Try it straight if you want to make reckless claims like that. That’s the only way to tell, not by pouring into a Coke and comparing it to your favorite bar. 

[SNJCruisers]

14 hours ago, fendersrule said:

Especially watering down crown, which is close to bottom shelf. This is just false.

What is false is stating that Crown Royal is close to bottom shelf.  When it comes to blended Canadian Whiskeys,  Crown Royal is near the top.  It should not be compared to single malts or blended scotches because they are different types of booze.

[SNJCruisers]

14 hours ago, Stick93 said:

If you get a heavy pourer - tip them as these are few and far apart in carnival. Most are light pourers and I think as well they will add “body” to the mixed drinks with all types of syrups and fillers. 

Problem is solved by doing the majority of your drinking at the Alchemy Bar.  If you drink there at night and enjoy a few cold beers during the day, you will not  have to worry about light pourers.

[boomhower]

We always do Cheers and my wife may drink three a cruise.  I hit 10+ a day.  Not hard at all starting a lunch and never get sloppy, she occationally helps me from hitting 15 if I want something I not he morning.  Pours are average but IMHO tend to be very slightly heavy and i dont tip much at all above the included Cheers fee.  I have found chatting with them and getting friendly may get a slight bit more but legitimate heavy pours I haven’t seen.  People always scream 15.  I don’t usually but even at 10 we are even with her not drinking anything. Count engergy drinks, coffee and milk shakes we do well.  I honestly get it for the all exclusive fell.  I could lose $200 and the lack of stress on vacation is worth it. 

[ray98]

On 2/21/2020 at 12:30 AM, 216Cruiser said:

Any way to truly test it?

 

Yeah....I have watched them open a new bottle in front of me many times.  It comes sealed in the box with the plastic shrink seal on the cap that they remove.  A bottle of CR only lasts a couple hours at a busy bar if that.  They are not whisking it away to fill it up with water.

[klfhngr]

On 2/6/2020 at 4:21 PM, fendersrule said:

Keep in mind though klfhngr is that port days really throw a wrench on calculations. For me, port days mean explore + fun + drink.

 

 It's easy to exceed cheers value on sea days, but those 6-8 beers you had in port, you now need 6 more when you get back on the ship for the 3 days you are in port. If you can't do that, it heavily weighs down the average of Cheers.....

 

personally, when I "drink", I don't want dairy products, nor do I crave "sweets', nor do I want "soda." If I want a "soda" then I will grab a lite beer...

 

One quick way of valuing cheers. Can you drink 6 drinks a day for 4 days straight, and THEN can you drink 12 drinks a day for 3 port days. If the answer is "no" (most people), you shouldn't be getting cheers, unless you are a cruiser that chooses to stay on the ship during port days...

 

My last word on this is that I'm barely a Cheers person. I would guess that most people will not come "up ahead" in the cheers package. Some people have been gracious to type in their "drink" itinerary for a day (thank you) but words of wisdom is that I want your actual 7-day itinerary of drinks on the ship including port days where you leave the ship and drank somewhere else. That's where things get really hazy...

Makes sense. Still undecided. I try to keep a low profile in port. Those Sr Froggs days are over, lol, been there, done that! So I might enjoy a few in port and make it up on the ship. Other option is Run Runners... No flamers please, just keeping it real. Being an amateur brew master, I have a high tolerance for beer. I ended up drinking the most beers on our NCL cruise... They keep a scoreboard! Anyhow, thanks for the feedback.

 

Cabo isn't a long stop. MZ isn't long. PV is the longest, but should be back on by 6/7PM...