Alcoholic Drink Tickets?

[Luxuriate]

My friend and I are going on the Conquest in May. I think I read that we can save a bit if we buy drink tickets before the cruise. Does this really save any money? What kinds of drinks can you get with the tickets (coupons)?

 

Thanks

[serene56]

My friend and I are going on the Conquest in May. I think I read that we can save a bit if we buy drink tickets before the cruise. Does this really save any money? What kinds of drinks can you get with the tickets (coupons)?

 

Thanks

 

you will NOT save a quite a deal of money--maybe 50 cents a drink and that will depend on what you drink.

 

For now-- I see drink coupons on the web site STILL the same price 4 for 19.95 and carnival drink prices have went up. FOr the time being-- getting those coupns NOW before the raise in price will save you a bit more.

If you buy frozen foo-foo drinks which will cost you 4.95 plus 15% gratutiy. using the coupons will save you.

 

Mostly youshould only buy the coupons to prepay your bar bill.

 

If you drink beer or regular mixed drinks do not get the coupons youwill lost money.

 

Waiters will tell you they are good for drinks that cost 4.50.

 

(same with soda coupons-- get them now while te price is cheap- 4 cans of soda for 6.80 Soda just went up and you can save a few cents.

 

some people will say the coupons are not great because they leave them in the cabin.. Put theminyour camera case..that way they are always with you.

 

here is the updated prices of drinks onboard

http://community.webshots.com/album/521755807XYeiOA

[VentureMan_2000]

Regarding the drink tickets... I've done them and won't do them again. There are many downsides to them:

 

• You have to remember to bring them with you.
  
• The bar tenders take longer to complete the transaction because they have some paperwork involved at the register.
  
• The tickets are made of paper, which makes them a bugger to deal with at the pool. Get them wet, they could become ruined and worthless.
  
• They are not good for all drinks... only drinks that are $4.65 or less.
  
• They really aren't any good for a beer because a beer is only $3, and the ticket cost you $5. Don't want to pay $5 for a beer, do you?
  
• You have the potential for losing them.
  
• You may not end up using all of them... and they are not refundable.

Drink tickets allow someone not going on the cruise to purchase a few drinks for you... over the phone in advance thru Bon Voyage, since they can't very well purchase a drink for you in person.

 

The S&S card is with you always... and you can take it into the pool.

 

In short, don't do it...

[serene56]

Drink coupons have NO expiration date. The best deal I had is when I got them in 2000 4 for 15 bucks. went on my next Carnival cruise in2002 and was able to use them

 

The waiters have no extra paper work to fill out becuase you used a coupon. they connect the coupon to the sign and sail receipt- thats all that is extra. there is no signing for a drink- like with a sign and sail card.

 

 

Another way--to prepay your sign and sail card- Buy funship Dolalrs or place cabin credit onto your account each pay,

[VentureMan_2000]

Well, that's not fare. They made me, or sometimes did it themselves, put the cabin # on the back... can't quite remember. :mad:

 

But the S&S seemed a lot easier at the time.

[serene56]

But the S&S seemed a lot easier at the time.

 

Yes it is. but using a sign and sail card gives you a bill at the end of your cruise. But placing money onto your account-- thats the way I would do it. But I only use the coupons for frozen foo foo drinks..so for me.. its worthit.

[Cinderose]

We bought them in Jan of 2004 and it cost $19.50 for 4 coupons. Now you say they are $19.95? Not much of an increase as I thought there would be.

[sherrintxs]

Can you use the coupons to buy a bucket of beer??

[dms_cruisers04]

Ooo, Sherr's got a good question.

I believe the answer is no. And, depending on what kind of beer, a bucket is $11 or $12 so you'd end up paying more.

But does anyone know for sure?

[jetskier]

I tried to use my coupon to buy the drink of the day with sov. glass. I told the waiter to place the difference on my S&S card. He said that it could not be done that way. I tried a different waiter and was told the same thing. One thing to consider with the drink coupons is that the 15% gratity is already figured into the price.

 

Dave

[VentureMan_2000]

They are really a lot of bother to try and screw Carnival out of a quarter.

[desperatehousewife]

I too used them before and found them to be OK... but hard to remember!I like the idea of putting them into your camera bag... that's good.

 

However, I really like the idea of buying fun ship dollars ahead of time for your drink budget!!!!! You could set a budget up ahead of time and purchase a bundle with every pay period and have a stash by the time you cruised ( I guess depending on how soon you start and how long b/f you sail!) Thanks for that idea it's a good one!:p

[FurryCruiser]

Can you use the coupons to buy a bucket of beer??

Depends upon the bar staff. I usually buy a bucket of beer for 3 drink coupons. However, that's just my experience, not necessarily Carnival's policy.

 

FurryCruiser

[serene56]

Can you use the coupons to buy a bucket of beer??

 

I know you can use 4 coupons for a bottle of wine. BUt like posters state-- you would lose money using copons for that.

 

As for buying the sovernier cup-- you have to outright buy the sovernier cup/drink the first day and use the sovernier cup the rest of the week for refills using the coupons.

 

Buying the drink of the day-- in a regular cup-- will lose you money they cost 4.25

[cruise.freak]

We bought the drink coupons and used them for the souvenir cup and they just charged us the difference of like 2.50. Was worth it to us to buy coupons ahead of time to keep sail and sign down. For my next cruise I have been purchasing the gift cert. weekly to help!

[LUCY55]

Tell me about soda options. I do not want to get the soda cards. At about $40 for the week, I think that is ridiculous ($80 for two kids!!). If I tell my teenage sons they can charge a couple of sodas per day-how much will each one cost. (Can of soda not fountain drinks.)

[CruisingKitty]

Currently, the cans of soda are at $1.50 a can..whereas the glass is a $1. The bottles (20 oz) are $2.50 a bottle, and if you don't ask for a can, they bring you a bottle a lot of the time..

[Iamthesea]

Are the tickets printed out on my home computer or are they in the stateroom upon arrival? I am thi9nking this would be something my DD's need to do before our cruise. They could buy several in the next few weeks.

[dms_cruisers04]

In stateroom on arrival, or atleast sometime the first day.

[serene56]

Tell me about soda options. I do not want to get the soda cards. At about $40 for the week, I think that is ridiculous ($80 for two kids!!). If I tell my teenage sons they can charge a couple of sodas per day-how much will each one cost. (Can of soda not fountain drinks.)

a 7 day soda card could cost 45.00 plus gratutity. To me thats a lot of money for soda- Carnival does sell soda coupons 4 cans of soda for 6.80 (coupns will be given to you at dinner the first night.

Cans are now 1.75 plus 15% gratuity. it wont be long before the soda coupons go up in price. Buy them now.

Carnival no longer has the 20oz bottles.

 

OR

 

have your teens carry on a 12 pack of their favorite beverage-- (if they want it they will carry it)

[xz3k3x]

What I noticed when I brought up the drink prices is that the beer is $4.50 for 16oz's. You use to only get 12 oz's. So the price went up but so did the ounces.

[cruise.freak]

My tickets were in the dining room on the main first night. We did not eat in the dining room and did not know they would be delivered there. Went to the purser's desk and he had them brought to us from the dining room.

[mfs2k]

For now-- I see drink coupons on the web site STILL the same price 4 for 19.95 and carnival drink prices have went up. FOr the time being-- getting those coupns NOW before the raise in price will save you a bit more.

 

How true that statement is... Several years ago, i was about to buy drink tickets when they were 4/15.50 (I think). I waited, and when i went to buy them a week later, the price went up to 4/$19.50. Suddenly a great deal was a minimal savings.

 

If you want them, buy them asap. You never know when prices will go up.

[Guest dirtdiva]

My husband and I are going on the Conquest in May and I read the info on the drink coupons. I know the drink coupons probably can't be used to purchase bottled water, but that leads me to my real question - what type of bottled water is available on board? Is there anything besides Evian? I would prefer to have RO bottled water (such as AquaFina) and from reading the threads, I've read that the ships use RO to filter the ship water. How does the ship's water taste? Water is our main beverage and we drink a lot of it each day so this is fairly important to me. We are traveling with other people and space is limited so bringing our own bottled water probably isn't an option.

[serene56]

To use a drink coupon for water would be crazy-- water is only 3.50 a bottle.

Water is fine to drink on the ship. We take 2 empty bottles and refill them daily. Keep one on ice for ice cold drink. (ask for a pitcher if half ice and when it lmelts--instant ice water.