Freestyle Coke Machine question

[StrikeEagle]

Hello everyone,

 

We cruised on the Oasis of the Seas on August 2018 and stayed in the Boardwalk balcony cabin.  One of the perks staying in this cabin, is RCI gave us the Freestyle Coke machine cups.   I have one of those cups which was never used or activated.  For our upcoming cruise on the Independence in August,  do you think it will work work there ?   I read some where that the cup functionality is some kind of activation embedded within that cup once you first use it in the machine it would work for 7 days.  If you don't use it,  you can bring it on the next cruise it should activate/works.   Anyone ever use their unused up on your other cruises?

 

Thanks

[Ourusualbeach]

4 minutes ago, StrikeEagle said:

Hello everyone,

 

We cruised on the Oasis of the Seas on August 2018 and stayed in the Boardwalk balcony cabin.  One of the perks staying in this cabin, is RCI gave us the Freestyle Coke machine cups.   I have one of those cups which was never used or activated.  For our upcoming cruise on the Independence in August,  do you think it will work work there ?   I read some where that the cup functionality is some kind of activation embedded within that cup once you first use it in the machine it would work for 7 days.  If you don't use it,  you can bring it on the next cruise it should activate/works.   Anyone ever use their unused up on your other cruises?

 

Thanks

there have been many reports that unused cups can be activated on a different ship

[Biker19]

54 minutes ago, StrikeEagle said:

Anyone ever use their unused up on your other cruises?

It depends on the vintage of the cup, after a long enough period, the Freestyle machines may no longer accept certain cups.

[Saab4444]

1 hour ago, StrikeEagle said:

Hello everyone,

 

We cruised on the Oasis of the Seas on August 2018 and stayed in the Boardwalk balcony cabin.  One of the perks staying in this cabin, is RCI gave us the Freestyle Coke machine cups.   I have one of those cups which was never used or activated.  For our upcoming cruise on the Independence in August,  do you think it will work work there ?   I read some where that the cup functionality is some kind of activation embedded within that cup once you first use it in the machine it would work for 7 days.  If you don't use it,  you can bring it on the next cruise it should activate/works.   Anyone ever use their unused up on your other cruises?

 

Thanks

You ask how you can get free drinks without paying for them and even worse you make it public here...

[Iamcruzin]

58 minutes ago, Saab4444 said:

You ask how you can get free drinks without paying for them and even worse you make it public here...

Technically it was paid for from the fare of a previous cruise. 

[Cigar King]

29 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

Technically it was paid for from the fare of a previous cruise. 

Technically it's use was authorized for that cruise...

[la_croisiere_s'amuse]

Without wading into the ethics of the situation ... I just read on Bird's live thread from the Adventure cruise that they currently aren't using the Freestyle machines since nothing is self-serve. For now, you take your cup to any bar to get your sodas.

 

Of course, how long that will last is anybody's guess.

[StrikeEagle]

1 hour ago, Saab4444 said:

You ask how you can get free drinks without paying for them and even worse you make it public here...

 

I did paid for that cup with the price of the cabin, it just I didn't use it and wondering if I can use it next time when I cruise.   Like I said,  there is a chip inside that cup that activate first time when you use it and it is good only for 7 days.   Since I never use that cup and it is not activated.

Edited June 13, 2021 by StrikeEagle

[Saab4444]

42 minutes ago, StrikeEagle said:

 

I did paid for that cup with the price of the cabin, it just I didn't use it and wondering if I can use it next time when I cruise.   Like I said,  there is a chip inside that cup that activate first time when you use it and it is good only for 7 days.   Since I never use that cup and it is not activated.

Well, technically you can always share a cup on one cruise and save the other(s) for the next cruise(s)... 

[StrikeEagle]

42 minutes ago, Saab4444 said:

Well, technically you can always share a cup on one cruise and save the other(s) for the next cruise(s)... 

The only person who drinks soda in my family is me.  Therefore we do not share cup.   It is a simple question on the expiration of that cup.  Just like when you buy a ticket for a theme park,  groupon or etc....  If you don't use it for that date how long it is good for is there an expiration date to  it.   Just like right now when booking with RCI and if you cancel your cruise and don't use it there is cruise credit which you can use for future sailing. It is not anything unethical about it.  Everything is paid for.

Edited June 13, 2021 by StrikeEagle

[molly361]

39 minutes ago, Saab4444 said:

Well, technically you can always share a cup on one cruise and save the other(s) for the next cruise(s)... 

Now that's a good idea!!!😇

[molly361]

2 minutes ago, StrikeEagle said:

The only person who drinks soda in my family is me.  Therefore we do not share cup.   It is a simple question on the expiration of that cup.  Just like when you buy a ticket for a theme park,  groupon or etc....  If you don't use it for that date how long it is good for is there an expiration date to  it.   Just like right now when booking with RCI and if you cancel your cruise and don't use it there is cruise credit which you can use fo future sailing. It is not anything unethical about it.  Everything is paid for.

Ignore the naysayers!!!  Enjoy  I have a couple (unused)  from our last cruise as well.  

[lenquixote66]

4 hours ago, StrikeEagle said:

Hello everyone,

 

We cruised on the Oasis of the Seas on August 2018 and stayed in the Boardwalk balcony cabin.  One of the perks staying in this cabin, is RCI gave us the Freestyle Coke machine cups.   I have one of those cups which was never used or activated.  For our upcoming cruise on the Independence in August,  do you think it will work work there ?   I read some where that the cup functionality is some kind of activation embedded within that cup once you first use it in the machine it would work for 7 days.  If you don't use it,  you can bring it on the next cruise it should activate/works.   Anyone ever use their unused up on your other cruises?

 

Thanks

Not the same thing but similiar.If you buy a Bingo tee shirt on a RCL ship you can wear the shirt on any future cruise and get the free Bingo cards for the life of the shirt.I am not a Bingo player but I won a shirt on a cruise and on my next cruise wore the shirt to see if I could get free cards.

[Tolkmit]

1 hour ago, StrikeEagle said:

 

I did paid for that cup with the price of the cabin, it just I didn't use it and wondering if I can use it next time when I cruise.   Like I said,  there is a chip inside that cup that activate first time when you use it and it is good only for 7 days.   Since I never use that cup and it is not activated.

 

Offers like that, it's pretty well spelled out in the fine print. You get the cup to keep, and access to unlimited freestyle soda for that specific cruise. The offer is not for seven days of soda at a time of your choosing. So legally & ethically, you can't use it on another cruise. It's stealing.

 

Functionally, it's likely to still work but impossible to know for sure. Those cups use an RFID in the base. The first time the cup is used, the RFID number is marked as active, and an expiration date is applied. It's public knowledge that using them on different ships works; and Royal undoubtedly knows this is public knowledge. It won't be difficult for Royal to tackle the problem, they'll just start making workers activate the cups as they give them out and eliminate the soda machines doing so. We don't have anyway of knowing if Royal did this over the shut down, or at what point it will become a widespread enough problem for Royal to make a change to stop people from abusing this.

Edited June 13, 2021 by Tolkmit

[RFerrington]

It never occurred to me that those cups could be used on a different ship.  I don't care for fountain soda so we have never ever used a single soda cup.  I  just leave them in the room, unopened !

 

Good luck.  I hope it works for you.

[Dat Cruisin Couple]

I have a chip in the back of my head, that regulates the level of CSF there. Can I just tilt my head and drink directly from the machine?

[not-enough-cruising]

2 hours ago, la_croisiere_s'amuse said:

Without wading into the ethics of the situation ... I just read on Bird's live thread from the Adventure cruise that they currently aren't using the Freestyle machines since nothing is self-serve. For now, you take your cup to any bar to get your sodas.

 

Of course, how long that will last is anybody's guess.

Another on board blog has stated that the "freestyle" machines are indeed in use, but are manned by a staff member who will refill your cup to your specifications.

[ATC cruiser]

Things really are slowly returning to normal, the ethics police are back.👮‍♂️

[mavo68]

7 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Another on board blog has stated that the "freestyle" machines are indeed in use, but are manned by a staff member who will refill your cup to your specifications.

I was gonna say if you were in windjammer it would be inconvenient to have to get up and go to a bar to have it refilled. I totally understand the staff having to man it for now.

[sergeant655]

The cups are coded to expire on a specific day .  On explorer they had to replace everyone’s cups twice on a 24 day Sydney to Seattle cruise as they expired after 2 weeks .  I also took a b2b on Freedom where the cup was coded for 2 weeks even though it was only supposed to be good for one week. and did work on the second cruise. The machine will tell you what day it expires when you use the machine 

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, sergeant655 said:

The cups are coded to expire on a specific day

That is only relative to when you activate it. If it was never activated, it doesn't really have an "expiration " date. However, the machine can be made to not allow certain vintage chips, so in that sense some cups could have an expiration date.

[Tolkmit]

On 6/13/2021 at 3:15 PM, ATC cruiser said:

Things really are slowly returning to normal, the ethics police are back.👮‍♂️

 

So you are against people making judgmental comments when others do something they don't approve of; and your solution is to make a judgmental comment when others do something you don't approve of? 😉

 

People ask "can I" when in fact they mean "may I" all the time. Answering both questions, no you aren't supposed to, yes it is possible to; seems fairly reasonable. 

[ATC cruiser]

13 hours ago, Tolkmit said:

 

So you are against people making judgmental comments when others do something they don't approve of; and your solution is to make a judgmental comment when others do something you don't approve of? 😉

 

People ask "can I" when in fact they mean "may I" all the time. Answering both questions, no you aren't supposed to, yes it is possible to; seems fairly reasonable. 

Judge my likes compared to yours. People aren’t looking for ethical comments. If Royals IT dept can’t figure out a way to prevent passengers from using their cup a different week, that’s their problem. Probably because it isn’t cost effective to do it. Maybe they don’t even care. The cost of a soft drink being dispensed from a fountain is pennies.

[Tolkmit]

3 hours ago, ATC cruiser said:

Judge my likes compared to yours. People aren’t looking for ethical comments. If Royals IT dept can’t figure out a way to prevent passengers from using their cup a different week, that’s their problem. Probably because it isn’t cost effective to do it. Maybe they don’t even care. The cost of a soft drink being dispensed from a fountain is pennies.

 

Seriously? If no one stops you from doing something against the rules, that makes it ok? And how much does an item have to be worth before it becomes wrong to take it? And your view on whether judgmental comments are acceptable is based on how many likes they get?