Cheers buy on board or not?

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

36 minutes ago, crewsweeper said:

For those looking at using CHEERS,  use the excel spreadsheet to estimate if beneficial for you.

Cheers Evaluator Spreadsheet - Carnival Cruise Lines - Cruise Critic Community

 

Handy tool there.

 

In my case, with the wine we're bringing, the half priced (couple) of bottles in the steakhouse, the bottle of vodka in our cabin, the Bottomless Bubbles package (came with room), and the free drinks while playing in the casino - I'd be hard pressed to justify the cost of CHEERS.

 

I did inquire about two things - I asked the casino sales dept if it was possible to upgrade to a full cheers package (at some cost to me), and I asked a couple people (not in a position to actually do anything of the sort) about getting CHEERS by paying the difference between the Bottomless Bubbles and CHEERS. No dice... 

 

I have not (truly) gambled in 5 years - and still the offers trickle in. I'll sit at a few "penny" slots and get a couple of the "free" drinks (plus tip). Elsewhere (95% of the time) we'll spring for a few beers, a few chocolate martinis, perhaps a couple of margaritas. I'm tempted to keep track and compare when the cruise is over - but this appears to be our best approach.

[helene109]

25 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

Handy tool there.

 

In my case, with the wine we're bringing, the half priced (couple) of bottles in the steakhouse, the bottle of vodka in our cabin, the Bottomless Bubbles package (came with room), and the free drinks while playing in the casino - I'd be hard pressed to justify the cost of CHEERS.

 

I did inquire about two things - I asked the casino sales dept if it was possible to upgrade to a full cheers package (at some cost to me), and I asked a couple people (not in a position to actually do anything of the sort) about getting CHEERS by paying the difference between the Bottomless Bubbles and CHEERS. No dice... 

 

I have not (truly) gambled in 5 years - and still the offers trickle in. I'll sit at a few "penny" slots and get a couple of the "free" drinks (plus tip). Elsewhere (95% of the time) we'll spring for a few beers, a few chocolate martinis, perhaps a couple of margaritas. I'm tempted to keep track and compare when the cruise is over - but this appears to be our best approach.

Yes for you I see your point and that way works for you. My husband has too many of sugar free energy drinks where I almost hit the 50 with a few others so we need the drink package. Thanks 

[bdever]

2 hours ago, lele100 said:

After I create an account, they want me to download the app?  Then what do I do?

Go ahead and download the app. You can access your Allstate Rewards account through the Drive Wise app as well so even if you don’t use the Drive Wise portion of the app you can still access your Rewards account with it to purchase gift cards.

[bamaone]

Everyone should go and look in their carnival.com/profile/my offers page for a RU2 deal. We were able to add cheers to our cruise for $360 total for both of us. We can't use on board credit to pay for it but it's a good price.

[pinklucky61]

On 6/22/2021 at 2:03 PM, helene109 said:

We sail on 8/14 Mardi Gras my husband and I have $400 in obc. Trying to figure out if we should purchase it on board. 
 

Question is it 10% more on board then to buy it before we leave?

Don't forget you have to pay gratuities as well. Believe my 7 day comes to around $430 with grat.

[ngrund]

Buy ahead of time-why pay more if you don't have to?

 

I would have no problem spending that OBC-

 

drinks on the private island are not covered, some pics/souvenirs , specialty dining, maybe a visit to the spa, for the wife. etc

 

I'm going to have $650 plus the $100 share holder OBC, I'm still going to buy Cheers and probably the WIFI package beforehand and I already made one restaurant reservation to Rudi's just to make sure we can go the day we want

 

 

 

 

Edited June 23, 2021 by ngrund

[SNJCruisers]

6 hours ago, stellarose said:

 I can't justify spending almost 700 for a drink package .

And people spend that every cruise by going from an inside to a balcony for two people.  Some like to sit on their balcony, others like myself will take an inside and buy Cheers.  It all comes down to personal preference. 

[Cruise Related]

3 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

And people spend that every cruise by going from an inside to a balcony for two people.  Some like to sit on their balcony, others like myself will take an inside and buy Cheers.  It all comes down to personal preference. 

I personally like to get a balcony and buy Cheers. Sometimes I like to get a suite and buy  Cheers. Really just depends on the rates, the duration, and the ports. 

[SNJCruisers]

6 hours ago, helene109 said:

That helps! Thinking that I will prepay the gratuities and buy cheers on board and bring a few gift cards that way my bill won’t be so much. Yes some excursions, specialty dining it will add up!

If you are going to spend money on specialty dining and excursions, then why on God's green earth would you spend the extra money and buy Cheers on board?  Buy it ahead of time using your gift cards from Allstate and save the additional discount from the on board price. Spend the 400 in OBC on gratuities,  specialty dining and possible excursions.

[helene109]

1 hour ago, pinklucky61 said:

Don't forget you have to pay gratuities as well. Believe my 7 day comes to around $430 with grat.

Thanks I will have to double check I didn’t it was that amount.

[helene109]

Just now, SNJCruisers said:

If you are going to spend money on specialty dining and excursions, then why on God's green earth would you spend the extra money and buy Cheers on board?  Buy it ahead of time using your gift cards from Allstate and save the additional discount from the on board price. Spend the 400 in OBC on gratuities,  specialty dining and possible excursions.

I just ordered 2 Allstate cards today! Thanks! 

[SNJCruisers]

5 hours ago, stellarose said:

and sometimes the port stops don't count.  HMC you can't use the drink package (well in 2018).  so be mindful of how many ports and sea days.

With Carnival,  the port stops never count.  Besides HMC, Amber Cove, Grand Turk and Princess Cay all do not count. 

[sc4125]

21 hours ago, Robo1098 said:

How do I go about cashing in OBC in the casino? How is it done? I know there is a 3% fee in there somewhere but if I save over 10% for purchasing before boarding I would rather do that.

On slots you can download $$ from your Sign & Sail - play a few dollars, cash it out on to your card and take it to cashier to cash it out.  There is no fee - however, someone told me they had $300 OBC, downloaded the entire $300, played $5 then went to cash it out.  The cashier asked some questions and told him that it was completely against the rules for OBC - I'm not sure if they charged him the 3% - I think he said that they had it put back on his card as an OBC.  

 

I gamble a lot (lol) so I would never have this problem, but I would suggest you maybe download a portion - $50 or so, play a couple of dollars then cash it out.  Though you may have to do this several times, it won't be so obvious that you are using the casino to get $$ for your OBC (C meaning credit to be spent onboard) 

[Robo1098]

Thank you sc4125. That helps

[SNJCruisers]

3 hours ago, bamaone said:

Everyone should go and look in their carnival.com/profile/my offers page for a RU2 deal. We were able to add cheers to our cruise for $360 total for both of us. We can't use on board credit to pay for it but it's a good price.

That's the best joke I have heard in a very long time.  Just to educate you, there are also RU1, RU3 and RU9 codes.  The 1-2-3 were target marketing by some algorithm that they use to entice those who don't usually buy Cheers to get it at a reduced rate.  The RU1 was the cheapest followed by the RU 2 & 3.  The RU9 was a joke because you needed an OV or above cabin and no savings was really involved.

Feel grateful you received the RU2 code.  Many posters have been boasting about it for months on these boards while others like myself were not a lucky recipient of the code.  The algorithm frowned on us.

[Purvis1231]

On 6/22/2021 at 2:03 PM, helene109 said:

We sail on 8/14 Mardi Gras my husband and I have $400 in obc. Trying to figure out if we should purchase it on board. 
 

Question is it 10% more on board then to buy it before we leave?

I would save the 10% since the $400 OBC will be gone in a flash on other stuff.

 

 

Edited June 23, 2021 by Purvis1231

[helene109]

36 minutes ago, Purvis1231 said:

I would save the 10% since the $400 OBC will be gone in a flash on other stuff.

 

 

It can really fast in 7 days!!

[ProgRockCruiser]

16 hours ago, helene109 said:

Thanks I will have to double check I didn’t it was that amount.

Depends on the number of people sailing.  If two people, for a 7-day cruise it will be about $200.

 

https://www.carnival.com/help/1123

 

To help you plan, we have provided the recommended guidelines:

 

Standard Staterooms:  $13.99 USD per person, per day

Suite Staterooms:  $15.99 USD per person, per day

[BoozinCroozin]

I will have $1,000 OBC and don't think it will be enough and we are buying Cheers before the cruise. Its our first cruise, but I am running numbers in my head. It is 8-nights with 3 people. The auto grats are $14 x 3 x 8 = $336. We will buy a few pictures, so that is about $100. We will gamble a bit (some cash and some S&S card). One or two steak dinners. I just see it adding up a lot more than expected. 

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

1 hour ago, BoozinCroozin said:

... I just see it adding up a lot more than expected. 

 

Almost always the case, especially depending on how you handle the (lack of) Lady Luck!

 

Tom

[BoozinCroozin]

3 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

Almost always the case, especially depending on how you handle the (lack of) Lady Luck!

 

Tom

I always play to lose 100% of what I plan. Anything above that is a bonus.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

2 minutes ago, BoozinCroozin said:

I always play to lose 100% of what I plan. Anything above that is a bonus.

 

I always planned to loose the cash I brought onboard for that purpose. Unfortunately, there's other ways to dig a deeper hole!

[helene109]

Thanks all for your opinions! Just so excited to think that I will be on a cruise in August! Wish more excursions would open and only 2 specialty dining is open so far.

[Robo1098]

We have $1200 between the two cabins so that is a little much for us to spend on board. Plus there may be that additional $100 per cabin for going through with the cruise.

[wemjam]

On 6/22/2021 at 9:46 PM, SNJCruisers said:

Easier to just go to Cherry On Top and buy gift cards to use on your next cruise.   Can be used for deposit, final payment and all purchases.

I second this.  This is what I do.  If I have OBC left, go to Cherry on Top and buy gift cards to take home with me to use toward next cruise.