Searching for drinks that are $11

[msteries]

Wondering about the drink prices posted on the Navigator app.  In the past the Signature pkg that comes with HIA covered my preferred Dewars on the rocks and an occasional vodka martini.  Will I have to upgrade to the elite now.  Pretty hard to find $11 drinks listed on the Rotterdam bar menus.!

Edited December 20, 2023 by msteries
mis spelled HIA

[Gibbie42]

If you order something over 11.00 you simply pay the difference between that and the cost. Honestly, I was on the Rotterdam for 10 nights in April and hardly ever went over 11.00 and that was mostly wine. I wouldn't worry about it. 

[Dutchman48]

11 minutes ago, msteries said:

Wondering about the drink prices posted on the Navigator app.  In the past the Signature pkg that comes with HIA covered my preferred Dewars on the rocks and an occasional vodka martini.  Will I have to upgrade to the elite now.  Pretty hard to find $11 drinks listed on the Rotterdam bar menus.!

Since I only pay the difference plus gratuity, I see no value in upgrading. As both people in the cabin must upgrade, my occasional overage is not even close to the cost of the upgrade.

 

If most of my drinks were out of the basic package, I would probably consider the upgrade.

 

AS with all things "do the math" and see how it applies to you.

[CruiserBruce]

There is a thread here with the "new" prices, but most of the prices are the same as when were on board in September.

[lisiamc]

Many of the mixed drinks fit well into the package, but we could see that we would prefer several of the wines above the limit. That was part of our decision to upgrade. We also took into account that paying a little bit extra even after upgrading would be worth it for us too. I like the Oberon Cabernet Sauvignon, at $16/glass, and it’s more satisfying to pay $1.18 per glass to upgrade, instead of $4.72 

[Blackduck59]

I think it is a bit cheeky for HAL to sell a product (the signature drink package) whether it is part of HIA or on it's own, with a price cap of X dollars. People make the decision to purchase the product working on the price of drinks, then oh oops the libation they prefer is suddenly outside the price cap. At least they only charge the difference plus "gratuity" now rather than full price. Our HIA deal for our next scheduled cruise came with the premium beverage package and gratuities so the drink price hike shouldn't affect us.

[kazu]

18 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

I think it is a bit cheeky for HAL to sell a product (the signature drink package) whether it is part of HIA or on it's own, with a price cap of X dollars. People make the decision to purchase the product working on the price of drinks, then oh oops the libation they prefer is suddenly outside the price cap. At least they only charge the difference plus "gratuity" now rather than full price. Our HIA deal for our next scheduled cruise came with the premium beverage package and gratuities so the drink price hike shouldn't affect us.

 

I will bet you a whole looney right now that we see the value pricing of the SBP / HIA go up to $12 per drink.  that’s what has happened in the past.

 

If I am wrong, I will a) owe you a whole dollar and b) more importantly be very disappointed in HAL.

 

I hope I am right 🤞 and feel for people caught in HAL not updating the package.

[cruisemom42]

27 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

I think it is a bit cheeky for HAL to sell a product (the signature drink package) whether it is part of HIA or on it's own, with a price cap of X dollars. People make the decision to purchase the product working on the price of drinks, then oh oops the libation they prefer is suddenly outside the price cap. At least they only charge the difference plus "gratuity" now rather than full price. Our HIA deal for our next scheduled cruise came with the premium beverage package and gratuities so the drink price hike shouldn't affect us.

 

Well stated. I hope (like kazu) that they will "up" the HIA limit. If not, it seems out of kilter not to have a fair selection of both wines and cocktails that meet the limit of the SBP.  Especially since they did just raise the daily cost of the latter...  Cocktails I just enjoyed on the transatlantic for $11 are now an additional dollar.  I know it's not a huge deal but for me it takes the fun out of having it and not having to worry or keep up with all those miscellaneous charges.

 

[Blackduck59]

@kazu I suspect you are correct, and I hope you are. I will up the stakes a bit; if we find ourselves on the same cruise some day, I will stand you a pint (or libation of your choice of similar value). If you are wrong and HAL does the lame thing, I'll take your Duck Buck (I will expect that in coin of the realm 😉)

[POA1]

The SBP has always "indexed" when beverage prices went up. I tried to find a spirits list last week, but the bars no longer have them.

 

If enough people get in line and ask the price of a couple dozen types of liquor, they might realize that having a booze price list is in everyone's best interest.

[countingbackwards]

Logically - the HIA just went up by $5 per day and many drink prices just went up by $1 per day.  It seems logical to presume that it’s only fair to raise the price limit by a dollar to $12 to keep things fair, and only hit folks with 1 price increase at a time (either when you buy the drink or when you buy the drink package) rather than 2 price increases for the same thing.

[kirkc]

Ironically, the Elite package was included for our November 2024 Rotterdam cruise when I booked onboard.

[Toad]

2 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Well stated. I hope (like kazu) that they will "up" the HIA limit. If not, it seems out of kilter not to have a fair selection of both wines and cocktails that meet the limit of the SBP.  Especially since they did just raise the daily cost of the latter...  Cocktails I just enjoyed on the transatlantic for $11 are now an additional dollar.  I know it's not a huge deal but for me it takes the fun out of having it and not having to worry or keep up with all those miscellaneous charges.

 

I agree, and I certainly hope they up the limit cause otherwise I will feel it is a bit like bait and switch.

[ExArkie]

12 hours ago, kazu said:

 

I will bet you a whole looney right now that we see the value pricing of the SBP / HIA go up to $12 per drink.  that’s what has happened in the past.

 

If I am wrong, I will a) owe you a whole dollar and b) more importantly be very disappointed in HAL.

 

I hope I am right 🤞 and feel for people caught in HAL not updating the package.

Several years ago on a different line, we were the ones caught in the middle. Drink prices went up and, somewhat later, the beverage package limits went up (it was included with our booking). Unfortunately, our trip fell between the two dates, so we had the new higher prices, but the old lower limit. Took a lot of items out of our included package.

 

I am assuming that HAL would increase the limit on packages purchased prior to such changes? Seems a logistical nightmare to keep track of which passenger has what limit on their package, if they were to track the limits from time of booking. It would be simpler to just give everyone the same limit, regardless of what it was when one booked. However, I have been surprised before by the lengths to which a supposedly customer-focused company will contort itself to avoid giving anything away.

 

 

[kazu]

14 minutes ago, ExArkie said:

I am assuming that HAL would increase the limit on packages purchased prior to such changes? Seems a logistical nightmare to keep track of which passenger has what limit on their package, if they were to track the limits from time of booking. It would be simpler to just give everyone the same limit, regardless of what it was when one booked. However, I have been surprised before by the lengths to which a supposedly customer-focused company will contort itself to avoid giving anything away.

 

 

 

IIRC, that’s what happened.  When the price limit for the beverage packages was increased it applied to everyone’s package no matter when it was purchased.  My memory can be short though - it was a while ago 😉 

[geminitwin]

Was on the Dec 5th Konigsdam sailing and a new bar menu had just been rolled out.  Very few drinks/wine at or under $11.  B2B cruisers were saying that their drinks had gone up $1-2 for this sailing.  No comprehensive drink list so that you could see what your favorite spirit would cost before ordering.  Although policy is that you only pay difference, on four different occasions I had to go to Guest Services because I was charged full price and not incremental cost.  Others in my party had the same experience.  Guest Services line was usually crazy long -- suspect many were having this issue.  Watch your online statement closely if you have HIA package.  The servers bring a receipt with the full drink price and there was no way to tell when signing if they had put it through correctly against the package.  

[0106]

8 minutes ago, geminitwin said:

Guest Services line was usually crazy long -- suspect many were having this issue.

I have had incorrect charges on my account removed using the “let us know” feature of the  Navigator App.  No need to stand in line at guest services.

[geminitwin]

11 minutes ago, 0106 said:

I have had incorrect charges on my account removed using the “let us know” feature of the  Navigator App.  No need to stand in line at guest services.

Thank you!  HAL newbie here -- didn't see that as an option while on board.  Will def use this for my next cruise.