Nickel and Dimes...

[WVU_Neal]

Just off the Rotterdam with Have It All. Does HAL really need to nickel and dime its customers by charging $11.50 for a cocktail when the SBP limit is $11? Seems a bit tacky for my tastes.

 

Come on naysayers. Remind me that it's only $0.59 extra and that I should not be such a cheapskate.

 

Neal

Edited February 8 by WVU_Neal

[jimdee3636]

@WVU_Neal

Whether or not you're a cheapskate, you're right about the tacky pricing. But it could be worse. I've sailed twice on Cunard (a sister line to HAL), which has (or had) a $12.00 limit on drinks in their package, which but priced many of their popular drinks (like my Tanqueray martinis) at $12.25. Unlike HAL, where you only pay the difference in price, on Cunard if you ordered a drink above the package maximum price you only got a 20% discount on that drink. In other words, a $12.25 martini would cost you $9.80, plus the mandatory gratuity on $9.80. 

 

On my second Cunard cruise I simply paid as I went and I'm sure I saved a lot of money. In general, drink packages on most lines are a mine field of limitations, exclusions, and confusion, and are best avoided.

 

Jim

[CruiserBruce]

So, please tell me exactly how much they should raise prices. $1? $2? Based on what?

[SilvertoGold]

3 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

So, please tell me exactly how much they should raise prices. $1? $2? Based on what?

Change the $11.50 to $11 What OP describes is HAL is cutting it too fine, rather silly way of pricing. I can't even see this as deliberate: just one hand not knowing what the other hand is doing. Having an invoice at the end of the cruise with a lot of ,50 , .75 and even $1.00 charges would look ridiculous.

[CruiserBruce]

1 minute ago, SilvertoGold said:

Change the $11.50 to $11 What OP describes is HAL is cutting it too fine, rather silly way of pricing. I can't even see this as deliberate: just one hand not knowing what the other hand is doing. Having an invoice at the end of the cruise with a lot of ,50 , .75 and even $1.00 charges would look ridiculous.

Does that generate a loss? HAL is in this to make money.

 

This is a first world nothing burger.

[SilvertoGold]

5 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Does that generate a loss? HAL is in this to make money.

 

This is a first world nothing burger.

Give them time. HAL should raise the HIA price by $10 - $15 per day. Surprised they haven't yet.

[tuolumne couple]

There are plenty of $11 drink options , and if you want something more expensive than what the Signature Beverage Package allows, you can always upgrade to the Elite Beverage Package, or just pay the difference. 

[RICHARD@SEA]

As far as pricing goes, HAL / Carnivore can charge whatever the market will bear.  I've never done a drink package as I don't drink that much & always order premium brand liquor. And still have an 18% gratuity added.

 

That being said, as far as costs - I was on a 9 day Rotterdam cruise recently  - the service at the bars  was horrendous. The bartenders would be talking & having fun among themselves or not in sight at all.

I never ate in the main dining room.

I had wonderful cabin stewards & the waitstaff in the lido were pretty good.

Of course all along there was the daily & drink gratuity added to my bill.(the worst was in the specialty steak restaurant where the staff were non existent &  I ended up with food poising

 

I also gave cash tips to my stewards & the staff in the lido that assisted me.

 

So what I decided to do in the future is visit the "GUEST RELATIONS DESK " once & have the DAILY fee taken off my bill & tip the appropriate staff that assist me.

 

When auto gratuity started I felt it was just a gimmick for the corporations to pad their pockets & aid them in paying the SALARIES of staff.

So as cruising has changed - so will I.  When I  go out on land if service is good or better I tip appropriately.

 

When service is lacking I adjust.

 

It's like the inmates are running the at sea Asylum!!!!

[Mosaic]

Drop the 15 drinks to 10 and raise the per drink max to $12.00

[albingirl]

8 minutes ago, RICHARD@SEA said:

As far as pricing goes, HAL / Carnivore can charge whatever the market will bear.  I've never done a drink package as I don't drink that much & always order premium brand liquor. And still have an 18% gratuity added.

 

That being said, as far as costs - I was on a 9 day Rotterdam cruise recently  - the service at the bars  was horrendous. The bartenders would be talking & having fun among themselves or not in sight at all.

I never ate in the main dining room.

I had wonderful cabin stewards & the waitstaff in the lido were pretty good.

Of course all along there was the daily & drink gratuity added to my bill.(the worst was in the specialty steak restaurant where the staff were non existent &  I ended up with food poising

 

I also gave cash tips to my stewards & the staff in the lido that assisted me.

 

So what I decided to do in the future is visit the "GUEST RELATIONS DESK " once & have the DAILY fee taken off my bill & tip the appropriate staff that assist me.

 

When auto gratuity started I felt it was just a gimmick for the corporations to pad their pockets & aid them in paying the SALARIES of staff.

So as cruising has changed - so will I.  When I  go out on land if service is good or better I tip appropriately.

 

When service is lacking I adjust.

 

It's like the inmates are running the at sea Asylum!!!!

There's alot in this post.  You really know how to pack a punch. Lol.

[RICHARD@SEA]

3 minutes ago, albingirl said:

There's alot in this post.  You really know how to pack a punch. Lol.

Thank you & I also like to dance!!!!

[visagrunt]

I find it to be penny-wise and pound foolish.

The incremental revenue is real enough--1000 passengers times 7 days times, say, $3.00 in additional revenue per day is $21,000.

However, it adds extra workload to every transaction, because even included drinks wind up producing a receipt (waste paper-don't get me started), extra steps for beverage attendants, micro transactions that have the potential to create work at the front desk, etc. etc.

But the bookkeepers only see actual costs, and until extra workload starts to generate extra crew costs, or it starts to hit the revenue side, it's hard to get the attention of finance.

[cruisemom42]

2 hours ago, tuolumne couple said:

There are plenty of $11 drink options , and if you want something more expensive than what the Signature Beverage Package allows, you can always upgrade to the Elite Beverage Package, or just pay the difference. 

 

There WERE plenty of options before HAL increased the prices. I was on NS just before the price increase and even then one needed to scrutinize the menu to make a selection that would be "free" under the package. After the price increase, almost all of the drinks I had picked would no longer be "free" but would incur additional cost.

 

In my mind (and others may disagree), the attraction of a drinks package is being able to order a reasonable choice of drinks within a pricing tier that do not add extra cost.

 

Once HAL starts nickel and diming like this, it makes folks like me reconsider whether adding the beverage package or the HIA in general is worthwhile, as I'm not a huge drinker and rarely come near the daily limits. I just like the convenience. However, if HAL makes me scrutinize too closely, I will choose NOT to add it.

 

1 hour ago, Mosaic said:

Drop the 15 drinks to 10 and raise the per drink max to $12.00

 

I rather like this idea. For the additional amount of revenue an extra 25 or 50 cents per drink will add, just reduce the drink limit to 12 or even 10 but ensure a good range of drinks are included within their pricing limit.

[Haljo1935]

2 hours ago, SilvertoGold said:

Give them time. HAL should raise the HIA price by $10 - $15 per day. Surprised they haven't yet.

They recently increased it by $5/day.

[purplegrattan]

Does anyone have the current drink menu so I can see what's $11?  I sailed last May and it wasn't an issue, Negroni's, Aperol Spritz, etc. were all included in the drinks package. However this seems like a recent change. I'm sailing in a couple of weeks and am curious what's changed.

[msteries]

Since I sail in the Rotterdam next Wednesday, I would really like to know if my Dewars on the rocks is more now.  I feel companies like HAL need to reflect current conditions and do what they need to do price-wise.  BUT paper generated for drinks on HIA -  horrible for the environment and a waste of staff time.  This is my first HAL cruise in four years (been doing Celebrity) and I really had hoped that system would have gone years ago!

[crystalspin]

24 minutes ago, purplegrattan said:

Does anyone have the current drink menu so I can see what's $11?  ...this seems like a recent change. I'm sailing in a couple of weeks and am curious what's changed.

Individual bars and the "standard bar menu) are linked here:

https://rogerjett-photography.com/

 

There is a file floating around that is the actual photos of each menu joined together...

[purplegrattan]

Awesome - thanks.  That's really annoying.  I'll be sure to make comment on the prices when I get onboard.

[horseymike]

Part of the benefit of buying a drink package is not having to sign , check account etc….

Maybe it’s time people closely evaluate their projected beverage consumption pre cruise.

Many may find the drink package is not worth it to them.

I personally believe that bar/ beverage service has seriously declined since the advent of the pre paid drink packages across many of the mainstream cruise lines.

Let’s face it , they already have the money , why be in a hurry to furnish the drinks ?
Pre drink package era , there was a beverage server or bartender every 10 feet on every cruise ship asking if you would like something to drink ? I remember.

Some people will get annoyed/ frustrated and walk away , chalk one up for the cruise line $.

[USN59-79]

Looking at the bar menus, I was surprised at how few drinks were available for $11. or less; less than 10%.  Also, the menus are not very useful.  Do they really only sell 5 or 6 different mixed drinks in the various bars?  What is the point of a menu if you don't list the available drinks?  I have never bought HIA, and it looks like I won't in the future.  Our next cruise is on Seabourn, where they charge more up front for the cruise fare, but don't nickel and dime you for the drinks.  In fact, most are free.

Ray

[KAKcruiser]

I just assumed that the price limit would be raised when the drink prices went up.  I can't believe they haven't done this yet.  I get the drink package for the convenience of not having to worry about extra slips to sign.  Since I never use even near the 15 drink a day limit, I would be willing to have the number of drinks reduced if that would allow the price limit to be raised.

[kazu]

I am now seeing the advantage of the Early Booking Bonus - at least the elite package skips the small differences in the beverage pricing.

 

I am surprised though that the HIA drink limit has not yet been increased.  It always has been in the past when common drink prices raised.  I don’t have HIA on my next cruise (wasn’t worth it for my travelling companion so I will just use a beverage card and I have hopefully calculated correctly.)

 

If HAL doesn’t improve the HIA - I would buy a minor beverage card and put everyone to work dealing with my key card and beverage card.  I don’t like making work but I also don’t like a bunch of little charges on my on board account.  It’s one reason I use the beverage card or HIA.

[Iamthesea]

1 hour ago, KAKcruiser said:

I just assumed that the price limit would be raised when the drink prices went up.  I can't believe they haven't done this yet.  I get the drink package for the convenience of not having to worry about extra slips to sign.  Since I never use even near the 15 drink a day limit, I would be willing to have the number of drinks reduced if that would allow the price limit to be raised.

 

That has been a plus in the past, but on more recent cruises, a slip still needs to be signed even on HIA.

 

I am with kazu on utilizing the EBB for the Elite package.  DH and I have it coming up and I am thankful that there will be no worrying about our drinks costing an extra .25 or so. 😉

[kazu]

48 minutes ago, Iamthesea said:

 

That has been a plus in the past, but on more recent cruises, a slip still needs to be signed even on HIA.

 

I first encountered those slips on the Koningsdam.  For the first couple I grabbe my own pen and scribbled.  Then, when I didn’t have one - I just smiled and told the bar steward I didn’t need it - I wasn’t signing and he could crinkle it up.  It took going through 3 different bar stewards but after that, I never saw a receipt again.  If I got a strange person serving - I just smiled and said “I don’t do those- ask the bar tender”.  

 

they stopped printing them out for me.

 

Same thing on the Oosterdam - I don’t do those and I never saw them again.

 

 

48 minutes ago, Iamthesea said:

I am with kazu on utilizing the EBB for the Elite package.  DH and I have it coming up and I am thankful that there will be no worrying about our drinks costing an extra .25 or so. 😉

 

Yes, I don’t want to waste paper and save slips for a few Pennie charges.  I’m meticulous on my statement and since the charges aren’t even where you are sometimes, I prefer to avoid it.

[ShipWalker]

It is no longer a "nickel-and-dimed" operation...