Question how the 4 drinks for Diamonds work re card

[cruiseboy89130]

4 hours ago, surfjock27 said:

When I get a drink will they automatically take it from the deluxe package,

Yes!

[not-enough-cruising]

21 hours ago, teddie said:

I love the daily 4-drink Diamond perk--it's one of the main reasons I stick with RCI.  It may sound lke a minor thrill, but we love it.

 

Teddie

It is a very valuable perk, no doubt; nearly a $1200 value to my wife and I on a 7 day cruise.

[PhillyFan33579]

10 hours ago, surfjock27 said:

Quick question on this topic. 
 

We cruise Sunday and are diamond, so 4 drinks a day. I got the deluxe beverage and my partner did not, but will instead utilize the 8 drinks per day (if needed). 
 

When I get a drink will they automatically take it from the deluxe package, or will I need to tell them every time, in order to save my 4 for my partner? 
 

Hoping that makes sense. Thanks in advance. 

Be careful about this if your partner is drinking alcohol. A couple I am good friends with and cruise with regularly tried this approach earlier this year. They always bought the deluxe drink package for both of them, but they tried to save money on one cruise. They are both D+. They called RCI and were able to buy the deluxe drink package for him and the refreshment package for her, saying she did not drink much alcohol. During the cruise they used both of their D+ vouchers for her (that is allowed so nothing wrong with that). No issues during this cruise, but when he called RCI to do this for a subsequent cruise, he was told they were not allowed to do that (i.e. purchase deluxe and refreshment packages) per a flag in the computer system. The representative never gave him a specific reason, but he is pretty sure it is because his wife drank 5-7 alcoholic drinks a day during the cruise mentioned above. Personally I think RCI would only know she used her 5 vouchers on alcoholic drinks. Anyways, he is back to buying the deluxe drink package for both of them every cruise. He took it in stride…he tried to work the system and it worked for one cruise, but that was it. 

[The Fun Researcher]

1 hour ago, not-enough-cruising said:

It is a very valuable perk, no doubt; nearly a $1200 value to my wife and I on a 7 day cruise.

Are you adding the 18% gratuity to the drink costs?  Just wondering how you get to that number?
 

I get something like this:

7 days x 4 drinks per day x $14 per drink = $392 per person.  … or $784 total per couple.

 

I guess it depends on if you are completely maximizing the cost of each drink as well. Those folks that are getting beers or bottled waters or stuff like that don’t come near reaching the full dollar benefit, but there’s nothing wrong with that either.

 

I do agree that once you have reached diamond, it is a wonderful benefit and absolutely keeps us coming back and preferring Royal given the choice between two cruise lines with similar offerings.  It’s smart, I mean, the actual cost of the alcohol they are serving for those four drinks a day is minuscule.  Far below what they charge a typical paying passenger 

Edited August 1 by The Fun Researcher

[temple1]

On 7/31/2024 at 11:27 AM, The Fun Researcher said:

Don't forget you can share your drink vouchers.  It's not like the drink package where you aren't allowed to share.  We share with other adult cruisers we are sailing with all the time.

 

Do you have a link to something official? My sister (Diamond) will be taking a short cruise with her granddaughter (not Diamond and over 21) in the fall. My sister is an absolute stickler and she has it in her head they cannot share her drinks that it is treated the same as a drink package. I tried calling to confirm but no one seems to have a clue what I'm asking about. They gave the lame ask on board, go to guest services, etc.  

[RobInMN]

48 minutes ago, temple1 said:

Do you have a link to something official? My sister (Diamond) will be taking a short cruise with her granddaughter (not Diamond and over 21) in the fall. My sister is an absolute stickler and she has it in her head they cannot share her drinks that it is treated the same as a drink package. I tried calling to confirm but no one seems to have a clue what I'm asking about. They gave the lame ask on board, go to guest services, etc.  

I don't think you are going to find anything specific in writing, but essentially it's no different than receiving 4-6 paper coupons for a "Free" (up to $14 value) drink. This is vastly different than having a drink package where the person with the package can have unlimited drinks. If you attempt to share a drink package, you are effectively stealing. Vouchers are finite, and they don't care who consumes the beverage. Once you use all your daily vouchers, that's it.

 

[temple1]

7 minutes ago, RobInMN said:

I don't think you are going to find anything specific in writing, but essentially it's no different than receiving 4-6 paper coupons for a "Free" (up to $14 value) drink. This is vastly different than having a drink package where the person with the package can have unlimited drinks. If you attempt to share a drink package, you are effectively stealing. Vouchers are finite, and they don't care who consumes the beverage. Once you use all your daily vouchers, that's it.

 

Yep, I agree, but you've not met my sister.  🙄

Edited August 1 by temple1

[RobInMN]

2 minutes ago, temple1 said:

Yep, I agree, but you've not met my sister.  🙄

If you can't convince her before hand, tell her to ask any bar staff, or even see if she can ask the ship's F&B director. They are usually pretty visible.

[not-enough-cruising]

3 hours ago, The Fun Researcher said:

Are you adding the 18% gratuity to the drink costs?  Just wondering how you get to that number?
 

I get something like this:

7 days x 4 drinks per day x $14 per drink = $392 per person.  … or $784 total per couple.

 

I guess it depends on if you are completely maximizing the cost of each drink as well. Those folks that are getting beers or bottled waters or stuff like that don’t come near reaching the full dollar benefit, but there’s nothing wrong with that either.

 

I do agree that once you have reached diamond, it is a wonderful benefit and absolutely keeps us coming back and preferring Royal given the choice between two cruise lines with similar offerings.  It’s smart, I mean, the actual cost of the alcohol they are serving for those four drinks a day is minuscule.  Far below what they charge a typical paying passenger 

Yes, my figures are based on $14 drinks plus 18% times 70 drinks in a week. In my mind that is what the vouchers are worth.

Edited August 1 by not-enough-cruising

[taglovestocruise]

11 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Yes, my figures are based on $14 drinks plus 18% times 70 drinks in a week. In my mind that is what the vouchers are worth.

Yep. we recently did 17 nights on Ovation/Quantum SbS. That would be $2860 if purchased one by one, we did have a few cans of Coke and a few bottles of water during those 17 nights.  D+ vouchers are a fantastic added value.  Add to that 4 BOGO'S specialty.

[not-enough-cruising]

18 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

Yep. we recently did 17 nights on Ovation/Quantum SbS. That would be $2860 if purchased one by one, we did have a few cans of Coke and a few bottles of water during those 17 nights.  D+ vouchers are a fantastic added value.  Add to that 4 BOGO'S specialty.

Precisely. It really grates on me when folks post “there is no tangible benefits in the C&A program” 

[taglovestocruise]

27 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Precisely. It really grates on me when folks post “there is no tangible benefits in the C&A program” 

🤙

[PhillyFan33579]

3 hours ago, temple1 said:

Do you have a link to something official? My sister (Diamond) will be taking a short cruise with her granddaughter (not Diamond and over 21) in the fall. My sister is an absolute stickler and she has it in her head they cannot share her drinks that it is treated the same as a drink package. I tried calling to confirm but no one seems to have a clue what I'm asking about. They gave the lame ask on board, go to guest services, etc.  

 

It is tough calling to confirm a “rule” that doesn’t exist. That would be similar to calling and asking if you can buy several drinks at once for you and your friends, which of course you can do. As a passenger you can do anything you want with drinks you order, whether you pay for them or if you use a free drink voucher. The only EXCEPTION is if you purchase a drink package. The rules clearly state you are not allowed to share these drinks. Otherwise, there are no rules against sharing or giving drinks to other passengers. 

[The Fun Researcher]

1 hour ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Yes, my figures are based on $14 drinks plus 18% times 70 drinks in a week. In my mind that is what the vouchers are worth.

Oh you’re D+.  That helps explain, thx 

[Wineaux007]

On 7/31/2024 at 5:10 PM, cruisegirl1 said:

Never recall just 4  - that is a huge benefit  

 

At the  return to sailing, when the  vouchers started, some ships  allowed you to use 5 vouchers for a full bottle of wine.  Rarely have we found this to be allowable any more.  It wasn't available on any TA's we've been on since the return or even on  recent Anthem sailings.    You can use one voucher to get some % off a bottle of wine.  

 

M

My apologies.  We had dinner tonight with our friends who used the vouchers for a bottle of wine.  I thought it was 4 vouchers, but they told me it was 5 vouchers they used for the whole bottle.  

[artvlay]

10 minutes ago, Wineaux007 said:

My apologies.  We had dinner tonight with our friends who used the vouchers for a bottle of wine.  I thought it was 4 vouchers, but they told me it was 5 vouchers they used for the whole bottle.  

So if I'm D+ they will give me an unopened bottle of wine in exchange for five vouchers?

[Wineaux007]

38 minutes ago, artvlay said:

So if I'm D+ they will give me an unopened bottle of wine in exchange for five vouchers?

Yes, and a $14 a glass bottle of wine.  At least they did on Anthem at Vintages.

[not-enough-cruising]

9 hours ago, artvlay said:

So if I'm D+ they will give me an unopened bottle of wine in exchange for five vouchers?

yes, no problem

[Biker19]

9 hours ago, artvlay said:

So if I'm D+ they will give me an unopened bottle of wine in exchange for five vouchers?

That is likely to be very YMMV depending on ship.

[cruiseboy89130]

8 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

yes, no problem

They refused this on Anthem and Oasis!

[cruiseboy89130]

17 hours ago, artvlay said:

So if I'm D+ they will give me an unopened bottle of wine in exchange for five vouchers?

They refused this on Anthem and Oasis!

[not-enough-cruising]

46 minutes ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

They refused this on Anthem and Oasis!

 

46 minutes ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

They refused this on Anthem and Oasis!

Well that’s Royal’s consistency for you. 
We had our request honored 4 out of 7 nights (100% success rate)  at Vintages on Harmony last month. 

[Cruising started]

I expect to use the 4 vouchers for alcohol. Do not drink soda. I did buy the refreshment pkg. For those that know, is this a waste of money or can I get my money out of it?

[reallyitsmema]

6 minutes ago, Cruising started said:

I expect to use the 4 vouchers for alcohol. Do not drink soda. I did buy the refreshment pkg. For those that know, is this a waste of money or can I get my money out of it?

 

Whether you get your moneys worth with the refreshment package really depends on what you plan to drink.  If you aren't a soda drinker, then you would have to decide if you drink enough specialty coffee, bottled water, fresh squeezed juice and non alcoholic frozen drinks to make it worth it.

[The Fun Researcher]

1 hour ago, Cruising started said:

I expect to use the 4 vouchers for alcohol. Do not drink soda. I did buy the refreshment pkg. For those that know, is this a waste of money or can I get my money out of it?

I wouldn't come close ot getting my money out of it.