Alcoholic drink package for $250

[qwertyiop]

Ok, we're going on the Caribbean Princess 5-27-06 with a very large wedding group (100-200 people!). The groom is working on getting our group a drink package for $250 pp. Has anyone else used a drink package like this? What is your opinion--worth the upfront cost or not?

 

I know, it depends on how much you drink... This group is a bunch of college fraternity pals and their spouses or girlfriends, so I can see myself consuming a MINIMUM of 5 drinks in a 24 hour period.

 

I think the drink of the days are $3.50 each (so $17.50/day x 7 = $122.50 -- not a good deal with the drink deal). However, I'm more of a beer person. Generally, how much are beers, mixed drinks, martinis, wine, etc? If drinks are at least $6 each ($30/day x 7 = $210, still not quite $250), but some days we may go CRAZY and have more then 5 drinks...

 

And, (I know, bad bad dishonest person I am, but) if anyone has used a package like this, did you share your card with your spouse? Do the waiters or bartenders flat out reject getting two drinks on one card at a time? Is there any restriction for you getting a drink with another's card (ie, card has husband's name on it, and I go to the bar with it?) I'm not trying to get drinks for the whole group on one card or anything, just between my husband and I.

 

Thanks for any info! Please don't flame me for my inquery about sharing a card, just an honest question!

 

Laura

[chrysalis]

I have never heard of a "drink card"...only the "coke card" for soft drinks.

 

Beer starts at $3.50....not sure you can get a mixed drink for that little. Wine is about $4 and up....all of this not including 15%grat....

[saltysam]

And their drink of the day promotion has been discontinued. Perhaps your thinking of different cruise line other than Princess?

[Toto2Kansas]

I also have never seen or heard of this on Princess before.

Probably for one of the reasons you stated. The sharing of the card is what drives the price higher and eliminates it altogether. I would not count on these arrangements at all.

[sradogna]

I've actually heard of this before about a year ago. It was offered on a group cruise but the catch was that EVERY single person had to accept the $250 charge or nobody could have it. That eliminates the sharing idea and also makes it hard to actually pull of because it is only a bargain for people who drink quite a few drinks a day.

[RainbowSuperstar]

Hi there,

 

I just got back from the Tahitian Princess. The Coke card was only one drink at a time, but there was nothing keeping you from setting your drink down and ordering one a few minutes later. At the formal dinner table, our waiter would bring two at a time so he would not have to keep returning to our table.

 

Another idea is to take your own alcohol. I know the cruise line discourages it, but there was a man who brought two suitcases...one for clothes and one for booze. You can also buy alcohol when you get off the boat at the local supermarkets. Take a backpack so you do not burden yourself. Beer is much cheeper this way.

 

I had about 2-3 drinks a day ranging in price from 5.50 to 8.50. Read the princess patter to find events where there is free booze.

 

I think you will have a hard time spending 250pp. I never bought the coke card. It is only really worth it if you drink 2 soda's per day when you are at home, otherwise you are like a fish tring to drink as much as you can because you paid for it.

 

Have a blast!!!

Ginger

[bubbadog]

with a party going on like that id order bottles to the room,and get cokes to go with them and mix your own ,plus you can get buckets of beer too,at least if it were me thats what id do lol:)))) hope you have fun,oh and never heard of drink card on princess,and we just got offthe golden a couple weeks ago,have fun;) :p

[MACKINAC]

Make sure to order a "Chappaquiddick". It's scotch with murky water!

[tarheels]

I just got married on the caribbean Princess and got the bar package. The above poster is right that everyone in the group must take it or no one can. It was $25/day and that included all your alcoholic beverages that were no more then $6.50/drink. This included almost everything except some of the scotchs and cognacs. It saved us a ton and we were told that they had raised the rates $10/day. The food and beverage manager on the cruise said we were the first party to have it on that ship. We travelled on the Jan.28 cruise and there were 40 of us. If you have any questions email me at ncheels69@hotmail.com.