Who can give me the low-down on the soda cards?

[JennyJenn]

I'm going on an extended family cruise over XMAS. My sister and her family have never cruised befoer and have been told by her friends that have cruised that the cruise line (in this case RCCI) nickels and dimes you the entire trip.

 

One concern she now has is regarding the soda cards for her children. She has been told that when the kids use the soda cards at the bars, that the bartenders ignore them because they typically don't tip, and then they will instead go to the buffet and then the sodas are in tiny paper cups leaving them to constantly go get more soda.....

 

Any of this true? What is your experience with the soda cards?

[JSR]

Sorry, but that is just not true!! We have been on 9 RCCL cruises and DD has never had any problems any where with her soda card. The servers and bartenders are all nice about getting sodas. Our DD is now old enough that she goes on her own for sodas and everyone is helpful.

[Conrycol]

I agree with JSR. The bartenders take care of the kids. It seems that most times the kids they are serving remind them of their own and take special care of them. Don't worry about getting the soda card, it's well worth it.

[im4crusin]

I thought the soda card was an awesome deal...... but, then changed my mind. There is plenty to drink - water, ice tea, lemonade, fruit punch etc. included and I found my kids were fine with that after we purchased the soda card. The number of sodas we wanted would have cost less, in the long run, if we had just paid for the drinks.

[Paleochick]

There is SO much to drink onboard...so much that doesn't cost you anything. We didn't buy our kids soda cards...just an occasional Sprite. We saved so much money that way.

 

Dh is a huge Diet Coke drinker...we bought him a soda card. He didn't get his money's worth. Because he was drinking alcohol much of the time, juices a lot, and coffee, he didn't use the soda card nearly like he had planned.

 

Next time we won't buy the card for anyone. We'll just pay for the Diet Coke when we need it.

[prttygirlmss]

I think the soda card was definately as MUST! The only time OJ was offered was at breakfast. Fruit punch was only available at lunch time and neither was offered in the dining room at dinner. The choices for dinner were iced tea(unsweet),lemonade and anything else you wanted to pay for in the dining room. In the Windjammer they did have lemonade available at lunch and dinner. Believe me, I tried many times in different areas of the Mariner to get a lemonade or iced tea. They were only available in the dining areas. The soda card for my kids paid for itself after 3 sodas. It was nice to be able to stop any place on the ship and let them get a soda. Including the shows. If you do not drink soda, it is definately not for you.

[reallyitsmema]

We bought soda cards on our last cruise. For my 16 yr old DS, it was a no brainer. It costs $4/day for kids 17 and under plus tip. A single can of soda is $2.01 including tip. We easily got our moneys worth with him. My DH should be hooked up to a diet coke IV so the $6/day plus tip was worth it since they ended up bringing him a pitcher of diet coke at dinner each night.

 

I don't think I will get the card for me next time. Our next cruise is more port intensive and I really think I barely broke even on our last cruise that had more sea days.

 

If you are talking young kids, I think I would skip the soda card since juice is no longer included all day long. If you are talking teens, I think you will regret it if you don't purchase it.

 

As far as smaller glasses or bartenders ignoring kids, my DS had no issues at all when he went to the bars.