price for soda cards?

[tyedye]

Can someone tell me whether or not the tea is sweetened or not?

 

Also I've read where you can bring on board some cans of soda, do you just pack this in your luggage? What about ice or keeping them cold?

 

And does anyone know if there is a place on the promenade that does indeed sell 20 oz (or another size) soda on the Mariner OTS?

[gerif]

Can someone tell me whether or not the tea is sweetened or not?

 

Also I've read where you can bring on board some cans of soda, do you just pack this in your luggage? What about ice or keeping them cold?

 

And does anyone know if there is a place on the promenade that does indeed sell 20 oz (or another size) soda on the Mariner OTS?

 

Tea is unsweetened.

 

We pack a small suitcase with 24-oz bottles of Diet Pepsi which is all DH drinks and some bottled water and just check it through with the rest of the luggage. Use the empty suitcase for purchases during the cruise. The room steward should supply ice twice a day - just make sure to request it if they don't. You can request a large ice bucket or bring a soft-sided cooler and ask that it be kept filled.

 

Haven't been on Mariner, but on Voyager and Explorer there are bottles for sale in the "sundry" section of the liquor store.

[birdylady]

Can someone tell me whether or not the tea is sweetened or not?

 

Also I've read where you can bring on board some cans of soda, do you just pack this in your luggage? What about ice or keeping them cold?

 

And does anyone know if there is a place on the promenade that does indeed sell 20 oz (or another size) soda on the Mariner OTS?

We just carried our soda and water on board. No questions asked.

Our room steward made sure we had ice in the bucket. We also asked for the fridge to be emptied so we could put our soda and water in it. Keep in mind the fridge isn't ice cold. FYI- The steward said she couldn't remove the items from the room so she just placed the stuff in the top cabinet above the fridge.

 

Erika

[senrab]

I don't know where you were getting your OJ but what I have had in the Windjammer and seen being put in the juice despensers on our four within the last year cruises is a OJ concentrate and not a crappy orange drink.

We use a frozen OJ concentrate at home so that is acceptable for us. RC promotion of fresh squeezed OJ wasn't a hit at $3.95 a glass. I never did see anyone buy it and now it is gone.

 

Gone? :confused: I saw it in the Windjammer when I sailed Voyager earlier this month. Perhaps they removed it from some ships. Like you, however, I never saw anyone purchase it. I found the "standard" OJ to be just fine.

 

i have put my opinion about this in other posts, but i would rather pay a slightly higher price for my cruise ticket (say about $25.00) and have the non-alcoholic drinks (soda, juice, bottled water) not be an additional charge onboard. i also think the price for the soda cards is way too high. i know the cruise line should get paid for the cost of the drink plus their efforts for purchasing, storing and serving, but let's get real. i can't imagine that there are that many people on a ship that will actually drink $60.00 or more in soda over the course of a 7 day cruise. sure, some will, but i think most won't. we did bring drinks on board. you can always bring your own on board. we had purchased a couple of bottles of water in port and then refilled them at the windjammer drink station. my son was getting free sodas at the bar area next to the 24 hour bistro on deck 5 (mariner). i don't know how that was possible but i was with him one day and sure enough, he just ordered a soda and it was handed over with no question of soda card or seapass card to charge it to. i think he may have just gotten lucky with an inexperienced crew person who didn't know to charge.

 

I drink MAYBE one soda a day (and didn't have any on my cruise). So now, under your plan, I would have to pay $3.57/day for drinks I may or may not consume? :( Why should I have to subsidize your (or someone else's) soda cravings? I like an adult beverage on occasion. Let's presume for a moment that you don't. What if I suggested that the fares be raised by, say $150 per week, so that all alcohol was included, regardless if you drink or not.

 

For the record, I recognize that those who eat very little end up subsidizing those of us who eat well on a cruise. My ideal solution: No change in fares, but offer all non-alcoholic drinks to all passengers with no charges. Then again, I suppose I'm asking for something for nothing.

 

In the end, I agree that $6 per day (plus gratuity, of course) is a bit steep for a soda card, and they'd probably take in more money at it with a more reasonable $4/day, as that becomes a price at which the "soda-or-two-a-day" crowd will buy in. As stated above, I opted to avoid soda for the week, but might have bought in at $4/day. Realistically, kids can down their sodas just as fast as adults, if not faster, so clearly RCCL can cover their expenses and make a buck or two at $4/day.

 

Just my two cents...

[deckgirl]

you make a good point senrab! i like your idea much better. thanks!:)

[jackrocks]

On the subject of the drink cards, is milk covered in the drink package for children? Or, is it available at meal times?

 

I apologize if this has been covered elsewhere--I have just joined your forum and am taking my first cruise this summer.:)

[Amberite]

For the person that said that the cruise lines should cover their cost and not much else, I'm sorry to tell you but even at $1 / day they are still making an incredible profit. I used to work in a restaurant and I saw their bills for packages (it comes as syrup) and I worked it out that for each glass of coke, the company pays about 2 to 3 cents.

 

And soda doesn't take much at all to store. The packages are cubes and stack really nicely. Each 12" package lasts about 1000-2000 cups. So there you have it!

 

Truth of the matter is that soft drinks are the biggest earners for almost any business that carries them, and RCI is no exception. At $6/day, they are making an absolute killing on this stuff, and is most likely the source of revenue for most of the activities / shows you see on board.

[robtulipe]

On the subject of the drink cards, is milk covered in the drink package for children? Or, is it available at meal times?

 

I apologize if this has been covered elsewhere--I have just joined your forum and am taking my first cruise this summer.:)

Milk in individual 250ml cartons is available all day long for free in the many restaurants onboard. The windjammer is open pretty well all day and depending on what ship you are on other eateries are also open earlier and later.

[jackrocks]

Thanks Robtulipe, I have had a lot of trouble finding out details on the RCCL site, but this site has offered a world of information!!

[Puffinater]

In the dining room on a past cruise the kids at the table ordered milk every night and they received a nice big glass of cold milk. A copule nights they even added chocolate syrup.

[Perdita]

Dang! I am realizing how spolied I am from Disney Cruise Line's free, unlimited soda at the 24-hour beverage station!!! :eek:

[going2cruz]

17 and under.

 

###

 

I was hoping that...thanks!!

[TigerLady]

I was wondering what the daily rate for the soda cards are running these days? We will be on a 13 day cruise in September and I was wondering how much that card might be. Thanks!

 

It goes by amount of days and your age group..

[Merion_Mom]

Dang! I am realizing how spolied I am from Disney Cruise Line's free, unlimited soda at the 24-hour beverage station!!! :eek:

 

It's NOT FREE.

 

You paid for it in your cruise fare.

 

Did you not pay more for your Disney cruise than your RC cruise? By a LOT?

[tyedye]

If you don't purchase the soda card, is the lemonade, tea, punch, etc pretty much avail most of the day? And this would be in the WJ (Mariner)?

 

Someone said the tea was unsweetened (thanks), so it safe to say that it doesn't have any sugars or lemon added?

[Merion_Mom]

[quote name='tyedye']If you don't purchase the soda card, is the lemonade, tea, punch, etc pretty much avail most of the day? And this would be in the WJ (Mariner)?

Someone said the tea was unsweetened (thanks), so it safe to say that it doesn't have any sugars or lemon added?[/QUOTE]

Don't expect "punch" - I haven't seen it, though many report it, so it's not on every ship.

They are available in the WJ at all times, and it only closes a very little bit during the day. You can get water, tea and coffee 24/7 in the Café Promenade. The iced tea is JUST iced tea - nothing added.