dishonesty with soda package

[Kellie Poodle]

In this case, I don't have any sympathy for the cruise industry, as I'm sure they still make a healthy profit on their soda packages.

 

:)Not off of me, they don't. I'm a Diet Coke addict so I save a bundle with the soda card. At dinner alone, the wait staff knew to have three full glasses lined up before I even got to the table.

 

I hardly ever carried the cup with me. I showed my card and they gave me my soda in whatever containers were available.

 

The only disappointment was that Johnny Rockets on Voyager doesn't have Diet Coke. The next time I go to JR's, I'll get my soda first.

[MICKMAC100]

I agree with you, Rancher Dave. If one "needs" soda that badly, then consider it a cost of cruisig, and budget it in.

 

And the same for smuggling drink on board, if you want to drink on board buy it at the bars

[my girls mom]

For those of you who have cruised before, is it ok to bring your own insulated cup and ask for ice for cokes you have brought on the ship? I'm a Dr Pepper drinker, and hubby is a Mt Dew drinker. Could we do this in the dining room without looking too backwoods?:rolleyes:

[rpertusio]

The price of a coke is maybe a nickel. Who cares if someone shares a soda card here and there. It's built into the system, don't you think RCL knows a few cokes are shared.

Also built into your cruise fare is the cost to replace towels, library books, ice skates (etc) that people steal. It doesn't justify you to steal them, though!

 

So, you take your own soft drinks to ball games? I can imagine the next time I go out to dinner I whip out my own canned Coke and ask for a glass of ice because I don't want to pay the going rate at the restaurant.

I take my own drinks/snacks to ballgames, theme parks, movie theaters, and other places where it is allowed. If it is forbidden, I don't.

 

For those of you who have cruised before, is it ok to bring your own insulated cup and ask for ice for cokes you have brought on the ship? I'm a Dr Pepper drinker, and hubby is a Mt Dew drinker. Could we do this in the dining room without looking too backwoods?

Yes, bring your own cup, bring your own Dr Pepper/Mt Dew. Our waiter provided a glass with ice at dinner for us every night! One night, we didn't bring soda, and our waiter asked "You didn't bring your soda tonight?"

 

If you're upset at the price, then drink the free Tea/Water/Lemonade/Coffee/Hot Chocolate. Or, bring your own soda. If it's still inconvenient to you, then write a letter to the executives at Royal Caribbean telling them why their pricing should be changed.

 

- Ryan

[Kristi Williamson]

So, you take your own soft drinks to ball games? I can imagine the next time I go out to dinner I whip out my own canned Coke and ask for a glass of ice because I don't want to pay the going rate at the restaurant.

 

How did we get from a cruise ship to ball games? :rolleyes: Anyway, you've heard of tailgates, right? So...yeah, I bring my own.

 

And when I'm at a land based restaurant, I typically have water or wine, not soda. That's more about my personal preferences, but we're talking about cruise ships and familes using one another's soda cards, not ball games, restaurants, etc...

 

Cruise ships DO allow you to bring your own soda. So, again, why pay outrageous prices and then steal? It's stupid. Just pack a few 12 packs for less then 10 bucks and drink them.

[temple1]

How did we get from a cruise ship to ball games? :rolleyes: Anyway, you've heard of tailgates, right? So...yeah, I bring my own. Sure, but tailgate parties are outside the stadium. If you want a drink during the game you have to spring for $4 or $5 or go to your car if they allow it.

 

And when I'm at a land based restaurant, I typically have water or wine, not soda. That's more about my personal preferences, but we're talking about cruise ships and familes using one another's soda cards, not ball games, restaurants, etc... I was using comparisons. It made no sense to me some of the rants and raves about the price of a drink card. It sometimes helps to put things into perspective.

 

Cruise ships DO allow you to bring your own soda. So, again, why pay outrageous prices and then steal? It's stupid. Just pack a few 12 packs for less then 10 bucks and drink them. Why so upset, that is what I posted earlier. You have the choice of purchasing a card, bringing your own, buying by the individual can or just drinking what is included in with the cruise fare. I have never written that I condone stealing from the cruiseline.

 

but all this is JMHO

[hoytarchery999]

When we were on Grandeur, there was a family or group that was apparently "sharing" a soda card. The bartender would take the card and question the cardholder....."What's your name?" , "How old are you?" , "I thought Katy was 12?" . The girl that brought the card up had no idea how to answer any of the questions...but he still gave her a soda. He then mentioned to the other bartenders that they were sharing.

 

I don't know what they can really do about it. But like anything with a honor system....I'm sure there is probably some abuse of it.

 

that would kinda make me mad we dont really share cards but i am the only one that gets the soda package sometimes my mom or dad will want a soda and i will get them one with my card. and sometimes when my dad gets a beer the bartender will just ask my mom if she wants a soda and give her one. it really makes me mad when i go to the same bar over and over and they ask to see the card over and over. also i never use the cup i just get it in one of theyre cups i dont like carrying a coke cup with me everywhere i go.

[Ula]

I do not get if one is not really a soda drinker why they would care. On a cruise I may purchase a couple Ginger Ales the whole cruise. I do not buy soda at a fast food place. I prefer my soda from a can to begin with.

I think on RCI you can still bring soda on the ship so it is not stealing. If that is also not alllowed sheese.

But I did learn on our Explorer cruise from the drink guy they change the cups all the time due to people returning on different ships with the cups to try and get free drinks they have not paid for. That is just wrong.

[AF-1]

The souviner cup can change depending on what ship you are on and what itinerary. I had a different cup on Explorer than I had on Splendour in Europe. I will be on Voyager in a week and expect to see a different cup on that ship.

[DGNY]

Personally, I don't understand anyone who would pay these outrageous prices for soda. It's completely rediculous. Are people really so lazy that they'd WAY over pay just for convenience? Even if you fly in, there's 50 convenience stores and grocery stores between the terminal and the airport!

 

They allow you to bring as much soda as you'd like on board!! Why would you steal something and excuse the behavior by saying it's too expensive when you can just bring a 12 pack on board for 4.99 or less? :rolleyes:

 

We always bring a duffel bad with 3 12 packs and 18 bottled waters. We tag 'em and they are delivered to our room with our luggage. We leave the soda in their cardboard carriers and stick a few every day into the ice bucket and ask for an extra ice bucket. At the end of the week, the duffel bag is where gifts, special items we won, etc...come back home with us and we carry it off the ship along with our carry-on luggage. It's very light on the return trip and very convenient for those things you don't want to get ruined in a large suitcase.

 

Again, sodas are CHEAP on land. How in the world can you justify stealing something? Seriously...they're 4.99 and under for 12 of them!!

 

Do you bring cans of soda into the dining room? To the pool in the morning in anticipation of a need that afternoon?

[CaboWabo62]

We buy the soda package for us and the kids when they travel with us:D. Much easier for all concerned, but once the glass/cup of soda is in my hand I can do with it as I please.

Occasionally the mix is wrong and I give it back to the bartender and get soda from the next location. Other times we take a glass back to the cabin and never touch it. One of our kids may be sent with the refillable cups to bring sodas back for all.

I would not ask my kids to cheat that is setting bad example.

We are on vacation to relax and enjoy.

It is not a scam or about beating the system, some people want to get something for nothing.

It is about taking care of the guests.

I would rather relax and enjoy the trip.:rolleyes:

[rpertusio]

Do you bring cans of soda into the dining room? To the pool in the morning in anticipation of a need that afternoon?

I bring cans in, yes. No strange looks from the staff either. We put a can on some ice (ice bucket), and our steward even came back later and put a new can in and surrounded it with ice for us.

 

- Ryan

[PATRLR]

I bring cans in, yes. No strange looks from the staff either.

 

To each his own.

 

We often times will buy 2 litre bottles to keep in a hotel room when staying for more than a day or two somewhere, so, I get the idea of saving on the cost of soda by buying your own from the grocery. But, I don't think the savings would be worth the hassle of hauling cans onto the ship and then around the ship. I prefer the convenience of anytime/anywhere I can get a soda and I'm willing to pay the extra cost of the soda card for that convenience.

 

Regarding "sharing" - it's stealing, simple as that. No different than lifting a T-shirt from the store, photos from the gallery, etc.

[SamFritz]

I may try buying some two litre bottles for My wife and I to keep in the room, as we also enjoy other beverages on board ;) We'll probably get soda packages for the the boys who will not!

[Kristi Williamson]

Do you bring cans of soda into the dining room? To the pool in the morning in anticipation of a need that afternoon?

 

Nope..I don't drink soda with my meals, but even if I did, I wouldn't pay those outrageous prices. And sure, sometimes I bring a soda with me to the pool...if I want another one later, it's not like my cabin is a mile away. It's basically a two minute walk to the elevator, a 2/3 minute walk down a hall, grab a drink out of the ice bucket and then back again. You wait that long trying to get someone to fill your soda cup from what I hear.

 

Look, I don't care what you guys do. I was answering a thread and this is MY opinion, which I'm entitled to. ;) I, personally, think it's crazy to pay that much for carbonated stuff that's 4 dollars for a dozen on land. It's your money, feel free to do what you want with it, of course. :)

 

Based on some posts about how "difficult" it is to bring sodas, maybe some of you missed that first post. We put 3 of the long cardboard 12 packs in a duffel bag, along with bottled water and check them just like we do luggage. We don't lug these heavy things anywhere.

 

When we get to the room, we take them out and put them in the bottom of the closet, under the bed, etc... We ask for an extra ice bucket and use that to cool them through out the week. They're never in the way, and there's always one cold. At the end of the cruise, we put out breakables, gifts, etc... in that empty duffel. It's a wonderful, painfree, inexpensive way to have your pop.

 

And no one should get a soda card and then share it. That's flat out stealing. Why anyone would do this when you're allowed to bring drinks on board is beyond me.

[cruzincurt]

 

We put 3 of the long cardboard 12 packs in a duffel bag, along with bottled water and check them just like we do luggage. We don't lug these heavy things anywhere.

 

I just hope your duffel bag of liquid stuff is not on top of my suitcase when they pile the other suitcases on top. :cool:

[alexw]

So if im at the bar and I order a soda; then i decide to give it to someone, do you guys consider me stealing too?

[dscomp]

We just got off the Adventure of the Seas and the bartenders do look at the sea pass and question who is using the Soda card. My husband asked me to get him a coke and gave me his card and when I went to get a soda I asked for a coke and the bartender asked where Darrel was. I pointed him out and he gave me the coke without any issue, but they are looking now. In the past no one ever even looked at the card.

 

I was shocked to see they are now selling water packages also. The cost was 82.50 for a case of water-yes $82.50 for 24 bottles of water:eek:

[gerif]

So, you take your own soft drinks to ball games? I can imagine the next time I go out to dinner I whip out my own canned Coke and ask for a glass of ice because I don't want to pay the going rate at the restaurant.

 

Definitely bring our own soft drinks/bottled water/snacks to Yankee Stadium. As long as they are in plastic bottles and snacks are in clear plastic bags, they have no problem at all. Would not bring our own drinks to a restaurant though or anywhere else they are forbidden - but they are definitely allowed on a cruise ship.

[BallFour4]

In this case, I don't have any sympathy for the cruise industry, as I'm sure they still make a healthy profit on their soda packages.

 

And you base that on what?

 

Cruise lines that serve soda in the middle of the ocean have purchased the product, stored it, moved it aboard the ship and then paid an employee to serve it. If you can determine what the cost per glass of soda then good for you, but you'd better have a larger value than you think.

In 1976 my father took my family of four on my graduation trip aboard the Carnival Mardi Gras. The cost he paid is higher than any cruise I have ever taken. The reason? Value of the dollar, but other considerations.

 

Mass market cruise lines shift the costs (and profits) to voluntary consumption items for a vacation. Sodas, alcohol, pictures, spa visits, gambling, shore excursions, etc all are higher profit items than what you paid to get a cabin and put your head on a pillow for a prescribed number of nights. Las Vegas hotels do the same thing...

 

So if I use your logic the photos in the gallery of my family cost pennies to print but the cruise line wants $20 a pop for them. Next cruise you go on why not grab a few of those "healthy profit" items and show them who's boss...

 

In spirit, in actuality, in "I just used it one time" sharing a soda card aboard ship is dishonest based on the terms and conditions a passenger knows when he/she purchases the card.

Your call...

[BallFour4]

I think all cruise lines put an extra margin b/c they know that some people cheat.

 

Cruise lines are owned by shareholders.

Who pays that margin?

 

Here's a hint, the consumer that does not take part in sharing.

 

Economics 101; companies do not absorb the costs of stealing, theft, loss, etc. Every dime is passed right back to the consumer of the product.

 

You steal soda (or anything else) and your fellow passengers foot the bill... No other way to put it.

[BallFour4]

I was shocked to see they are now selling water packages also. The cost was 82.50 for a case of water-yes $82.50 for 24 bottles of water:eek:

 

Price a lobster dinner for two. Did you get one of those during dinner one night? Did they charge you extra for it?

 

How did that water get to the middle of the ocean? Who put it on the ship, who moved it to the bar, who served it to you?

 

When a product or service is delivered to you by an employee of a company at sea (or on land) someone pays them for the effort...

 

That'd be the ones that wanted the convenience of the water.

 

.

[Kristi Williamson]

I just hope your duffel bag of liquid stuff is not on top of my suitcase when they pile the other suitcases on top. :cool:

 

 

We're going on our 10th cruise in a few weeks and we've never so much as had a coke can crack. I think your suitcases are safe.

 

These people do this for a living. They're pretty much not going to allow you to check something they're not intelligent enough to handle without ruining your clothing for the week. :rolleyes:

[Kristi Williamson]

 

I was shocked to see they are now selling water packages also. The cost was 82.50 for a case of water-yes $82.50 for 24 bottles of water:eek:

 

And I guarantee somebody will feel the need to pay 82 bucks for some water they can grab for 5 bucks at their local convenience store. :eek:

[Gonzo70]

And I guarantee somebody will feel the need to pay 82 bucks for some water they can grab for 5 bucks at their local convenience store. :eek:

 

Or for free from the tap.

 

And the irony of it all is I bet the bottled water the ship is selling is actually tap water from the ship put into bottles. :D