Better to pre-pay beverages?

[Spontaneous girl]

I just took a chance and pre-purchased a soda card, as well as a wine card and a cocktail card. The prices seemed reasonable, and I like the idea of knowing what I'm in for, rather than accidentally ordering the $38 cocktail. :eek:

 

Are the prices the same regardless (i.e., is this merely a keeping-track tool) or is there a cost benefit inherent in pre-purchasing?

 

Also, can you buy these cards on-board as you need them?

 

I ask because I was modest in what I purchased and might buy more if the individual drink prices are drastically higher than the card rate and/or if the cards are no longer available once on the ship.

 

Thanks!

[lazey1]

All of the cards should be available for purchase aboard the ship. The wine card is good only for the house wines which IMO are very good. These is a small cost benefit and remember that the 15% gratuity is included on the cards. I believe the cocktail cards are good for standard cocktails only and do not include the expensive call drinks.

[Spontaneous girl]

Thanks! See, I didn't understand the bit about the gratuity. Great news.

 

I am neither a wine snob nor a specialty drink gal. I am fine w/house wine and happy as can be with a G & T. (Gosh, that rhymed! I may have created a new motto. ;))

[Krazy Kruizers]

We buy the wine card once we are on the ship -- you can get it at any bar or your Bar Server in the dining room can get you one. The house wines are fine for us.

But the cocktail card doesn't help us as we like Grey Goose on the rocks and that card doesn't cover that as it is a premium vodka.

[Roz]

I heard the wine card was being replaced with something else. Is that true? And if so, when will the change go into effect? I sail November 1 of this year.

 

Roz

[wdw1972]

The wine card is an excellent value, and it's still being sold despite the rumors here on cruise critic a while back.

 

The soda card is a terrible value - you might as well take a $20 out of your wallet & set it on fire. I don't drink soda anyway (the taste is disgusting to me) but every post I've read says they fill a glass with ice and pour perhaps half a can of soda for you. You don't get the rest of the can, so you're paying a pretty high price for that soda!

 

Sue/WDW1972

Eurodam 11/07/09

[DAllenTCY]

I purchased a 20 drink wine card and used it for champaign, red and white house wines.

Every one was excellent in my opinion.

One time at Mix I ordered a Grey Goose Cosmopolitan, and it was $1 more than the well vodka.

David

[Jemima]

We find the soda card less expensive than than buying sodas individually. Either way it is more expensive than ashore. Mostly we just want something non-alcholic to sip while sitting in a lounge, so the glass is fine.

There is no need to pre-purchase the drink cards. Wait until you are on the ship.

[RuthC]

The soda card is a terrible value - you might as well take a $20 out of your wallet & set it on fire. I don't drink soda anyway (the taste is disgusting to me) but every post I've read says they fill a glass with ice and pour perhaps half a can of soda for you. You don't get the rest of the can, so you're paying a pretty high price for that soda!

I wouldn't call it a "terrible" value, but there isn't too much savings. You get that 1/2 can of soda for a bit less than 1/2 per can price. In other words, the 20 punches get you 20 sodas that equal 10 cans, at a little less than the 10-can price.

There's also a savings in effort to keep track of and proof out 20 signature slips.

[Big Kielbasa]

We just buy a couple of six packs of Pepsi at the first port and bring it aboard. Never had a problem!

[Jean17]

Does anyone know what the house wines are?

[djhsolara]

Last sailing we bought them onboard. I don't know if the servers have any goals around this, but they really seemed to be pushing them the first night in the Ocean Bar. We had every intention of purchasing a soda card, wine card and cocktail card anyhow, but I didn't remember them pushing them so hard on our other sailings.

[Roz]

Jean,

 

I don't know what the house wines are off the top of my head, but on one of my HAL cruises, my TA had 4 bottles waiting for me in my cabin. One of them was an Australian red, and another was an Italian pinot grigio. All were excellent, IMO, but I'm not a wine connessieur (sp?).

 

After reading these posts, I checked out the price of the wine card on the HAL website, and it sounds great. The 10 glass card works out to about $4.00 per glass, which includes the tip. You can't beat that! I'm going to buy one for my upcoming 10-day cruise. That will give me a glass of wine each night with dinner.

 

I'll also have a martini pre- or post-dinner. ;)

 

Roz

[RKD]

I thought I had read about everything there was on the HAL website, but I never saw anything about wine and coctail cards!:confused::o Where can I find that info.????? We will definitely buy some of those!

[Roz]

RKD,

 

It was a while before I figured it out. It's called "Order Gifts", which makes it sound like something you buy for other people, but not yourself. Here's the link:

 

http://www.hollandamerica.com/cruise-vacation-planning/OnboardGifts.action

 

You need to set up a User Name and Password when you go in there. Hope this helps.

 

Roz

[Swedecruiser]

I believe the wine card is a pretty good value, however, depending on what you like to drink I would NOT recommend the cocktail card. It is only for their "signature" drinks so if you want something not under that menu ( I always did) then you will most likely feel unahppy. There is still a "drink of the day" as well which is lower priced so take advantage of that offer. Otherwise consider bringing your own wine onboard as well, then just use the wine or cocktail card in the dining room.

[elvo73]

If I buy a cocktail card can I have like a cranberry vodka drink or what are the drinks that you can have with it?

Thanks!

[jtl513]

Does anyone know what the house wines are?

I don't know the brand used, but the type choices are Chadonnay, Pinot Grigio, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, White Zinfandel, and "sparkling".

[cmac cruiser]

Are there beer cards? Or do they fit into the cocktail category?

[jtl513]

Are there beer cards? Or do they fit into the cocktail category?

No and no. I've heard about a "bucket of beer" deal where you get six for the price of five ... or something like that.

[Spontaneous girl]

Wow, who knew I started such a lively discussion!

 

Thanks for all of the feedback regarding the various cards/ways of managing beverage costs.

 

The soda card is mainly so that I can give my kids an absolute limit of sodas. As far as I'm concerned, the skimpier the drink (for them), the better. They don't need to know that a new card can be purchased...:rolleyes:

 

My husband is a big fan of your standard G & T. I imagine that is exactly the type of standard cocktail included with the card, as long as you aren't picky about your gin. When you're watering it down with tonic and a squeeze of lime, it doesn't need to be top shelf, IMO.

 

Yes, they do have 6-packs of beer as an option from the same list of beverage "gifts." Or you can get a bottle of Grey Goose, for instance. How does that work? Do they just deliver it to your room? I do enjoy beer, so perhaps a beer card is in order. Makes me sound like a crazy college kid. Nope, I just really enjoy the flavor of beer. Weird, I know.

 

Thanks for a great, enlightening discussion!

 

Amy

[cantw8togo]

I read somewhere that if you purchase the card 30 minutes after you set sail, (or are in international waters), then they don't charge sales tax. Do you pay tax if you buy it before you sail? What happens when you sail out of Vancouver? What sales tax rate is used for calculation? And while I'm at it; does Alaska charge a sales tax? Whew! I think that is all of the questions for now!

 

Thanks,

 

N.

[canadarocks]

I read somewhere that if you purchase the card 30 minutes after you set sail, (or are in international waters), then they don't charge sales tax. Do you pay tax if you buy it before you sail? What happens when you sail out of Vancouver?

 

Thanks,

 

N.

 

What I learned here is when you order choose the "in cabin, at sea" option. You won't get charged any extra taxes that way :cool:.

[Spanish eyes]

If I buy a cocktail card can I have like a cranberry vodka drink or what are the drinks that you can have with it?

Thanks!

 

Good question. I'd also like to know kinds of cocktails you can get. Is it just basic one or dose it cover frozen ones like frozen marguerita's?

[timothy998]

We purchased the soda pop card on ms Westerdam in March. We never received less than a full can...although we ordered at mealtimes, primarily. That said, you should be able to request the "full" can, as is necessary on some airlines these days. Also, at HMC, they charged two punches (2 cans-worth) for each cola, for some reason or other. But we still received a can. Thus, with the various comments it must be just the "pour" when you're at a bar or lounge...we didn't take our kids to the bar this trip...we never know what our 3-year old may try to order! :eek: