Soda cards - recent experiences?

[dritan]

Hi

i've been doing a search and reading through a soda card thread from Oct 2010, there seemed to be some remaining question marks about whether the drinks provided would be cans or fountain? I understand the cards were going through a pilot phase.

I would prefer to pre-book ( as it will be one less thing to sort out on embarkation day), but can anyone tell me whether the card will be available and in your cabin on arrival or whether you have to wait until dinner to have it delivered?

I see that there are three options (Dinner, Cabin - At Sea and Cabin-in port). If I select Cabin - in port, is this the best option for ensuring the card/s are there straight away.

I'm keen to have it asap, as none of my party drink alcohol so would be using the card straight away :-)

Thanks for answering my queries.

[iriemon]

We always select At Sea to avoid the sales tax and it is always waiting in our cabin when we get there. Now that they are opening the cabins around 11:00 you can get it even earlier. Never have had any problems

[jtl513]

You get cans. If you order At Sea or Dinner (which really amounts to the same thing) to avoid paying the sales tax (in certain ports) the card will usually be in your cabin on embarkation. If you wanted to play it safe, you could order one each way. Or wait until you are on board, and buy one immediately if they are not in the cabin.

[BumperII]

I usually buy the soda card on the first day of the cruise. The beverage steward at the Lido bar has them, and it only takes a couple of minutes. The card is a good buy, $25.00 gets you $50.00, includes cans of soda. This worked well for me on a three week cruise, but wasn't really practical on ten day cruise.

[Krazy Kruizers]

now we don't buy the soda cards -- but we do buy the regular beverage cards

and as soon as we are on the ship -- we go to the ocean bar -- not as crowded there -- and buy our cards

[Krazy Kruizers]

The soda card costs $25 but has a face value of $50. Each time you buy a soda with it $2.24 ($1.95 + 15%) is deducted from the value. $50/$2.24 = 22 cans, with $0.72 left over. You can use that $0.72 with $1.52 on your room key card (or another soda card) to get another can.

[dritan]

Thanks for all the info. Think I will order one online and then get another if I need it when on board. Such a good deal.

BTW, it will cover 4 of us - I'll not be guzzling all that Coca Cola on my own :-)

[Typhoon1]

Feel free to choose in cabin, either in port or at sea. The card will be in your cabin when you embark, There was no additional tax.

[NJCruiser_family]

Is it the same price of $25 if I purchase the soda card on board the ship vs online pre-cruise?

[catl331]

Is it the same price of $25 if I purchase the soda card on board the ship vs online pre-cruise?
yes

[kjoeb]

can you use the soda card in the main dining room and your cabin with room service? i was not able to do this the 2 times i've bought a card on other lines. kb

[Linda&Vern]

can you use the soda card in the main dining room and your cabin with room service? i was not able to do this the 2 times i've bought a card on other lines. kb
In the MDR, yes. I used mine every night.
I do not know about Room Service.

[sunsetgirl203]

So... can you use the soda card for juices, non-alcoholic frozen drinks, etc? Or do you need to buy a "drink card"? Sorry -- we are new to all of this and I was thinking of buying a card for my daughter, but she doesn't drink much actual soda.... and often prefers juice etc.

Just wondering.

[Lady Chew]

the soda card is for sodas only ... the beverage card is for any beverage, anywhere, except for "specials" - the drink of the day, or 2-for-1

[Typhoon1]

can you use the soda card in the main dining room and your cabin with room service? i was not able to do this the 2 times i've bought a card on other lines. kb

MDR, Lido or any bar or waiter,

[Livestotravel]

the soda card is for sodas only ... the beverage card is for any beverage, anywhere, except for "specials" - the drink of the day, or 2-for-1

So you can't use the beverage card at happy hour? But can use it in the MDR, at a show, etc. Just trying to figure out if it's worth it for a 7-day cruise.

[Hard-habit-to-break]

So you can't use the beverage card at happy hour? But can use it in the MDR, at a show, etc. Just trying to figure out if it's worth it for a 7-day cruise.


We used our beverage card at happy hour (2 for 1), no problem. We didn't get Soda Cards, just Beverage cards so we could choose easily what we wanted. Happy hour my husband normally bought a cocktail for him and a soda for me and we would end up with 2 cocktails and 2 cans (1 to take back to the room for later!).

Never any issue, never refused.

[Krazy Kruizers]

So you can't use the beverage card at happy hour? But can use it in the MDR, at a show, etc. Just trying to figure out if it's worth it for a 7-day cruise.

we couldn't use the beverage cards for happy hour on either the ryndam or the nieuw amsterdam

We used our beverage card at happy hour (2 for 1), no problem. We didn't get Soda Cards, just Beverage cards so we could choose easily what we wanted. Happy hour my husband normally bought a cocktail for him and a soda for me and we would end up with 2 cocktails and 2 cans (1 to take back to the room for later!).

Never any issue, never refused.

which ship were you on?

[Livestotravel]

Yes, I'd be interested to know that too. I'll be on the Eurodam, and I'm thinking I'll have no problem using up the card. And if not, as stated, it goes back on your cabin credit, so nothing to lose and it does seem convenient.

[suelina]

Planning our first cruise and want to make sure we are clear on everything :)

[Spender Nui]

We have a couple of soda cards left over from earlier cruises. Are they still valid?

[Corinium]

Drink tap water, it's much better for you than Coke or Pepsi !
Beer and wine are OK too

[catl331]

We have a couple of soda cards left over from earlier cruises. Are they still valid?They are/were never valid after the cruise for which they were purchased. Whether you can get away with still using them is another question. It would depend on how your server feels at that moment. :)

[mountain grandma]

We are new to the "soda card" concept. We will be sailing on the Zaandam this summer on a 7-day cruise in Alaska with our adult children and 4 grandchildren. Can the cards be shared or does each person have to have his/her own? If it can be shared, is it only with other people in the same cabin?

Thanks in advance for the answers.
Billie

[catl331]

We are new to the "soda card" concept. We will be sailing on the Zaandam this summer on a 7-day cruise in Alaska with our adult children and 4 grandchildren. Can the cards be shared or does each person have to have his/her own? If it can be shared, is it only with other people in the same cabin?

Thanks in advance for the answers.
BillieThey work like a Gift Card, and everyone can share one card. You could buy sodas for 22 total strangers! :) Any unused balance up to the $25 purchase price (not the $50 face value) is automatically refunded at the cruise end.

[Stinkerbellorama]

If you are on the Ryndam, suite 045, check the bible in the nightstand. Last Sunday, I put our soda card in there and it has a few sodas left on it. Enjoy!

[canadarocks]

If you are on the Ryndam, suite 045, check the bible in the nightstand. Last Sunday, I put our soda card in there and it has a few sodas left on it. Enjoy!

Awww, that's awesome. When I first joined Cruise Critic a few years ago, I read about doing "the Bible thing" and I loved it! I've checked our Bible on every cruise just in case. ;)

We've never had any "leftovers", but if we ever do I will definitely leave ours as well. How wonderful of you to think of doing that! :D

[luv2travel06]

Hi

i've been doing a search and reading through a soda card thread from Oct 2010, there seemed to be some remaining question marks about whether the drinks provided would be cans or fountain? I understand the cards were going through a pilot phase.

I would prefer to pre-book ( as it will be one less thing to sort out on embarkation day), but can anyone tell me whether the card will be available and in your cabin on arrival or whether you have to wait until dinner to have it delivered?

I see that there are three options (Dinner, Cabin - At Sea and Cabin-in port). If I select Cabin - in port, is this the best option for ensuring the card/s are there straight away.

I'm keen to have it asap, as none of my party drink alcohol so would be using the card straight away :-)

Thanks for answering my queries.
We pre-purchased 2 soda cards for our Maasdam cruise. If you choose to have them delivered in port, you will pay sales tax. We chose to have them delivered at sea, but they were in the cabin when we got there.

You need to activate them with your room card the first time you use them.

They give you a can of soda and a glass of ice.

BE CAREFUL!! A couple of times I wasn't paying attention and paid for sodas with my room card by mistake and neither the bar nor the front desk can/will(?) make an adjustment after the fact.

You can't use the card on HMC because they can't "swipe it" in a machine/card reader there, so you have to pay cash on the island.

Also, when I checked the balance on the card at the front desk on the last night of the cruise, the person there said I would get a $2.47 credit on my bill, but the bartender had said I had something like $28 left on the soda card. So I do not know if the front desk person was mistaken or they give some kind of pro-rated credit for the unused portion of the card, but if I had paid $25 for a $50 card, I should have received a $14 credit if the balance was $28, if my math is correct. I resolved it by going back upstairs to the bar and purchasing 12 cans of soda. We drank about half of them and gave the rest to another passenger at disembarkation who was driving home.

[iriemon]

Drink tap water, it's much better for you than Coke or Pepsi !
Beer and wine are OK too

Have you seen what water does to pipes? :eek: And coke cleans pipes. I want nice clean pipes. (and alcahol sterilizes them so I am clean and sterle!)

[maxout]

We pre-purchased 2 soda cards for our Maasdam cruise. If you choose to have them delivered in port, you will pay sales tax. We chose to have them delivered at sea, but they were in the cabin when we got there.

You need to activate them with your room card the first time you use them.

They give you a can of soda and a glass of ice.

BE CAREFUL!! A couple of times I wasn't paying attention and paid for sodas with my room card by mistake and neither the bar nor the front desk can/will(?) make an adjustment after the fact.

You can't use the card on HMC because they can't "swipe it" in a machine/card reader there, so you have to pay cash on the island.

Also, when I checked the balance on the card at the front desk on the last night of the cruise, the person there said I would get a $2.47 credit on my bill, but the bartender had said I had something like $28 left on the soda card. So I do not know if the front desk person was mistaken or they give some kind of pro-rated credit for the unused portion of the card, but if I had paid $25 for a $50 card, I should have received a $14 credit if the balance was $28, if my math is correct. I resolved it by going back upstairs to the bar and purchasing 12 cans of soda. We drank about half of them and gave the rest to another passenger at disembarkation who was driving home.

Your math is not correct ;) they don't refund the amount over the difference of what you paid for the card and what remains unused. If you had (approx) $28 dollars in value left on the card, you would only receive the $3 difference (over the original $25 you purchased the card for) as a credit.

Otherwise I would buy a 1000 of these on every cruise, never buy a soda and double my money with credits on my final bill :D

[catl331]

In essence you pay full price for the first 11 cans of soda and the next 11 are free. If you drink just 12 sodas you've thrown away 10 of your free ones. If you drink 10 you get back the price of one.

[ariawoman]

Planning our first cruise and want to make sure we are clear on everything :)

Suelina - your question in the subject regarding "punches" - there are no punch cards to my knowledge as the fleet has been turned over to the new debit type cards.

To others - does leaving the card in the bible really matter? When you check out, your account (to which that card is tied) is closed, so I'm thinking that leaving cards behind for others (that have YOUR name on them) probably doesn't do anything with the new system....(though i think it's great people were trying to be nice lol!)

[catl331]

To others - does leaving the card in the bible really matter? When you check out, your account (to which that card is tied) is closed, so I'm thinking that leaving cards behind for others (that have YOUR name on them) probably doesn't do anything with the new system....(though i think it's great people were trying to be nice lol!)With the new style cards any unused balance up to the purchase price is automatically refunded to your account, so any cards left behind are worthless. That was the whole point of the new system, to prevent people from "passing on" punch cards or carrying them over to another ship. Plus they decreased the savings as well.

[ariawoman]

With the new style cards any unused balance up to the purchase price is automatically refunded to your account, so any cards left behind are worthless. That was the whole point of the new system, to prevent people from "passing on" punch cards or carrying them over to another ship. Plus they decreased the savings as well.

Thats what i thought since I was given refunds on my Oct cruise, but since people were still leaving the card as of last week, wasn't sure why....

Glad I'm not insane :-)

[jlw1952]

Our adult son purchased a soda card on our Alaska cruise last September. The waiter in the MDR, Lido, etc NEVER left a can of soda. They brought him a glass of soda which held LESS than the can.

In fact, one time my son pulled out his soda card AFTER a can was left (my son had just forgotten about the card) and the steward (lido) asked my son to put it on his room card because he would be "in trouble" if he put it on the soda card because it was a CAN and NOT a GLASS.

This was our one and only time with a soda card, but a can was NEVER left except that one time in the lido.

. . .seems like we are the only one that has experienced this. We never questioned it. We thought that was just the way things were done.

[RuthC]

. . .seems like we are the only one that has experienced this. We never questioned it. We thought that was just the way things were done.
Was that the old punch card, or the new version of the soda card? The new card is fairly recent.
Under the old card, what you say would be the procedure; the new card gives full cans.

[jlw1952]

I don't know. . .it was Sept. 2010.

We were on a HAL cruise a couple of months ago but did not purchase a soda card so I have nothing to compare it to. . .

[Linda&Vern]

Our adult son purchased a soda card on our Alaska cruise last September. The waiter in the MDR, Lido, etc NEVER left a can of soda. They brought him a glass of soda which held LESS than the can.

In fact, one time my son pulled out his soda card AFTER a can was left (my son had just forgotten about the card) and the steward (lido) asked my son to put it on his room card because he would be "in trouble" if he put it on the soda card because it was a CAN and NOT a GLASS.

This was our one and only time with a soda card, but a can was NEVER left except that one time in the lido.

. . .seems like we are the only one that has experienced this. We never questioned it. We thought that was just the way things were done.
The "new" beverage cards - including soda cards - were introduced fleet wide October 2010. The "new" soda cards cost $25 and buy $50 worth of "canned" soda.

[jtl513]

The "new" beverage cards - including soda cards - were introduced fleet wide October 2010. The "new" soda cards cost $25 and buy $50 worth of "canned" soda.They stopped selling the punch cards then, but if you ordered one on-line before the cut-off they should still be delivered and honored ... IF the ship hasn't exhausted their supply, and can't deliver one. So you might just see one being used still. We had one on our late Sep/early Oct cruise on the Nieuw A.

[Bay2Beach]

We just got off the Ryndam and I had a soda card. You could get a soda anywhere on the ship. It was in a can and cost $2.24 including the 15% gratuity. The last night of the cruise I ended up getting 3 cans to take with me because $50 worth of soda for one person was more than enough. You could get more than one at a time if you wanted to give one to someone else. It was a good deal if you drink soda!!

[travelbug4]

Purchasing non-alcoholic beverages on a cruise ship is a new concept to us (it's free on Disney). Are there any complimentary beverages at meals? Just curious if we need to buy these beverage cards. Thanks!

[kazu]

At breakfast tea, coffee, water and juices are all complimentary.

At luch and dinner, tea, coffee, water and iced tea are complimentary.

And at dinner special coffees (capuccino, expresso, etc.) are complimentary.

hope this helps a bit :)

[canadarocks]

I believe milk and juices are also complimentary in the dining room at all meals, but hopefully someone here will confirm that.

I know during the day there was always juice of some sort available in the Lido on the Westerdam last month (apple and cranberry were two that we had).

[RuthC]

I believe milk and juices are also complimentary in the dining room at all meals, but hopefully someone here will confirm that.
That's correct, with the disclaimer that juices be ordered from your table steward. If such as cranberry juice is ordered from a wine steward there is a charge.
Also, espresso and cappuccino are available in the dining room without charge at all meals.

[Krazy Kruizers]

At breakfast tea, coffee, water and juices are all complimentary.

At luch and dinner, tea, coffee, water and iced tea are complimentary.

And at dinner special coffees (capuccino, expresso, etc.) are complimentary.

hope this helps a bit :)

you can also get the capuccino, expresso and lattes at breakfast and lunch in the dining room as well -- no charge -- unless you want a liquor added to it

[travelbug4]

Great info! Thanks for your help. I am a big iced tea drinker so it looks like I should be ok.

[djhsolara]

We loved the new card system when we were on Westerdam last week. Upon embarkation we purchased a soda card and a beverage card. As the cruise went on we ended up purchasing another beverage card...and what wasn't used was refunded to our onboard account. No more cards in Bibles because it wouldn't be working.

We were rather surprised at how liberal they were with the cards. We purchased them from the stand by the Lido pool and they just handed them to us without taking our cards and making an actual purchase. They told us to activate them when we made our first purchase.

We had no problem using the card for happy hour in Northern Lights (buy 1 get one for $1). We could not use it for drink of the day at the special price...if we wanted drink of the day we could get it at the regular price with the card.

We were pleasantly surprised at the number of canned sodas available...we didn't remember so many in the past.

:) :)