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Cafe Select Coffee Card only allowing a SMALL


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Just thought I would post this on here to give a heads up to anyone thinking about purchasing the 15 punch coffee card... I just got off the Anthem and they were only allowing smalls with the coffee card. Small was probably a 10oz cup, or only 1 shot of espresso. If you wanted a medium or large, or two shots of espresso, they were punching it twice. It was enforced everywhere, la patasserie, windjammer, 270, etc. they were explaining it to everyone purchasing the card. if I would have known this I would not have purchased the card online before the cruise.

 

I wanted two shots of espresso in a small, and yes, still two punches then. Wasn't worth the $36.

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Thanks for the update. I just want to confirm that during the pre-cruise purchase, this two punch rule was not disclosed?

 

Correct. There was no stipulation on size whatsoever on the RCI webpage. So I looked through the boards before purchasing to find other postings about what was allowed, and most other posters were able to get any size beverage previously. So I'm not sure if this is a change fleetwide or if it's just a change on the Anthem. We were told this by 10+ employees every time we purchased a morning coffee, so it wasn't the case of 1 person being misinformed either.

 

To make matters worse, iced beverages only came in 16 oz, so anyone wanting an iced drink was forced to use 2 punches.

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Correct. There was no stipulation on size whatsoever on the RCI webpage. So I looked through the boards before purchasing to find other postings about what was allowed, and most other posters were able to get any size beverage previously. So I'm not sure if this is a change fleetwide or if it's just a change on the Anthem. We were told this by 10+ employees every time we purchased a morning coffee, so it wasn't the case of 1 person being misinformed either.

 

To make matters worse, iced beverages only came in 16 oz, so anyone wanting an iced drink was forced to use 2 punches.

I would have asked for a full refund as soon as I was informed of this policy.

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I would have asked for a full refund as soon as I was informed of this policy.

 

I agree... we were told to go to the cafe to collect the coffee card. there was an upset passenger in front of me at the cafe and he was told to go to guest services. there wasn't much price difference between the smalls and medium either. You would have been better off paying the extra 80 cents in price difference instead of taking two whole punches or $9 in coffee away from you for 1 medium drink. (That wasn't allowed). Ridiculous. I was annoyed but the line at guest services was very long every time I checked so we just decided to let it go. Their regular coffee was actually pretty good when we ran out of punches. But I would never buy anything like that again until I actually got onboard.

Edited by jetta8300
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This is unfortunate news. Have been on two Princess cruises and love their coffee card. You are allowed a large size of specialty coffee, any size actually is one punch. Also allowed brewed coffee for no punch. Without the coffee card, then have to pay for the brewed variety.

 

Truly don't like the current nickel and dime mentality transition seeming to dominate on Royal Caribbean than when we first began cruising. :p

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Double espressos were 1 punch as were frapps from the Starbucks- but all other grande and venti were two punches. I agree the disclosure online ahead wasn't very clear. Here is the sign on the ship. 9237a0cbd92c5ae1cbaab137d8a0dbdc.jpg

 

 

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Double espressos were 1 punch as were frapps from the Starbucks- but all other grande and venti were two punches. I agree the disclosure online ahead wasn't very clear. Here is the sign on the ship. 9237a0cbd92c5ae1cbaab137d8a0dbdc.jpg

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Just curious if you were on the Anthem? They were definitely punching the card twice for a double shot of espresso. At each location on the Anthem. Every morning I got a double espresso in a small drink and at all 3 locations, with multiple different "baristas" they all punched my card twice. And then once I got a double espresso on its own, and still 2 punches.

 

There was no Starbucks on the Anthem. But at the windjammer where they had iced mochas they were in 16 oz cups, had 2 shots of espresso in them, and punching the cards Twice. 16 oz cups were the only size cold cups they had. (Which would be a "grande"). My husband got their version of the caramel frappuccino and they punched his card twice.

Basically the card just makes you breakeven if you need more than a single shot of espresso to get ya going in the morning :)

Edited by jetta8300
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This is total nonsense! Royal's website clearly states the card is good for "ANY 15 specialty expresso-based coffees", NOT 15 espresso shots!

 

Yet if you read the various threads, it differs from ship to ship. Same as the nonsense with the First Night Done Right restaurant choices.

 

Seems different ships set their own rules. I understand not wanting to waste your time standing in line at guest services but maybe a post cruise complaint to Miami is in order.

 

 

 

76bd08771b34e1a028956e56884eaa68.jpg

 

 

~ Judy

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This is total nonsense! Royal's website clearly states the card is good for "ANY 15 specialty expresso-based coffees", NOT 15 espresso shots!

 

Yet if you read the various threads, it differs from ship to ship. Same as the nonsense with the First Night Done Right restaurant choices.

 

Seems different ships set their own rules. I understand not wanting to waste your time standing in line at guest services but maybe a post cruise complaint to Miami is in order.

 

 

 

76bd08771b34e1a028956e56884eaa68.jpg

 

 

~ Judy

 

I would love to email someone about it. Do you know who the proper person would be? $35 is not a big deal but it's not about the money... I just found it very annoying. I would love to just tell them that there were upset people and they need to clarify on the website. I searched everywhere to see what was included and all descriptions were completely vague... but you'd think at least they would allow people to be ordering medium beverages. It was more inconvenient to have to keep track of a punch card that didn't save me any money.

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Mr. Baley? mbayley@rccl.com

Guest Relations? royalguestrelations@rccl.com

 

I agree - it's not the money, it's the principle. It shouldn't have to be a guessing game from ship to ship. And actually in some cases it could be the money. At 3 punches for some, you could wind up getting only 5 coffees out of a card.

 

I had initially purchased the coffee card to supplement the soda packages I bought my grandsons for our upcoming Allure cruise. Then I read all the threads about inconsistencies on the various ships, or even on the same ship (frappes included, not included, multiple punches, etc.) and decided to upgrade them to the replenish package when it went on sale for $18. They really got their money out of it on our last cruise and one less hassle.

 

~ Judy

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Just curious if you were on the Anthem? They were definitely punching the card twice for a double shot of espresso. At each location on the Anthem. Every morning I got a double espresso in a small drink and at all 3 locations, with multiple different "baristas" they all punched my card twice. And then once I got a double espresso on its own, and still 2 punches.

 

There was no Starbucks on the Anthem. But at the windjammer where they had iced mochas they were in 16 oz cups, had 2 shots of espresso in them, and punching the cards Twice. 16 oz cups were the only size cold cups they had. (Which would be a "grande"). My husband got their version of the caramel frappuccino and they punched his card twice.

Basically the card just makes you breakeven if you need more than a single shot of espresso to get ya going in the morning :)

 

 

Yup- just off anthem this morning. My husband had several double espresso shots and one punch each time. One punch for the "frap" but 2 for any other iced drink since they are only "large".

 

 

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Just thought I would post this on here to give a heads up to anyone thinking about purchasing the 15 punch coffee card... I just got off the Anthem and they were only allowing smalls with the coffee card. Small was probably a 10oz cup, or only 1 shot of espresso. If you wanted a medium or large, or two shots of espresso, they were punching it twice. It was enforced everywhere, la patasserie, windjammer, 270, etc. they were explaining it to everyone purchasing the card. if I would have known this I would not have purchased the card online before the cruise.

 

I wanted two shots of espresso in a small, and yes, still two punches then. Wasn't worth the $36.

 

A different opinion:

I bought my card on board in January. It was good for me. A small is 12 oz and large is 16 oz.

 

12 oz was good enough for me. Same as a Starbucks tall.

 

But for those wanting larger portions or double shots etc, it may have been a problem.

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Our cruise in January was the same way. I was even on a call with a manager who got in contact with the ships food and beverage manager to verify if that's what they were actual doing on the Anthem. The manager in Miami said that the way the card was being done on the ship was totally wrong and that it should be one punch for any drink on any ship in the fleet that it's offered. Looks to me like they have a new advertisement on board instead and haven't updated the site. We got the same punch card on the Grandeur and it was 1 punch for any drink.

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On Liberty in April it was also one punch for any drink.

 

We are on Anthem in August and I had been planning to buy the coffee card. I think I will still buy it and print out the verbiage from the web site. If they refuse to honor it I will go to guest services for a refund. And tell them they will be getting a bad review on the survey which seems to motivate them.

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Wow, thank you so much for posting this! I have it in my cart but I already had questions just from the online description... what does "or 50% off" mean if you've already got the card, for example, or in tiny print "not applicable at any Starbucks-licensed venue" which may or may not mean Latte-Tudes, which prominently displays the Starbucks logo. I envisioned a nice morning latte, an after-supper cappuccino and a mocha frappe mid-day but now I'm not so sure this would be worth it.

 

Starbucks coffee might be fine with a double shot but I get three in my 16 oz. mocha at my "local," which would use up the card pretty quickly.

 

Again, thanks for the heads-up. (I am not going on Anthem but it looks like the "new" policy will be fleet-wide.)

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... or in tiny print "not ready got tapplicable at any Starbucks-licensed venue" which may or may not mean Latte-Tudes, which prominently displays the Starbucks logo. ...

Cafe Latte-Tudes is not a Starbucks licensed venue. Currently, the only ships with Starbucks licensed venues are Oasis class.

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Its the ROYAL coffee scam - I is ONE punch for ANY coffee!

BUT the F+B managers on-board are trying to scam you - IF you complain you will get ANY coffee for ONE punch....but if you do not fight for it they will scam you into two punches....just had this on Indy any time I would show up I could get a grande Latte for one punch - when my wife would show up they would try to take two punches....until we informed them we are together - when publicly questioned the F+B manager denied they were taking 2 punches - he claimed his staff was making a mistake.... what a scam!

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Its the ROYAL coffee scam - I is ONE punch for ANY coffee!

BUT the F+B managers on-board are trying to scam you - IF you complain you will get ANY coffee for ONE punch....but if you do not fight for it they will scam you into two punches....just had this on Indy any time I would show up I could get a grande Latte for one punch - when my wife would show up they would try to take two punches....until we informed them we are together - when publicly questioned the F+B manager denied they were taking 2 punches - he claimed his staff was making a mistake.... what a scam!

 

Trust me they were fighting everyone on it. Myself included. I told multiple people that on the website it said ANY drink and they did not care. They had the signs out in full force and were informing every single person when they picked up the coffee card they only got a small or it was two punches. It looked like they braced themselves for an arguement ahead of time because they were all on the same page and very insistent.

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On Liberty in April it was also one punch for any drink.

 

We are on Anthem in August and I had been planning to buy the coffee card. I think I will still buy it and print out the verbiage from the web site. If they refuse to honor it I will go to guest services for a refund. And tell them they will be getting a bad review on the survey which seems to motivate them.

 

If I were you, I would just hold off and buy it onboard. They made us go pick it up in the cafe anyway. It wasn't delivered to the stateroom or anything, so they could inform each and every person about the small only policy. It's the same price onboard. So you would be saving yourself a guest services hassle if you choose to not buy it... and you can hear the rules straight from them.

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Trust me they were fighting everyone on it. Myself included. I told multiple people that on the website it said ANY drink and they did not care. They had the signs out in full force and were informing every single person when they picked up the coffee card they only got a small or it was two punches. It looked like they braced themselves for an arguement ahead of time because they were all on the same page and very insistent.

Your experience is a lot different than mine!

 

You did not read my post all the way - when I told them this is against policy set by Miami and I want it in writing - the F+B manager denied they were taking 2 punches .....

So the people that fought got ANY coffee for 1 punch - others had to pay 2 punches....

 

I would buy ahead and fight them - with the printout from the website in hand! It says ANY coffee!

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Your experience is a lot different than mine!

 

You did not read my post all the way - when I told them this is against policy set by Miami and I want it in writing - the F+B manager denied they were taking 2 punches .....

So the people that fought got ANY coffee for 1 punch - others had to pay 2 punches....

 

I would buy ahead and fight them - with the printout from the website in hand! It says ANY coffee!

 

Oh I absolutely believe you. I'm just saying I think my experience was different possibly because I was on a different ship. there were actual signs out saying it was 2 punches for medium and large drinks. So they wouldn't have been able to deny it. It absolutely was their set policy on the Anthem. And i did argue with each and every one of them... not sure what would have happened if I would have seen the actual FB manager. But who knows how long that would have taken. Not worth the aggravation on vacation! The coffee places were chaos.

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Someone should have taken a picture and questioned Miami about this - when their website states something different!

After all Miami sets the rules and the F+B manager just tries to milk the passengers so he gets his bonus...

 

... not sure what would have happened if I would have seen the actual FB manager. But who knows how long that would have taken. Not worth the aggravation on vacation!

 

 

That is why the scam works and what the F+B manager counts on!

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I posted on another thread recently about this. We were on GR last month and bought the card. It was one punch for any drink/any size. We usually got grande (med) sized and it was one punch.

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