Signature Beverage Card program changed

We had the "free" Signature Beverage Card (SBC) program on both our January Westerdam cruise and our recent May Massdam one.

The procedure has changed. On the January one we were given a special card to use for the beverage purchases. Nice and easy and no paper receipt slips involved. Only issue was that you had to be careful that you gave the server your SBC card instead of your cabin key (I did this once).

On the May cruise, we were instructed to sign up with the front desk to activate our SBC program. After that, we just used our cabin key for beverage purchases. We did get a receipt each time, which was a minor inconvenience, but not a huge deal (had a drawer full of them by the end of the cruise (i kept them as I did not trust HAL's new system)). In the end, everything worked as advertised and no charges hit my cabin bill.

Just a heads up for everyone.

Thanks for the information.

We have this perq for our next cruise!

Hope there isn't a long line-up at the Front Desk!

Thanks so much for the heads up. Inconvenience to have to activate it but a necessary control it seems.

Thanks so much for the heads up. Inconvenience to have to activate it but a necessary control it seems.

We had a card telling us to sign and return to the front desk. Did not take long at all.

Thanks for the update on the SBP. Really looking forward to the benefits on our January cruise.

Thanks for the update Dave! I'll still miss the standalone SBP card though. It was golden-hued, and made me feel special. (Not as special as a retreat cabana / Oasis of Awesome, but a real self esteem booster nonetheless.)

Thank you for the update.

On our Zuiderdam cruises in February and March, we also had the Signature Beverage Card thanks to the Explore4 program.

We never got any receipts whenever we ordered drinks.

The only time we have gotten receipts is when we bought and used the Beverage Cards -- so that you could keep track of how much you had left on the card.

Thank you for the update.

On our Zuiderdam cruises in February and March, we also had the Signature Beverage Card thanks to the Explore4 program.

We never got any receipts whenever we ordered drinks.

The only time we have gotten receipts is when we bought and used the Beverage Cards -- so that you could keep track of how much you had left on the card.

I meant to ask you - Did they give you Grey Goose on your SBP?

Thank you for the update.

On our Zuiderdam cruises in February and March, we also had the Signature Beverage Card thanks to the Explore4 program.

We never got any receipts whenever we ordered drinks.

The only time we have gotten receipts is when we bought and used the Beverage Cards -- so that you could keep track of how much you had left on the card.

We never got receipts with Explore4....that must be the difference with actually purchasing the Signature package. I loved Explore 4.....one day I did record all the water, soda, coffee, drinks and wine....on a day we overindulged. We came close to the cost of the package....not worth it to us. I'd rather pay by the drink, without the package and not feel I had to beat the system to get our money's worth. I think people may not understand that HAL has it figured out...you don't get anything for free. We didn't know we had Explore4....our TA never gave us 2 prices for the cruise, with or without. That's ok...we enjoyed it!

We never got receipts with Explore4....that must be the difference with actually purchasing the Signature package. I loved Explore 4.....one day I did record all the water, soda, coffee, drinks and wine....on a day we overindulged. We came close to the cost of the package....not worth it to us. I'd rather pay by the drink, without the package and not feel I had to beat the system to get our money's worth. I think people may not understand that HAL has it figured out...you don't get anything for free. We didn't know we had Explore4....our TA never gave us 2 prices for the cruise, with or without. That's ok...we enjoyed it!

We did not get the receipts on the first cruise, but did on the second. They told us that the procedure changed in mid-April.

With there only being one card do you still need to wait 5 minutes between ordering wine and soda water? And what about when I order something for my children who will not have a charge account on there cards?

With there only being one card do you still need to wait 5 minutes between ordering wine and soda water? And what about when I order something for my children who will not have a charge account on there cards?

As far as I know, you still have the 5 minute wait, but I never tested it.

Do not know how the children will be handled, but since you only get two SBCs for each cabin, I would think you could charge their drinks to your normal cabin account.

We had our "cooler/refrigerator" emptied first day and then we proceeded to fill it up with sodas and beer from the bars. That way we did not have to chase down a drink when we wanted one in our cabin. Could use that for the children?

Thanks for the update Dave! I'll still miss the standalone SBP card though. It was golden-hued, and made me feel special. (Not as special as a retreat cabana / Oasis of Awesome, but a real self esteem booster nonetheless.)

POA, you got it going on regardless. :D

We had a card telling us to sign and return to the front desk. Did not take long at all.

Sure will beat having to take out a separate SBP card every time. Thanks again for the heads up.

We never got receipts with Explore4....that must be the difference with actually purchasing the Signature package. I loved Explore 4.....one day I did record all the water, soda, coffee, drinks and wine....on a day we overindulged. We came close to the cost of the package....not worth it to us. I'd rather pay by the drink, without the package and not feel I had to beat the system to get our money's worth. I think people may not understand that HAL has it figured out...you don't get anything for free. We didn't know we had Explore4....our TA never gave us 2 prices for the cruise, with or without. That's ok...we enjoyed it!

We were curious about our usage of the Explore4 package on our last cruise and were able to get an activity print out for the beverage package from the front desk. Neither of us used the whole daily allowance and the information is also helpful for future cruises when we have to compare pricing with and without a SBP.

As far as I know, you still have the 5 minute wait, but I never tested it.

 

Do not know how the children will be handled, but since you only get two SBCs for each cabin, I would think you could charge their drinks to your normal cabin account.

 

We had our "cooler/refrigerator" emptied first day and then we proceeded to fill it up with sodas and beer from the bars. That way we did not have to chase down a drink when we wanted one in our cabin. Could use that for the children?

My guess would be that if you order before the 5 minute window, it would be charged to your onboard account. And since you are not allowed to share, any beverages for the children would also be charged to the cabin card.

Just speculating, but please come back and let us know how it was handled.

Had the Explore 4 on the Veendam last week. Used our room key, got receipts and was able to get multiple soft drinks, waters and specialty coffees on one card at the same time. Never a question asked. And we didn't have to register it at the front desk. We got an interim bill to check if it was working and while the charges did show, there were credits right next to them showing them REMOVED as well. All were zeroed out by the end of the cruise.

Just got back from a 19-day cruise on the Rotterdam. We had the SBC as part of the Explore 4 Program. We didn't have to activate anything at the front desk (that I know of), although our room cards didn't work when we got on, so had to go to the front desk to get new ones. We didn't have any restrictions on time between drinks or how many drinks we could buy (most were coffee, water, soda and rum/coke). It was great that I could go get a coffee for both my husband and myself and only have to use my card. It appears that HAL is now only concerned that you don't exceed the 15? drinks per day. This was the first time we had the SBC, but I certainly wouldn't buy it as we only used $550 of the $1800 value...I guess we just don't drink enough!

Used the Explore4 promotion last week on the Noordam. I got two cans of soda or two bottles of Perrier water at the same time while always getting a receipt. I didn't share but did seem to have a few left in the minibar when the promotion ran out on our first week:).

We returned from our Eurodam cruise 2 weeks ago. We used our room card, no activation needed, no time limits or drink limits other than the daily limit. We enjoyed the Explore 4, taking advantage of bottled water, pop, specialty coffees, and of course drinks. Since our cruise price only dropped $100 PP, it was definitely worth it.