CruisingViper

think of it as getting free bottled water with each OJ

eat, then go to the cabin, then explore. our cheers package doesn't start till the second day, so we'll use the obo for a drink in the afternoon or dinner.

The lido buffet usually won't be as crowded if you get there before 1, so we'll hit that, or the deli for a reuben, or the BBQ place if they have it. or who am I kidding, probably all 3.

18 hours ago, cruiser8607 said:

For any of you who have done cheers and are

Moderate drinkers, did you like it?   We are always on the fence if we can keep up but paying for drinks individually ruins the vacation vibe.  We really only drink mixed drinks and prefer alchemy drinks.

It's great if you don't want to worry about drink prices, and especially if you're an alchemy fan. Cheers is $52 a day, which means if you just have 4-5 drinks a day at alchemy, you're pretty much there. Even if you just do 2-3 drinks at alchemy, then you add in some wine at dinner and a mixed drink or two during the day, that's pretty close to covering too. Then you add in the lattes and coffee every morning, the shakes and bottled water, and you can make it work easily.

There's also something to be said for being able to try any drink and any high-end liquor or wine you want. If you are paying by the drink, you may stick with wells or your usual mid-level liquor or wine. With Cheers you can try all the high end stuff, and the 18 year old scotch in the steakhouse bar.

I like to try all that. My wife is planning on using it mostly for specialty coffees, bottle water, champagne at brunch, maybe a glass of wine at dinner, and a couple of drink at alchemy. Even with that, you can be close to making it work financially. Even if you don't though, for instance on port days which can be hard, it's like you said, there's the ability to just let your mind relax and be fully on vacation. 

Did the Vista have the new Brunch menu?

Did you try any of the new features of the ship like the IMAX or SkyRide?

I have amex through amex not wells fargo so I can't say for sure with your situation, but I log into amex website and towards the bottom there's a section for "Offers" and I look at the list of available ones and hit the "add to card" button.

There's also a way to do it on twitter with the amex twitter account but I forgot how that works or if you can still do that.

Thanks for the heads up. We always book way in advance and use these offers to save hundreds every cruise.

are regular messaging apps when on the social package more reliable?

"Thermal Suite and Thalassotherapy Pool"

can someone explain to me what these are? my wife likes spa's so I've thought about getting a cloud 9 room for us for free access to this stuff but I'm not sure how much I'd use it. Is the thermal suite just like a sauna and the thalassotherapy pool like a salt water pool?

17 hours ago, Alabaster Cruiser said:

Of course the only real football is SEC Football.

17 hours ago, mpdog42 said:

Very True!!  and not carrying the SEC Network on board is a direct violation of both Federal and International Law!!😀

 

Mike

Go Mizzou

ha, like mizzou is actually sec.

jk, but seriously I caught college football at the red frog 2 years ago but I seem to remember their channel contracts changed last year so I think it will depend on what channel it's on.

wife and I became regulars at alchemy as soon as we started getting the cheers drink package. The drinks are just about all great and they can make up new drinks. I told them I really liked that XO horchata liquor and they made sort of a chocolate spiked milk with it. I also taught them how to make a suffering bastard which was my favorite drink, although that cost 2 drink charges I think.

how reliable is the messaging in the hub app? I seem to remember sometimes not getting messages until 30 mins later. Is it the same with other messaging apps like whatsapp and facebook messenger?

13 hours ago, RHilla619 said:

If you have a $200 OBC it can be "used" for the Cheers package if you purchase it while on board. Meaning lets say the package cost you $400 and your account starts + $200 because of the OBC; when the Cheers charge hits your account the account will now show - $200, meaning you only owe $200 for the cheers package because of your OBC. Hope this makes sense.

 

The only down side is buying the package onboard, the only way to use OBC for it, does cost more per day. I think about $5 more a day.

 

Personally I won't cruise without Cheers. Besides the 15 drinks it also includes bottled waters, sodas, sports/energy drinks, and coffees from the coffee shop. Not hard to "break even" on the daily cost when you factor in the non-alcoholic drinks and what they cost a la carte too.

 

13 hours ago, xostacylee said:

Thank you, makes perfect sense! That's what I was wondering.

 

We didn't realize all the additional elements it includes, though we were planning on bringing on the case of soda + two bottles of wine between us to offset some of the cost. But we love our energy drinks and coffee, so that may be an added benefit. 

 

Appreciate your insight!

I also think an underappreciated aspect of Cheers is that it includes all alcohol, so you can try all the "high end" liquors you might usually not try since they cost so much more than your regular liquor you drink. The "highest end" stuff can be found at the bar in the steakhouse. 

1 hour ago, Tapi said:

I read a lot too, but I haven’t purchased a paper book in years. Kindle is what I’ve been using. Probably a big reason why the Hub App was more practical to me than the paper Fun Times.

23 minutes ago, scpirate said:

They quit printing on paper.millenials  can't read. everything they need to know is on YouTube.

1 hour ago, elcuchio24 said:

 

WINNER! 1000000 points for you

7 minutes ago, elcuchio24 said:

 

Print is dead 

Oh, that's very fascinating to me. I read a lot myself

The valor had to double back on Sunday morning for a medical emergency too. I heard it was a kid with appendicitis and the coast guard flew a helicopter out to get him.

In Galveston. Anyone know why? There was some black smoke coming out of their right exhaust but maybe thats because they were trying to hurry back to dock.

Yes talking Caribbean here

I've done mostly Nov and March cruises in the past so I'm wondering how hot it will get on deck at night and during the day. Am I going to be sweating in pants and a long sleeve shirt walking to dinner? During the day, where do you like to cool down at?

I thought I read that you should not bring your own hair dryer.

On Dream class the taste bar is a small breakfast bar in the morning. Great alternative to the buffet and right next to the coffee bar.

I remember this on Breeze last year. It was really great to wake up and stumble over to the coffee bar and grab some fruit or danish while waiting for my coffee to be made.

I also liked the sushi restaurant on the Breeze. I don't remember it being packed, but it wasn't empty either. The fish was good and the prices were really great.

Anyone have any updates?

Yes, Germany and Brazil finally won a match while England destroyed Panama 6-1.

But in all seriousness, I'll try to update on the status of the games being shown on Carnival when I get on my cruise next week.

note, they do serve coffee with alcohol in it (Caribbean coffee, Irish coffee, etc) those will count against the 15 drink limit.

yes you add it through the app once on board.

It might depend on the ages, but it looks like they open on arrival in port

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1074

• Port Days: Supervised free play begins from port arrival until approximately 2:00pm; scheduled activities resume at 2:00pm until 10:00pm. This service is complimentary.
  

also note:

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1397

Leaving Children On Board While in Port

If parents decide to leave their children in the care of the Youth Staff while in port, we ask that parents show their tour ticket to the Youth Staff so in case of emergency, the Youth Staff can contact the appropriate Tour Operator who will inform the parents to return to the ship. For non-Carnival tours, the Youth Staff will not have a way to contact the guests in case of emergency.

Yeah. The sommelier gave the maitre de a look of haughty disgust when I smuggled the slice of key lime pie past him. He almost soiled himself with indignation.

would you say he had a sour look on his face?