TheBigEarl

I was on a cruise with a friend a couple months ago who utilized the Cheers program on Carnival. It worked out pretty well for him. He kept track of his spending vs. what it would have cost him if he paid per drink and he definitely came out ahead, but I would also say he probably got more drinks than he would have if he was paying per drink.

Bottled beer is 5.50 for a 16 oz bottle for domestics from the bars. Import brands of beers are about the same price but usually for a 12 oz size. If you get a bucket of 4 they knock a couple bucks off the price. For the ships that have upgraded to have draft beer, it ranges anywhere from 4.50 for a 16 oz glass all the way up to about 25 bucks for a 110 oz beer tube with a serving spout. Standard call drinks and basic frozen drinks range from 6 to 10 bucks, and they have almost all of the big name brands (in fact, I've never seen any "generic" liquors on any of our cruises. The fancy frozen and special drinks vary in price but are typically 12-15 dollars for a 16-20oz size drink with a keeper mug.

Now on the Cheers - it includes any standard beer or mixed drink up to 10 dollars. So you won't be able to get the fancy drink of the day types on it, or the beer tubes. You also can only get drinks one at a time, and have to be spaced out at least 10 minutes apart. Everytime you get a drink they run your card and give you a receipt to sign, the drink is put on your account, and then you are credited the cost of the drink back. So at the end of the cruise my friend had a 3-4 page sign and sail report of every drink and credit.

Originally I think they were going to do the cheers program on a day by day basis, but as of now you can only buy it during the first couple of days of the cruise, and you have to buy it for the full duration of the cruise. My friend got it the second day, and they charged him for all days including the first, but they also credited back the drinks he purchased before he bought the program. Also, if one person in a cabin gets the Cheers package, all persons in that cabin of drinking age have to buy it as well. It's unlimited drinks, but my friend also said they did track how many you have had per day and I suppose they could potentially cut you off it you get so many drinks that they think you might be sharing them or are dangerously drunk.

Anyway, hope that helps. I would definitely check with the program when you get on ship since its a pretty new thing and the above could change. Have fun!

TBE

If you have enough time to make the walk from one plane to the other for the flight, odds are your bags will beat you to your departing flight every time. Seems like in this department the charging for the bags by the airlines has worked pretty well at speeding up the baggage handling by reducing the bags. The worst baggage problem ive had in the last 4 years (and I fly regularly for work) was someone pickup up my carry on by mistake and having to chase them down to swap bags :eek: (in their defense they were identical)

We also do ship packages down to our hotel with our work equipment ahead of our flights due to size, but it can get expensive to get fast and guaranteed delivery dates. And if you do this, be SURE to call ahead and advise the hotel that you have packages coming and who's name they will have on them. We had a hotel reject our equipment shipment a few weeks ago because no one called ahead of time to tell them to expect it. Made that week's work a LOT of fun :D

Can you please explain how does the tips work ? Do we get one server for the day so just tip him/her at the end or you get different servers and tip as you order drink, food etc..

 

Also, what would be a reasonable tip amount ?

You will get one server who will be bringing your food/drinks/etc. to your lounging area. Both times I've been there, I've just tipped him at the end (even got the same guy both times!). I gave $10/person in our group and he seemed very pleased. Of course, I ran him up and down the beach a lot bringing me beers too :D

Try some Havana Club rum if you get the chance. That and Ron Zapaca 20 year old are two of the best Ive had. If there ever was a sipping rum, these are it. You should be able to find both of these in Cayman, although they will be MUCH cheaper if you happen to be going to Belize or Honduras.