New to Carnival, drink cards?

Hi all, going on my first Carnival cruise in April and was curious about drink specials they run. On my first cruise on RCI, they sold 10 drink cards for $80. Because this cruise is a port intensive 8day, the Cheers package doesn't make sense to me. Does Carnival offer drink cards or other promotions like RCI?

Thanks

No. The only card (that I'm aware of) is for the specialty coffees. I believe, if you buy six, your next one is free.

There is sometimes a daily promotion with $1-2 off the regular price. For cocktails you can usually make it a double for $3 more.

Hi all, going on my first Carnival cruise in April and was curious about drink specials they run. On my first cruise on RCI, they sold 10 drink cards for $80. Because this cruise is a port intensive 8day, the Cheers package doesn't make sense to me. Does Carnival offer drink cards or other promotions like RCI?

Thanks

Carnival does offer Cruise Cash - which can be used anywhere onboard and is non-refundable (sort of - can cash out with slot machine) and Cruise Bar Cash - which is non-refundable but can only be used for beverage service (bars and restaurants, including additional tips). If you know that Cheers won't work for you but still want the freedom of your bar tab being covered, you could use one of these options. There is a $500 limit of each type per cabin.

They used to have prepaid drink coupons but did away with them years ago. We really enjoyed the fact that we could buy them ahead of time and then have our drinks paid for without having to worry about how much they cost. Just give them a coupon, and that was was that.

They used to have prepaid drink coupons but did away with them years ago. We really enjoyed the fact that we could buy them ahead of time and then have our drinks paid for without having to worry about how much they cost. Just give them a coupon, and that was was that.

Guest Services gives those out sometimes as a peace offering/compensation when something goes wrong. I got six coupons on 2/7/16 for non-alcoholic drinks when my Bottomless Bubbles, case of water, and cake order was canceled without telling me. I unfortunately lost one of them. I got two coupons on 2/9/17 for alcoholic drinks when something else happened.

Guest Services gives those out sometimes as a peace offering/compensation when something goes wrong. I got six coupons on 2/7/16 for non-alcoholic drinks when my Bottomless Bubbles, case of water, and cake order was canceled without telling me. I unfortunately lost one of them. I got two coupons on 2/9/17 for alcoholic drinks when something else happened.

I liked when you could buy them from the FunShops and they would be in your cabin upon arrival. It was so convenient.

I liked when you could buy them from the FunShops and they would be in your cabin upon arrival. It was so convenient.

That's where I could see Cruise Bar Cash working (unless the drink cards were also discounted). You could buy $100 worth and have around 10 drinks. It would be on your card, so nothing to forget in the cabin.

That's where I could see Cruise Bar Cash working (unless the drink cards were also discounted). You could buy $100 worth and have around 10 drinks. It would be on your card, so nothing to forget in the cabin.

They were slightly from what I remember and they were good for any drink up to a certain amount including gratuity. I don’t like Bar Cash because it has to be only used for that. The nice thing about the coupons were even if we didn’t use them all we could save them for the next cruise. Also we didn’t have to keep track of the prices of the drinks and calculate out how much we have left. 1 coupon=1 drink instead of a beer is whatever and a frozen drink is whatever else now subtract that from our “allowance”. But they don’t have them anymore [emoji853].

They were slightly from what I remember and they were good for any drink up to a certain amount including gratuity. I don’t like Bar Cash because it has to be only used for that. The nice thing about the coupons were even if we didn’t use them all we could save them for the next cruise. Also we didn’t have to keep track of the prices of the drinks and calculate out how much we have left. 1 coupon=1 drink instead of a beer is whatever and a frozen drink is whatever else now subtract that from our “allowance”. But they don’t have them anymore [emoji853].

Those sound like they were nice:) I'm not a fan of Bar Cash myself for the same reason (we just have a set budget and pay as we go), but I know a lot of people will be free with their drinking if it's "included" but be more reserved if they are "paying" for each drink.

Cheers is essentially a (mostly) unlimited Bar Cash for that cruise. I could see with general Cruise Cash or OBC that some might still waver on ordering a drink if they are debating spending it elsewhere (fun shops, pictures, specialty dinner).

This is the 3rd post asking about “bar coupons/tickets” recently. I wish Carnival would offer that (Carnival are you reading)!

I’m a drinker, but I mostly drink beer, with an occasional glass of wine with dinner, so cheers isn’t worth t to me. It would be nice to have say 10 or 15 tickets for a set price. Honestly for a 3-4 day cruise or a port intensive cruise that would work for me just fine.

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Because this cruise is a port intensive 8day, the Cheers package doesn't make sense to me.

This is the 3rd post asking about “bar coupons/tickets” recently. I wish Carnival would offer that (Carnival are you reading)!

 

I’m a drinker, but I mostly drink beer, with an occasional glass of wine with dinner, so cheers isn’t worth t to me. It would be nice to have say 10 or 15 tickets for a set price. Honestly for a 3-4 day cruise or a port intensive cruise that would work for me just fine.

 

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I thought I'd read that Princess was doing away with letting their coffee cards carry over from cruise to cruise and I suspect if they had coupons/tickets it would be the same. I understand the appeal of pre-paying a set amount for drinks but wouldn't want the hassle of remembering to carry tickets, trying to keep them dry, etc. If you know roughly how much you think you would drink and that Cheers is more than you need you can always get a gift card for roughly that amount (discounted price with AARP or Allstate, gas points with many grocery stores), load cash on your account, or pre-purchase Cruise Cash (if you need to do small amounts at one time). You would then have "virtual tickets" and nothing to forget in your room.

If you're in port from 800-500 and back on board by 400, that still gives you 8 hours of possible drinking if you crash by midnight. Easily enough time to get your monies worth on Cheers. It can be done with only 5 drinks at Alchemy Bar, 3 before dinner from 530-700, 2 after dinner from 900-1000. That's 1/2 hour per drink.

This works if you want to spend most of your evening at Alchemy and be drinking all evening after a long day in port. And if someone wants to do that more power to them:D:cool::cocktail:

If we were off the ship from 8-4 we would have gotten up around 6, possibly wanted a nap and definitely a shower before dinner. I don't like to rush getting ready so at most I'd have time for one pre-dinner drink. If I've been in the sun all day I probably want to rehydrate with water more than I'd want a cocktail too. I don't want the bar to dictate my entertainment after dinner so we are usually doing some combination of show, RFP (music), piano bar (music), walking the promenade (sea at night:hearteyes:) - I likely wouldn't be near Alchemy (plus I'm guessing it's fairly crowded). If the next day is a sea day we might stay up later, but if it's another early port day with any type of activity planned we will likely want to be in bed by 11 (and not want a bunch of drinks).

I enjoy various drinks on the ship, and like many drink much more at sea than at home. I still like to dictate when, where, and what I drink and let the drinks fit into my plans not my plans fit into my drinking. It's part of why we like anytime dining too - we didn't like traditional dining dictating our evening plans when we tried it.

If Cheers works for you - great, get it. If it doesn't - great, don't get it (and find something that does work for you).

They used to have prepaid drink coupons but did away with them years ago. We really enjoyed the fact that we could buy them ahead of time and then have our drinks paid for without having to worry about how much they cost. Just give them a coupon, and that was was that.

I loved the drink coupon!!!

If you're in port from 800-500 and back on board by 400, that still gives you 8 hours of possible drinking if you crash by midnight. Easily enough time to get your monies worth on Cheers. It can be done with only 5 drinks at Alchemy Bar, 3 before dinner from 530-700, 2 after dinner from 900-1000. That's 1/2 hour per drink.

Considering that the plan for the ports is gonna be somewhat boozy, idk....that's probably a tall order....:p