What do you think about unlimited beer and alcohol packages?

[luddite]

Read it again and put the commas where they should be. Here is how it was posted:

 

Originally Posted by lulubell

This kind of drinking is plain dangerous especially on cruises with kids.

Except for the bad example think all these booze pumped uninhibited adults around others especially minors.

 

Now with the commas:

 

Originally Posted by lulubell

This kind of drinking is plain dangerous, especially on cruises with kids.

Except for the bad example, think all these booze pumped uninhibited adults around others, especially minors.

 

I can see how it could be interpreted, but when you place the commas correctly into the sentences, it sounds like she was just alluding to adults setting a bad example by being drunk around minors. Just my interpretation...Don't shoot me...LOL.

 

jcruise

 

Interesting take. That wasn't what I interpreted.

[ovccruiser]

It seems to me there are enough drunk people and people falling overboard without essentially making it an "all you can drink" cruise.

 

I wish some people would read all the thread, we are not discussing a free for all, we are discussing the merits or otherwise of a pre purchased drinks card similar to the soda cards and at what level these cards should be priced, maybe you just want to get your post count up:cool:

[RetireeWannabee]

Whatever I drink has nothing to do with setting an example for anyone's kids. That's not my job, it's not my role. Anyone that expects every adult to be a role model for their kids is trying to delegate their parental duty. If I get drunk, so what? Do you expect your kids to never see someone drunk? If that's the case, don't ever take them to a wedding or ballgame. Plenty of other social events you might need to shelter the kids from, like, oh, Family Reunions ...

[BroncosFan2010]

Whatever I drink has nothing to do with setting an example for anyone's kids. That's not my job, it's not my role. Anyone that expects every adult to be a role model for their kids is trying to delegate their parental duty. If I get drunk, so what? Do you expect your kids to never see someone drunk? If that's the case, don't ever take them to a wedding or ballgame. Plenty of other social events you might need to shelter the kids from, like, oh, Family Reunions ...

 

 

HAHA! Well said! It is not OUR responsibility to raise others children. It is time to take responsibility for the children YOU had and be their role model, teach them right from wrong, and teach them to make good choices.

 

However, you will never seem me drunk on a cruise ship! WAY to expensive, even with the alcohol packages!

[antonhabiru]

No good; Health hazard and Security danger. Drunkards are a bonanza for the operator but at what price ? Even supersized vessels are a confined space, and the rest of the guests ? Drinking is fine when safely moderated with class and discretion. The operator should easy the processing of an order but watch out for any abuse. Fun should never turn out in despair.

[luddite]

No good; Health hazard and Security danger. Drunkards are a bonanza for the operator but at what price ? Even supersized vessels are a confined space, and the rest of the guests ? Drinking is fine when safely moderated with class and discretion. The operator should easy the processing of an order but watch out for any abuse. Fun should never turn out in despair.

 

Can anyone translate this for us?

[pg.]

Whatever I drink has nothing to do with setting an example for anyone's kids. That's not my job, it's not my role. Anyone that expects every adult to be a role model for their kids is trying to delegate their parental duty. If I get drunk, so what? Do you expect your kids to never see someone drunk? If that's the case, don't ever take them to a wedding or ballgame. Plenty of other social events you might need to shelter the kids from, like, oh, Family Reunions ...

 

Actually,, I guess with your attitude perhaps your family weddings and reunions are drunk fests.. ours are not, we tend to behave ourselves. I guess we are just different.

 

My kids do see drunks,, downtown,, homeless and panhandling usually.

 

And , the cruise ship decks are public space, not your private home,, so yes, I do expect

EVERYONE to behave with a little couth, something some drunks have a problem doing. I can sure say that from eyewitness experience.

[beachchick]

I wish some people would read all the thread, we are not discussing a free for all, we are discussing the merits or otherwise of a pre purchased drinks card similar to the soda cards and at what level these cards should be priced, maybe you just want to get your post count up:cool:

 

Actually, isn't what paul929207 stated pretty much exactly one of the things we're discussing here? Seems to go pretty well with the fifth option on the poll, doesn't it? I think it does.

 

Can anyone translate this for us?

 

Nope. I'm clueless as to the content.

 

beachchick

[ovccruiser]

Actually, isn't what paul929207 stated pretty much exactly one of the things we're discussing here? Seems to go pretty well with the fifth option on the poll, doesn't it? I think it does.

 

 

beachchick

 

No I think paul929207 has read it as a free package, my interpretation anyway:D

[RetireeWannabee]

Actually,, I guess with your attitude perhaps your family weddings and reunions are drunk fests.. ours are not, we tend to behave ourselves. I guess we are just different.

 

My kids do see drunks,, downtown,, homeless and panhandling usually.

 

And , the cruise ship decks are public space, not your private home,, so yes, I do expect

EVERYONE to behave with a little couth, something some drunks have a problem doing. I can sure say that from eyewitness experience.

 

I think it's relatively universal that people drink at weddings and family reunions, but if your family teetotals, good for them. I certainly would not describe most I've been to as "drunkfests", however.

 

My attitude?? whatever. I'm not the one assuming the homeless are drunks. Take a closer look next time and figure out how many lost their jobs and then their homes with alcohol having nothing to do with it.

 

There are alcoholics in my family, I am not one of them, and am very aware that makes me more susceptible to the disease. But I think that in most families it can be difficult to hang with all the relatives and it's made somewhat easier with a little drinkie. Allows the ridicule and criticism targeted at me to roll right off.

[spongerob]

I wish some people would read all the thread, we are not discussing a free for all, we are discussing the merits or otherwise of a pre purchased drinks card similar to the soda cards and at what level these cards should be priced, maybe you just want to get your post count up:cool:

I totally agree. Enough with the moralizing already.

[pg.]

I think it's relatively universal that people drink at weddings and family reunions, but if your family teetotals, good for them. I certainly would not describe most I've been to as "drunkfests", however.

 

My attitude?? whatever. I'm not the one assuming the homeless are drunks. Take a closer look next time and figure out how many lost their jobs and then their homes with alcohol having nothing to do with it.

 

There are alcoholics in my family, I am not one of them, and am very aware that makes me more susceptible to the disease. But I think that in most families it can be difficult to hang with all the relatives and it's made somewhat easier with a little drinkie. Allows the ridicule and criticism targeted at me to roll right off.

 

 

We are not teetotalers. There is a way to drink without getting stupid drunk.

 

Drunks on the street reek of booze and sit near their puke,, don't act like you have a clue about it,, I have worked( volunteered) in shelters,, and other then mental illnesses,, drug and alcohol abuse are the MAIN issues. They are MOSTLY not clean living hard working people out of work, and the few that ARE,, recover and get jobs and places to live a lot quicker. Chronic homelessness is mostly due to substance abuse or mental illness .

 

I am not targetting you other then your attitude that kids should be used to seeing drunks, and get over it. NO,, kids should not have to see it,, it may happen,, but your atttitude that you posted about how people should be able to act the way they want( meaning get drunk) in PUBLIC and parents who care about it are abdicating their responsibilty is baloney.

 

You can have sex in your cabin,, but not in front of my kid at the pool deck. Sex is neither illegal or uncommon, but it does not mean it is ok to conduct yourself like that in PUBLIC.

 

Thats the point. Unlimited drinking passes will encourage those who cannot or will not limit theirselves.. and they in turn can make the cruise unpleasant for others. If as you say you have alcoholic in your family then YOU KNOW drunks can take any gathering and turn it ugly .

 

I think a card that gives a discount ( say 4 drinks for 20 bucks instead of 5.50 each drink) sound like a good idea. Not an all you can drink card, simply becuase" all you can drink" varies between normal and abuse easily and some people just don't see themselves.

[luddite]

Oh stop!

The difference between a drunk and an alchoholic is that drunks don't hafta go to all those meetings!

[RCOM]

We are not teetotalers. There is a way to drink without getting stupid drunk.

 

Drunks on the street reek of booze and sit near their puke,, don't act like you have a clue about it,, I have worked( volunteered) in shelters,, and other then mental illnesses,, drug and alcohol abuse are the MAIN issues. They are MOSTLY not clean living hard working people out of work, and the few that ARE,, recover and get jobs and places to live a lot quicker. Chronic homelessness is mostly due to substance abuse or mental illness .

 

I am not targetting you other then your attitude that kids should be used to seeing drunks, and get over it. NO,, kids should not have to see it,, it may happen,, but your atttitude that you posted about how people should be able to act the way they want( meaning get drunk) in PUBLIC and parents who care about it are abdicating their responsibilty is baloney.

 

You can have sex in your cabin,, but not in front of my kid at the pool deck. Sex is neither illegal or uncommon, but it does not mean it is ok to conduct yourself like that in PUBLIC.

 

Thats the point. Unlimited drinking passes will encourage those who cannot or will not limit theirselves.. and they in turn can make the cruise unpleasant for others. If as you say you have alcoholic in your family then YOU KNOW drunks can take any gathering and turn it ugly .

 

I think a card that gives a discount ( say 4 drinks for 20 bucks instead of 5.50 each drink) sound like a good idea. Not an all you can drink card, simply becuase" all you can drink" varies between normal and abuse easily and some people just don't see themselves.

 

Hey, folks, I think you're confusing gonzo drunks with rational, responsible people. Those who tend to get sloppy drunk don't have the sense to know that paying up front actually makes sense. Rather, they look at the up front price tag and say, "Whoa, that's way too much. I'll never spend that." Then, at the end of the cruise, they get their bill and are shocked at how much they spent.

 

My guess is that there is an inverse relationship between the sloppy drunks and the purchasers of the package. I postulate that those who purchase the package are simply rational and responsible enough to be able to honestly calculate their expenditures and choose the most cost effective option. These types of folks are also rational and responsible enough to know that it's not good to be sloppy drunk in public.

 

But we can test this. If you witness someone who is getting out of line, lacking in decorum, etc., simply ask if they purchased one of those all you can drink packages and report back your results to the CC community. I sure we'd all like to know.

[teeny25]

I think it was be a nice option for some people.. personally I think it would get me in trouble.. tehe. I drink on cruises.. but because of the price I pace myself, I may get tipsy but never hungover drunk. I'm from a collage town where drinks are expensive(the same as cruise drink prices..if not more) and hardly get hungover when I go out..but when I go to my small hometown where drinks are 2-3 bucks vs 6-8 I find I drink way too much.. I think this would be the same if I bought unlimited.. some people might get their moneys worth tho.. :)

[pg.]

I think it was be a nice option for some people.. personally I think it would get me in trouble.. tehe. I drink on cruises.. but because of the price I pace myself, I may get tipsy but never hungover drunk. I'm from a collage town where drinks are expensive(the same as cruise drink prices..if not more) and hardly get hungover when I go out..but when I go to my small hometown where drinks are 2-3 bucks vs 6-8 I find I drink way too much.. I think this would be the same if I bought unlimited.. some people might get their moneys worth tho.. :)

 

Exactly right,, we all know we tend to eat more at an all you can eat place,, and many people do feel they need to "get their moneys worth" at all inclusives etc.

 

If they were selling glasses of ice cold kir royales( champane and cassis) by the pool for 2 bucks,, I know I would be tempted to have more then 2 or 3,, but at 10 bucks a pop,, I am not tempted at all, LOL

[cruiseman111111]

I might not know where I've been with unlim booze.

[RCOM]

I might not know where I've been with unlim booze.

 

It's easy - you just look toward aft and point!:p

[weltek]

This is where cruiselines have been losing out to all-inclusives, so it only makes sense they will go this direction. Will a few people abuse it? Yes, but a few people already abuse alcohol and are obnoxious. They'd be wise to ramp up security a bit when the line offers these.

 

We would purchase one beer package for DH if you could only do it on sea days.

 

On port days, it wouldn't be worth it, as we generally would only have two beers and are sleepy after a busy day!

[jcruise67]

This is where cruiselines have been losing out to all-inclusives, so it only makes sense they will go this direction. Will a few people abuse it? Yes, but a few people already abuse alcohol and are obnoxious. They'd be wise to ramp up security a bit when the line offers these.

 

We would purchase one beer package for DH if you could only do it on sea days.

 

On port days, it wouldn't be worth it, as we generally would only have two beers and are sleepy after a busy day!

 

Hi Folks...As a TA I can tell you first hand that cruise lines are heading in this direction. Like a cruise line that has a ship built with more balcony staterooms. It is in demand and what more and more cruise pax want. Decisions like booze packages or, all-inclusive cruise options are anticipated from many of the cruise lines. Why...because polls tell us what sells and what pax want. I anticipate this will be an option in the near future but not mandatory. It will be your choice between a traditional cruise or one with all-inclusive (Alcohol) amenities. Still remains to be seen. Trust me, I've been on enough cruises to know that an unlimited liquor package does not indicate that people will over indulge. I've witnessed pax over indulge without it. IMHO...cruises have a tendency to keep away the undesireables because its a more upscale vacation. this also depends on the line you sail with also.

 

jcruise

[beachchick]

If it becomes a mandatory part of cruising, we'll have to forego one of our enjoyable activities. My DH doesn't drink at all and I refuse to subsidize anyone else's alcohol consumption except mine. If we ever booked with a premium (all inclusive) line, it would be for the ships, the itineraries, and the overall level of benefits, and not for the included alcohol. Adding mandatory all-inclusive alcohol to the price of mass market cruises would please many, I'm sure, but I can't imagine we'd be the only ones who wouldn't care to pay an extra couple of hundred dollars per cruise so that others could drink as much as they want. We really enjoy cruising, but not that much.

 

I'm not wild about the idea as an option simply because we see what "all you can" anything does to so many people: "Must gorge/imbibe constantly to get my money's worth." Not such a problem with soda (who gets drunk on plain soda?) or food (although there are probably more, um, eminiations of the unpleasant kind when people overeat), but alcohol is another matter.

 

beachchick

[jcruise67]

If it becomes a mandatory part of cruising, we'll have to forego one of our enjoyable activities. My DH doesn't drink at all and I refuse to subsidize anyone else's alcohol consumption except mine. If we ever booked with a premium (all inclusive) line, it would be for the ships, the itineraries, and the overall level of benefits, and not for the included alcohol. Adding mandatory all-inclusive alcohol to the price of mass market cruises would please many, I'm sure, but I can't imagine we'd be the only ones who wouldn't care to pay an extra couple of hundred dollars per cruise so that others could drink as much as they want. We really enjoy cruising, but not that much.

 

I'm not wild about the idea as an option simply because we see what "all you can" anything does to so many people: "Must gorge/imbibe constantly to get my money's worth." Not such a problem with soda (who gets drunk on plain soda?) or food (although there are probably more, um, eminiations of the unpleasant kind when people overeat), but alcohol is another matter.

 

beachchick

 

Hi beachchick...I would think the cruise lines that did choose to have an alcohol or, some type of liquor package would offer it as an option. All the cruise lines already offer soda and fountain drink cards so a beer, wine or liquor package would be another amenity not mandatory. Making it mandatory would not be advantageous for those who did not drink thus, cruise lines would lose this type of clientele which is not good for the industry. Cruise lines pride themselves on their reputations so I can see this as a potential option in lieu of making it mandatory.

[Goldryder]

Personally I have found that Costa offer the best value drinks packages....they are not advertised on the website and only bookable in advance via your TA or the cruise line direct, with a minimum of 5 days prior to departure.

 

There are a variety of combinations...both full and non alcholic.

 

X1 - lunch & evening meal only, available as full or non alcoholic only variants. Runs at approximately £10/$16.30/€11 per day per person.

 

There is a non alcoholic variant of the X1 available but as yet I've not enquired, but it's likely to be about 25% less than the full version.

 

J2 - all inclusive drinks package, I enquired about the non alcoholic variant of this one for my forthcoming 33 night trip aboard Allegra, works out at £13/$21.20/€15 per person per day.

 

The alcoholic variant would probably be about 50% more.

 

The packages cover drinks up to €7 each regardless of alcoholic or not.

 

The average cost of a soft drink is around €3 with service charge of 15% included, alcoholic drinks are around €5-7 each, so if you went for either of the above packages, you would only need to buy 2-3 drinks per day to make the package pay its way for you especially since the service charge is paid for the package and not individually on each drink purchased.

 

Exact figures can be gained from Costa, the rates above are those quoted by Costa UK for the 2010 season, but they are reasonable value even if you are not a heavy drinker and it also gives the benefit of not having to worry about that end of cruise bar tab that can easily mount up very quickly without you realising.

[TexasHorseLady]

If it becomes a mandatory part of cruising, we'll have to forego one of our enjoyable activities. My DH doesn't drink at all and I refuse to subsidize anyone else's alcohol consumption except mine. If we ever booked with a premium (all inclusive) line, it would be for the ships, the itineraries, and the overall level of benefits, and not for the included alcohol. Adding mandatory all-inclusive alcohol to the price of mass market cruises would please many, I'm sure, but I can't imagine we'd be the only ones who wouldn't care to pay an extra couple of hundred dollars per cruise so that others could drink as much as they want. We really enjoy cruising, but not that much.

 

I'm not wild about the idea as an option simply because we see what "all you can" anything does to so many people: "Must gorge/imbibe constantly to get my money's worth." Not such a problem with soda (who gets drunk on plain soda?) or food (although there are probably more, um, eminiations of the unpleasant kind when people overeat), but alcohol is another matter.

 

beachchick

 

 

We sail Regent. Regent always has all inclusive alcohol (and sodas) for the entire cruise. But even though it's technically "all you can drink" I doubt if anybody on the ship ever thinks of it that way. Nobody's sitting around gulping drinks down to make sure they can get their money's worth...and nobody's walking around sloshed because those free drinks encouraged them to drink more.

 

Instead, the all inclusive alcohol (and sodas) is simply a pleasure because we don't have to stop what we're doing to sign for drinks. No conversations are interrupted and no ambiance is spoiled by someone hovering over us with a pen and paper. With things all inclusive it is more seamless, and gives a feeling of being a guest on the ship instead of that constant annoying nickle and diming to pay for this or that every time we turn around.

[beachchick]

We sail Regent. Regent always has all inclusive alcohol (and sodas) for the entire cruise. But even though it's technically "all you can drink" I doubt if anybody on the ship ever thinks of it that way. Nobody's sitting around gulping drinks down to make sure they can get their money's worth...and nobody's walking around sloshed because those free drinks encouraged them to drink more.

 

Instead, the all inclusive alcohol (and sodas) is simply a pleasure because we don't have to stop what we're doing to sign for drinks. No conversations are interrupted and no ambiance is spoiled by someone hovering over us with a pen and paper. With things all inclusive it is more seamless, and gives a feeling of being a guest on the ship instead of that constant annoying nickle and diming to pay for this or that every time we turn around.

 

We'd love to try Regent. That's one of the lines we'd take for the overall cruise experience. That alcohol is included in a bonus (for me), but I'd not be drinking more than my usual "little bit extra because it's vacation" regardless. I don't like to be drunk and I don't like to be around most people who are.

 

Sadly for us (and at least for now), Regent doesn't fit our cruise budget, so we choose the nicest lines that do. We're okay with the so-called "nickel and diming" because it means that we pay lower base fares and spend our extra money where we want to spend it.

 

beachchick