Soda Card policy change

[ChelseaSailor]

Went on the Westerdam Cruise to Alaska June 30 to July 7. I was disappointed to find out when I got there that Holland's policy on soda cards had changed. Now in the Lido , Bars or Dinning Room when you use the Soda Card you only get fountain drinks instead of can of coke. So if you order in the Lido the waiter has to go to the bar by the Lido pool to get the fountain drink instead of giving you the can he has right on his tray. By the time he gets back the soda is flat and you get less than the can. If you use your room card you can get the canned coke, but you don't get the discount.

 

ChelseaSailor

[PathfinderEss]

Its been like that for awhile now.

[canadianbear]

That is disappointing-I had hoped it was only a rumor :(

[RevNeal]

That's the way it was when the original Soda Cards ... actually, they were stickers that were applied to your room card ... came out. I think that was back in 2004, or something like that.

 

Then, last October aboard the Noordam I discovered that they had gone to cans all the time. That was great. It made ordering my cokes from a bar, in a lounge or on the Lido, equal to the 50% discount I received when I drank a can of coke from my minibar in my cabin (I'm a 4-star mariner).

 

By going back to fountain soda what they've done is more than erase the value of the 50% discount that one gets for buying a soda card. Firstly, one of those glasses that they give you at a bar or even in the Lido is never large enough to hold the contents of a single can. You can usually fill one of those empty glasses about 1.3-1.5 times from the contents of a single can. Secondly, take into account that those glasses/cups are going to about half-filled with frozen water (i.e., ice). That means that, whereas under the soda-can-accounting method you're getting a 50% discount on each can when you purchase the card, when the glasses are supplied from the soda fountain on a glass-per-hit accounting method, you're actually getting only about 1/3 the volume of soda per-hit. You're paying for the volume taken up by the ice whereas, when the accounting was by the can, the ice was supplied gratis.

 

In short, purchasing cans of soda just became the cheaper method of buying soft drinks aboard ship. You don't get any discount, but you're not having to pay for the ice in your glass, nor are you risking it going flat in-transit to you, nor are you having to wait longer for it to be supplied. And, I've always preferred the quality of the soft drink as supplied by the can and not the soda fountain dispenser.

[bcd2010]

...in the Lido , Bars or Dinning Room when you use the Soda Card you only get fountain drinks instead of can of coke.

 

Is this essentially everywhere? I.e., can you get a can of soda anywhere? Mini bar, I suppose. Explorations cafe? Anywhere else?

[sapper1]

Is this essentially everywhere? I.e., can you get a can of soda anywhere? Mini bar, I suppose. Explorations cafe? Anywhere else?

Good to know. We will not be buying any more soda cards. Knowing in advance avoids the frustration that comes with an unwelcome surprise. I hate fountain pop as there never seems to enough fizz or flavours

[RuthC]

How does it work for those sodas that aren't available in fountain form?

In the previous incarnation of the soda card, I was able to get 1/2 can of soda with one punch of the card; a full can for two punches.

There has to be some method to handle non-fountain sodas with this new system, too.

And why can't HAL just pick a soda card method and stick to it for a while? Just a little while??? :rolleyes: This is the fourth system in just a few short years!

[startwin]

When did they start doing that? In April we got cans, no fountain pop (yuk) on the Zuiderdam.

[canadarocks]

I wasn't sure whether we would be purchasing a soda card in September. Now I know for sure not to. We'll be bringing our own for the first time. Silly HAL! :(

[Shmoo here]

We were on the Zaandam Jun3-10 and had a soda card. When we used it, MDR, Explorations Cafe, Mondrian Lounge, piano bar, we got a glass of ice & a can of soda.

 

:)

[RevNeal]

Is this essentially everywhere? I.e., can you get a can of soda anywhere? Mini bar, I suppose. Explorations cafe? Anywhere else?

 

You can get cans anywhere -- from any bar aboard ship -- but you have to buy them one-at-a time, same as buying bottles of beer.

[OVgirl]

Does anyone know the difference in price for the glass of fountain poured soda and the can of soda?

 

Isn't the $50 card used like a debit card, where they deduct the price of your soda each time?

 

Years ago, when we had the punch card, the bars did not have fountain dispensers. Instead, they just poured glasses of soda from the cans.

 

On Nieuw Amsterdam this past February, there were no soda fountains at the bars.

[RevNeal]

We were on the Zaandam Jun3-10 and had a soda card. When we used it, MDR, Explorations Cafe, Mondrian Lounge, piano bar, we got a glass of ice & a can of soda.

 

:)

 

And that's how it was for me the last time I was aboard ship. Apparently HAL is phasing in another policy regarding how to supply soft drinks through the soda card accounting system, and right now it is still inconsistent across the fleet. Perhaps the best approach will be, when one first boards and before one purchases a card, inquire as to how they are fulfilling soda card Orders. Make sure you specifically ask if it's by the can or if it's by the glass as filled from the fountain dispenser at a bar.

[RevNeal]

Does anyone know the difference in price for the glass of fountain poured soda and the can of soda?

 

Isn't the $50 card used like a debit card, where they deduct the price of your soda each time?

 

Yes. The way it worked when i was aboard last, you buy the card for $25 but the actual value is $50 if, and only if, you drink more than $25 worth of soft drinks plus gratuities. You bought each drink by he can. And, yes, in that sense it was like a debit card. From what's being reported, at least on some ships they're shifting away from this method.

 

Years ago, when we had the punch card, the bars did not have fountain dispensers. Instead, they just poured glasses of soda from the cans.

 

On Nieuw Amsterdam this past February, there were no soda fountains at the bars.

 

A bar's soda dispenser is not like what you see in a fast food restaurant. It's a gun with a hose connected to it and it has several buttons that allow the bar tender to select which kind of soda is going to be dispensed. You probably wouldnt notice it unless you were watching for it.

[Jade13]

We received cans on Veendam in April. The whole point of the card was to get the discount. One card for $25.00 equaled 22 cans.

[ChelseaSailor]

On the Westerdam, they said the policy had been changed just a couple of weeks before and it was fleet wide. Sometimes a waiter would give you the can and glass with ice. This happened it the Lido and the Dinning room a couple of time. When they did they charged $1.95 to the card while they charged $1.70 to the card for the fountain drink. I think in these cases the waiter took it upon himself to give the can. Going to the Lido Bar would take him longer on he would loose sales that he could make while he was away. They would give you a can if you charged it to the room key. They suggested I get a Beverage card for $250.00 and get a $25.00 discount. I declined and in Juneau got a case of coke. The balcony worked as a great refrigerator on the Alaska trip.

ChelseaSailor

[sapper1]

I wasn't sure whether we would be purchasing a soda card in September. Now I know for sure not to. We'll be bringing our own for the first time. Silly HAL! :(

 

Me too. Have never brought pop aboard but will be picking up a case at Publix in November.

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

We just purchased a soda card for our up coming Alaska cruise the last part of June. At that time, the write-up about the card on the HAL site was the same as last year, when we got cans with the card.

 

I guess we'll find out in a little more than two weeks when we board the Amsterdam.

 

Lenda

[bcd2010]

You can get cans anywhere -- from any bar aboard ship -- but you have to buy them one-at-a time, same as buying bottles of beer.

 

Thank you - as you pointed out in an earlier post, purchasing cans of soda is now the cheaper method of buying soft drinks aboard ship - and, I might add, the better tasting as fountain soda just doesn't measure up.

[kakalina]

I guess we won't be buying our usual soda cards this next cruise. I do wish HAL would make a dang decision instead of flip flopping all over the place.

[elycelynne]

That's too bad -- The soda card with the cans was such a good deal!

 

This brings me to my next question: In my three previous cruises, I've never taken advantage of HAL's happy hours. Are they "two-for-one" and can you get two cans of soda for the price of one?

[jayisgerman]

OK, so here is our little funny soda card anecdote. When we sailed on the Oosterdam in May, I had pre-purchased the $25 soda card for the $50 value. It was in our state room when we got there. So far, so good. :rolleyes:

 

I personally do not drink much soda, but on cruises actually drink exclusively Ginger Ale with all my meals. So, off we went to our Mariner's embarkation lunch and I used the soda card to get my Ginger Ale - no problem.

 

Later that night, at our first dinner, our waiter took our soda card (asked if it had been activated) and returned it at the end of the night with a receipt. This repeated every night at dinner (late seating - assigned). During the day, I would use the soda card for Ginger Ale at the Lido, the Ocen Bar, The Queens Lounge - you name it.

 

Now, here it comes. About mid cruise (4th evening or so) - I actually glance for the first time at my receipt from our MDR waiter as he gives me back my soda card and I notice it looks different than any of the receipts we got on the rest of the ship. I was a little puzzled, but thought it was just a difference in system. :confused:

 

The next morning, I went to the Neptune Lounge and asked for an interim folio...sure enough...our dining room waiter had charged the Ginger Ale to our room account every single night! Why? How? I do not know. Why would he take the soda card with him every single night and bring it back and yet charge the sodas onto the room and not our card? So, I asked our concierge to please have that corrected. He said he would look into it. Satisfied that it would be no hassle - we left and went on with our day.

 

Here comes the big surprise. We return to our cabin later in the day and find a personal note from the concierge. It says that after consultation with the Cellar Master, he is sorry to inform is that "Ginger Ale is not Soda". :eek: OK, imagine our complete surprise and astonishment when apparently the rest of the ship seems to not have gotten that memo and served us Ginger Ale on the soda card without any problem.

 

That same night, we go to the MDR and we actually now directly asked our waiter why he would not charge our Ginger Ale on the soda card. Was it because it was not considered "soda"? His answer: "oh, you want it charged on this?" Well...yes, that would have been the reason why you took it from us the last 4 days. We had quite a laugh about it and especially when he returned and was indeed able to charge the Ginger Ale without problem.

 

In the end, we just decided to let it go, even though it really meant we paid double. What should have been a "freebie" on the soda card (due to the double value), was now charged on our onboard account and in the end we actually received 2 dollars back, because we did not use enough of our initial $25 purchase. We just did not feel like making a bigger issue of it and using up precious vacation time.

 

Anyway....just wanted to add my 2 cents as to how HAL does not seem to really have that soda card concept completely worked out. Have a great day everybody! :)

[g-didi]

Recent Zuiderdam cruisers did you get fountain pop or canned pop?

[Swice]

We got cans with our soda card everywhere we used it on the ship. Lido, MDR, bars.

 

Nieuw Amsterdam - Venice

[kakalina]

That's too bad -- The soda card with the cans was such a good deal!

 

This brings me to my next question: In my three previous cruises, I've never taken advantage of HAL's happy hours. Are they "two-for-one" and can you get two cans of soda for the price of one?

 

 

Unless they have made other changes you get two cans for the price of one at happy hour. We do it all the time.