Do people share drinks packages?

[spookwife]

...if the break-even point on a drink package is 5-6 drinks per day and a person isn't breaking even - I wouldn't be at all critical of a person (like myself) who picked up a drink or two for someone else.

 

if you do not break even then whyinhell would you get it in the first place?!

not the crusieline's fault if you don;t drink enough t make ot worth wehile and it's unfair to expect them to subsidize you by letting you sneak a drink to someone else.

[Adayatatime]

if you do not break even then whyinhell would you get it in the first place?!

not the crusieline's fault if you don;t drink enough t make ot worth wehile and it's unfair to expect them to subsidize you by letting you sneak a drink to someone else.

 

I suspect they lose much more money from greedy people piling up their plates at all you can eat, and leaving half drinks everywhere because they know they can get another one. I bet there's so much waste.

Edited July 16, 2014 by Adayatatime

[BillOh]

No one is forcing you to buy any of these things so , no, your argument is totally invalid.

 

Ohh, Judge and Jury. ;) Sorry at this point, I'm still in the thread for the humor and the off chance I learn something.

[Adayatatime]

Ohh, Judge and Jury. ;) Sorry at this point, I'm still in the thread for the humor and the off chance I learn something.

 

I'm wondering how many on this forum are chatting during work time. :D

[akcruz]

...yes, probably shouldn't have bought drink packages if we weren't going to fully utilize them - but you know - first cruise, first tropical holiday - people don't start to really understand their own preferences and habits until they are in a situation - I feel properly spanked for not knowing better so good job on that :-)

 

If I misinterpreted your post sorry, but it definitely sounded to me like you knew the break even point going in. If you do and then feel like you aren't getting your money's worth, its all on you.

 

If you truly do not realize what that break even point is and realize it later, that is a different thing, BUT, how many people buy such a package without at least thinking about what that break even would be ;).

[GillianR]

I've been reading this board for some time now in preparation for our cruise on Allure next month. So, firstly, let me say thank you to all who post tips, reviews, pointers, secrets, etc. Your posts have been a great help in planning!

 

I haven't posted previously but decided I would jump in here and finally post.....

 

We are cruising next month with a couple who are frequent cruisers (this will be our second cruise). They ALWAYS share a drink package. They boast about it actually. They buy one package, use the machine to get a soda and then head to pool or wherever and use their SeaPass to get another one at a bar. They said they have NEVER once had a problem or issue and know of MANY other cruisers who do the same thing.

 

Both my husband and I are buying a package for the freedom to drink what we want, when we want without having to think about it. I've expressed my thoughts about my friends to them and they know I think it's absolutely wrong and dishonest. They can justify every way to Sunday so my thoughts fall on deaf ears.

[Adayatatime]

I've been reading this board for some time now in preparation for our cruise on Allure next month. So, firstly, let me say thank you to all who post tips, reviews, pointers, secrets, etc. Your posts have been a great help in planning!

 

I haven't posted previously but decided I would jump in here and finally post.....

 

We are cruising next month with a couple who are frequent cruisers (this will be our second cruise). They ALWAYS share a drink package. They boast about it actually. They buy one package, use the machine to get a soda and then head to pool or wherever and use their SeaPass to get another one at a bar. They said they have NEVER once had a problem or issue and know of MANY other cruisers who do the same thing.

 

Both my husband and I are buying a package for the freedom to drink what we want, when we want without having to think about it. I've expressed my thoughts about my friends to them and they know I think it's absolutely wrong and dishonest. They can justify every way to Sunday so my thoughts fall on deaf ears.

 

Are you sure they didn't both have one as everyone in the room had to buy a package if one did, until recently. I think.

[Clarea]

Are you sure they didn't both have one as everyone in the room had to buy a package if one did, until recently. I think.

Sounds like they are sharing a soda package, and that particular package never had the requirement that all guests in a stateroom had to purchase.

[akcruz]

Are you sure they didn't both have one as everyone in the room had to buy a package if one did, until recently. I think.

 

Not the soda package, only the alcohol ones.

 

Unfortunately I am afraid that if a lot of people do share, either one package or "a few occasional drinks", it will go back to all having to buy it.

[Cruise a holic]

Firstly, I must point out we have already purchased our packages so I am in noooo way planning on doing this, this is simply a question out of curiosity, nothing else.

 

Obviously, if anyone does and is caught then they have lost the package and no refund ... but do folk still chance it??

 

In my head I have a funny image of someone acting suspicious, passing a sneaky labadoozie to their partner, like some dodgy drug deal from an old movie lol, changing bathing suit and sunglasses several times a day as a disguise lol :D

 

So what do u reckon, do folk still risk it?

 

Do people do illegal and immoral things? Yes. I wouldn't do it, but have seen people do it. It really isn't the right thing to do- It is stealing. Some people will say that you are stealing from a corporation, but stealing is stealing and that IMO is just rationalizing it.

 

I wouldn't do it. My DH and I enjoy drinking together.

Edited July 16, 2014 by Cruise a holic

[Disneybridein2k3]

Ok, I'll finally fess up. We went many cruises with out the soda package and on Jewel in 2012 before the new freestyle machines were installed my wife got the package and I got the bottled water. One night at dinner she ordered a diet coke and the water brought her a regular coke. She told the water and he brought her a diet, but he left the regular coke. It tore at me for 5 minutes when he didn't take the illicit drink away. I finally broke down and drank it, in complete fear that this was an entrapment sting and I would be thrown off the ship in Costa Maya, or possibly demoted back to Gold. Fortunately none of that happened, but the pure stress taught me how bad that is. Now we with the Freestyle machines we frequently both get that package.

 

POLICE, POLICE, HE'S GOT COKE!!!!!! :eek:

Thankfully, you are in luck. The statute of limitations on this particular crime is up. :p

[Havingfun2010]

Funny how many people like to justify why it's ok to share the drink. I'm sure on a small scale, many people have. However, let's not justify it in such a way that it is not theft. Taking something, eating something or drinking something that was not bought, and is clearly stated in the description of the purchase that sharing is not permitted, is considered a form of theft. Theft cost money, which is passed on to others. No need to justify it. I am not saying I am innocent, just saying that I will not justify it.

 

By the way, I liked the post about the underage person getting the "parents" drinks, because the parent can't drink enough to "justify" the price. Ummmm. Why would you admit this?

[amajaa]

I would say not really theft, they both had a drink from their own package and just swopped them over. Have I understood that correctly?

 

Editing - sorry replied to a post earlier in this thread, there was supposed to be a quote attached to this post. On an I-pad so not easy to copy and paste to correct my post.

Edited July 16, 2014 by amajaa

[scotlady]

I suspect they lose much more money from greedy people piling up their plates at all you can eat, and leaving half drinks everywhere because they know they can get another one. I bet there's so much waste.

 

So - I am probably going to be one of those wasteful people. I usually only have 3-4 drinks a day - BUT - one of my few gripes about cruise ships is the huge difference in the quality of the drinks you get, depending on the bar and the bartender.

 

Now that I can get an unlimited drink package - I plan to try out lots of the drinks, and if I don't like one, just wait a little while and get another.

 

So is it worse for me to be wasteful, or to give the drink to a friend who might like it? Please note, I wouldn't be ordering the drink with that intention, and I would guess by the 3rd or 4th day I'll have figured out which bars or bartenders to go to for a good drink . . .

[SW.FloridaPhil]

I don't know what makes less sense. Going to great lengths to "steal" a few drinks, or confessing it all here where RCCL surely reads it!

[YadaYadaJodi]

So, the poster said he would drink a coke ( from his daughters soda package) and she would have bottled water (from his Replenish package) therefore, both drinks have been paid for and they are just being redistributed. I doubt that anyone would see that as theft.

 

One reason someone might consider it theft is because the poster's coke is covered under his Replenish package. So he wouldn't be "trading" a water for a coke since his coke is already paid for under his own drink package.

 

Another reason is because you aren't supposed to share packages. That's how the cruise line can offer the packages in the first place. Just like a buffet on land - the restaurant may lose money on some teenage boys but they will more than make it up by others that don't eat as much. If the daughter wants water she should drink tap water, buy an individual bottle or buy the Replenish package.

 

Now having said all that - I am human and therefore imperfect and therefore can't ever say that I've never cheated or at least put my toe across the line.:o

I do try to maintain a certain standard of morals. I admit it is easier, in Drink Package type situations at least, now that I am older and have more money. :rolleyes:

[NewSalt]

I find the fear that if people share drink packages, the cruise lines will no longer find it profitable to offer them very amusing.

 

The cruise line number crunchers are very aware just what percentage of people share drinks from the packages and that the packages are still wildly profitable for them. Why do you think that they rescinded the ruling that every person on a stateroom has to buy the package if one does? The small amount of money they lose is more than made up for by the increased number of people who buy them.

 

New Salt

Who has never bought a beverage package and has therefore never "stolen" from the cruise line

[InsideCruiser]

Sharing is anticipated and built into the price of the package.

 

At the end of the day you have 2 choices. Share your package and inflate the prices for those that do not share. Or do not share the package and subsidize those that do.

 

Neither of the choices is ideal and may even contribute to my reluctance to purchase a package.

 

Ultimately sharing is not stealing from the cruise line, it is stealing from fellow package purchasers who do not share and pay the full price.

[papaflamingo]

Sharing, plain and simple, violates the rules. It is clearly stated. "Stealing?" Sure it is. Speeding in a car is also "breaking the law." Serious? No. But there are consequences. If you get caught "violating the rules" by sharing a drink, and your drink package is revoked, no right to complain. If you are caught speeding and issued a fine, no right to complain.

We go to a local pizza place that has a buffet once a week. Not everyone wants it. So someone orders off the menu. But one of the buffet eaters simply gets an extra salad for the person who isn't eating on the buffet. No harm no foul? Of course it is "harm, foul." Someone has failed to pay for something they are consuming..."stealing."

Bottom line, if you feel the need to justify your actions, then you recognize that they aren't "ethical." Otherwise, you'd not feel the need to justify.

Having said that, the occasional "share" isn't the end of the world. If you buy one package and share every day, all day long, you are indeed stealing. You can deal with it anyway you want.

[krisko]

Jeez, a lot of judgement ITT. Who gives a rip is someone shares a drink...honestly.

[Captain Jake]

Gotta love the low life's pathetic excuses for stealing

Sad,very sad

:cj

[NewSalt]

Sharing is anticipated and built into the price of the package.

 

At the end of the day you have 2 choices. Share your package and inflate the prices for those that do not share. Or do not share the package and subsidize those that do.

 

Neither of the choices is ideal and may even contribute to my reluctance to purchase a package.

 

Ultimately sharing is not stealing from the cruise line, it is stealing from fellow package purchasers who do not share and pay the full price.

 

How so?

 

If I buy the package and use it to get the number of drinks I want, the fact that the person in the cabin next to mine shares a drink package has no impact on what I paid or what I got for my money.

 

If no one shared a drink package, the cruise lines wouldn't lower the price of the package.

[A2Mich]

if you truly believe that then why do you continue to cruise?

 

we stopped going to certain restaurants when they kept raising prices and shrinking the menu. my father stopped drinking a certain liquor when his Local bar raised the price on it by a dollar and started making it weaker.

 

if you no longer feel that cruising is a good value for the money, then stop taking them.

 

 

I did not say that cruising was not a good value - what I said is that cruise lines, like resorts and theme parks, charge way too much for certain things. Aside from having an unlimited drink package, which, BTW, I think is a good deal, based on their a la carte pricing. Do you seriously think that charging $2.95 for a single can of soda isn't considerably high (especially when the cruise line is likely paying less than 20 cents per can)? a 1475% markup isn't considered gouging? Again, I realize that cruise lines are in business to make money, but reading all of the threads and complaints about alcohol, soda, and water smuggling should make the cruise lines realize that their pricing is too high. The cruise lines might actually make more money with a lower profit margin, as their sales volume would likely increase, if passengers didn't feel like they were being gouged at every turn. Same thing with theme parks - is a 3 hour old cheeseburger, overcooked fries, and 12 ounces of Coke really worth $14.00? Not at all - but they charge what they do because they have a literally "captive audience." If a restaurant can be profitable selling in volume the same meal I described above at $10, then Disney could as well, considering the amount of money they charge for admissions in addition to food/beverage items. They charge what they do because they can, and there are always people willing to pay it.

 

I work too hard for my money to waste it unnecessarily, and need to be careful and not spend it foolishly. If your disposable income is that much greater, good for you, but some people can't afford to overpay for everything simply to fill the pockets of execs and shareholders whom are greedy.

 

Back to the soda issue, if not for the drink package, I would likely spend very little on drinks, as they are simply too expensive. If cans of soda cost $1.00, I would likely buy more than at almost $3 a can. But at those prices, I will seriously change my consumption habits.

[A2Mich]

No one is forcing you to buy any of these things so , no, your argument is totally invalid.

 

Argument is completely valid when there is a policy in effect where I am not allowed to bring my own drinks, etc onboard. BTW, I am buying the unlimited package for all of my family members, not sharing one, as I am not a thief.

 

I wouldn't even have an issue if cans of soda were $1.00 each. The cruise line had to buy them, store them, and make a profit on them - I get that. But I feel there is a certain point where simple greed overrides profiability. With some of the responses I see on this thread, I can see exactly why prices on many services and goods are through the roof - companies are cutting costs on their end, raising prices for consumers, and many people here think that's all great and wonderful. It's no wonder why we have so many cheap, imported goods, with manufacturing job losses, which partly led to huge unemployment problems, home losses, etc., a few years ago. Or did we forget about that? Oh that's right, the ones who lost jobs, incomes, homes, etc., sure do, but the ones laughing all the way to the bank sure forgot in a hurry.

Edited July 16, 2014 by A2Mich

[Adayatatime]

I did not say that cruising was not a good value - what I said is that cruise lines, like resorts and theme parks, charge way too much for certain things. Aside from having an unlimited drink package, which, BTW, I think is a good deal, based on their a la carte pricing. Do you seriously think that charging $2.95 for a single can of soda isn't considerably high (especially when the cruise line is likely paying less than 20 cents per can)? a 1475% markup isn't considered gouging? Again, I realize that cruise lines are in business to make money, but reading all of the threads and complaints about alcohol, soda, and water smuggling should make the cruise lines realize that their pricing is too high. The cruise lines might actually make more money with a lower profit margin, as their sales volume would likely increase, if passengers didn't feel like they were being gouged at every turn. Same thing with theme parks - is a 3 hour old cheeseburger, overcooked fries, and 12 ounces of Coke really worth $14.00? Not at all - but they charge what they do because they have a literally "captive audience." If a restaurant can be profitable selling in volume the same meal I described above at $10, then Disney could as well, considering the amount of money they charge for admissions in addition to food/beverage items. They charge what they do because they can, and there are always people willing to pay it.

 

I work too hard for my money to waste it unnecessarily, and need to be careful and not spend it foolishly. If your disposable income is that much greater, good for you, but some people can't afford to overpay for everything simply to fill the pockets of execs and shareholders whom are greedy.

 

Back to the soda issue, if not for the drink package, I would likely spend very little on drinks, as they are simply too expensive. If cans of soda cost $1.00, I would likely buy more than at almost $3 a can. But at those prices, I will seriously change my consumption habits.

 

What you actually forget is that RCI do everything for the passengers benefit, silly!!