Drink Package Reality Check- just off Liberty 3/23/15

[orville99]

Maybe I'm missing something, but unless you flash your card with a package logo on it, the bartender has no idea you have a package until after you order, he delivers, and asks for your card. I find it difficult to believe he will remember you out of the thousand or so people that are on the pool deck (unless you camp out at the bar with an elbow permanently bent). I suppose if you tip extra, he will, but otherwise my guess is we all look alike to them.

[2boyzmom]

Maybe I'm missing something, but unless you flash your card with a package logo on it, the bartender has no idea you have a package until after you order, he delivers, and asks for your card. I find it difficult to believe he will remember you out of the thousand or so people that are on the pool deck (unless you camp out at the bar with an elbow permanently bent). I suppose if you tip extra, he will, but otherwise my guess is we all look alike to them.

 

Agree!!

[mollyeilis]

"Still at other times, I started noticing bartenders simply not ringing my beers at all, but just handing them to me, which I suspect isn’t figuring into RCL’s inventory."

 

That's what was happening with bottles of water even at the beginning of the new packages. Jan 2014, no receipts half the time (they weren't even entering things) for water or lattes for our Replenish packages. I don't know how they are getting tipped or keeping good inventory, if they aren't letting the system know that something has been purchased.

[sheridan318]

we have been on both Royal and Celebrity and on both ships came across lots and lots of people complaining about the drink packages mainly about not being able to be served in a reasonable time frame.

 

We are from Australia and on Australian cruises so this seems to be a problem across the whole fleet where ever they sail

[Tankminder]

Maybe I'm missing something, but unless you flash your card with a package logo on it, the bartender has no idea you have a package until after you order, he delivers, and asks for your card. I find it difficult to believe he will remember you out of the thousand or so people that are on the pool deck (unless you camp out at the bar with an elbow permanently bent). I suppose if you tip extra, he will, but otherwise my guess is we all look alike to them.

 

 

I wasn't implying service was slow for only folks with a drink pass, it was slow for everyone overall.

[Tankminder]

 

 

My thoughts and observations exactly.

[sredish]

Did you happen to add up your receipts at the end of the cruise and see if the package was truly "worth it"?

[Aunt Sue]

yes bar service was slow on our FOS cruise last week. we all had Ultimate drink packages so when we ordered a round of 4 they had to ring it up 4 times separately - too much work. we added $1 tip sometimes but prob didn't make a difference - not sure if they even saw that we did tip extra. But the WORST bar service was in MDR - even after we told the host who sat us and our server immediately that we would like a bar server to take a wine order it took forever. not like on FOS 1.5 yrs ago - the wine flowed easily at dinner. with that being said, we could find bars that we knew were easier to get a drink. and we ended up bringing a glass of wine into MDR from another bar.

 

I believe it's not the bartenders or servers fault - they're not slow just understaffed. RCI def needs more servers if they want to sell drink packages.

[cathep]

We experienced a couple service failures but more systems failures in our recent Liberty of the Seas cruise. Whomever said "who knows what their registers will do???!!!" is spot on. We couldn't buy a photo at the photo desk because our C&A discount wasn't being applied so they said, "you'll have to go to guest services to fix this" to which I replied, "so your system downstairs won't talk to your system upstairs so I, the customer, have to go spend 45 minutes in line to fix that for YOU?"

 

I was told by my travel agent that Royal's computer systems are very antiquated. So it's entirely possible that the system downstairs won't talk to the system upstairs. Seems like it would be worth the lost revenue to upgrade the systems. I have to all every time I want a quote on a 2-bedroom suite since their system can't handle that booking. By the time I've waited to talk to someone, I'm already out of the mood of wanting to book unless it's dirt cheap.

[F27TW]

We just purchased the Premium Package for the first time for our Indy cruise this coming June .... and smiling or not, those bartenders ARE gonna be workin ... because as far as I'm concerned, that's not cheap!

 

I gave up several cruises ago on smily, friendly bartenders (or RC employees in general, for that matter) ... they mostly seem hassled, disinterested and checked out ... they are just like bored airline employees, IMO (for the most part) .. but they WILL be pourin us all the likka we just paid for ! :D:eek:

 

Stock up those bars, RC ... just a heads-up for ya!

Edited April 1, 2015 by F27TW

[Tankminder]

Did you happen to add up your receipts at the end of the cruise and see if the package was truly "worth it"?

 

Well "worth it" might be in the eye of the beer-holder ;) And the miles I'm running on my treadmill this week might not have been worth it.

 

But if you mean did I spend less with the package than I would have if I paid, then yes. Particularly since we ordered several bottles of wine during the week and saved about $20 on each. I easily saved, but your miles may vary.

[Tankminder]

yes bar service was slow on our FOS cruise last week. we all had Ultimate drink packages so when we ordered a round of 4 they had to ring it up 4 times separately - too much work. we added $1 tip sometimes but prob didn't make a difference - not sure if they even saw that we did tip extra. But the WORST bar service was in MDR - even after we told the host who sat us and our server immediately that we would like a bar server to take a wine order it took forever. not like on FOS 1.5 yrs ago - the wine flowed easily at dinner. with that being said, we could find bars that we knew were easier to get a drink. and we ended up bringing a glass of wine into MDR from another bar.

 

I believe it's not the bartenders or servers fault - they're not slow just understaffed. RCI def needs more servers if they want to sell drink packages.

 

I'd say your experience and opinion mirrors our exactly - though we ordered bottles because we like the better wines by the bottle, and we knew we could pour ourselves. But I agree it's not the bartender's fault, it's the bad system that makes them ring 4 drinks separately from each other on 4 cards, wait to print 4 receipts, find 4 pens, 4 pads, etc. They need more servers and more bartenders, and need to find a way to positively motivate the bartenders they have to provide friendly, positive service.

Edited April 1, 2015 by Tankminder

[Aunt Sue]

Did you happen to add up your receipts at the end of the cruise and see if the package was truly "worth it"?

 

The receipts they print say $0 - honestly even after visiting bars all week on FOS we have no idea what the drink prices are - most bar menus didn't have prices, I believe. So we can't really add it up literally but...yes we drank more than $55/day with the Ultimate. Always order Premium liquor - start with a Grey Goose Bloody Mary, and Bacardi pina colada or margarita with Patron at the pool, a mojito before dinner, wine with dinner, after dinner drink, nite cocktail at the show, another at casino....prob easily $55. And that's the great part of the Ultimate drink package - don't worry about the prices!

[Big_G]

I'd say your experience and opinion mirrors our exactly - though we ordered bottles because we like the better wines by the bottle, and we knew we could pour ourselves. But I agree it's not the bartender's fault, it's the bad system that makes them ring 4 drinks separately from each other on 4 cards, wait to print 4 receipts, find 4 pens, 4 pads, etc. They need more servers and more bartenders, and need to find a way to positively motivate the bartenders they have to provide friendly, positive service.

 

I can't believe they're still printing out receipts. That's what keeps me from buying the package on Royal. We've had the package on Celebrity and there's no receipt. I just carry a pocket full of ones and tip in cash. We attended the top tier event on Independence in January and someone complained they weren't printing the receipts on the vouchers. I wanted to dive across the aisle and tackle the guy. His answer from the beverage director was if you want a receipt, ask for a receipt. I understood the questioners point. He wanted to add a tip but I find the receipt on a zero balance just annoying. According to other CCers, this varies from ship to ship. Consistently inconsistent.

[Tankminder]

I can't believe they're still printing out receipts.

 

Agreed... it completely slows the process.