Cheers at HMC?

[cantthinkofanythingfun]

Maybe a stupid question, but if you buy the Cheers package, does it cover drinks at HMC? I'm assuming it does.

[loxley]

Np.

[falkcor]

no.

[love my grandkids]

Technology that CCL has not yet figured out

[cantthinkofanythingfun]

Really? I have to admit, that is pretty ridiculous. With NCL it wasn't even a question, and their drink package is five bucks a day less if you book it before boarding, and now they give it to you as a promotion. CCL owns the island. I'm assuming many of the bartenders from the ship serve you at the bars on the island. I'm certain that the registers on the island are linked to the ones on the ship. You do still use the S&S card to make purchases at HMC, right?

[love my grandkids]

Really? I have to admit, that is pretty ridiculous. With NCL it wasn't even a question, and their drink package is five bucks a day less if you book it before boarding, and now they give it to you as a promotion. CCL owns the island. I'm assuming many of the bartenders from the ship serve you at the bars on the island. I'm certain that the registers on the island are linked to the ones on the ship. You do still use the S&S card to make purchases at HMC, right?

 

Actually CCL doesnt own the island, Holland American a sub of Carnival corp does.

 

The crew comes ashore and serves the passengers and you do use your S & S card.

 

Would think it could easily be fixed but for some reason it has not.

[cantthinkofanythingfun]

It doesn't seem that it's a matter of fixing anything. It's all about profit, and I do get that, but you're not going to get more than your 15 drinks a day.

 

Now I have to ask, do you have to pay for food on the island? I hate to keep making comparisons to NCL, but they have free buffets and hot dog and hamburger stands on their island.

[love my grandkids]

It doesn't seem that it's a matter of fixing anything. It's all about profit, and I do get that, but you're not going to get more than your 15 drinks a day.

 

Now I have to ask, do you have to pay for food on the island? I hate to keep making comparisons to NCL, but they have free buffets and hot dog and hamburger stands on their island.

 

Food is included and is a nice lunch:)

[taki183]

It's a BRILLIANT plan devised by Dewey Cheatham & Howe LOL

[falkcor]

It doesn't seem that it's a matter of fixing anything. It's all about profit, and I do get that, but you're not going to get more than your 15 drinks a day.

 

Now I have to ask, do you have to pay for food on the island? I hate to keep making comparisons to NCL, but they have free buffets and hot dog and hamburger stands on their island.

 

the difference lies in the fact that carnival's program has a 15 drink per day limit, and other cruise lines, including NCL, do not.

 

for a short time, they did allow purchases with the cheers program on the island.

 

the rationale offered for why it was suspended is that the island's and the ship's accounting / S&S billing programs are not in sync in real time. they effectively accrue purchases on the island, then later upload them to the ship's master.

 

thereby, you could, for instance, order your 15 drinks on the island (unlikely, i know), then be back on the ship, ordering more than the limit and avoiding the cutoff, before the systems were in sync...

 

i'd say the whole thing is a bunch of bull, and that really they shouldn't be limiting the # of drinks anyway for an 'unlimited' program, but i've read too many posts on this board and kind of understand why they do :rolleyes:

 

i agree, it sucks though.

[love my grandkids]

It's a BRILLIANT plan devised by Dewey Cheatham & Howe LOL

 

Now where have I heard the name of that law firm before?:)

[love my grandkids]

the difference lies in the fact that carnival's program has a 15 drink per day limit, and other cruise lines, including NCL, do not.

 

for a short time, they did allow purchases with the cheers program on the island.

 

the rationale offered for why it was suspended is that the island's and the ship's accounting / S&S billing programs are not in sync in real time. they effectively accrue purchases on the island, then later upload them to the ship's master.

 

thereby, you could, for instance, order your 15 drinks on the island (unlikely, i know), then be back on the ship, ordering more than the limit and avoiding the cutoff, before the systems were in sync...

 

i'd say the whole thing is a bunch of bull, and that really they shouldn't be limiting the # of drinks anyway for an 'unlimited' program, but i've read too many posts on this board and kind of understand why they do :rolleyes:

 

i agree, it sucks though.

 

Didnt realize they did allow it on HMC in the past. We couldnt handle 15 drinks in a day and remain vertical

[cantthinkofanythingfun]

On my past two sailings with CCL, I got the drink program and Carnival made money off of me. Basically all I drink is Captain and Coke and an occasional shot of Southern Comfort chilled. I just like it because it's a fixed amount and I don't get sticker shock at the end of the cruise. On my July cruise, I probably won't buy it since it doesn't cover HMC. When I get that shot, I usually like to order a drink with it, and Carnival makes me wait 15 minutes. I understand why Carnival puts all of the rules on their beverage program, but they seem to have a far worse reputation for drunken behavior than other lines which are far more lenient, so they may want to look at other reasons for that reputation.

[Retired_to_Cruise]

On my past two sailings with CCL, I got the drink program and Carnival made money off of me. Basically all I drink is Captain and Coke and an occasional shot of Southern Comfort chilled. I just like it because it's a fixed amount and I don't get sticker shock at the end of the cruise. On my July cruise, I probably won't buy it since it doesn't cover HMC. When I get that shot, I usually like to order a drink with it, and Carnival makes me wait 15 minutes. I understand why Carnival puts all of the rules on their beverage program, but they seem to have a far worse reputation for drunken behavior than other lines which are far more lenient, so they may want to look at other reasons for that reputation.

 

The break even point for the person who purchases the Cheers program is 6 to 7 drinks per day. So if you drink less than that, you are wasting your money. If that is what you drink, then Carnival is not making any more money on you than if you didn't buy the Cheers program and just put them on your S&S card.

 

My guess is that on HMC, they either hand write the bills, or they bring some POS machines linked to a local server from the ship. That means that that days activity is not directly passed to the individual ship's business system at the time it occurs. So they do not have those transactions until the end of the day when someone brings the day's transactions back to the ship and loads them to the ship's system. I would bet that if you purchased stuff on HMC and went back to the ship before the end of the day, those transactions would not show on your S&S account until after the ship leaves the port.

 

This approach is probably used due to the fact that several cruise lines use this port and they each have to be able to collect their information in their own formats and style.

 

By the way, POS means "Point of Sale" (ie, cash register), not "Piece of Sh..".

Edited June 13, 2015 by Retired_to_Cruise

[love my grandkids]

The break even point for the person who purchases the Cheers program is 6 to 7 drinks per day. So if you drink less than that, you are wasting your money. If that is what you drink, then Carnival is not making any more money on you than if you didn't buy the Cheers program and just put them on your S&S card.

 

My guess is that on HMC, they either hand write the bills, or they bring some POS machines linked to a local server from the ship. That means that that days activity is not directly passed to the individual ship's business system at the time it occurs. So they do not have those transactions until the end of the day when someone brings the day's transactions back to the ship and loads them to the ship's system. I would bet that if you purchased stuff on HMC and went back to the ship before the end of the day, those transactions would not show on your S&S account until after the ship leaves the port.

 

This approach is probably used due to the fact that several cruise lines use this port and they each have to be able to collect their information in their own formats and style.

 

By the way, POS means "Point of Sale" (ie, cash register), not "Piece of Sh..".

 

If they wanted to make what I would think is a pretty small investment they could collect the data immediately and allow people to use cheers on HMC.

[Jamman54]

And to add insult to injury, the drink prices on the island are fifty cents to a dollar more per drink then on the ship.:eek:

[taki183]

And to add insult to injury, the drink prices on the island are fifty cents to a dollar more per drink then on the ship.:eek:

BRILLIANT Cheers Mate

[cantthinkofanythingfun]

And to add insult to injury, the drink prices on the island are fifty cents to a dollar more per drink then on the ship.:eek:

 

That brings us to the main motive behind the policy, fleecing their guests. If they were concerned about controlling alcohol intake they would invest, what is probably minimal for a company like Carnival, in some kind of real time register system. I can go to Grand Turk and have 10 drinks and still get back on the ship and have 15. The limit thing is ridiculous, but that's another topic. I was a bartender in my 20's, and it was a bartender's job to tell when someone has had enough and cut them off. For some people that may be 7 drinks. For others it may be 20.

 

I don't want to sound like I'm overly complaining. This will probably save me money. I won't buy the drink package now. There are some days where I will have 8 or 9 drinks, but also some days where I might have 1 or 2. I'm a single father with my son on this cruise, so I will be slowing it way down. I just think it's a bad policy by Carnival. If in the future, I am traveling with just a girlfriend, which I have done 3 times in the past 18 months, it's the kind of thing that could make me choose NCL over Carnival. Cruising in the Caribbean is very competitive. It's getting to be like bumper boats out there and little things can make a difference.

 

BTW, Jamman, I really enjoyed your review of the Pride. The drinks at HMC policy hasn't dampened my excitement for the cruise.

[volmoma]

Didnt realize they did allow it on HMC in the past. We couldnt handle 15 drinks in a day and remain vertical

 

 

For sure!!! It's the idiots that try to do 15 in a 4 hour period!!! JUST TURNED 21 Etc... You know who I'm talking about.

[volmoma]

That brings us to the main motive behind the policy, fleecing their guests. If they were concerned about controlling alcohol intake they would invest, what is probably minimal for a company like Carnival, in some kind of real time register system. I can go to Grand Turk and have 10 drinks and still get back on the ship and have 15. The limit thing is ridiculous, but that's another topic. I was a bartender in my 20's, and it was a bartender's job to tell when someone has had enough and cut them off. For some people that may be 7 drinks. For others it may be 20.

 

 

 

I don't want to sound like I'm overly complaining. This will probably save me money. I won't buy the drink package now. There are some days where I will have 8 or 9 drinks, but also some days where I might have 1 or 2. I'm a single father with my son on this cruise, so I will be slowing it way down. I just think it's a bad policy by Carnival. If in the future, I am traveling with just a girlfriend, which I have done 3 times in the past 18 months, it's the kind of thing that could make me choose NCL over Carnival. Cruising in the Caribbean is very competitive. It's getting to be like bumper boats out there and little things can make a difference.

 

 

 

BTW, Jamman, I really enjoyed your review of the Pride. The drinks at HMC policy hasn't dampened my excitement for the cruise.

 

 

I totally agree with your comments.

[fireofficer5]

There are ways to get around the policy.

[love my grandkids]

There are ways to get around the policy.

 

Yes thought of it also but too much work to bring your own drinks to HMC and than worry about keeping them cold.

[momonthego17]

I happen to,get a bartender on HMC that rang my drink up on my Cheers plan. I didn't argue and took my drink back to my cabana. The next drink I ordered, the other bartender charged me. Luck of the draw, I guess.

[taki183]

There are ways to get around the policy.

Yes take a GOOD cruise line :D:D

[love my grandkids]

I happen to,get a bartender on HMC that rang my drink up on my Cheers plan. I didn't argue and took my drink back to my cabana. The next drink I ordered, the other bartender charged me. Luck of the draw, I guess.

 

If they found out he did it, dont think it would happen again.

 

It is wrong that you pay for cheers and cannot use it on their private island.