Free drink?

[CruisinCrow]

We just booked a cruise on Victory but it's been a while since our last cruise. They used to give a free drink coupon to past cruisers that could be redeemed at the seaday brunch. Then they got rid of the free drink and replaced it with water. :confused::confused::confused: What is the latest with the drink coupons. Are they back now?

[Schoifmom]

We just booked a cruise on Victory but it's been a while since our last cruise. They used to give a free drink coupon to past cruisers that could be redeemed at the seaday brunch. Then they got rid of the free drink and replaced it with water. :confused::confused::confused: What is the latest with the drink coupons. Are they back now?

 

Nope. Free water, unless you are gold or above.

[CruisinCrow]

Thanks, but what does Gold get? :)

[countrygirlcruiser1234]

Thanks, but what does Gold get? :)

 

Free bottle of water in your cabin, and a pin.

[CruisinCrow]

Never mind, I see on the Carnival website that Gold only gets a free drink on cruises of 5+ days. Well, that's a bummer...

Edited February 2, 2016 by CruisinCrow

[Yellowbird75]

Never mind, I see on the Carnival website that Gold only gets a free drink on cruises of 5+ days. Well, that's a bummer...

 

Yeah, Gold gets a drink coupon on 5+ days that has to be redeemed on the last night after 5 pm. A little weird but I'll take it! They took it away but then I think they added it back in after they stopped inviting Golds to the VIFP party. I guess there are too many Golds now? :mad:

[CruisinCrow]

I'd take it too but unfortunately, I'll be on a 3-day cruise.

[violetsmile]

Not that it's super important, but a drink's a drink:

 

At what point do you "get" your points? We currently each have 22 points, so are Red. We leave next month on a 7 day cruise. Since Gold is 25 points, will we be Gold since we'll have 29 at the end of this cruise? Or we will we still be Red since we're going in with fewer than 25 points?

[GabbyCooks]

Not that it's super important, but a drink's a drink:

 

At what point do you "get" your points? We currently each have 22 points, so are Red. We leave next month on a 7 day cruise. Since Gold is 25 points, will we be Gold since we'll have 29 at the end of this cruise? Or we will we still be Red since we're going in with fewer than 25 points?

 

You will be gold at the beginning of the cruise. You will receive a gold Sail & Sign card, and get the pin and free drink.

 

We had 23 days prior to our last cruise and were gold from the start.

Edited February 2, 2016 by GabbyCooks

[violetsmile]

You will be gold at the beginning of the cruise. You will receive a gold Sail & Sign card, and get the pin and free drink.

 

We had 23 days prior to our last cruise and were gold from the start.

 

Woohoo! It's the little things. Thanks!

 

Do you recall if the coupon is good at any bar? I know the old coupon that was replaced with water was only good at the Atrium bar or something. I know it's after 5pm...but if I could redeem it in the dining room for a glass of wine with dinner it would be convenient. Otherwise, a pre-dinner cocktail it is! :)

[detroitlions]

Not that it's super important, but a drink's a drink:

 

At what point do you "get" your points? We currently each have 22 points, so are Red. We leave next month on a 7 day cruise. Since Gold is 25 points, will we be Gold since we'll have 29 at the end of this cruise? Or we will we still be Red since we're going in with fewer than 25 points?

The main reason I have been dodging carnival for the last few cruises is they are way to stingy on the drinks even there drink package has a 15 drink limit on it and its very expensive. Celebrity and NCL give it as perks all though they put some of that back in the the cruise fair at least NCL prices are similar to CCL. I will still sail carnival if I get a real cheap rate and factor in what my bill for everything will be. If its way cheaper than similar cruises on other lines.

[all_aboard]

Yep, one drink for gold. Better than nothing!

[GabbyCooks]

Yes. It's good at any bar and you can use at dinner in MDR.

[john91498]

Is this a general item? I remember going on a short 4 day cruise and got a drink coupon to be used on any day during dinner. Used it on the 3rd day.

[Jana60]

I'd take it too but unfortunately, I'll be on a 3-day cruise.

 

Don't feel too bad, I'm going on a cruise this month that I spent more for than the 7. Day cruise that I took in October but it's only a four day so even though I'm platinum I won't get many of the usual perks. I think they'll be giving me a brunch drink still but there won't be any past passenger party or chocolate covered strawberries! :(

Edited February 3, 2016 by Jana60

[Yellowbird75]

The main reason I have been dodging carnival for the last few cruises is they are way to stingy on the drinks even there drink package has a 15 drink limit on it and its very expensive. Celebrity and NCL give it as perks all though they put some of that back in the the cruise fair at least NCL prices are similar to CCL. I will still sail carnival if I get a real cheap rate and factor in what my bill for everything will be. If its way cheaper than similar cruises on other lines.

 

We were considering Celebrity and NCL because of the free drinks included but then we read some posts about how busy the bars were due to the fact that everyone got free drinks. 30-60 minutes in line just to get a drink everytime. Did you experience that on any of your free drinks cruises?

[CruisinCrow]

We were considering Celebrity and NCL because of the free drinks included but then we read some posts about how busy the bars were due to the fact that everyone got free drinks. 30-60 minutes in line just to get a drink everytime. Did you experience that on any of your free drinks cruises?

 

We did not experience that on Celebrity Summit last year. Bars were busy but we never waited that long.

[4ready2cruz]

We were considering Celebrity and NCL because of the free drinks included but then we read some posts about how busy the bars were due to the fact that everyone got free drinks. 30-60 minutes in line just to get a drink everytime. Did you experience that on any of your free drinks cruises?

 

We were on the Celebrity Constellation (5 days in an Oceanview) this past Christmas. The ship was full. There were no long lines at any bar. Maybe a slight wait at the Martini Bar.

[4ready2cruz]

The main reason I have been dodging carnival for the last few cruises is they are way to stingy on the drinks even there drink package has a 15 drink limit on it and its very expensive. Celebrity and NCL give it as perks all though they put some of that back in the the cruise fair at least NCL prices are similar to CCL. I will still sail carnival if I get a real cheap rate and factor in what my bill for everything will be. If its way cheaper than similar cruises on other lines.

 

We are booked on Carnival for a 5 day cruise this coming July in an inside porthole cabin. We are paying roughly the same as we paid on Celebrity (5 days in an Oceanview), except we won't have a drink package and Celebrity also gave us $300 OBC per cabin. Celebrity drink packages also include water, specialty/alcoholic coffee beverages and soda with no limitation on the number of drinks unless you got blitzed and needed to be cut off. :)

[Jana60]

We are booked on Carnival for a 5 day cruise this coming July in an inside porthole cabin. We are paying roughly the same as we paid on Celebrity (5 days in an Oceanview), except we won't have a drink package and Celebrity also gave us $300 OBC per cabin. Celebrity drink packages also include water, specialty/alcoholic coffee beverages and soda with no limitation on the number of drinks unless you got blitzed and needed to be cut off. :)

 

Ok you're talking about a Carnival cruise in midsummer peak season. So out of curiosity what date did you sail on celebrity? How many days prior to the cruise did you book your cruise on celebrity as in was it a last minute deal? I checked their site and the cheapest cruise in their cheapest room in July is $949 per person and did not include drinks or OBC!

Edited February 3, 2016 by Jana60

[4ready2cruz]

Ok you're talking about a Carnival cruise in midsummer peak season. So out of curiosity what date did you sail on celebrity? How many days prior to the cruise did you book your cruise on celebrity as in was it a last minute deal? I checked their site and the cheapest cruise in their cheapest room in July is $949 per person and did not include drinks or OBC!

 

We sailed at Christmas on one of their Holiday cruises. We booked in September or October I think right before final payment. We had 3 cabins, 2 cabins did not have a drink package but instead got $150 OBC per person) @ $499. The 3rd cabin we upgraded so we paid $75 more and we both had drink packages and $150 in OBC each. There was one price drop that happened the day after we booked (talk about timing!). We got $100 in OBC for each cabin.

 

The prices actually increased after that.

 

Celebrity does not sail the Caribbean during the summer months, their ships repo to Alaska and Europe. You can only get the beverage package, obc, etc included with oceanview and above cabins.

 

We originally were going to do the same itinerary this coming spring break. The OVs at that time were around $700 pp and we would have gotten a beverage package for everyone, $400 OBC for 2 cabins and gratuities paid in full. We cancelled and postponed to 2017.

 

I do think that the Celebrity prices have increased somewhat, but not so much that it is out of reach. We are paying $1200 pp for 2 regular balcony cabins next year (7 day cruise tho). But we are all getting drink packages and $800 OBC.

[Yellowbird75]

Thank y'all for your replies about the drink packages! We will have to reconsider next time.

[RiotAct]

Yeah, Gold gets a drink coupon on 5+ days that has to be redeemed on the last night after 5 pm. A little weird but I'll take it! They took it away but then I think they added it back in after they stopped inviting Golds to the VIFP party. I guess there are too many Golds now? :mad:

 

Not "weird" at all - Carnival is hoping by imposing the archaic restriction on when you can redeem the coupon, that less people will actually redeem it, thus cutting down on the number of free drinks they'll have to give out. :)

[Savlamara]

For some reason the last 2 cruises we took since this change I have had a $9 drink credit already on my SnS account. And still got the large bottle of water and Gold Pin in my room from the room steward. I assumed the credit was a replacement for the actual coupon and is able to be used anytime anywhere. The last cruise was November 2015 and it was a 4 day. :confused:

[CruisinCrow]

For some reason the last 2 cruises we took since this change I have had a $9 drink credit already on my SnS account. And still got the large bottle of water and Gold Pin in my room from the room steward. I assumed the credit was a replacement for the actual coupon and is able to be used anytime anywhere. The last cruise was November 2015 and it was a 4 day. :confused:

 

I hope that happens to us! Maybe the Carnival website is wrong. Wouldn't be the first time. :rolleyes: