Drink package liberty of the seas

[Goodtime Cruizin]

The whole reason they give you a receipt is for an extra tip above the 18% already charged. I signed all mine with fictitious names. it provides a little enjoyment to come up with new ones every time.

 

Me too! I've used Walt Disney, President Obama, Peyton Manning, and many others. Even the bartender got a kick out of it and she started looking closely to see 'who I was' on this trip to the bar. Gotta have some fun! :D

[N2DFIRE]

We are looking to book a cruise on the liberty or carnival breeze out of Galveston. Carnival says the drink package can't be used on cruise from Texas. Until the second day because of regulations. Is this true on the liberty, i've never heard anyone complain about this before on the boards.

 

Any info would be helpful, thanks

[MsLMG]

We are looking to book a cruise on the liberty or carnival breeze out of Galveston. Carnival says the drink package can't be used on cruise from Texas. Until the second day because of regulations. Is this true on the liberty, i've never heard anyone complain about this before on the boards.

 

Any info would be helpful, thanks

 

 

It is my understanding that due to Texas regulations "some" items from the bar will not be avail until the ship is out of Texan waters. So you can still use your package....just a limited selection. I'll find out those limits for the LOS in October [emoji6]

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

Edited August 7, 2016 by MsLMG

[Clarea]

We are looking to book a cruise on the liberty or carnival breeze out of Galveston. Carnival says the drink package can't be used on cruise from Texas. Until the second day because of regulations. Is this true on the liberty, i've never heard anyone complain about this before on the boards.

 

Any info would be helpful, thanks

Galveston restrictions:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=45457488&postcount=4

 

Don't be concerned that it says Navigator. Same situation on Liberty.

Edited August 8, 2016 by clarea

[George C]

It is my understanding that due to Texas regulations "some" items from the bar will not be avail until the ship is out of Texan waters. So you can still use your package....just a limited selection. I'll find out those limits for the LOS in October [emoji6]

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

It is a little bit of a pain , but just a few hours before full bar is available, still can get house scotch/gin/vodka etc

[N2DFIRE]

It is a little bit of a pain , but just a few hours before full bar is available, still can get house scotch/gin/vodka etc

 

Thank you, everyone for the info. On carnivals site it says the drink package isn't even available until the second day. The carnival site says you can still get drinks, but will be charged normal prices to your sign and sail card. Then the package kicks in the second day.

 

We are looking into book a cruise in October out of Galveston and was comparing carnivals drink package to royals. We haven't sailed carnival in a long time and wasn't familiar with their rules with the package. Which seems weird to me. Since they don't honor the package until the second day. It seems to me it would be the 12 miles from shore, like royal.

[Clarea]

Thank you, everyone for the info. On carnivals site it says the drink package isn't even available until the second day. The carnival site says you can still get drinks, but will be charged normal prices to your sign and sail card. Then the package kicks in the second day.

 

We are looking into book a cruise in October out of Galveston and was comparing carnivals drink package to royals. We haven't sailed carnival in a long time and wasn't familiar with their rules with the package. Which seems weird to me. Since they don't honor the package until the second day. It seems to me it would be the 12 miles from shore, like royal.

Some other differences between Royal's drink package and Carnival's:

 

No daily drink limit with Royal

No requirement for all guests in the same stateroom to purchase a package.

[nealstuber]

Some other differences between Royal's drink package and Carnival's:

 

No daily drink limit with Royal

No requirement for all guests in the same stateroom to purchase a package.

 

 

Three other differences:

 

Carnival will still bring a drink to you at your chair by the pool and to your machine at the casino.

 

The included tip is 15%, not 18%

 

Carnival servers appear to be genuinely appreciative of the standard tip and I've never seen one hint for more (which makes me more inclined to give one).

Edited August 8, 2016 by nealstuber

[Clarea]

...

 

Carnival will still bring a drink to you at your chair by the pool ...

Same on Royal.

[N2DFIRE]

Yes, I like that Royals drink package is unlimited. That is one of the reasons we purchase the package. So we can experiment with different drinks, and not worry if I don't like it. On royal, I can just ask for something different. On carnival it would count as one of my 15 drinks for the day. No i usually don't drink that many drinks a day, but on sea days we might sit at the bar and experiment.:D:D

 

Are these regulations on the drinks, true for New York based cruises?

[Clarea]

...Are these regulations on the drinks, true for New York based cruises?

No, only Royal's cruises out of Galveston have the alcohol restrictions out to 12 nautical miles.

[nealstuber]

Same on Royal.

 

 

I know you sail a lot more than I do and I certainly respect that your experience may be different, and have come to value your opinion very much.

 

I am pleasantly surprised to hear that your recent experience with RCCL has been the same as CCL. Maybe our last two RCCL cruises were aberrations, but it was two different ships at two different times of the year.

 

There's a boiling frog analogy floating around on another thread and for us we didn't realize how big a pain the whole bar thing was on our RCCL cruises until we experienced something different on our recent CCL Legend cruise. Then I saw a post about the the expectation that you go to the bar on X today.

 

So as much as I respect you opinion, it's not enough to shake me from the belief that RCCL (Corp) is trying to limit consumption by limiting servers. From my perspective, 15s pretty much my limit anyway so I just as soon have my 15 be served to me like they always were rather than have the packages controlled in ways that negatively effect everyone, even those who don't have a package.

Edited August 8, 2016 by nealstuber

[N2DFIRE]

No, only Royal's cruises out of Galveston have the alcohol restrictions out to 12 nautical miles.

 

I wonder why two different cruise lines. Would be different on their drinking rules. Which both say are because of state regulations.

 

On carnivals website, they say any cruise from Texas, New York or Alabama. That the drink package won't be honored until second day, because of state regulations.

[Clarea]

I know you sail a lot more than I do and I certainly respect that your experience may be different, and have come to value your opinion very much.

 

I am pleasantly surprised to hear that your recent experience with RCCL has been the same as CCL. Maybe our last two RCCL cruises were aberrations, but it was two different ships at two different times of the year.

 

There's a boiling frog analogy floating around on another thread and for us we didn't realize how big a pain the whole bar thing was on our RCCL cruises until we experienced something different on our recent CCL Legend cruise. Then I saw a post about the the expectation that you go to the bar on X today.

 

So as much as I respect you opinion, it's not enough to shake me from the belief that RCCL (Corp) is trying to limit consumption by limiting servers. From my perspective, 15s pretty much my limit anyway so I just as soon have my 15 be served to me like they always were rather than have the packages controlled in ways that negatively effect everyone, even those who don't have a package.

Like anything else on Royal, inconsistency is the rule.

 

We have had excellent bar service around the pool and in bars on our most recent cruises, which have been on Vision, Brilliance, and Majesty. However, I have read reports from people on other ships that have complained about slow or virtually non-existent bar service around the pools.

[nealstuber]

Like anything else on Royal, inconsistency is the rule.

 

We have had excellent bar service around the pool and in bars on our most recent cruises, which have been on Vision, Brilliance, and Majesty. However, I have read reports from people on other ships that have complained about slow or virtually non-existent bar service around the pools.

 

 

How about the casinos and MDR?

[Clarea]

How about the casinos and MDR?

Don't use the casino. The bar service in the MDR on Vision and Majesty was also excellent. Don't recall the MDR bar service on Brilliance.

[nealstuber]

The fact that you stay away from the casino probably explains why you are able to cruise more than us [emoji849]. And to be fair, Legend MDR bar service was not much better. A Corona ordered with my quesadilla came with my cheesecake!

Edited August 9, 2016 by nealstuber

[Clarea]

The fact that you stay away from the casino probably explains why you are able to cruise more than us [emoji849]. And to be fair, Legend MDR bar service was not much better. A Corona ordered with my quesadilla came with my cheesecake!

Full disclosure, we tip cash with every drink, so this may explain why they come back so soon.

[pspercy]

It is my understanding that due to Texas regulations "some" items from the bar will not be avail until the ship is out of Texan waters. So you can still use your package....just a limited selection. I'll find out those limits for the LOS in October [emoji6]

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

Yes, limited because they can only serve alcohol bought in Texas while in state waters.

[George C]

Full disclosure, we tip cash with every drink, so this may explain why they come back so soon.

 

We now always bring 50 dollars in singles and 50 in fives for tipping ( suggestion I picked up from cruise critic) , graft works

[nealstuber]

Full disclosure, we tip cash with every drink, so this may explain why they come back so soon.

 

 

Another bit of your wisdom we shall incorporate. it was just tough to do on Liberty and Navigator when they were so blatantly hinting for extra tips on top of 18%. Please keep in mind we're not asking for tricolored frozen drinks, just crack the cap off the bottle. And if that's too much trouble, it would be easier for me to keep a bottle opener in my pocket in the pool rather than a wad of singles.

Edited August 9, 2016 by nealstuber

[Goodtime Cruizin]

I wonder why two different cruise lines. Would be different on their drinking rules. Which both say are because of state regulations.

 

On carnivals website, they say any cruise from Texas, New York or Alabama. That the drink package won't be honored until second day, because of state regulations.

 

Not sure. But w/ 3 sailings out of Galveston, after 12 nautical miles, it's go time for any and all beer & liquor. If I recall right, it was around 8pm. It isn't a State law for Carnival to wait til the 2nd day. That is a decision made by Carnival.

Edited August 9, 2016 by Goodtime Cruizin

[Getting Started]

I thought I read somewhere here that Liberty offers these type of packages on the 4th or 5th day. Is that true and is it common practice? I'm not talking about the 10 drink punchcard but the 'unlimited' packages.

The last two days of our itinerary are at sea and I wouldn't mind 'splurging' specially since the 5/6 drinks-a-day break even point should be easy to reach while on board.

Thanks for the feedback.

[Clarea]

Another bit of your wisdom we shall incorporate. it was just tough to do on Liberty and Navigator when they were so blatantly hinting for extra tips on top of 18%. Please keep in mind we're not asking for tricolored frozen drinks, just crack the cap off the bottle. And if that's too much trouble, it would be easier for me to keep a bottle opener in my pocket in the pool rather than a wad of singles.

I understand that its more of a pain to carry the cash.

 

We've had the best luck giving the cash with the SeaPass card, it seems to greatly cut down the amount of bill signing.