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How we made the most of Cheers on Carnival Splendor

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angiem0217

angiem0217

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So there is no limit in the price of the drink, since you were able to get a $20 glass of wine?.

 

 

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The limit is $50 but I never saw a drink that expensive. I did order s $20 glass of wine at the steakhouse. And at the alchemy bar you can get some very good martinis made with grey goose VX.

 

 

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sid_9169 "Live from...." Rare

sid_9169

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In my experience, tipping goes a long way toward getting a "good" drink every time...

Now this is the point at which I wonder... if you are a good tipper and friendly with the barman, will he just add a shot to the mix for you? Or do their auditing and stock counting systems pick up on that?
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mindyiswonderful

mindyiswonderful

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Yes you can get shots. Just not double shots. On our last cruise we would order a drink. Sit at the bar and in 5 minutes order a shot of rum to put in the drink since some of the drinks are not strong. fa1831bb824e6cf4bfcc147a16c4e641.jpg

This was the red frog pub bar on magic

 

 

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This is AMAZING looking, and a great tip!! Cant wait! Yall have sold me on this Cheers Package!!

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SNJCruisers

SNJCruisers

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Yes you can get shots. Just not double shots. On our last cruise we would order a drink. Sit at the bar and in 5 minutes order a shot of rum to put in the drink since some of the drinks are not strong.

This was the red frog pub bar on magic

If you drink this way, then your using 2 of your 15 drinks for every drink, so you are now down to 7 of your "drinks with an extra shot" over the course of a day. Why not get a good strong drink at the Alchemy Bar or tip the bartender to use high end ingredients in a long island?

 

To each their own, but to get a fruity drink and then just add an extra shot of rum to make it stronger reduces the value of the program, IMHO. But if you're content with enjoying 7 of these drinks over the course of the day.....

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angiem0217

angiem0217

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If you drink this way, then your using 2 of your 15 drinks for every drink, so you are now down to 7 of your "drinks with an extra shot" over the course of a day. Why not get a good strong drink at the Alchemy Bar or tip the bartender to use high end ingredients in a long island?

 

To each their own, but to get a fruity drink and then just add an extra shot of rum to make it stronger reduces the value of the program, IMHO. But if you're content with enjoying 7 of these drinks over the course of the day.....

 

 

We did not do this with every drink. Just 1 or 2 a day. We did go to the alchemy bar. We also drank wine with dinner and I never came close to drinking 15 a day. It was not about hitting 15 drinks every day for me. It was about trying different drinks and finding the ones we enjoyed the most. The ones we liked the most were the fruity ones that didn't have much alcohol. That's why we added the shot to give them a little more punch.

 

 

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swscruiser

swscruiser

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If you drink this way, then your using 2 of your 15 drinks for every drink, so you are now down to 7 of your "drinks with an extra shot" over the course of a day. Why not get a good strong drink at the Alchemy Bar or tip the bartender to use high end ingredients in a long island?

 

To each their own, but to get a fruity drink and then just add an extra shot of rum to make it stronger reduces the value of the program, IMHO. But if you're content with enjoying 7 of these drinks over the course of the day.....

 

We start with Long Island teas on every cruise. Carnival's as recently as Oct 2016 have been made with Bacardi, Beefeater, Jose, and Absolut without asking for premium but could upgraded to ultra premium at no charge. If they had been made with regular bar pour brands then I would definitely ask to premiumize the drink

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  • 1 month later...
El Conquistador

El Conquistador

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My husband and I are cruising in June 2017 on the Splendor with my sister and BIL. I was happy to see your post - great advice!! Hubby and I are getting the Cheers! package for sure now!!

 

 

I think we may be cruise mates! Only our 2nd cruise, and the first one was 13 years ago.

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Rowlett

Rowlett

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Is there a slip at the end of the cruise so we could see how much we saved [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

 

 

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You do get a breakdown of what was ordered, by who ordered it and when on your sign & sail account but I do not recall seeing a price for each line item. It has been almost a year since we cruised and I do not have the receipt anymore. We sail at the end of the month so I can update you after May 7. I will also check while underway the S&S to see if it reflects any different of a report. We do intend to get our money's worth out of the Cheers package. Just wish TX would allow you to use it on day 1 rather then wait until the next day.

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Drrandall

Drrandall

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I was planning on doing the rum runner thing and just bring my own vodka on board. Heck, even if you get caught it's only 5 bucks more a day buying Cheers on board the ship.

But now that I think about it. Why? Being on a cruise it's fun to hang out at bars, chatting with people, bartenders, waiters, etc. And do i really wanna haul around a pouch of vodka all day? Or go back to my room all the time and trying to find ice? I'd rather enjoy my vacation instead of worrying about saving $200.

Less than $400 for a week doesn't sound to bad after all. 89 MORE DAYS!

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bobbismith

bobbismith

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I was planning on doing the rum runner thing and just bring my own vodka on board. Heck, even if you get caught it's only 5 bucks more a day buying Cheers on board the ship.

But now that I think about it. Why? Being on a cruise it's fun to hang out at bars, chatting with people, bartenders, waiters, etc. And do i really wanna haul around a pouch of vodka all day? Or go back to my room all the time and trying to find ice? I'd rather enjoy my vacation instead of worrying about saving $200.

Less than $400 for a week doesn't sound to bad after all. 89 MORE DAYS!

Exactly! I planned this cruise 400 days in advance. I had plenty of time to save and get gift cards. Cheers all the way.

 

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bobbismith

bobbismith

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Get gift cards?

 

I buy gift cards from Verizon, AARP, and Drivesmart (All state app). The cards are worth $100 or $500. But you only pay $90 or $450. If you pay $1000 to Carnival, it only costs you $900. This makes Cheers even more worth it.

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SNJCruisers

SNJCruisers

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Get gift cards?

As Bobbi stated, there are various ways to get them. Do a search on the board and the threads will come up. You earn points and then redeem 1000 points and pay $90.00 and you get a $100.00 GC. They​ can be used to pay for your entire cruise and subsequent expenses as well, including Cheers, gratuities, excursions, specialty dining, etc. Anything that goes on your sail n sign.

 

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hrmkr

hrmkr

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Another way to save a lot of money is to use your American Express card when they are running great offers. Right now, until 4/14, when you spend $500 you get $100 back in credit. That is a nice 20% savings. Not sure which Amex cards the offers are tied to. I have the blue card. Gift cards only give a 10% savings.

 

I used mine and my wife's card to save $200 along with 4 gift cards. We are doing a 5 day Bahamas cruise. the Cheers package with gratuity came to $575 for both of us. With all the discounts, not it is only $335. It takes it from $57.50 /day to $33.50/day. That is 2-3 drinks a day per person and you are breaking even. GREAT DEAL!!!

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  • 10 months later...
ricew001

ricew001

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This is a fantastic thread.

I will offer a couple things - we sailed in August for our 25th anniversary and we had Cheers.

Our friends gave us a bon voyage card with $25 cash in it - all in one dollar bills which we used for tips. I am now doing this as a travel gift for my friends!!!

 

I'm attaching this great sheet someone here posted. I have found it very helpful.

Carnival Beverage Package Evaluator (1).xls

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airlink diva

airlink diva

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Just got back from the Carnival Splendor for the 8 day Southern Caribbean itinerary. Loved the ship and the crew, nothing but nice things to say about the experience.

 

Thought I would share a few notes on how my wife and I felt we got the most out of Cheers while on board.

 

A) The Steakhouse has a nice rose champagne by Heidsieck that is $20 per glass and very nice. We each had 3 glasses with dinner on embarkation day and this alone made that day a big value.

 

B) Roca Patron Silver: $15 per shot at the pool bar. Incredibly smooth, goes down like water.(Also goes great stirred into a Margarita after 5 minutes ;) ) Don't forget to pace yourself !

 

C) Order your favorite frozen beverage, wait 5, and ask for an additional shot of your favorite ultra premium liquor on the side to stir in since they frozen drinks can taste pretty weak.

 

D) Asking for Pellegrino at the beginning of our MDR meals and request the large bottle of still water with dessert to bring back to the room or off with you in port.

 

E) Hitting the coffee bar before breakfast as well as after dessert/before night activities to get some pep.

 

F) We noticed that once we started tipping $1 per drink (in addition to the auto gratuity ofc) we started (1) receiving increasingly generous pours by the bartenders as the trip progressed and (2) being given priority when bars were busy with MDR waits /busy comedy club nights, etc.

 

Now if we could just go back...

Thanks for the Intel. I'm leaning towards the Cheers mainly because I have to have good coffee and I drink a lot of water. Dining in the steakhouse 3 nights and of course love my Kiss on the Lips

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