Coffee Card - FYI

[Mikew0805]

6 hours ago, the mistral wind said:

No its only good on current sailing . As stated in the legal terms of the cafe card on the cruise planner where you purchase it. However it seems that each server makes there own rules which i addressed in my e mail to customer service management. For whom i hope my e mail gets read by.

Before this "punch per shot" issue came up, I used them from the Navigator, to the Enchantment, to the Majesty, to the Oasis, to the Independence, and everyone always took them from another sailing. If you are referring to this below, it is referring to packages, not the cafe select card. This is also how guest relations advised me in 2016. You can use the coffee card for anyone you want, and you can hand it (transferrable) to anyone you want, and they can get a coffee. Lastly, not to mention that when they put it in the Daily Compass, which I have seen several times, is specifically states you can use it on other sailings.

 

On certain sailings, gratuities and taxes are additional and will be applied at check-out. To modify a beverage package purchased prior to the cruise departure date, first, cancel the existing order and second, create a new purchase. Beverage selection is limited to those described in the package details and in Cruise Planner and is subject to change without notice. Package is valid only for the sailing for which it was purchased and is non-transferable. Offer is not combinable with any other offer or promotion. No refunds or credits for unused days. ©2018 Royal Caribbean International.

 

Packages cannot be shared and are not transferable. Specialty Coffees do not include any beverages served inside licensed Starbucks® stores/cafes.

 

 

[Mikew0805]

On 11/11/2018 at 7:40 PM, Biker19 said:

That is just like the one I got on the Brilliance. The one I got on the Majesty, had punches on the top and bottom. Just another way for them to not be consistent I guess. 

 

[the mistral wind]

well maybe but i did click on legal terms regarding the cafe card and i saw where it said on current sailing only .And yes you can buy all 15 drinks at once if you like and give them to whoever you want. You have paid for privilege to have 15 speciality coffees. i have e mailed them and they say they are reviewing my concerns internally. I am not sure i understand what this means. But i trust they will not just let this go because i now know  a lot of people are disappointed and feel that it doesn't reflect the advertisement for the product sold

[NateUpNorth]

20 hours ago, the mistral wind said:

well maybe but i did click on legal terms regarding the cafe card and i saw where it said on current sailing only .And yes you can buy all 15 drinks at once if you like and give them to whoever you want. You have paid for privilege to have 15 speciality coffees. i have e mailed them and they say they are reviewing my concerns internally. I am not sure i understand what this means. But i trust they will not just let this go because i now know  a lot of people are disappointed and feel that it doesn't reflect the advertisement for the product sold

 

If you receive a reply please share!! As per my post (#8) clearly they have different understandings internally of what the card provides.

[jean87510]

I just remembered I did ask them if it included the teas (chai latte) and again I was told they were going by the size of cup. Tall is one. Grande is 2. Venti is 3. This is on the jewel current sailing. So obviously, each ship has their own rules. It really bothered me because I like iced coffee but not that much. That's why I canceled. Price wise it cost more for the card than just buying a drink.

Edited November 14, 2018 by jean87510

[the mistral wind]

1 hour ago, NateUpNorth said:

 

If you receive a reply please share!! As per my post (#8) clearly they have different understandings internally of what the card provides.

1. I did get a reply but i am asking for clarification about what constitutes a large to go. Another words if your order is a large will you only be charged an extra punch if it is considered a to go. They say extra for double shott Any coffee except to go large?? they mention the word to go . So i will let you know. It is worth it if you don't need the extra shot and you like frappuccino. But only if you can order a large coffee drink. Waiting for response. They surely think i am a P.I.T.A. But they say they are glad i e emailed them about the controversy and yes they confirmed it is the same on all rccl sailings.

[Biker19]

46 minutes ago, the mistral wind said:

1.  But they say they are glad i e emailed them about the controversy and yes they confirmed it is the same on all rccl sailings.

The answer you get from some corporate CSR and what happens on the ship are not always the same.

[the mistral wind]

Donna Paraskevaidis donnap106@verizon.netHide
To	web_reservations web_reservations@rccl.com

Just to clarify your response. If i order a LARGE frappuccino in  house in promenade it will be ONE punch because it is not a to go coffee. Is this right? I really appreciate your response to this question i have a lot of friends who want to know. I also can't wait to see all of you.. Our last cruise on the oasis ship was sensational. The service was wonderful and the ship never felt crowded because the customer service was explanatory. Especially in the windjammer.

-----Original Message-----
From: web_reservations <web_reservations@rccl.com>
To: donnap106 <donnap106@verizon.net>
Sent: Tue, Nov 13, 2018 7:02 pm
Subject: Serenade Of The Seas / 30-Nov-2018 / 6899428 / 1-29546329804 / Paraskevaidis

Dear Donna:

Thank you for your email. We are delighted that you will be sailing with us, and we are happy to assist you.

We are happy to provide additional information about our Café Select Beverage Package. You are correct that in general, the card entitles you to 15 specialty coffees, premium teas, and hot chocolate at locations throughout the ship, with the exception of Starbucks stores or kiosks. One beverage purchase typically equals one punch on the card; however, large to-go or double-shot coffee drinks will be two punches. Each additional shot is an additional punch on the card.

Thank you for suggesting that we clarify the details of our Café Select Package to be sure it is managed consistently across our fleet. We will forward this information to the appropriate operational teams for their consideration. While the results of this internal review will not be released outside of our company, we always appreciate feedback and suggestions from our guests, as they help us identify areas where we can improve our service.

[Goofyfanatic]

1 minute ago, the mistral wind said:

Donna Paraskevaidis donnap106@verizon.netHide
To	web_reservations web_reservations@rccl.com

Just to clarify your response. If i order a LARGE frappuccino in  house in promenade it will be ONE punch because it is not a to go coffee. Is this right? I really appreciate your response to this question i have a lot of friends who want to know. I also can't wait to see all of you.. Our last cruise on the oasis ship was sensational. The service was wonderful and the ship never felt crowded because the customer service was explanatory. Especially in the windjammer.

-----Original Message-----
From: web_reservations <web_reservations@rccl.com>
To: donnap106 <donnap106@verizon.net>
Sent: Tue, Nov 13, 2018 7:02 pm
Subject: Serenade Of The Seas / 30-Nov-2018 / 6899428 / 1-29546329804 / Paraskevaidis

Dear Donna:

Thank you for your email. We are delighted that you will be sailing with us, and we are happy to assist you.

We are happy to provide additional information about our Café Select Beverage Package. You are correct that in general, the card entitles you to 15 specialty coffees, premium teas, and hot chocolate at locations throughout the ship, with the exception of Starbucks stores or kiosks. One beverage purchase typically equals one punch on the card; however, large to-go or double-shot coffee drinks will be two punches. Each additional shot is an additional punch on the card.

Thank you for suggesting that we clarify the details of our Café Select Package to be sure it is managed consistently across our fleet. We will forward this information to the appropriate operational teams for their consideration. While the results of this internal review will not be released outside of our company, we always appreciate feedback and suggestions from our guests, as they help us identify areas where we can improve our service.

And this is the problem with the program. Over a year ago I went to customer service with the same issue on Anthem that the program is vague at best...

As to your question I think that the Large Frap will have two shots (at least) meaning two punches (or more). Then again the person working at the shop might just punch once...what a great program!

 

[2Long2NxtCrz]

3 minutes ago, the mistral wind said:

One beverage purchase typically equals one punch on the card; however, large to-go or double-shot coffee drinks will be two punches. Each additional shot is an additional punch on the card.

 

 

Okay, so, again, that doesn't make sense, nor does it make the card a good value.  At all.  An extra shot is what?  $0.50 whereas even a single drink is at least $3.  So has anybody tried using the card for a "single" and paying out of pocket for the extra shot?  Otherwise, it's barely worth it to buy the card.

[the mistral wind]

lol i guess i will ask before i buy. I don't need to pay extra for coffee. I like the coffee in the promenade just fine . But i do like a frappe coffee drink . I feel bad so many are disappointed .

[LB_NJ]

8 hours ago, 2Long2NxtCrz said:

 

Okay, so, again, that doesn't make sense, nor does it make the card a good value.  At all.  An extra shot is what?  $0.50 whereas even a single drink is at least $3.  So has anybody tried using the card for a "single" and paying out of pocket for the extra shot?  Otherwise, it's barely worth it to buy the card.

 

I do not understand why the card is not worth it for a single shot coffee drink like a latte or cappuccino.  A single drink would be at least $3.54 (when you add the gratuity to the $3 mentioned above) and with the card it works out to $2.44 per drink ($31 plus 18% for 15 drinks). A savings of about 30% over the single drink price.

[Mikew0805]

34 minutes ago, LB_NJ said:

 

I do not understand why the card is not worth it for a single shot coffee drink like a latte or cappuccino.  A single drink would be at least $3.54 (when you add the gratuity to the $3 mentioned above) and with the card it works out to $2.44 per drink ($31 plus 18% for 15 drinks). A savings of about 30% over the single drink price.

If all you ever buy is small, then yes.. it is a good option. Anytime they start punching more than one per drink, then it becomes cheaper to buy the drink instead of having the card. It's too bad a multi billion dollar corporation cannot figure this out, and publish it throughout the fleet. Some one there has to be able to do math... I hope.

[xsteph1022x]

I emailed royal about the card as well.  I bought it specifically for iced coffee drinks (which only come in one size)  Each time they wanted to take 2 punchs from the card.  It would have been cheaper to buy the coffees individually. 

They are refunding me half of the cost of the card and said 'We will work on making the inclusions clearer to avoid this disappointment going forward.'

I was on the 10/20 freedom sailing

 

[2Long2NxtCrz]

10 hours ago, Mikew0805 said:

If all you ever buy is small, then yes.. it is a good option. Anytime they start punching more than one per drink, then it becomes cheaper to buy the drink instead of having the card. It's too bad a multi billion dollar corporation cannot figure this out, and publish it throughout the fleet. Some one there has to be able to do math... I hope.

Exactly this.  If I was sitting in a cafe and planned to be there, I might drink a single espresso or cappuccino, because it would be easy enough to grab another, but I'm on a cruise and I don't want to sit in the Cafe Promenade.  It's inconvenient and it is a misrepresentation of what was advertised.  And just like xsteph1022x posted, an iced coffee drink automatically costs 2 punches.  That's again not what the web site says claims and it's not only lost any monetary advantage, it actually feels like a scam.

 

What I find even worse, is that this is a known issue and has been for over a year and a half.  I experienced the issue in early May 2017 and emailed resolutions back then.  And still nothing has changed.  They need to fix the web site and make it very clear that you are getting a SINGLE, HOT espresso drink with the card for each punch.  And it's not good for anything else.

[the mistral wind]

I understand however that's not how it worked for me on the oasis last month.i ordered large frappuccino and only one punch. The card has no value if they change this.

[Thorben-Hendrik]

12 hours ago, Mikew0805 said:

If all you ever buy is small, then yes.. it is a good option. Anytime they start punching more than one per drink, then it becomes cheaper to buy the drink instead of having the card. It's too bad a multi billion dollar corporation cannot figure this out, and publish it throughout the fleet. Some one there has to be able to do math... I hope.

They are sooooo cheap they need to scam their customers over a shot of coffee!👎

[the mistral wind]

13 hours ago, LB_NJ said:

 

I do not understand why the card is not worth it for a single shot coffee drink like a latte or cappuccino.  A single drink would be at least $3.54 (when you add the gratuity to the $3 mentioned above) and with the card it works out to $2.44 per drink ($31 plus 18% for 15 drinks). A savings of about 30% over the single drink price.

First i would like to say that it isn't reflective of the advertisement which implies ANY SPECIALITY COFFEE.

Then to explain my point of view. I would actually purchase maybe 4 coffee drinks a cruise. Since i like the seattes Beast coffee for free in promenade. The value was the idea ANY COFFEE was being advertised and was well worth the 15 cups. That is why most people purchased it.20 percent is not worth purchasing 15 coffees. That's my opinion so no value for me. 

[allentownahoy]

Whereas all the inconsistency between ships is infuriating my fear is that with all the recent inquiries to corporate soon no ship will allow one punch for any size. There goes the value of the card for me. I like frappuccino's and iced coffees. I also like medium or large macchiatos and lattes.

[NateUpNorth]

7 hours ago, allentownahoy said:

Whereas all the inconsistency between ships is infuriating my fear is that with all the recent inquiries to corporate soon no ship will allow one punch for any size. There goes the value of the card for me. I like frappuccino's and iced coffees. I also like medium or large macchiatos and lattes.

 

That's one option. I'm hoping the opposite. RCL realizes people are doing the math and it's OBVIOUSLY not making purchasing the card worth it and they'll have to change things for the better.

[LB_NJ]

2 minutes ago, NateUpNorth said:

 

That's one option. I'm hoping the opposite. RCL realizes people are doing the math and it's OBVIOUSLY not making purchasing the card worth it and they'll have to change things for the better.

 

RCL is a business.  RCL should make the choice that maximizes profit.  If they make more money by selling fewer cards and selling fewer large coffees but at full price then that is what they should do.  

 

The only reason they have the card in the first place is they have decided that they make more money by selling the card rather than people buying single shot drinks at full price.

 

They could just as easily decide to get rid of the card altogether.  I doubt the coffee card influences anybody to cruise on RCL.

[Iamcruzin]

On 11/11/2018 at 4:32 PM, the mistral wind said:

I wouldn't accuse them of a scam. But i wish they would change the wording or honor their advertisement. the later being preferred. Have a good day

 

It's not a scam. It's classic bait and switch by advertising one service or product  and delivering another. Imagine all of the newbies who didn't read the fine print and just accept the 2 or 3 punches. Since they have a prepaid card they don't even take the time to check the individual pricing and figure out that it would be cheaper a la carte'.   The more I read this board the more I realize that all of Royal Caribbeans business tactics are on par with a carnival snake oil salesman. Actually the snake oil salesman isn't as transparent as Royal Caribbean.

 

 

 

[2Long2NxtCrz]

1 hour ago, LB_NJ said:

 

RCL is a business.  RCL should make the choice that maximizes profit.  If they make more money by selling fewer cards and selling fewer large coffees but at full price then that is what they should do.  

 

The only reason they have the card in the first place is they have decided that they make more money by selling the card rather than people buying single shot drinks at full price.

 

They could just as easily decide to get rid of the card altogether.  I doubt the coffee card influences anybody to cruise on RCL.

Just because RCL is a business does not give them the right to not honor what they are selling.

 

What they're doing, and I'll spell it out again, is advertising you get FIFTEEN SPECIALTY ESPRESSO DRINKS when you purchase the card, but then they are not giving FIFTEEN SPECIALTY ESPRESSO DRINKS unless you only buy smalls.  It does not state that it is only FIFTEEN SMALL drinks.  It does not say that iced drinks are not included.  None of that is anywhere in the fine print.  So they are advertising one thing, providing something else entirely. 

 

It's left a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths and all for how much exactly?  An extra shot of espresso costs almost nothing to them with the quantity of coffee beans they purchase.  And by their "logic"  I could buy a venti latte with only a single espresso shot and still only use one punch.  How does that maximize the profit for them?  The milk costs far more than the coffee.  It's stupid and it's not good business.  And there does need to be a stink raised about it because it's just one more thing where the customer is not getting what we've been sold.  Not enough to stop cruising RCCL, but it is another straw on the camel's back.

 

And, in my case, they lost money.  They gave me $50 OBC when I complained.  So I got more than I paid for the card and I used about half of the card.  So not a good way to maximize profit there, either.

 

You know, it used to be that businesses actually gave a damn about their customers.  They treated us as though they wanted our repeat business.  That they wouldn't actually have a business to make profit on if we weren't there.  But lately it feels like all large Corporations care about is squeezing us for every last penny they possibly can.  Is it any wonder in this environment that people "cheat" on drinks packages and anything else they can?  I miss being treated fairly and honestly.  If the card is only for single drinks, just state that!  It's not hard.  Anything else is dishonest.

 

[NateUpNorth]

2 hours ago, LB_NJ said:

 

RCL is a business.  RCL should make the choice that maximizes profit.  If they make more money by selling fewer cards and selling fewer large coffees but at full price then that is what they should do.  

 

The only reason they have the card in the first place is they have decided that they make more money by selling the card rather than people buying single shot drinks at full price.

 

They could just as easily decide to get rid of the card altogether.  I doubt the coffee card influences anybody to cruise on RCL.

 

You are right, RCL is a business and they should try to maximize profit. No issues there.

 

The only reason they have the card, it's becoming apparent, is that they are able to sell it based on misleading advertising. And yes, I do think it's intentional. 

 

I also doubt the coffee card influences anybody to cruise on RCL, however these types of business practices appearing on a frequent basis will. (JR's "free" milkshakes is another example, or perhaps the one you've taken issue with - the price guarantee )  

Edited November 16, 2018 by NateUpNorth

[LB_NJ]

I agree the wording is misleading and should be fixed for the Café Card.  If I bought the Café Card and found out after that there was additional punches for larger coffees and that was not explained up front I would complain and possibly sue.

 

What I had commented before about price guarantee was clear on their website and I was not complaining about that.  Only pointing out that on occasion RCL was more generous than their website required.

 

My general view is that if a business does not live up to their obligations or they are intentionally misleading I just don't do business with them, period.  If enough people stop doing business with unethical businesses then maybe things will change.  FYI,I will forgive a certain amount of sales puffery, I expect everybody to do that.