Beverage Cards

[GeriatricNurse]

When one uses their Beverage Card, how does it work with the gratuity and do you receive a receipt?

[Cruise Suzy]

The menu price plus gratuity is automatically charged and deducted from the card's balance. Some have reported getting receipts, but on the Koningsdam in February none were given. Sometimes I was told my balance, other times I had to ask.

[GeriatricNurse]

1 hour ago, Cruise Suzy said:

The menu price plus gratuity is automatically charged and deducted from the card's balance. Some have reported getting receipts, but on the Koningsdam in February none were given. Sometimes I was told my balance, other times I had to ask.

Hi Cruise Suzy,

 

   Thank you for the reply. 

 

   So, the value of the beverage card would decrease quickly, depending upon the cost of the beverage, along with the cost of the gratuity!

 

   What is the cost of the gratuity?  On NCL it was 20%.

[RuthC]

19 minutes ago, GeriatricNurse said:

What is the cost of the gratuity?

15%.

[Tom O.]

I just wanted to point out that, except for the Soda Value Card, there is no financial advantage to buying a beverage card.

The Soda Value Card cost $25 but allows you to purchase $50 worth of sodas. If you don't use all of $50 you lose the balance.

The other beverage cards, are sort of like debit cards. Whatever amount you buy, you can use to purchase any kind of beverages, including alcoholic drinks. If you don't use it all, you will be refunded the balance at the end of the cruise. But the drinks cost the same as if you just bought them and added them to your room charge.

Some people like the beverage cards because they can keep track of how much they are spending on drinks and don't get hit with a big bill at the end of the cruise.

Personally, I don't buy that many drinks, and I prefer to just charge them to our room. I don't want to deal with concerns about what my balance is on a beverage card.

[kazu]

3 hours ago, Tom O. said:

Some people like the beverage cards because they can keep track of how much they are spending on drinks and don't get hit with a big bill at the end of the cruise.

Personally, I don't buy that many drinks, and I prefer to just charge them to our room. I don't want to deal with concerns about what my balance is on a beverage card.

 

Actually, (at least speaking for myself), some of us buy them to avoid a bunch niggly piggly charges on our on board account that take time to verify and make it even lengthier (especially on longer cruises).

 

Plus, I buy my beverage card on line in advance and can choose (as best possible) the best exchange rate for my Canadian dollar rather than be a victim of the rate at the time (disembarkation when we are billed).

 

Since any balance remaining on the beverage card is refundable to you, it’s a win win for us 😄 

[Tom O.]

11 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

Plus, I buy my beverage card on line in advance and can choose (as best possible) the best exchange rate for my Canadian dollar rather than be a victim of the rate at the time (disembarkation when we are billed).

 

Since any balance remaining on the beverage card is refundable to you, it’s a win win for us 😄 

 

Thanks Kazu for reminding me of the advantage of picking the best time for an exchange rate. Since I am American this doesn't apply to me, but I see your point. 

I was wondering if the amount refunded at the end of a cruise is at the current exchange rate or is it at the same exchange rate when you bought the card? If it is at the current exchange rate, and you believed the Canadian Dollar was going to decline in value, you could purposely buy beverage cards in large amounts and make a nice profit at the end of the cruise.

But this might require the use of a crystal ball.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Since the majority of our cruises are 21 days, I do not want to spend the last morning of the cruise trying to go through all those receipts to make certain that we weren't charged for someone else's drinks.  Thus the Beverage Cards save us that time -- I also like to check our shipboard account about every 3 days.

[kazu]

1 hour ago, Tom O. said:

 

Thanks Kazu for reminding me of the advantage of picking the best time for an exchange rate. Since I am American this doesn't apply to me, but I see your point. 

I was wondering if the amount refunded at the end of a cruise is at the current exchange rate or is it at the same exchange rate when you bought the card? If it is at the current exchange rate, and you believed the Canadian Dollar was going to decline in value, you could purposely buy beverage cards in large amounts and make a nice profit at the end of the cruise.

But this might require the use of a crystal ball.

 

It’s refunded to my onboard account in U.S. dollars.  If my onboard account is at a credit (which a true rarity), it is credited to my credit card used to secure my on board spending.

 

Rarely come ahead of the game since our ‘buy and sell’ rates have a big discrepancy 😉 and I have no crystal ball 🙂. If I did I would have borrowed and bought a ton of U.S $ when we were above par 😉 

[yerdua]

Keep in mind that if HAL has gifted you the beverage card (vs you purchasing it) there is no refund of balances remaining at the end of the cruise. Only cards that have been purchased refund the balance to the cruiser. 

[GeriatricNurse]

55 minutes ago, yerdua said:

Keep in mind that if HAL has gifted you the beverage card (vs you purchasing it) there is no refund of balances remaining at the end of the cruise. Only cards that have been purchased refund the balance to the cruiser. 

Hi yerdua,

 

   Thank you for the clarification.  I was unaware of the difference.

[Tom O.]

I have decided to buy at least one of those Soda Value Cards for my next cruise. I have not done this before. I have a question that I cannot find an answer to anywhere. When I purchase one of these cards on the website, I am asked which passenger is the recipient. So I assume that if I say I am the recipient, the card will come with my name on it. Can I use it to purchase sodas for my wife? Or is it just for me? Also, can she use it without me being present?

These cards are a much better deal than buying the endless soda package, which I have done in the past.

[Cruise Suzy]

9 minutes ago, Tom O. said:

Can I use it to purchase sodas for my wife? Or is it just for me? Also, can she use it without me being present?

 

Yes, you can use the Soda Value Card to purchase for others. In February on the Koningsdam, I often ordered two servings for myself and sometimes one for DH. I say servings because in the Lido I was always brought cans and glasses of ice. At bars, it was always fountain drinks.

 

DH never tried to use my card - the few times he had soda was at a meal.

 

The same was true for our Beverage Cards. Each of us were given one by our TA. DH's was used up before mine, so I ordered drinks for both of us until mine was used up as well.

[Tom O.]

1 hour ago, Cruise Suzy said:

 

Yes, you can use the Soda Value Card to purchase for others. In February on the Koningsdam, I often ordered two servings for myself and sometimes one for DH.

 

Thanks Suzy. Do you remember if the card came with your name on it?

I think I will order two cards one for my wife and one for me. We will probably not use all of the $50 per card value. But I am sure we will use more than the $25 per card cost. I understand that sodas cost around $2.88 including the 15% service fee. So one card should be good for 17 drinks.

Edited January 9, 2020 by Tom O.
Corrected to current price of sodas

[Cruise Suzy]

1 hour ago, Tom O. said:

Do you remember if the card came with your name on it?

 

I think it did - but I could be wrong.

[daisy-mae]

I just checked some of the soda cards that were used on two of our most recent HAL cruises. Each one had a name and cabin number. If I remember correctly the first time I presented the card I was asked for my cruise pass (keycard) as well, but that was not the case for the rest of the cruise.

 

We usually purchase one soda card to share and have never had a problem ordering two drinks at the same time, regardless of which one of us used the card.

[Tom O.]

1 hour ago, daisy-mae said:

I just checked some of the soda cards that were used on two of our most recent HAL cruises. Each one had a name and cabin number. If I remember correctly the first time I presented the card I was asked for my cruise pass (keycard) as well, but that was not the case for the rest of the cruise.

 

We usually purchase one soda card to share and have never had a problem ordering two drinks at the same time, regardless of which one of us used the card.

Thanks Daisy for that information.

[dontworry]

My DW and I have a SBP each,$50.00 beverage card each and two free meals at the specialty restaurants all part of our booking with HAL. Can we use the beverage cards in the restaurants(providing we can get a bottle for $50.)to buy a bottle of wine.Don't think I would use the SBP in the restaurant even if I could(doesn't feel right to me)

[kazu]

1 minute ago, dontworry said:

My DW and I have a SBP each,$50.00 beverage card each and two free meals at the specialty restaurants all part of our booking with HAL. Can we use the beverage cards in the restaurants(providing we can get a bottle for $50.)to buy a bottle of wine.Don't think I would use the SBP in the restaurant even if I could(doesn't feel right to me)

 

Yes, you can use the beverage card to purchase a bottle of wine.

 

[TAD2005]

Beverage cards that you or your TA purchase for you are refundable if you do not use the full amount of the card.  Cards gifted by HAL as part of a promotion are not refundable.

The one exception to this is the Soda Card which is discounted, $25 purchase price and you get $50 of sodas.   With that card, because of the discount, you do not get a refund if you do not consume $50 of sodas.

[TAD2005]

4 minutes ago, dontworry said:

My DW and I have a SBP each,$50.00 beverage card each and two free meals at the specialty restaurants all part of our booking with HAL. Can we use the beverage cards in the restaurants(providing we can get a bottle for $50.)to buy a bottle of wine.Don't think I would use the SBP in the restaurant even if I could(doesn't feel right to me)

You can combine your two, $50 beverage cards and buy a nice bottle of wine in the MDR or anywhere.   If you really want to splurge, you can use all of your beverage cards for a really expensive bottle, and the difference will be billed to your cabin account. Note, I am speaking of the cash beverage cards that you purchase or HAL gifts you, NOT the SBP.

You can use the SBP in the MDR for any covered beverage.   Just present your cabin key card to the wine steward at your table and your drink, glass of wine, or even the nightly cordials will be covered, and in the case of the cordials, yes, you can keep the glass.  We have 4 boxes of those little glasses at home and we didn't pay anything for them.   You cannot use the SBP (or EBP) to order bottles of wine, that must be done with a purchased beverage card.

[RuthC]

48 minutes ago, TAD2005 said:

The one exception to this is the Soda Card which is discounted, $25 purchase price and you get $50 of sodas.   With that card, because of the discount, you do not get a refund if you do not consume $50 of sodas.

(bolding added) 
Not quite. There is a refund for what is unused up to the initial $25 only. 
The math is: subtract the $25 'bonus' from the $50 value to return to the $25 paid. 
Then, if less than $25 of soda was purchased, then the balance up to $25 will be refunded. 

[Granny DI]

6 hours ago, Tom O. said:

I have decided to buy at least one of those Soda Value Cards for my next cruise. I have not done this before. I have a question that I cannot find an answer to anywhere. When I purchase one of these cards on the website, I am asked which passenger is the recipient. So I assume that if I say I am the recipient, the card will come with my name on it. Can I use it to purchase sodas for my wife? Or is it just for me? Also, can she use it without me being present?

These cards are a much better deal than buying the endless soda package, which I have done in the past.

 

HAL gifted me beverage cards after I had purchased the soda card. Do not mess with the soda card. I am on the Nieuw Statendam now and soda card means fountain drinks. I prefer unopened cans to use at a later date. No bar will allow purchase of can cokes with a soda card. I have to use my beverage card. I will never purchase another soda card for a 7 day cruise. Big mistake on my part.

[TAD2005]

Just now, RuthC said:

(bolding added) 
Not quite. There is a refund for what is unused up to the initial $25 only. 
The math is: subtract the $25 'bonus' from the $50 value to return to the $25 paid. 
Then, if less than $25 of soda was purchased, then the balance up to $25 will be refunded. 

Thanks Ruth.  I was assuming that someone would spend at least $25 (8.7 sodas with the 15% SC).   If they spent $25 or more for sodas, including the 15% SC, then the card becomes non-refundable.

[daisy-mae]

9 minutes ago, Granny DI said:

 

HAL gifted me beverage cards after I had purchased the soda card. Do not mess with the soda card. I am on the Nieuw Statendam now and soda card means fountain drinks. I prefer unopened cans to use at a later date. No bar will allow purchase of can cokes with a soda card. I have to use my beverage card. I will never purchase another soda card for a 7 day cruise. Big mistake on my part.

 

Maybe it depends on the ship. On the Zuiderdam last spring we were given cans of Coke as when using the soda card.