Carnival Cheers Program: Considering it again?

[Eli_6]

This thread is a total buzz kill.

 

Just bought the Cheers package for the first time ever for my 4 night Dream out of Galveston and now you have me all thinking about how I probably wasted money. Boooooo. (I kid. I kid.)

[Eli_6]

6 hours ago, Jamesatgsu said:

 

The break even is 6 drinks, unless you are drinking at the Alchemy bar (which I do love), but they don't usually open until late afternoon.  If you factor in Beer, Happy Hour, & daily drink specials, it could take more to get there.  Then add in cheaper port drinks and the bottle of wine you can bring on board, and its hard to justify it as a good deal unless you are a heavy drinker, or also use the non-alcoholic drinks too. To me you get it either for a booze cruise or for the not worrying about the final bill.

 

MSC has a far cheaper drink package if you are looking to drink (granted with a far more limited selection for that package).  I really liked the open bar on Norwegian Sun, because it was so much faster with them not needing cards or receipts, but sadly that is no more. Don't know if any other cruise lines offer a similar alcohol included cruise.

 

Have you sailed MSC?  What did you think of it?  The MSC Yacht Club looks so enticing and is (comparatively) affordable, but I have read and been told by many Americans that they hated MSC.  I have to say my own travels in Italy (mainly the constant smoking everywhere) have me a little fearful. 

[fendersrule]

Keep in mind though klfhngr is that port days really throw a wrench on calculations. For me, port days mean explore + fun + drink.

 

 It's easy to exceed cheers value on sea days, but those 6-8 beers you had in port, you now need 6 more when you get back on the ship for the 3 days you are in port. If you can't do that, it heavily weighs down the average of Cheers.....

 

personally, when I "drink", I don't want dairy products, nor do I crave "sweets', nor do I want "soda." If I want a "soda" then I will grab a lite beer...

 

One quick way of valuing cheers. Can you drink 6 drinks a day for 4 days straight, and THEN can you drink 12 drinks a day for 3 port days. If the answer is "no" (most people), you shouldn't be getting cheers, unless you are a cruiser that chooses to stay on the ship during port days...

 

My last word on this is that I'm barely a Cheers person. I would guess that most people will not come "up ahead" in the cheers package. Some people have been gracious to type in their "drink" itinerary for a day (thank you) but words of wisdom is that I want your actual 7-day itinerary of drinks on the ship including port days where you leave the ship and drank somewhere else. That's where things get really hazy...

Edited February 7, 2020 by fendersrule

[pacruise804]

15 hours ago, fendersrule said:

The bottle of water is a murky topic. Everyone knows (I hope) that pre-buying water in a case for your stateroom is just as cheap as the supermarket. I think it's like, $5 for 12-16 bottles or something. So let's leave water out of it, or just include $5 over the course of the trip, and just add a nice coffee per day. That won't effect your estimates very much though, just wanted to throw that out that if you are actually buying water individually on a cruise, you are doing it wrong!

 

I would also leave out the tip, because it's 18% percent regardless whether or not you have cheers or not. 🙂

 

It's still basically 6 drinks per day average to break even on. That would mean 42 drinks are necessary to break even, plus your bottle of wine that you brought onboard. All I'm saying is that this requires some heavy drinking.

 

For a 7 day cruise with my included 750ml bottle of wine on board:

 

This is my drink record for my last cruise, not including the $3.75 mocha that you may have each morning. Keep in mind that I personally like to start my day with some exercise before getting trashed and I don't start drinking until noon, so for me, all of this has to happen starting at 12:00PM on sea days:

 

Sail off: 2 drinks + 1x bottle of wine

Sea Day: 10 drinks

Port Day (beach day that included about 13 drinks: 0 drinks

Port Day (excursion + several drinks): 6 drinks

Port Day (excursion + several drinks): 5 drinks

Sea Day: 15 drinks

Sea Day: 7 drinks

 

 

Your water math is a bit off.  Water purchased for the cabin is $5 for twelve 16.9 oz (1/2 liter) bottles.  I can usually get 30 bottles or more at the grocery store for just under $5 at home.  I do still agree it is cheaper to purchase a case on the ship than at the bar and don't include water in my calculations (especially since we usually do tap water regardless).

 

I am also in the non-Cheers camp for me since we: drink tap water; don't drink specialty coffee, tea, milkshakes, etc (generally too many calories); and while we might have 1 day at 6-10 drinks, most days are 4.  We work out on sea day mornings and often have active shore excursions where we wouldn't drink until near the end of the excursion.  If we drink in port then we might only have 2 or 3 on the ship.

 

Lots of people do drink more than I do, or leave drinks unfinished (warm/melted/try something new & didn't like) so really aren't drinking much more.  I'm not paying for it, so it really doesn't matter to me.

 

I will be getting the drink package on my Viking cruise this fall, but it is only $20 per day (with $5-7 drinks) and we have enough sea days to "try the menu" so the convenience fee of not thinking about drink cost would be minimal for that cruise. 

[beerman2]

On 2/5/2020 at 6:13 PM, crewsweeper said:

As others have said,  most of the more expensive drinks are around $12.

Carnival's top shelf is probably a land based bar's middle shelf. The Alchemy is unique because of the mixology going into the cocktails. 

One point not covered here is tips. You don't pay the 18% gratuity on each drink. As I recall the 18% is charged on the package when you buy it. (Please correct if that's not so). You do sign for each drink, and there's a line to add a tip, which many do. But you need to consider the tip on non-package drinks when comparing total costs to Cheers.

 

Vista never signed for each drink. Wonder if it varies from ship to ship or bartenders discretion.

 

I can see the purpose of signing without Cheers package, makes very little sense to sign with Cheers

[pacruise804]

1 hour ago, beerman2 said:

Vista never signed for each drink. Wonder if it varies from ship to ship or bartenders discretion.

 

I can see the purpose of signing without Cheers package, makes very little sense to sign with Cheers

A receipt is still generated with Cheers (card is swiped to track number of drinks) and the option is still there for additional gratuity, although most who tip extra per drink I think use cash.

[crewsweeper]

2 hours ago, beerman2 said:

Vista never signed for each drink. Wonder if it varies from ship to ship or bartenders discretion.

 

I can see the purpose of signing without Cheers package, makes very little sense to sign with Cheers

I saw Cheers users receiving a copy of bill at Alchemy  (every night), Guys BBQ bar/ TRF Pub, and the Havana bar on both the Vista and Horizon.  Bartenders have to run these to keep inventory on drinks. Most signed, but could have been for extra tips, which go on S&S card.

[Jamesatgsu]

15 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

Have you sailed MSC?  What did you think of it?  The MSC Yacht Club looks so enticing and is (comparatively) affordable, but I have read and been told by many Americans that they hated MSC.  I have to say my own travels in Italy (mainly the constant smoking everywhere) have me a little fearful. 

I have not, but was looking at it this summer before we ultimately decided on the Magic because the MSC Armonia looked to similar to Fantasy class ships, which we didn't want to do after having done those the last couple of times. I did decide to go ahead and match my Gold status for MSC's Silver, so I'll have to sail it within 3 years to keep it.

Our friends similarly say most people seem to hate it, but that they love it.  They did pay for a pretty high end room (with the hot tub on their balcony or in the room) and they had the top level of the MSC Experiences, so those things certainly factor again. I take it from them that the staff isn't as friendly or helpful as they usually are on Carnival (similar to how service is in Europe), but that isn't really bothersome to them and wouldn't be to me either.

[beerman2]

5 hours ago, pacruise804 said:

A receipt is still generated with Cheers (card is swiped to track number of drinks) and the option is still there for additional gratuity, although most who tip extra per drink I think use cash.

Agree card is swiped to track drinks, personally don't recall getting any receipts on the Vista.

Edited February 7, 2020 by beerman2

[VentureMan_2000]

On 2/6/2020 at 3:44 PM, fendersrule said:

Trust me on this as I did the research. You need closer to 6 drinks per day on average to break even. I spent time to google the menus. I took pictures when I was on the ship. 5 drinks per day means you are ordering the most expensive drinks that are only found in certain places (10.50ish). It assumes you are sitting at the alchemy bar all day and ONLY ordering the the best each time (which isn't most of the menu) or are doing Don Julio tequila shots only. 

What didn't you understand regarding the math I presented ?  I provided the range of drink prices and how they affected the break even on the Cheers package. 

 

You somehow pulled out, "5 drinks per day means you are ordering the most expensive drinks that are only found in certain places (10.50ish)".   What does (10.50ish) mean ?    

You keep insisting on some form of fuzzy math that somehow makes sense to you.  Math is black and white... nothing fuzzy about it.

[fendersrule]

1 hour ago, VentureMan_2000 said:

What didn't you understand regarding the math I presented ?  I provided the range of drink prices and how they affected the break even on the Cheers package. 

 

You somehow pulled out, "5 drinks per day means you are ordering the most expensive drinks that are only found in certain places (10.50ish)".   What does (10.50ish) mean ?    

You keep insisting on some form of fuzzy math that somehow makes sense to you.  Math is black and white... nothing fuzzy about it.

 

Your expectations are biased. First off,  you're conflating math with a variable that is constant (tips), so drop the constant. It's fluffy. You're also underestimating "foo-foo" drinks. See below. You then conflate it with buying water individually, which would be absolutely incorrect to do on a cruise. Everyone knows you buy a case of water if you don't have cheers pre-board for cheap.

 

There is no such thing as a 11.50 drink on carnival. At least It's one that I don't know about. Can you please explain which "pricier" drinks make the $11.50 mark and how relevant and common they are? The most expensive drinks are 10.95 at Alchemy (1/4 of the menu). The only hard alcohol drink that is "pricey" is Don Julio at $11.95, but I doubt most people will be sitting on Carnival taking Don Julio shots all day. I'll have a few, but not all day, for 7 days straight.

 

I'm not disagreeing with you much by the way, not sure where your hostility is coming from. Let me simplify it for you:

 

Beer: 8 to break even, agreed.

Blender/Frozen/Mixed/Common/Everywhere drinks (MOST DRINKS at MOST locations on the cruise ship): 6 to break even. This is what you call "Foo-foo" drinks, but I guarantee this is 90% of what people drink as they are available everywhere. 

Pricier drinks at 11.50? What does that mean? Look at my second paragraph above. But sure, if you are only drinking the two priciest drinks on the entire ship (which are not served in all places), then call it an even 5 to break even, if you are constantly hunting for "pricey" drinks.

 

What is the average of 8, 6, and 5?

 

6.3 drinks. Simplify it. Drop the .3. Who cares, It's 6 drinks.

 

I'm not aware of anyone that "hunts" for only the 2 priciest drinks at all times. When I'm on the lido deck, I'll get a drink from the lido deck that looks refreshing, probably a taquela sunrise, or something tropical. When I'm in the Redfrog pub, I'll probably grab a beer that looks refreshing. When I'm in Alchemy, I'll probably order something expensive because it's good stuff. When I'm in the dining room, maybe I'll order a glass of expensive wine?

 

The average is still 6 amongst all drinks at Carnival. It is not 5 drinks. Your post #71 is wrong. You state "5" drinks in that post as if no one drinks mixed drinks on a cruise.

 

I still ask you, what is the average of 8 (beer only), 6 (mixed/frozen/etc drink only), and 5 (rare top shelf stuff)?

Edited February 8, 2020 by fendersrule

[fendersrule]

Beer: $4.9-6.5 ($5.70 average)

Common mixed/frozen/wine/most of alchemy's menu/lido deck/nightclub/comedy club/yadda yadda: $8.80ish ($8.80 average)

Higher-end mixed drinks (available in some places): 10.95 ($10.95 average)

Hard alcohol: $5.75-11.95 ($8.85 average)

 

Average of all drinks: $8.5, because people that buy cheers are probably going to drink/try many different things.

 

Carnival Cheers: $51.95

 

$51.95 / $8.5 = 6.1 drinks.

 

This is another way to look at it that I simplified. See attached for drink menus at the most common locations. I didn't include beer and wine menus, but again carnival doesn't really carry "top shelf", and I'm very sure wine will fit into "common" drinks of 8.80ish on average which you just lumped as "foo-foo" drinks. 

 

6 drinks per day with Cheers, to break even, looking at Alcohol consumption alone. Telling people it's 5 drinks a day is false information IMO. Consider the averages of all drinks, and what most "drinkers' will be doing on a cruise. That is drinking everything.

 

 

Edited February 8, 2020 by fendersrule

[216Cruiser]

I'm thoroughly convinced that Carnival waters down their booze and nobody will convince me any differently. I'm actually a bit of a lightweight and could hardly get buzzed even when really trying. 

[fendersrule]

20 minutes ago, 216Cruiser said:

I'm thoroughly convinced that Carnival waters down their booze and nobody will convince me any differently. I'm actually a bit of a lightweight and could hardly get buzzed even when really trying. 

 

You are correct somehwat. But...the Alchemy Bar does NOT water down drinks, even the $8.95 drinks, and certainly not the $10.95 drinks. Plan to hit that area up A LOT. It's a good known secret. 🙂

 

With a cheers card, you are in complete control. The Lido deck place, just tell them you want it strong. Many bar tenders will make sure to make it right. They aint' going to double the ABV, but they will usually do a healthier pour. Without cheers, a $2 tip goes far and they'll do the same thing when you see them again...

 

Sadly, most places, even off the cruise ship, cannot make a healthy mixed drink. I rarely order a mixed drink anymore from a place I don't know because it's mostly a crapshoot. My local neighbor bar sure can do it right. That's why I personally stick to scotch/whiskey, strong beers, wine, or simple mixed well drinks if I just want something sweet with alcohol. You can't mess up beer, wine, or hard alcohol. 

 

I typically do mixed drinks while "coasting" throughout the day or to start a sea-day. 🙂 

 

If you watch Carnival make your mixed drinks, they do add the appropriate amount called for. It's hard to fake that. A tip or even just a request to make it stronger they typically will make it where you want it. Don't be afraid to speak up. 

 

Edited February 8, 2020 by fendersrule

[216Cruiser]

10 minutes ago, fendersrule said:

 

You are correct. But...the Alchemy Bar does NOT water down drinks, even the $8.95 drinks, and certainly not the $10.95 drinks. Plan to hit that area up A LOT. It's a good known secret. 🙂

 

With a cheers card, you are in complete control. The Lido deck place, just tell them you want it strong. Many bar tenders will make sure to make it right. Without cheers, a $2 tip goes far and they'll do the same thing on repeat visits.

 

Sadly, most places, even off the cruise ship, cannot make a healthy mixed drink. I rarely order a mixed drink anymore from a place I don't know because it's mostly a crapshoot. My local neighbor bar sure can do it right. That's why I personally stick to scotch/whiskey, strong beers, wine, or simple mixed well drinks if I just want something sweet with alcohol. You can't mess up beer, wine, or hard alcohol. 

 

I typically do mixed drinks while "coasting" throughout the day or to start a sea-day. 🙂 

 

 

Too late now but I'll know next time to maybe try Alchemy. I even got to a point where I started watching them pour a full shot of whatever into whatever I was drinking because I knew something wasn't right. And they did pour full shots out of those bottles. Saw it multiple times. The taste and lack of a buzz told me something was up. It got to the point I just started drinking solely Crown Royal and Coke (Pepsi) because I KNOW what that tastes like and how many I can drink before the woooo sets in. Nope. Shame for as much as we pay. 

[PhillyFan33579]

5 hours ago, fendersrule said:

 

Your expectations are biased. First off,  you're conflating math with a variable that is constant (tips), so drop the constant. It's fluffy. You're also underestimating "foo-foo" drinks. See below. You then conflate it with buying water individually, which would be absolutely incorrect to do on a cruise. Everyone knows you buy a case of water if you don't have cheers pre-board for cheap.

 

There is no such thing as a 11.50 drink on carnival. At least It's one that I don't know about. Can you please explain which "pricier" drinks make the $11.50 mark and how relevant and common they are? The most expensive drinks are 10.95 at Alchemy (1/4 of the menu). The only hard alcohol drink that is "pricey" is Don Julio at $11.95, but I doubt most people will be sitting on Carnival taking Don Julio shots all day. I'll have a few, but not all day, for 7 days straight.

 

I'm not disagreeing with you much by the way, not sure where your hostility is coming from. Let me simplify it for you:

 

Beer: 8 to break even, agreed.

Blender/Frozen/Mixed/Common/Everywhere drinks (MOST DRINKS at MOST locations on the cruise ship): 6 to break even. This is what you call "Foo-foo" drinks, but I guarantee this is 90% of what people drink as they are available everywhere. 

Pricier drinks at 11.50? What does that mean? Look at my second paragraph above. But sure, if you are only drinking the two priciest drinks on the entire ship (which are not served in all places), then call it an even 5 to break even, if you are constantly hunting for "pricey" drinks.

 

What is the average of 8, 6, and 5?

 

6.3 drinks. Simplify it. Drop the .3. Who cares, It's 6 drinks.

 

I'm not aware of anyone that "hunts" for only the 2 priciest drinks at all times. When I'm on the lido deck, I'll get a drink from the lido deck that looks refreshing, probably a taquela sunrise, or something tropical. When I'm in the Redfrog pub, I'll probably grab a beer that looks refreshing. When I'm in Alchemy, I'll probably order something expensive because it's good stuff. When I'm in the dining room, maybe I'll order a glass of expensive wine?

 

The average is still 6 amongst all drinks at Carnival. It is not 5 drinks. Your post #71 is wrong. You state "5" drinks in that post as if no one drinks mixed drinks on a cruise.

 

I still ask you, what is the average of 8 (beer only), 6 (mixed/frozen/etc drink only), and 5 (rare top shelf stuff)?

The one point you are missing, and it may not apply to everyone, is the benefit of non-alcoholic drinks you can get with Cheers. I tend to drink a lot of soda, water, and Powerade during a cruise, which are all included with Cheers. You mentioned pre-ordering water, but you can’t pre-order Pellagrino, which we always drink in the MDR or speciality restaurants. Between breakfast and dinner, we usually drink 4-5 bottles of Pellagrino every day, which would be roughly $20 a day without Cheers. That alone drops the break even point approximately 20% for my wife and I when it comes to Cheers 

[ray98]

4 hours ago, 216Cruiser said:

I'm thoroughly convinced that Carnival waters down their booze and nobody will convince me any differently. I'm actually a bit of a lightweight and could hardly get buzzed even when really trying. 

It totally depends on what you order.  Many recopies when properly mixed will mask the liquor within, that is purposeful.  Other recopies go to the other end of the spectrum such as a Long Island.  It depends on what you order.

 

I can't count the times in my bartending days when some one ordered some frou-frou drink and complained it was weak.  Sure it is, that is the concoction you ordered, it has more mix so it kills the alcohol taste.

 

"Drink is a little weak bro."

"Dude....you ordered a Fuzzy Navel"

[lindsay0526]

42 minutes ago, ray98 said:

 

"Drink is a little weak bro."

"Dude....you ordered a Fuzzy Navel"

 

🤣 I loved those customers. Bless them. 🤣

[ray98]

5 minutes ago, lindsay0526 said:

 

🤣 I loved those customers. Bless them. 🤣

 

Yup....then the same guy gets ribbed by his friends and orders a Long Island.  Next thing you know he is complaining looking for another 'splash of Coke'.

 

Find a recipe that matches the taste you want and stick with it.

[sabres431]

On 2/6/2020 at 7:18 PM, Eli_6 said:

Have you sailed MSC?  What did you think of it?  The MSC Yacht Club looks so enticing and is (comparatively) affordable, but I have read and been told by many Americans that they hated MSC.  I have to say my own travels in Italy (mainly the constant smoking everywhere) have me a little fearful. 

We sailed MSC Divina in 2018.  The Yacht Club was phenomenal.  The ship was the most beautiful I've seen inside.  You will be the minority as most people were European.  I believe the new ship Seaside is different as it caters to Americans.  We've sailed NCL's Haven and the Yacht Club experience was much better.

[SNJCruisers]

On 2/6/2020 at 3:33 PM, fendersrule said:

You're not going to get caught with a $15-20 drink on Carnival. The most expensive hard alcohol drink on Carnival is Don Julio, and it's $11.50.

 

 

 

Just to set the record straight.  Every drink at the Alchemy Bar is over 11.50.  Roca Patron at the tequila  bar is around 15.00. Grey Goose VX is 17.00 neat and 20.00 made in a cocktail at Alchemy.   This is from first hand experience on the Horizon from August of 2018 and 2019.

And regarding Don Julio, the tequila bar has Don Julio Silver, Don Julio Reposado and Don Julio Anejo. Each slightly  more than their predecessor.

[216Cruiser]

18 hours ago, ray98 said:

It totally depends on what you order.  Many recopies when properly mixed will mask the liquor within, that is purposeful.  Other recopies go to the other end of the spectrum such as a Long Island.  It depends on what you order.

 

I can't count the times in my bartending days when some one ordered some frou-frou drink and complained it was weak.  Sure it is, that is the concoction you ordered, it has more mix so it kills the alcohol taste.

 

"Drink is a little weak bro."

"Dude....you ordered a Fuzzy Navel"

Like I mentioned, it got down to basic Crown Royal and Coke (Pepsi). Very weak and I watched the shot of Crown being measured. Nobody will convince me it isn't watered down. I drink the same thing at home. You pour a shot of crown in a rocks glass and fill the rest with your soda of choice, you're going to taste it. Barely could on the ship. 

[ray98]

3 hours ago, 216Cruiser said:

Like I mentioned, it got down to basic Crown Royal and Coke (Pepsi). Very weak and I watched the shot of Crown being measured. Nobody will convince me it isn't watered down. I drink the same thing at home. You pour a shot of crown in a rocks glass and fill the rest with your soda of choice, you're going to taste it. Barely could on the ship. 

 

Absolutely no way they are 'watering down' a bottle of Crown.

[fendersrule]

On 2/8/2020 at 11:48 PM, 216Cruiser said:

Like I mentioned, it got down to basic Crown Royal and Coke (Pepsi). Very weak and I watched the shot of Crown being measured. Nobody will convince me it isn't watered down. I drink the same thing at home. You pour a shot of crown in a rocks glass and fill the rest with your soda of choice, you're going to taste it. Barely could on the ship. 

 

Carnival does not water drinks down. Sweet drinks have a lot of sugars and such to them to where you're drinking lots of the "other stuff". When you're mixing drinks at home, you're probably not measuring 1.5 ounces, you're probably dumping in 3-4 ounces.

 

What I wanted to say though, and this is probably a true thing for others, but when you're outside, partying, super pumped, music blasting, under direct heat, hot, sweating, moving, that it seems that drinks affect you less.

 

I know this because it seemed true on my last cruise (drinking more than usual when I'm partying in direct heat to "feel" super buzzed) and I can attest to this when I'm fishing by sitting in a chair with heat beating on me at 95F chugging beers like it was nothing. Where if I was at home I'd be too tipsy under the same conditions.

 

Order a single shot of crown next time. It will taste exactly like a single shot of crown.

 

Also, I always had a bottle of water on me. I was always drinking water every 30-45 minutes. This plays into the "drunk" effect as well. 

Edited February 11, 2020 by fendersrule

[216Cruiser]

On 2/9/2020 at 5:38 AM, ray98 said:

 

Absolutely no way they are 'watering down' a bottle of Crown.

You're entitled to your opinion and I'm entitled to mine. I'm not just making it up lol. I know bars at home that do it. It's certainly not out of the realm of possibilities. Any way to truly test it?