Cheers, is it worth it?

[airvet]

Hello, I will be going on my third cruise but I never purchased the Cheers package. I’m thinking about it for our next cruise but I just don’t know if it’s worth it. Any tips on how to maximize if I decide to purchase?

[Joe817]

11 minutes ago, airvet said:

Hello, I will be going on my third cruise but I never purchased the Cheers package. I’m thinking about it for our next cruise but I just don’t know if it’s worth it. Any tips on how to maximize if I decide to purchase?

Welcome to the Carnival CC forum! That must be THE most frequently asked question. There are pros and cons. And both have their merits. I'll wait for the others to chime in their opinion. 

[n6uqqq]

At age 35 I would say yes, But I am 55 now so I say no. My days of drinking 10 a day or even 5 or 6 on a consistent basis are in the rearview mirror! Father time has won 🤣

[dadof2boys]

Just got off the Panorama. My wife and I were booked in two different cabins as we had adjoining rooms so that our teenage boys would be in one room, with us in the other. We have gotten the Cheers package in the past where the both of us were required to purchase. It was definitely NOT worth it as she does not drink at any level close to making the purchase worth it for her. However, this time, I only had it. 
 

Was it worth it? I would say yes. But what does “worth” mean to you? If I was to price out every drink I maybe broke even, definitely didn’t “save” money. However, the prepay feature is what makes it worth it for me. I love being able to go on a trip and have minimal additional costs when I am there. Being able to try new drinks, order when I wanted, visit the coffee shop, not worry about a bar tab, it’s great! I really think it helps me to relax more as I’m not calculating my bar tab or holding back because I’m concerned about overspending. 
 

Not sure if my long winded answer helps, but I do think it’s something to really consider and will be different for each person. 

[tallnthensome]

This question is asked and answered every week. Worth is a matter of opinion and up to the individual and their drinking habits. Plain and simple .....

[Rhj93]

I've really given this some serious thought but I'm opting no. Almost $900 for alcohol for the two of us (plus milkshakes, specialty coffee etc which I don't really drink). I figure the 3 days I will be at port I may have 1-2 drinks, Sea days would probably be the most - maybe 4-5. If we each bring a bottle of wine and maybe send a bottle of vodka to the room and bring mix in our luggage, I think we can still enjoy a few drinks and stay well below the $900. Just my opinion - but would depend totally on how much you think you will drink daily/overall.

Edited April 20, 2022 by Rhj93
typo

[1kaper]

4 hours ago, tallnthensome said:

This question is asked and answered every week. Worth is a matter of opinion and up to the individual and their drinking habits. Plain and simple .....

All of this really.  

 

It's not hard to maximize it.  I believe something like 5 cocktails a day will break even. But you can get specialty coffee, energy drinks, milkshakes, water and gatorade as well which will help even if you don't drink 5 cocktails. 

My own opinion - we just cruised the end of March.  It was worth it for us.  We enjoying having drinks on vacation.  I have a mimosa or two in the  morning (they are very small and not as much alcohol), wine at supper, and a couple of evening drinks.  If we are back early or it's a sea day, drinks by the pool.  I also got several bottles of water per day to keep hydrated and I got a specialty coffee everyday. 

 

But aside from the cost alone, I felt it was worth it because I had a fixed cost, already paid.  I could order a new cocktail to try, or a more expensive one.  I didn't worry or feel guilty about the cost when ordering. Normally, I would stick to trying to get the biggest bang for my buck because I was paying so much. Instead, this time,  I ordered what I wanted, I ordered top shelf and more expensive wines.  I could order when I wanted, without having to trek back to my room to make a drink.  Our decision to buy was based purely on numbers (and we had some CC.  but this is what I found to make it worth it after we sailed)

Edited April 20, 2022 by 1kaper

[MisterOJ2]

This is really subjective. Everyone is different in how much they consume and what they consider "worth it."

 

I had always been curious to try Cheers, but was always concerned I wouldn't "get my money's worth" out of it. Then, on the last two cruises we took, my wife and I were able to get one of the rates that had Cheers included for a nominal cost.

 

After our five day cruise, when we eyeballed our final bill, we decided that we would have probably just about broke even if we'd paid full price. At the end of this last cruise, a 6-day, we certainly would not have. And this was with us sometimes getting drinks when we didn't even really want one. Like there were times when we were having lunch on the Lido and I thought to myself, "I would be perfectly happy drinking a lemonade with my food right now." But instead, I went up to a bar and ordered a beer - just because it was included. And even doing stuff like that - I still don't think we would have drank enough to cover the full cost.

 

All that said, just knowing that we could order practically anything onboard and not have to worry about the price was nice. There is definitely a value in that, so I understand why some people like that. On some level, I do too, but I guess I'm just too much of a penny pincher to not try and "get me money's worth." And that takes a little of the fun out of it for me.

[cmp03]

Not worth it for me.  
 

I got it on a recent cruise and I kept having to make sure I ordered things to make it “worth it”. 
 

I don’t drink coffee and I have no issue drinking a cup of ice with water versus having to have bottled water (or I just order 12 pack prior to cruise or like $6). 

[maluhia87]

Worth it is something you have decide. 

 

However, some ways that we maximized our use is calling the liquor in drinks, I was ordering Belvedere and cranberries instead of well vodka.  We also go to the steakhouse for better glasses of wine and were pleasantly surprised to see Blanton's as a bourbon option.  I order specialty coffee daily, sometime the spiked variety, and we both get Gatorade.  My SO opted to try some of the aged rums and different drinks that we wouldn't normally try.  

[ray98]

No one can answer that for you because no one on here knows your budget or drinking style.

[ProgRockCruiser]

6 hours ago, tallnthensome said:

This question is asked and answered every week. Worth is a matter of opinion and up to the individual and their drinking habits. Plain and simple .....

 

Indeed.

 

1 hour ago, 1kaper said:

It's not hard to maximize it. 

 

IMHO, the OP should not look at "how to maximize Cheers" but whether their normal drinking habits on a cruise would benefit from the package.

 

For my wife and I, sure thing it is worthwhile.  We are not light drinkers at home, and on vacation we will easily rack up a huge bar bill without thinking about it.  So Cheers is easily a cost-saver for us.

 

If you would normally only have three or five drinks each day on a cruise, Cheers is not for you, since you typically "break even" at around six drinks - unless you specifically want to have the freedom to have more without incurring (apparent) additional cost.

 

So yes, YMMV, IMHO, AFAICT, yadda yadda yadda

[mz-s]

If you think you and your roommate can each drink more than $60 worth of paid drinks (alcohol, speciality coffee, soda, etc) every day of the cruise, it is worth it.

[Elaine5715]

Go to this page and answer the questions...

https://cruisespotlight.com/drink-package-calculator/

[Old Fart Cruisers]

Is it going to cause you to drink more just to make it "worth it"?  If that's the case, I would say definitely not.  But, on the other hand if you are someone who normally drinks too much then go for it.

[SDPadreFan]

At least for us, it is worth it. It also means NOT having to schlep a couple of bottles of wine and (2) 12 packs of soda in our luggage. Not to mention not worrying about getting called to the naughty room on embarkation day. We don't drink much at home generally. Typically a bottle of wine per week and a rum & coke a couple of times.

 

On vacation is a different matter. We like to have a couple glasses of wine for dinner and then 2 or 3 drinks while enjoying the evening show or the comedy club. Throw in a couple of fancy coffees in the morning and sodas/ice tea/beer/bottled water/fruity cocktails in the afternoon and we have no problem getting value from the package. Plus there is a certain comfort in not dreading the final tally bill at the end of the cruise. On shorter cruises (3, 4, or 5 day) we might skip it and just bring a couple of bottles of wine and run up a small tab for after dinner drinks. But we generally try to do 7 day or longer B2B cruises to maximize the $$$$ for flying from the West Coast to Florida, etc.

[WorkerBee74]

Here's an easy way to determine so.

 

Will you have 25 drinks at the Alchemy Bar during a 7 day cruise?  If the answer is yes, your answer is yes, get Cheers no questions asked.

 

😄

[beerman2]

32 minutes ago, WorkerBee74 said:

Here's an easy way to determine so.

 

Will you have 25 drinks at the Alchemy Bar during a 7 day cruise?  If the answer is yes, your answer is yes, get Cheers no questions asked.

 

😄

Like your thinking, PLUS options to try different drinks. Don’t like it try something else.

Did someone say “Deal Breaker”😂😂, I’ll have 1 or 2.

[SunsetCruizen]

If you think you will be a "repeat cruiser" you can do what we did.  Like you I wasn't sure of the value of the Cheers package so two cruises ago we just pretended we had Cheers and ordered whatever we wanted when we wanted it.  At the end of the cruise we went over our Sign & Sail account and added up the total cost of everything we drank (alcohol, botted water, specialty coffees, etc).  In the end it was more that then cost of Cheers.  In addition you can get the discounted Carnival gift cards from the All State Rewards Program (see thread in this forum for details) which reduces the cost by 10%.

[ray98]

4 minutes ago, SunsetCruizen said:

If you think you will be a "repeat cruiser" you can do what we did.  Like you I wasn't sure of the value of the Cheers package so two cruises ago we just pretended we had Cheers and ordered whatever we wanted when we wanted it.  At the end of the cruise we went over our Sign & Sail account and added up the total cost of everything we drank (alcohol, botted water, specialty coffees, etc).  In the end it was more that then cost of Cheers.  In addition you can get the discounted Carnival gift cards from the All State Rewards Program (see thread in this forum for details) which reduces the cost by 10%.

 

We went by our prior bar tabs when the program was introduced.  We were still spending as much or more and that was being somewhat budget conscious at times and back then we brought our own water and such.

[WorkerBee74]

51 minutes ago, beerman2 said:

Like your thinking, PLUS options to try different drinks. Don’t like it try something else.

Did someone say “Deal Breaker”😂😂, I’ll have 1 or 2.

 

Mardi Gras' Maria/Jennifer's Basil Drop with gin instead of vodka - I'll have at least 2 every day hahha.  

[Joebucks]

Probably worth it if you:

- Would spend more or near the cost of Cheers on a la carte drinks. ($990 for 2 people for a week)

- Panic at potential large bills later, and are soothed by potential larger up-front bills

- Want to try a bunch of drinks you may or may not like

 

Probably not worth it if you:

- Or your partner do not drink that much to justify the bill

[1kaper]

43 minutes ago, Joebucks said:

 

Probably not worth it if you:

- Or your partner do not drink that much to justify the bill

Yes.  I have said that Cheers was worth it for us this trip. 
Last trip I was pregnant so it was not. 

[csm5986142]

It's not worth it for me, but everybody is different.  When I'm home working 10 hour days, I daydream about my cruises (doing nothing but relaxing and drinking cocktails) when in reality, we stay pretty busy on the ships.  And with all the great food, I'm full all the time, and never end up ordering as many drinks as I think I will.

[kalmich]

My 2 cents:  If you're a big drinker, then yes.  If your only reason for buying Cheers is to prepay your bar tab, then why not purchase gift cards for the amount you anticipate spending on alcohol?  That way if you don't use it all up you can take the balance home with you.  With Cheers you won't get a refund if you don't spend it all.