Cheers, is it worth it?

[LaRue1975]

4 hours ago, 1kaper said:

i am from Canada and our alcohol taxes quite heavily. 
The price of alcohol in the US blows my

in every time. 
 

Funny you should mention this, our last cruise before the Vista was an Alaskan cruise out of Vancouver in 2008. We bought some Crown Royal in Canada and it was quite a bit more than what we pay in California and we have extra taxes too. How is it possible to pay more for Canadian whiskey in Canada?  It’s the hubby’s drink of choice but you can no longer get it at the bars on Carnival because of the supply chain issues. Evidently the fun shops supply chain is solid though because there was plenty of Crown Royal for sale in there, something fishy is going on here, lol! 

[SNJCruisers]

1 hour ago, csoud68 said:

The whole post was done in jest. Unbelievable you can't see that.

Couldn't see your tongue that was planted firmly in your cheek.  I just couldn't decide which cheek it was.🤔

[lilyfleur]

15 hours ago, lilyfleur said:

Hello!, best to do the math and make your decision.   A good link is below.

 

Check out this link:

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

 

Also, be aware Carnival is increasing prices:

https://cruisespotlight.com/carnival-increasing-onboard-prices-starting-may-1/#:~:text=Carnival’s onboard costs will increase 10 – 17%, 17% 6 more rows

Also, Drink Menu Here:  https://profcruise.com/carnival-bar-menus-and-drink-prices-2022/

[Elaine5715]

20 hours ago, 1kaper said:

i didn’t find any drinks weak. They serve the standard 1.5 ounce from what I saw. 
i actually disliked the pool bar because they seemed to make all the drinks in small cups and I found them too strong. 
 

Oddly enough, my only complaint are the mimosas. I love mimosas and they were so small.  Having one mimosa is definitely not equivalent to one standard drink. 

The dining room waiters suggested this...  order a glass of orange juice from them and a glass of your preferred "mimosa" (I like a Moscato in a mimosa) and mix yourself.  They can't substitute anything other that the usual brut in a dining room mimosa.  

[Elaine5715]

15 hours ago, 1kaper said:

i am from Canada and our alcohol taxes quite heavily. 
The price of alcohol in the US blows my

in every time. 
 

I do suppose that money made on alcohol makes up for other things, like cheap room rates. So I suppose it isn’t just about covering the cost of alcohol. I guess the question is how much extra the need to make in alcohol sales. 

Ship profits comes solely from on board spending.  Cruise fare just keeps the lights on

[cruisingguy007]

12 hours ago, LaRue1975 said:

Funny you should mention this, our last cruise before the Vista was an Alaskan cruise out of Vancouver in 2008. We bought some Crown Royal in Canada and it was quite a bit more than what we pay in California and we have extra taxes too. How is it possible to pay more for Canadian whiskey in Canada?  It’s the hubby’s drink of choice but you can no longer get it at the bars on Carnival because of the supply chain issues. Evidently the fun shops supply chain is solid though because there was plenty of Crown Royal for sale in there, something fishy is going on here, lol! 

 

California has one of the lowest alcohol taxes in the country. Probably to help you get drunk and deal with all the other high taxes we have. 😄

 

https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/alcohol-tax-by-state

Edited April 24, 2022 by cruisingguy007

[1kaper]

14 hours ago, csoud68 said:

The whole post was done in jest. Unbelievable you can't see that.

Considering the judgement on some of these posts it was not clear at all that this one was in jest. 

[LaRue1975]

14 hours ago, cruisingguy007 said:

 

California has one of the lowest alcohol taxes in the country. Probably to help you get drunk and deal with all the other high taxes we have. 😄

 

https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/alcohol-tax-by-state

I absolutely did not know that,  just figured like everything else in California it is over taxed. The liquor lobbyists obviously have a lot of pull here, either that or all the politicians are alcoholics! 🤣🤣🤣

[tiffy0728]

On my recent cruise, I had it. We had three sea days and four port days. On the port days, I didn't drink as much on the ship. I actually rather buy $500 worth of drink coupons to have when I board. I find that way to be better for me. 

[sparks1093]

19 minutes ago, tiffy0728 said:

On my recent cruise, I had it. We had three sea days and four port days. On the port days, I didn't drink as much on the ship. I actually rather buy $500 worth of drink coupons to have when I board. I find that way to be better for me. 

They don't offer coupons (that I know of) but they do have Cruise Cash Bar that allows you to purchase OBC to be used only for bar purchases. (The down side is that it's not refundable so you need to make sure to use it all.)

[tiffy0728]

45 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

They don't offer coupons (that I know of) but they do have Cruise Cash Bar that allows you to purchase OBC to be used only for bar purchases. (The down side is that it's not refundable so you need to make sure to use it all.)

yes, that's what I am talking about. I usually use all of it as it's myself and my husband sharing 

[tutzig]

So I have a question that I searched for and did not find an answer. A friend who may be going on a cruise asked.

 

Can he preorder a bottle of vodka to be delivered to the room, and also get the cheer's package?

 

Before you judge, it's his liver, not mine!

[cruisingguy007]

We went without it last week. We still spent plenty (maybe even a bit more than the base cost of the package for two), but you can buy a lot of booze with the value of two drink packages, especially if you pre-purchase liters of booze for the cabin. If you have multiple cabins, you can buy two for each. Still leaves plenty for many buckets of beer, wine packages/bottles, and/or many individual drinks while onboard. 15 drinks may sound like a lot but you have to figure in additional tips for individual drinks for runners (this brings the real cost to around 1K for two), waiting in lines for drinks at bars and the fact that many of the drinks are weak, may contain lower quality booze and are often just large cups of sugar water.

 

I feel we got a better value without it and will definitely not buy it at the higher price point. It can be good if you enjoy bar hopping, the social aspect of traversing around the ship for each individual drink or if you simply like the bar fly type style of cruising where you park at a bar and post up there (that would be the casino bar for me but is no more). Plus many of the ports have cheap options right off the boat and many excursions have open bars. It was already hard to justify, at a higher price point? Absolutely not. People like to conflate the value of 15 drinks with the ridiculous mark ups and not the quality or quantity comparatively. Plus the clock is always ticking on you and may lead some to go harder than they want or not take a break for a night or two and hit the sack early. It was designed this way on purpose.        

Edited April 26, 2022 by cruisingguy007

[cruisingguy007]

1 hour ago, tutzig said:

So I have a question that I searched for and did not find an answer. A friend who may be going on a cruise asked.

 

Can he preorder a bottle of vodka to be delivered to the room, and also get the cheer's package?

 

Before you judge, it's his liver, not mine!

 

Yes. Two actually! I pre-ordered a couple liters of Goose and a liter of Patron and the drink package was still available to purchase.   

Edited April 26, 2022 by cruisingguy007

[LaRue1975]

57 minutes ago, cruisingguy007 said:

 

Yes. Two actually! I pre-ordered a couple liters of Goose and a liter of Patron and the drink package was still available to purchase.   

I can’t find where to pre order the booze, there are only gift beverage packages in my cruise manager.  I know it used to be easily accessible but now I can’t find it. Also, can you order a bottle from room service while on board? 

Edited April 26, 2022 by LaRue1975

[cruisingguy007]

21 minutes ago, LaRue1975 said:

I can’t find where to pre order the booze, there are only gift beverage packages in my cruise manager.  I know it used to be easily accessible but now I can’t find it. Also, can you order a bottle from room service while on board? 

 

www.carnival.com/in-room-food-beverages/in-room-beverages

[cruisingguy007]

You should be able to order from room service and it should, theoretically, save you the tax if you order in international water. So like $10 or so. 

[LaRue1975]

1 hour ago, cruisingguy007 said:

You should be able to order from room service and it should, theoretically, save you the tax if you order in international water. So like $10 or so. 

Thank you, I think we’ll do that. We are sailing on the Panorama October 8th and taking our 9 year old grandson so definitely won’t be getting Cheers. We will get a few drinks from the bars but a bottle for the room would be nice too. I have Drinks On Us in the casino so can enjoy a beverage or two there after the boys go night night. :))

Edited April 26, 2022 by LaRue1975

[Thenagers]

22 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

They don't offer coupons (that I know of) but they do have Cruise Cash Bar that allows you to purchase OBC to be used only for bar purchases. (The down side is that it's not refundable so you need to make sure to use it all.)

They used to sell them! I remember the book?  That had to be 10 years ago at least?!  Before they started Cheers.  

[jsglow]

So to answer the original question.  For us, typically no.  We actually try to limit alcohol consumption while on a cruise.  We cruise fairly often and mostly try to make the experience about something else.  Europe will be a prime example of that.  All that said, we've certainly purchased it in the past on shorter getaway cruises with ports we've been to a dozen times.

[1kaper]

Just now, jsglow said:

So to answer the original question.  For us, typically no.  We actually try to limit alcohol consumption while on a cruise.  We cruise fairly often and mostly try to make the experience about something else.  Europe will be a prime example of that.  All that said, we've certainly purchased it in the past on shorter getaway cruises with ports we've been to a dozen times.

I was just talking about this with my sister who is planning a European cruise. 

While I have said that in general Cheers is "worth it" for us, I don't think I'd buy it on a European cruise.  We did one for our honeymoon and it was quite port intensive and exhausting. 
Plus back then you were allowed to bring a bottle of wine back on board each stop.  I did enjoy drinking a glass of wine watching dock runners from our balcony.  

[happy cruzer]

If we added the seperately purchased drink package into the initial pricing of a cruise in a balcony cabin, it would not compare favorably to other forms of vacation.  On land you can get larger rooms and facilities and lots of options onsite and offsite for meals and beverages.  NOT worth it in our case.

 

Occasionally the cruise lines offer the package included in a cruise package that is a value that typically happens on other lines than Royal or Carnival.  OK in our case.

 

When trying to determine if it is "worth it",  you can use the drink calculators to get an idea.  However one could also price out what you want and the value you place on it vs. the value the cruise line places on it.  For example the cruise line may place a value of $13 for a glass of wine and you may place $10 based on the restaurants and resorts you would otherwise visit (not a grocery store bottle price). Another example, the cruise line may place a value of $8 for a glass of beer and you may place $5 based on the restaurants and resorts you would otherwise visit (not a grocery store price).

 

Then of course sometimes you just want something that feels luxurious, special, or whatever; and then the "worth it" totally goes out the window.

 

Only you can place a value on it based on what you prefer.

 

Good discussion.

 

 

[bigrednole]

When I was on CCL in November, it was extremely worth it for us. The breakeven is 4 drinks a day. I hit 15 once and close 2 other times (we had 3 extremely rough sea days where drinks helped). There is something about walking to breakfast in the morning and then seeing your favorite bartender have your drink ready for you as you come back by. It may sound a little crazy, but a 7AM cocktail is a nice way to start the day on vacation. 

 

We will always buy it, even if there is a chance we may lose a little money. The last thing I want to think about is...do I really want this drink because it will cost me $12-$15? Nope...it's already paid for, so thank you!

[sparks1093]

43 minutes ago, happy cruzer said:

If we added the seperately purchased drink package into the initial pricing of a cruise in a balcony cabin, it would not compare favorably to other forms of vacation.  On land you can get larger rooms and facilities and lots of options onsite and offsite for meals and beverages.  NOT worth it in our case.

 

Occasionally the cruise lines offer the package included in a cruise package that is a value that typically happens on other lines than Royal or Carnival.  OK in our case.

 

When trying to determine if it is "worth it",  you can use the drink calculators to get an idea.  However one could also price out what you want and the value you place on it vs. the value the cruise line places on it.  For example the cruise line may place a value of $13 for a glass of wine and you may place $10 based on the restaurants and resorts you would otherwise visit (not a grocery store bottle price). Another example, the cruise line may place a value of $8 for a glass of beer and you may place $5 based on the restaurants and resorts you would otherwise visit (not a grocery store price).

 

Then of course sometimes you just want something that feels luxurious, special, or whatever; and then the "worth it" totally goes out the window.

 

Only you can place a value on it based on what you prefer.

 

Good discussion.

 

 

I don't worry about what a drink might cost in a different venue, where I am is what the drink cost and the fact that I can pay $1 at home, or $6 at my local bar, or $20 at Fenway or at a concert isn't relevant. The cost of what they charge for a drink is what it is and when deciding whether or not one should get the drink package one only needs to consider how much they will drink, what the retail cost of that drink is onboard, and will they consume enough to meet or exceed the cost of the package. For someone who only drinks one or two drinks a day Cheers would be a waste of money. Someone who drinks 5 drinks per day would probably break even (depending upon what they are drinking) and someone who drinks 6 or more per day could save with Cheers.

[happy cruzer]

1 hour ago, sparks1093 said:

I don't worry about what a drink might cost in a different venue, where I am is what the drink cost and the fact that I can pay $1 at home, or $6 at my local bar, or $20 at Fenway or at a concert isn't relevant. The cost of what they charge for a drink is what it is and when deciding whether or not one should get the drink package one only needs to consider how much they will drink, what the retail cost of that drink is onboard, and will they consume enough to meet or exceed the cost of the package. For someone who only drinks one or two drinks a day Cheers would be a waste of money. Someone who drinks 5 drinks per day would probably break even (depending upon what they are drinking) and someone who drinks 6 or more per day could save with Cheers.

Everything you post is valid for you because it is based on the premise that you have booked the cruise and are going to have a drink.  If either of those two things are at doubt then maybe one does the math differently.

 

For some deciding, they may not book the cruise if the prices are not a value to them, maybe they are comparing to land trip, resort, or another cruise line.  Maybe they are very flexible in their drinking habits.  What drinks cost is relevant for that comparison.

 

And at some point a business may totally price themselves out for some consumers.  For example we have not bought any refreshments in a movie theater in many years even though we are at the theater and that is what they charge.

 

Again thanks to everyone for sharing how they value the drink package.