Drinks price increase on Rotterdam ...maybe fleetwide?

[raesive]

HIA/SB holders, be aware! Embarked yesterday and discovered they have updated the prices on all the drink menus... (A woman who was on for the previous sailing now is paying $1 more for each grapefruit cosmo than last week) Most drinks that were previously $11, are now $11.50 or $12... And if it's not a special listed drink, you'll just be surprised as to the price. My lemon drop came back at $12 and was included in my package on my last sailing. The only positive is that you can pay the difference now instead of for the full drink, but now it feels like getting nickeled and dimed. Still don't appreciate the lack of transparency as I have yet to find a menu that shows the prices for each spirit. 

 

Rock Room Menu:

[nannygoatjunction]

My biggest fear. We purchased the HIA package so we would not have a bill at the end of our Cruise. 😏

[CruiserBruce]

The champagne is the same price from our September cruise on Zaandam. Beers appear to bethe same. Not sure the other items have changed. Need to confirm exactly what is compared to when.

[schag001]

The new norm now. 
Nickel and Dime you for everything. 
 

Doubt I will be back on a HAL or any cruise line soon. 
Sadly the new reality. 

[shipmeoff!]

I seem to recall a situation about 5 years ago or so when I had just booked a cruise with what was then known as “Explore4” which included the standard beverage package, OBC for shore ex, a specialty dinner, and if memory serves me the fourth item was gratuities rather than Wi-Fi. But I digress.

 

Anyway, around that particular point in time there was a price increase on the menu prices of drinks similar to the amounts reported now, which also bumped many just past the threshold of the standard beverage package. 
 

Shortly after, the price limit on the standard beverage package was adjusted to take into account the price increase. I am hoping that will be the case this time around.

 

Which also may have had something to do with the HIA and drink package price increase too. Hard to pull off a seamless transition. I feel for all affected, staff and current pax.

 

 

Edited December 17, 2023 by shipmeoff!
Rambling extra thoughts

[Bill B]

Weird! Wine that is $13.30/glass is $42/bottle and wine that is $12/glass is $48/bottle. That doesn't make sense.

[Seasick Sailor]

Yesterday was told my lemon drop increased $1. I've been on board 3 weeks so far and another 4 weeks to go. Rotterdam. 

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for sharing.

[Real NHDOC]

And so what justification is there for raising the price of the HIA package and raising the price of the drinks too?  Seems like double dipping unless they were to raise the threshold for coverage to $12.

 

Have it all is becoming have less and less. 

[Toad]

I wonder if one could remove the HIA prior to sailing. I doubt if I would but I would like to in protest!

[Real NHDOC]

If you bought HIA separately you certainly can remove it before the cruise starts and get a refund.  If it was booked as part of the fare, I don't think so.

[highscar]

Not only individual drinks, in the past 3 years a bottle of vodka went from $40.00 to 70.00 now it is only listed at $82.00 including 3 small cans soda. Don’t need soda I have the cola pkg. anyone know if you can order it for your cabin by it self? 

[kazu]

19 minutes ago, highscar said:

Not only individual drinks, in the past 3 years a bottle of vodka went from $40.00 to 70.00 now it is only listed at $82.00 including 3 small cans soda. Don’t need soda I have the cola pkg. anyone know if you can order it for your cabin by it self? 

 

I know you can order it on board by itself.  Ordering pre-cruise is restricted to what is on the website, I believe.

[highscar]

Thank you. Too bad won’t be in cabin at embarkation 

[mightycruisequeen]

12 hours ago, raesive said:

HIA/SB holders, be aware! Embarked yesterday and discovered they have updated the prices on all the drink menus... (A woman who was on for the previous sailing now is paying $1 more for each grapefruit cosmo than last week) Most drinks that were previously $11, are now $11.50 or $12... And if it's not a special listed drink, you'll just be surprised as to the price. My lemon drop came back at $12 and was included in my package on my last sailing. The only positive is that you can pay the difference now instead of for the full drink, but now it feels like getting nickeled and dimed. Still don't appreciate the lack of transparency as I have yet to find a menu that shows the prices for each spirit. 

 

Rock Room Menu:

 

WOW!  Never been a better time to be a teetotaler!🥰

[kazu]

14 minutes ago, highscar said:

Thank you. Too bad won’t be in cabin at embarkation 

 

Just a thought - try calling ship services to see if you can order it through them?

they might be able to accommodate?  Open Monday - Friday.

[highscar]

Will do.  Usually I’ve pre ordered from”beverages 

[Arizona cruisers]

We just returned yesterday from Koningsdam.  We had the HIA/SB and some of our favorites went up a dollar or so.  We still had wines/drinks that we liked at the $11.  Didn’t other us as we had quite a bit of OBC to use up.

[Don Kehote]

All I can say for sure is that halfway through my last cruise, the Weng Weng turned into a Long Island Iced Tea on the receipt, along with the higher price.

[ChinaShrek]

Lots of bars around me don't even have a menu with prices posted anywhere for beverages. Prices change all the time. Sometimes prices are at the whim of the bartender or business that day. I have also found several bars in Maine charge more in the summer when the tourists are around and less in the winter when just locals come in. It would be interesting if cruise lines adjusted drink prices based on the demand from cruise to cruise.

Edited December 17, 2023 by ChinaShrek

[Crew News]

Last year HAL stopped printing bar menus with prices, only specialty drink prices for each bar.  When I asked bartenders in October while aboard the Nieuw Amsterdam, I was told that the bartenders know the prices of their drinks and customers just need to ask the prices. 

 

To save printing costs, putting the drink prices on the room TV would be a good thing or perhaps on the Navigator app.

[Petronillus]

Here's what I think is an interesting, collateral effect of raising the drinks prices. For purposes of accruing credits toward our Mariner Star Status, we are credited with one "bonus credit" for every $300 spent on board (up to a max of $300 for each cruise day sailed). I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the ticketed price of the drinks we obtained under our beverage package counted toward that $300 bogey. Therefore, the more they raise the prices of our drinks under the packages, the faster we accrue the bonus credits, and the sooner we land on the Free Laundry square.

Edited December 17, 2023 by Petronillus

[CruiserBruce]

1 minute ago, Petronillus said:

Here's what I think is an interesting, collateral effect of raising the drinks prices. For purposes of accruing credits toward our Mariner Star Status, we are credited with one "bonus credit" for every $300 spent on board (up to a max of $300 for each cruise day sailed). I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the ticketed price of the drinks we obtained under our beverage package counted toward that $300 bogey. Therefore, the more they raise the prices of our drinks under the packages, the faster we accrue the bonus credits.

Of course it does. Just like any other spending charged to your on board account. And HAL rounds up very generously.

[Banditswife]

6 hours ago, mightycruisequeen said:

 

WOW!  Never been a better time to be a teetotaler!🥰

But the price of soda has gone up too-LOL  I have started taking my own creamer, mix my own iced coffee.  

[Tom O.]

I just checked the "bucket of beer" I had preordered last Sep for our January cruise on the Koningsdam. It hasn't gone up since September, still $36.58 for 5 Coronas. (delivered to our room).