Soda Cards

[canadiangirl77]

Anyone know the current pricing?

We are sailing in May on the NCL Sun

Thanks!

[dottrz]

http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/cruiser/staticPages.html?pageId=bon_voyage_gifts#adult

 

$5.75 per day X cruise days

[canadiangirl77]

wow .. thanks!!

a little steep for soda pop!!!

that's $40 US for a week ...

maybe i'll just have to bring my own on board .. hehe

[Don Haynes]

The price for drinks reflect restaurant prices, not the price of soda at a grocery store. If I went on a 7 day vacation and ate at McDonalds every day for every meal, I would pay approximately $1.50 per purchase. A $1.50 times 3 meals plus another two drinks from a convenient store at $1.00 each would equal $5.50 cents a day.

 

If I ate during the week at a better restaurant such as Dennys for every meal, a cup of coffee and a glass of orange juice would be $2.50 for breakfast, $2.00 for both lunch and dinner, or approximately $6.50 per day.

 

For a unlimited amount of soda $5.75 a day is not unreasonable for restaurant prices. Yes, at many grocery stores you can buy two 12 packs of soda for that price. But NCL iis a restaurant, not a grocery store, providing clean glasses and ice. Grocery stores don't provide clean glasses and ice do they?

 

And for those who say I overpriced restaurant prices, I have paid more than $2.00 for a soda in a restaurant. If anything, I underpriced restaurant prices for soda. I can't believe people will spend thousands of dollars on a cruise, and hundreds for shore excursions and complain about a unlimited $40 a week soda card........

[dottrz]

wow .. thanks!!

a little steep for soda pop!!!

that's $40 US for a week ...

maybe i'll just have to bring my own on board .. hehe

 

Remember..... that's good all day and all night, on the deck, in the restaurants, bars, etc. Like Mr. Haynes said, if you paid JUST a dollar for each soda, you would break even if you had six sodas a day. Two at dinner, two at lunch...... two while sunbathing..... there you are at 6. And, at least on our cruise, we have three sea days, so you are at the mercy of the ship. Oh, and remember, you get the cool souvenir cup with the purchase of the card (at least you USED to), so add THAT to the value! LOL.....

 

I drink Iced Tea or bottled water (that I will in fact smuggle aboard) and neither is covered on the card. But, my wife is a coke addict...... soda type mind you...... so she gets her $$$ worth out of it. She drinks Coke for breakfast......

[dottrz]

The price for drinks reflect restaurant prices, not the price of soda at a grocery store. If I went on a 7 day vacation and ate at McDonalds every day for every meal, I would pay approximately $1.50 per purchase. A $1.50 times 3 meals plus another two drinks from a convenient store at $1.00 each would equal $5.50 cents a day.

 

If I ate during the week at a better restaurant such as Dennys for every meal, a cup of coffee and a glass of orange juice would be $2.50 for breakfast, $2.00 for both lunch and dinner, or approximately $6.50 per day.

 

For a unlimited amount of soda $5.75 a day is not unreasonable for restaurant prices. Yes, at many grocery stores you can buy two 12 packs of soda for that price. But NCL iis a restaurant, not a grocery store, providing clean glasses and ice. Grocery stores don't provide clean glasses and ice do they?

 

And for those who say I overpriced restaurant prices, I have paid more than $2.00 for a soda in a restaurant. If anything, I underpriced restaurant prices for soda. I can't believe people will spend thousands of dollars on a cruise, and hundreds for shore excursions and complain about a unlimited $40 a week soda card........

 

Pssst.... hey Don..... that tally up above there... $1.50 each meal, plus two $1 convenience store purchases... makes $6.50...... LOL... sorry I'm a smart ass...... but anyway, that's a good way to break it down too....

[joeskitty]

DH & I where going to buy a pop card also but then when we found out that we can bring our own pop on ship seemed alot smarter. I would rather spend the money that i saved on souviners or other things on the ship then that. I guess that makes me cheap or whatever. My dh drinks alot of pop just seems alot better this way for us. :D

[GrannyMouse]

I took my own soda on the Majesty. I also took bottled water. I used a tote bag and put a luggage tag on it. I was able to use the empty tote bag at the end of the cruise to bring stuff back in. I took an insulated cup and our cabin streward always made sure we had plenty of ice. That was my choice. It may or may not be the right choice for others.

[canadiangirl77]

I can't believe people will spend thousands of dollars on a cruise, and hundreds for shore excursions and complain about a unlimited $40 a week soda card........

 

Thanks for the breakdown Mr Don Haynes, however I wasnt "complaining", I was merely stating that $80US for myself and my hubby for soda for a week is quite steep since we are not HUGE pop drinkers and dont require this at every meal ... as far as the comment above .. please keep comments like that to yourself .. as I found it quite rude ... no one dictates to you what you can or should spend YOUR hard earned money on .. while I may have spent thousands of dollars on a cruise .. being a young couple newly married, some of us have had to save for years to be able to take this ONE cruise therefore I make no apologies if some of us have to "budget" and spend wisely as I was merely asking a question about prices .. $80 dollars worth of soda is to us equals one shore excursion ..

[IMCSICK]

Well, my husband and I are far from being honeymooners (in years, but not neccessarily state of mind!) and I agree completely with CG77. $80 is more than I care to spend on soda. We would have maybe one a day at most. But that's what's nice about the soda card...it's optional. I'm sure it's a great deal for those of you that drink several sodas per day. Yep, I'll be schlepping a 12 pack onboard. Go ahead Don...roll your eyes. :rolleyes:

[mousey]

I am a sodaholic so the soda card is a good deal to me. Yes, you can bring your own soda on board, I do that to keep in our room, however when you go into restaurants and want soda with your meal, which I the sodaholic do, it is kind of weird to bring your own soda to the table. That's why I prefer the soda card. They give you your own little thermos and you can get it refilled any where they serve it on the ship. In the restaurants you just show them the card and they bring you all the soda you want. We always get one for our DS also. The DH doesn't drink soda so its not any issue.:p

[BeachBumMama]

As an occasional soda drinker, the card wouldn't benefit me too much, but I'm curious. It used to be soda and juices that the card included but I never see that mentioned anymore so I'm assuming it isn't the juices any longer. Anyone know if that's the case?

 

And in defense of the soda drinkers, I don't think they're 'complaining' about the price of the soda card, they're just making more logical and smarter decisions to bring their own on board. The money saved means a few more frozen drinks at the bar! LOL

[lvz2cruz]

Inoticed someone's post about bringing an insulated cup which the steward filled with ice. We are new to NCL. Do you get an ice bucket and water pitcher in your room which is refilled twice daily?

[Don Haynes]

I agree, if you are not a large soda drinker, it wiser to bring aboard a 12 pack and refill at the ports. However, at McDonalds and Dennys, the two examples I used, they charge for ice tea, lemonade, and coffee....NCL doesn't charge for ice tea and coffee or for breakfast orange juice.

 

I think many of you would think differently if the soda card included tea, coffee, milk, and orange juice. Then the soda card may be more useful than lugging around a 10 pound 12 pack cartons of soda or bottled water.

 

Hint NCL, start charging for all the drinks, except water from the tap, just like every other restaurant in the USA from McDonalds to the Hilton's restaurants. Of course, doing so would probably have everyone bringing every drink aboard in more numbers. People have it good already, but it could easily be worst like a one week car trip.

 

My only thrust in the first message was that NCL charges restuarant prices, not grocery store prices.

[johnql]

As an occasional soda drinker, the card wouldn't benefit me too much, but I'm curious. It used to be soda and juices that the card included but I never see that mentioned anymore so I'm assuming it isn't the juices any longer. Anyone know if that's the case?

The soda card includes: Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Ginger Ale, Tonic Water, and Soda Water. No juices.

 

Inoticed someone's post about bringing an insulated cup which the steward filled with ice. We are new to NCL. Do you get an ice bucket and water pitcher in your room which is refilled twice daily?

Yes, there will be an ice bucket in your cabin. I don't recall a water pitcher. And yes, your cabin steward will keep the ice bucket filled with ice.

[canadiangirl77]

Thanks all for your feedback .. I guess after paying thousands of dollars for a cruise some of us newbies are a little surprised that non alcoholic beverages would not be included in your fare ... it sure does pay to do your research so as not to be surprised later on ....... thanks again!

[johnql]

canadiangirl77, you're absolutely right about the research. Without doing a little homework, some people would go on the ship with unrealistic expectations, which almost always leads to disappointment.

 

As for non-alcoholic beverages, there aren't many cruise ships left that serve free soda. Disney comes to mind, but that's about it as far as mainstream lines go.

 

One positive: NCL does serve espresso and capuccino in the dining room at dinner. No extra charge. This is one thing that is not universally true on all lines.

[BeachBumMama]

One positive: NCL does serve espresso and capuccino in the dining room at dinner. No extra charge. This is one thing that is not universally true on all lines.

 

One of the many things I look forward to! Nothing like a great cup of espresso to get me through the night after a long port day. Also wanted to say, we have come in from a hot day and ordered a pitcher of tea from room service.

[beachchick]

I agree, if you are not a large soda drinker, it wiser to bring aboard a 12 pack and refill at the ports. However, at McDonalds and Dennys, the two examples I used, they charge for ice tea, lemonade, and coffee....NCL doesn't charge for ice tea and coffee or for breakfast orange juice.

 

I think many of you would think differently if the soda card included tea, coffee, milk, and orange juice. Then the soda card may be more useful than lugging around a 10 pound 12 pack cartons of soda or bottled water.

Hint NCL, start charging for all the drinks, except water from the tap, just like every other restaurant in the USA from McDonalds to the Hilton's restaurants. Of course, doing so would probably have everyone bringing every drink aboard in more numbers. People have it good already, but it could easily be worst like a one week car trip.

 

My only thrust in the first message was that NCL charges restuarant prices, not grocery store prices.

 

The flaw with this line of reasoning is that a cruise ship is not a restaurant. On a cruise, I have in fact pre-paid for most of my food. When I go into a restaurant at home, I haven't. By this logic, they should charge extra for ALL the food instead of including it in the price of the cruise fare. Most food and some beverages are included in the fare; some aren't. It's not reasonable to say that we will pre-pay for food, but are expected to drink nothing but water unless we want to pay extra. That would be kind of like telling us that our fare includes bread (thus, bread and water), but that if we want other food, we'll have to pay an additional fare.

 

And I do agree with your first message. We must compare apples to apples (resort soda prices to cruise soda prices) and not apples to bananas (grocery store soda prices to cruise soda prices).

 

beachchick

[gvsucruiser]

I have a question does anyone know if you get a cup included on the Majesty with soda card purchase, we cruised on the Pride of American last year and we just got a sticker for cruise card ?? Just wondered if I should bring one or not. I know we had also got a cup when we cruised on the Disney Wonder with the soda card purchase, so have had it both ways. Thank you in advance.....

[GrannyMouse]

Yes, you do get a cup on the Majesty.

[electricron]

The flaw with this line of reasoning is that a cruise ship is not a restaurant. On a cruise, I have in fact pre-paid for most of my food. When I go into a restaurant at home, I haven't. By this logic, they should charge extra for ALL the food instead of including it in the price of the cruise fare. Most food and some beverages are included in the fare; some aren't. It's not reasonable to say that we will pre-pay for food, but are expected to drink nothing but water unless we want to pay extra. That would be kind of like telling us that our fare includes bread (thus, bread and water), but that if we want other food, we'll have to pay an additional fare.

And I do agree with your first message. We must compare apples to apples (resort soda prices to cruise soda prices) and not apples to bananas (grocery store soda prices to cruise soda prices).

beachchick

 

If you don't wish to compare cruising to restaurants, how about comparing cruising to hotels? There aren't many hotels giving away sodas or charging less than $2 per glass for sodas. The soda pop machines in the halls aren't free either. Plus, most also charge for room service, and for food and drinks at their restaurants.

[GrannyMouse]

If you don't wish to compare cruising to restaurants, how about comparing cruising to hotels? There aren't many hotels giving away sodas or charging less than $2 per glass for sodas. The soda pop machines in the halls aren't free either. Plus, most also charge for room service, and for food and drinks at their restaurants.

 

 

That makes no sense at all to compare a cruise to a hotel!! If I wanted to go stay in a hotel, I would expect my drinks and food to be extra. A cruise ship is not a hotel and it is not a restaurant. The only way to compare a cruise to a hotel would be if it was an all inclusive resort. You're never going to win this one!!

[electricron]

That makes no sense at all to compare a cruise to a hotel!! If I wanted to go stay in a hotel, I would expect my drinks and food to be extra. A cruise ship is not a hotel and it is not a restaurant. The only way to compare a cruise to a hotel would be if it was an all inclusive resort. You're never going to win this one!!

 

All inclusive resorts don't move from one locale to another.

 

There are all inclusive cruise ships and lines, where fare prices are 10 times what NCL charges. If you want free sodas and alcoholic drinks, spend $5,000 per person for an inside cabin. Compared to the $500 per person, or so, NCL charges for an inside cabin, and add $40 per person for a soda card, it's still far-far-far cheaper to sail on a NCL ship.

[dodiebird]

Yes, you do get a cup on the Majesty.

 

 

We sailed on the Majesty last July (and will again this July :) ) and we never recieved a refillable cup. We just got a soda sticker on our s&s card.