I'm trying to decide if I should purchase the drink coupons before our cruise. I was told it was a better deal. The coupon book gives you 4 drinks for $19.95. Can someone tell me what the price of a drink is?
We've tussled over this topic before in the forum!
Actually I think the price is $19.50, with a total bar credit value of $15 or $3.75 per drink (there are 4 coupons). Buying the coupons is actually $2.25 more than if you bought four $3.75 drinks with your cruise card.
Others have said the maximum value is $5.75 per drink but I cannot believe Carnival would sell coupons for less than what they are worth. If this were true then everyone would be ordering coupons and not using the cruise card at bars.
I don't think they are worth it. You are limited in what you can get and just another thing to carry around. I like to go "cruise commando" as often as possible. This means just carrying my cruise card and nothing else.
I just did some more looking around at some other sites and now see that $4.95 is a figure being tossed around a lot. It could be that Carnival has not updated the image of the coupons on their website. But assuming $4.95 is a good figure, then it's a wash and still not much of a value.
We've used the bar coupons twice, I think. They were in gift packs we received. I think my wife was able to get a standard-sized frozen drink of the day with them, but not in the souvenir glass.
Yes, the coupons include the 15% gratuity, but you can lose money if you use a coupon for a beer or other less expensive drink. They won't refund the difference if the drink costs less than the coupon value. However, I believe you can apply the max value of a coupon towards a more expensive drink and pay the difference on the cruise card.
It just seems like a big hassle to me to buy coupons. You have to get them before the cruise via Carnival's website, hoping that they get delivered to your cabin. You are limited on what you can get. Yada yada yada.
No Dave.. you can't ignore Chucks comment about "nothing else?"... Brings up scary mental images I'm sure.
But I do agree, that the coupons are not worth the hassle. The entire point of a coupon (allowing you to purchase something at a discount) has eluded the marketers at CCL. They only offer the coupons as a way to allow those NOT going on the cruise with you to buy you a Bon Voyage gift and give their money to CCL too. Although I'm not sure that I know of many people that upon hearing that I am going on vacation would feel emotionally compelled enough to buy me such a gift...
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NCL Dream October 2006, RCCL Mariner OTS June 2007
I guess I need to clarify my "cruise commando" garb for the wise guys out there.......colorful t-shirt (typically from a previous cruise to impress the newbies aboard), slides or deck shoes, shorts or bathing trunks, official Cruise-Chat baseball cap, sunglasses, and my cruise card.
I would skip the drink card, unless is for sodas. When you get on board read the daily Capers for drink specials. Alot of first timers get the souviner glass/plastic for the less and refills of daily specials, which is a good idea if you like tropical rum drinks. I like to get the Bloody Mary AM special on my last day at sea and watch the beautiful water with a slight buzz
Originally posted by Dave56:
Yes, the coupons include the 15% gratuity, but you can lose money if you use a coupon for a beer or other less expensive drink. They won't refund the difference if the drink costs less than the coupon value. However, I believe you can apply the max value of a coupon towards a more expensive drink and pay the difference on the cruise card.
It just seems like a big hassle to me to buy coupons. You have to get them before the cruise via Carnival's website, hoping that they get delivered to your cabin. You are limited on what you can get. Yada yada yada.
Yes, if you use the coupons for the special of the day or beer, youwill lose money. Carnival may be counting on that when marketing these...I am a bargain freak and in years past did save some money by buying these...I will check on my next cruise, though to see just what the upper limits really are now. I have never had any trouble getting them delivered to my cabin though. If you really want to save money and like the rum punch that flows freely on the party boat excursions, you can duplicate that drink by bringing some rum onboard in your checked luggage and mix it with the free punch available in the buffet area. Or if like me, fuzzy navels are your passion, bring a flask of peach schnaaps with you instead and get extra OJ from the buffet at breakfast. Bring a nice big soda cup (with top) from home to use for getting your 'mixer' from the buffet.
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nothing else?
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