Carnival testing all-inclusive beverage package

[Dave]

A couple weeks ago, Carnival began testing an all-inclusive drink program aboard Carnival Victory.

Called the "My Awesome Bar Program", it costs $42.95 per person per day and of course the 15 percent gratuity will be added. The plan covers wine, beer, liquor, soda, and non-alcoholic frozen cocktails.

Caveats: 1) the drinks cannot cost over $10 on an individual basis, 2) purchases of bottles of wine and drinks over $10 will receive a 25 percent discount, and 3) everyone in the same cabin who is 21 or over must buy the program.

Whether it is worth it is up to the guest. I usually have a jaundiced eye on drink packages since my feeling is the cruise lines wouldn't do them unless it increased their revenue. The bet is that most who buy the package won't drink enough to get their money's worth, and thus the cruise line wins.

No word on how long the test will run, or if they will add other ships.

[Jim C.]

So at an average cost of $8.50 for a typical cocktail that is about 5 drinks a day.. I don't think I would get my money's worth. Plus my wife doesn't drink nearly as much as I do. So I agree with you Dave, this is a profit enhancement. Much like the soda card deal. I figured that out to be 3 to 4 sodas a day for breakeven too. You are better off buying them without unless you drink a like of soda.

[Sandylynn]

prob. a dumb question....does this only cover single drinks....what if one wants to get a "bucket of cold beer"

[Dave]

It says one drink at a time. There is also a limit of 15 drinks per day.

[janfred]

WOW 15 drinks does sound like a lot in one day, how would they ever keep track of that?
I think if I did the 15 a day I might not remember my cruise LOL !

[Dave]

I wondered about the drink tracking too. Perhaps they still swipe the card and let the computer keep up with it. If you are over 15 it will spit out a regular drink receipt for you to sign.

[f-mattox]

What? You don't think they will use the honor system?

[Dave]

Of course they could use the honor system, or perhaps a field sobriety test.

[Cruise Fanatic]

On our Rock Legends cruise (4-day) they said it was the biggest alcohol sales of any cruise. Even the HOG cruise. Not sure how many drinks a day people were having! It wasn't me.

[Dave]

Yeah, they said it even beat sales for the 7-night cruises and it was just 4 nights. But there were no drunken incidents or signs of rowdy behavior that I saw. The bartenders and waiters were giddy over the amount of tips they hauled in.