Most adults would admit that when they envision paradise, it includes a really yummy cocktail in your hand. Am I right? A cruising vacation to the Caribbean means living on a floating paradise that is loaded with endless food and alcohol.
My husband and I aren’t usually ones to go out to a bar and go drinking. We do however like sipping on a few cocktails while cruising, especially when going to the Punchliner Comedy Club.
As yummy as cocktails are, and even only having just a few, the cost can really add up fast. On the Carnival Cruise Line, the average drink costs between $7.25 and $10, plus an automatic 15% gratuity that is added. Not very budget friendly for a complete paradise vacation!
Cheers Program
Carnival Cruise Lines has recently introduced a new “Cheers” program. This program offers the purchaser up to 15 cocktails each day for the entire duration of the cruise. Not gonna lie, when I first read about this, I was pretty interested.
This sounded like a great deal. Of course the too good to be true mantra applies to this “Cheers” program. We of course read the fine print of the deal and realized that it was definitely not worth it.
True Cost of the Cheers Program
One stipulation of getting the Cheers program is that every guest over the age of 21 in the same cabin must purchase the program. This of course is to prevent sharing.
Carnival charges $57.50 per person per day (that includes 15% gratuities), and you must purchase it for the entire duration of the cruise. So if Lance and I got the Cheers program, we would spend over $700 just for alcohol. We thought that was absolutely insane! There is no way we would drink enough alcohol to make that remotely worth it.
Two Interesting Examples
Though Lance and I aren’t really big drinkers, there are tons of people on cruises who are. If you are a big drinker it may be worth it.
Towards the end of the cruise, we were standing in the guest services line to get a map for the next day’s port. The line however was moving very slow because there were three young girls holding it up. We were right behind them so we were able to see/hear what they were discussing.
They each had a two page bill that was near $800, consisting of bar charges. They were trying to argue that they did not order all of those drinks and make those purchases. We had a hunch that they did, but did not find out the resolution.
In this instance, it probably would have been worth it for each of the three girls to have purchased the cheers program, especially if they were paying their own way. They would have not been “surprised” with a horrific bar tab, and they would have been able to drink knowing that it was a set price and would not have to worry about it during their vacation.
Oh The Horror!
There may be some out there who drink an abundant amount and believe that the Cheers program is really worth it. However, there are some people that really shouldn’t get it. During the same time we were watching the three girls dispute their massive bar tab at the guest service desk, the long line behind us started gasping with horror. We immediately turned around and asked what all the commotion was about.
All I could see was a giant puddle on the tile floor in front of the glass atrium elevators. My initial thought was that someone had spilled their drink. And then the horror was revealed. A full grown woman was so drunk, that she was crawling on her hands and knees to the elevators, but then paused and peed right on the floor, and then continued to the elevator. My jaw was on the floor. Needless to say, she was one of those who definitely did not need the Cheers program, but it does provide an interesting story!
Have you ever encountered anything like this on a cruise? Have you purchased the Cheers program for yourself? Would you think it’s worth it?
Not a fan of “cocktails” so it’s not really something that would interest me (but I appreciate you sharing about it). If it were food, though, it certainly would! 🙂