Carnival Cruise Line does not put its passengers first when it comes to its Cheers unlimited beverage package. First, unlike Royal Caribbean, MSC Cruises, and Norwegian Cruises, Carnival's unlimited beverage plan actually has limits, at least when it comes to alcohol.
The other three cruise lines that offer all-you-can-drink packages only cut customers off when they're showing clear signs of intoxication. In many cases, a bartender will simply ask the passenger to slow down and maybe have a bottle of water.
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In extreme cases, security may get involved and give an inebriated passenger a choice, They can go back to their room and sleep it off, or put up a fight and be shut off for 24 hours. But, passengers who pace themselves can literally have as many drinks as they want every day.
Carnival has a hard limit of 15 alcoholic beverages per person, per day. That applies whether you buy the Cheers package or go a la carte. Many see that rule as unfair to Cheers buyers since someone who drinks 15 cocktails versus someone who has 15 beers gets a very different value from the program.
The 15-drink rule, however, is widely known. Carnival, however, has a second Cheers rule that's not widely known that's also different from what Royal Caribbean, MSC, and Norwegian do.
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Image source: Carnival Corp.
Carnival does not offer a non-alcoholic package
Carnival has the 15-alcoholic-drink limit to curb intoxication. In some cases, it has the opposite effect as passengers see getting to 15 as a challenge.
Passengers with Royal Caribbean, MSC Cruises, and Norwegian drink packages don't have a limit, so there's no number of drinks that people see as how you get the best value from buying the package. In addition, Royal Caribbean and MSC offer alcohol-free all-you-can-drink packages (Norwegian does not because beverage packages are part of its base fares in most cases).
On both Royal Caribbean and MSC Cruises, while technically all adults ages 21-and-over staying in the same cabin to but an adult beverage package for anyone to buy one, both cruise lines offer exceptions. In order to get an exception, the passenger needs to call.
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In some cases, the cruise lines will take their word for it, and in others, a doctor's note may be requested. (As is often the case with cruise line customer service, if you don't get the answer you want, hang up and try again).
On both Royal Caribbean and MSC Cruises, while technically all adults ages 21-and-over staying in the same cabin have to buy an adult beverage package for anyone to buy one, both cruise lines offer exceptions. In order to get an exception, the passenger needs to call.
Carnival won't make exceptions to this beverage rule
Many passengers simply assume Carnival will make exceptions to the 'everyone in the cabin over 21 has to buy Cheers for anyone to get it' rule. Dustie Rhodes Goodman recently asked Carnival Brand Ambassador about that in a post to his Facebook page.
"John, I have a question as to why the whole stateroom has to buy a Cheers package if one person does? Not everyone drinks and some can not due to health reasons. Why can it not only be the one person who wants it?" he wrote.
Heald was not answering questions as he has been traveling, but his colleague Jacinta had a very simple and direct answer.
"Hello, at the moment, this is the only way we can control drink sharing. Thanks, Jacinta," she shared.
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Royal Caribbean, MSC, and Norwegian have strict rules about people with a drink package not sharing with people who do not have it. Getting caught can lead to losing the package without a refund.
Some Carnival passengers shared the same thought.
"Dustie Rhodes Goodman it's easy to lie and then share the package. I can have a fake doctor's note that says anything I want in less than a minute," wrote Travis Maxfield.
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Christie Hedrick echoed a similar thought.
"Because too many people try to cheat them so they ruin it for others," she added.
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