“Cheers Program†Service was terrible!!! Special drinks not always included…. (Though it states they are included) …Extra charges for gratuities …
I have been on 6 or more Carnival cruises and always had a wonderful time and great service. I just returned home from a 5 day cruise with Carnival Paradise. All the reviews I found prior to the cruise for the program were great. Therefore we purchased the “Cheers†program for 5 days.
Servers were quick to ask us our order for the first drink but after seeing our “Cheers†stickers and serving us the first drink they never returned for us to place another order. We either had to ask someone to send a server or go to the bar ourselves. One time by the pool we were able to get served three times. The group beside us was drinking buckets and when the server came to get a order from them my husband waved to him for an order. After the group left servers never came back.
In the lounges after the first drink, my husband would hold up his empty beer or my empty drink and they would act as if they did not see him.
Even at dinner… the first night a server came to us for our drink order. After that, each night we had to ask for a server from the bar. They did not even return to get our teens drink orders for the “Bottomless Bubbles†program.
One time we ordered a shot and I watched the bar tender wait on 3 other non “Cheers†customers before he brought our shots 10 minutes later. At that time I ask for a Sprite Zero, he informed me I had to wait 5 minutes before I could place another order. I told him … First of all it had been more than 10 minutes since we ordered a drink and secondly I was supposed to get unlimited sodas etc… So I had to get someone else to order me a Sprite Zero so I could have more than the small amount they give you to mix my shot with.
Special drinks not always included…..I have to watch my sugar intake therefore I order mixed drinks with water and I add sugar free flavored water enhancers in place of the fruit juice or mixer. They would not serve me a cocktail without the juice because they said that was considered shots. Then I ask for them to replace the juice with water, showing them the water enhancer. One bar tender was considerate of my sugar restriction and did it a couple of times. I even added the flavoring in front or him. Then I was told by another bar tender and her manager that they had a meeting that morning and was told they could not serve any cocktails with water.
We began bar hopping and just requested shots and had to mix our own drinks. We figured out if we approached a different bar tender each time it did not take as long for our order. We had to use 3 or 4 of our 15 drinks for the day getting single shots each time just to make 1 cocktail. (Cocktails are included if you can tolerate the sugary juice or mix)
Extra charges for gratuities …. When you purchase the “Cheers†program it plainly states that a 15% gratuity will be added at time of purchasing the program. Even though you pay the gratuity up front, you will still be charged an additional $1 each time you order a drink if you do not mark “0†with a line through it on the “gratuity†line on the receipt.
I have been on 6 or more Carnival cruises and always had a wonderful time and great service. I just returned home from a 5 day cruise with Carnival Paradise. All the reviews I found prior to the cruise for the program were great. Therefore we purchased the “Cheers†program for 5 days.
Servers were quick to ask us our order for the first drink but after seeing our “Cheers†stickers and serving us the first drink they never returned for us to place another order. We either had to ask someone to send a server or go to the bar ourselves. One time by the pool we were able to get served three times. The group beside us was drinking buckets and when the server came to get a order from them my husband waved to him for an order. After the group left servers never came back.
In the lounges after the first drink, my husband would hold up his empty beer or my empty drink and they would act as if they did not see him.
Even at dinner… the first night a server came to us for our drink order. After that, each night we had to ask for a server from the bar. They did not even return to get our teens drink orders for the “Bottomless Bubbles†program.
One time we ordered a shot and I watched the bar tender wait on 3 other non “Cheers†customers before he brought our shots 10 minutes later. At that time I ask for a Sprite Zero, he informed me I had to wait 5 minutes before I could place another order. I told him … First of all it had been more than 10 minutes since we ordered a drink and secondly I was supposed to get unlimited sodas etc… So I had to get someone else to order me a Sprite Zero so I could have more than the small amount they give you to mix my shot with.
Special drinks not always included…..I have to watch my sugar intake therefore I order mixed drinks with water and I add sugar free flavored water enhancers in place of the fruit juice or mixer. They would not serve me a cocktail without the juice because they said that was considered shots. Then I ask for them to replace the juice with water, showing them the water enhancer. One bar tender was considerate of my sugar restriction and did it a couple of times. I even added the flavoring in front or him. Then I was told by another bar tender and her manager that they had a meeting that morning and was told they could not serve any cocktails with water.
We began bar hopping and just requested shots and had to mix our own drinks. We figured out if we approached a different bar tender each time it did not take as long for our order. We had to use 3 or 4 of our 15 drinks for the day getting single shots each time just to make 1 cocktail. (Cocktails are included if you can tolerate the sugary juice or mix)
Extra charges for gratuities …. When you purchase the “Cheers†program it plainly states that a 15% gratuity will be added at time of purchasing the program. Even though you pay the gratuity up front, you will still be charged an additional $1 each time you order a drink if you do not mark “0†with a line through it on the “gratuity†line on the receipt.
