Friday, September 28, 2007

Cruises: "Soda Card" Cheats--Just Don't Do It

When you embark on your next cruise, do you plan to purchase a "soda card"? That's actually a sticker placed on your onboard charge card that allows you an unlimited number of fountain soft drinks. Many passengers, especially those with children, find this beverage deal to be a money-saver.

However, it's possible to take saving money to an extreme. From messages posted on Internet forums, it seems some passengers feel that the purchase of a single soda card should entitle them not only to unlimited beverages for themselves, but also for their spouses and children.

C'mon, folks, that's CHEAP. Not only is such an action cheating the system, but it results in consequences for others in the long run. How so? Read on...

It hasn't been that many years ago that cruise lines didn't care if you brought a bottle of your favorite liquor on board as long as you consumed it in your cabin. People abused that policy and it's mostly history these days; the exception being a bottle or two of wine brought on at embarkation. More recently, some cruise lines made a somewhat futile attempt to limit the quantity of soft drinks brought aboard by passengers to a "reasonable" amount.

I have actually seen people at embarkation with cases and even coolers full of beverages. Now, isn't that going just a bit overboard?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You want to know cheap? How about charging people $6/day for soda that costs the cruise line about $.50? My husband and I refuse to be those suckers. We'd rather RC just charge us a little extra for our room and keep cheap stuff like that complimentary.

Anonymous said...

You don't like the idea of sharing a card? Well, I don't want to drink a gallon of sodapop every day just so I feel the outrageous price they charge is worth it. If they're going to nickel and dime us to death then people are going to find ways to save those nickels and dimes. Good for them. I bring my sugarfree drink mixes and make my own drinks since I don't want all that sugar and high fructose corn syrup thank you very much.

Anonymous said...

So you are obviously pro robbery then? What a load of nonsense you posted.