Does anyone know why cruises charge for soda?

[Mickeyhugger]

Not here to whine or gripe, just really interested and curious. My hairdresser's theory is 'so much of everything else is included in the price, I guess they have to charge for something.' My own thought is, if sodas were free, the ship would probably run out before it docks again. (Especially the way teens drink them, in my teenage years, I could drink 4 Dr. Peppers in a day.) DH thinks its another added profit.

Does anyone know?

Any opinions?

 

[mark & sandra]

The only easy answer is because they can. If they found other things that they could make money on they would.

 

[gonna go cruising]

Originally posted by mark & sandra
The only easy answer is because they can. If they found other things that they could make money on they would.

I totally agree. Simply because they can. DCL isnt the only line charging for them either. We found it quite easy to do without our soda until dinner this past cruise. Our first one we did the refillable mugs and rarely used them. Too much trouble to carry around or go back to the room to get it unless you plan ahead.

I do think the "drink of the day" is a great idea though. It is very reasonable and very tasty.

 

[MrsPete]

I agree with the others who've said they charge for sodas because they can. As long as people are willing to pay extra for sodas, they'll keep charging extra. And let's face it: $5 per day for soda (outside the dining rooms, remember) is a pretty steep fee.

 

[ArataCPA]

I know that this sounds redundant, but they charge because of the simple rules of supply and demand. They know most people will buy soda, so they charge for it. It really did not bother me at all to drink lemonade, water, tea, etc. If you must have soda, I DO NOT recommend the refillable mugs. Just buy a six pack for the room for your soda fix. It's cheaper (not cheap though), and it was more than enough soda for our family of three.

 

[lillygator]

definitely increased revenue!

 

[ThreeCircles]

It's interesting to note that Disney Cruise Line does not charge for soft drinks in the dining rooms as compared to some of the other lines.

At least we all have that going for us when we sail with Disney!

 

[thebets57]

This will be our first Disney cruise, and I am glad that my kids won't be charged for sodas in the diningroom - refreshing change!!! I think that it's what is standard in the industry......if they can charge, and get away with it, than they will.....changes come from the consumer.....any suggestions from those better informed on this issue??????

 

[Hygiene99]

Would they not make more money if .. Say the up everybodys rate by $20.00 or so and included free soda...

I know we like a coke now and agian and will just have soda with the meals and find that the free Beverage station is more than adaquate for drinks threw out the day...

 

[over50visits]

They charge for sodas for the same basic reason they expect you to pay the waitstaffs/stewards salary (they package it to you as a "gratuity") - they do it, it is an irritant, people accept it, and it allows them to artifically decrease the advertised "price" of the cruise.

Disney does everything very well, including separating you from your money. Witness the price of wine, photographs, and pins. Accept that they do it, if you feel better that it is an industry practice it might help. Compute the real cost of your cruise, then sit back and enjoy! A disney cruise experience is like nothing else - and despite the minor irritants, your long term memories will be wonderful.

 

[crisi]

We were just discussing DCL being a more expensive cruise. We decided that they don't make money off a casino (bingo just don't cut it compared to Blackjack tables and slot machines) and that the alcohol consumption per person is probably less than cruises not marketed as agressively to families.

Given that they market to families, I'd like to see them add to the price of the cruise and pop be "free." Then again, when my kids get to be the unsupervised age, they don't need access to limitless pop.....a glass of pop in the dining room is about all I want my kids to drink in a day.

 

[RLAlden]

Disney is far more reasonable on their beverages than most of the other cruise lines. We recently made the mistake of taking a Royal Carribbean cruise recently and were very disappointed in a number of things, including the feeling that you were being nickel and dimed everytime you wanted something. There was a charge for sodas a dinner and you'd have to wait for the wine steward, who was making much more selling wine, so the one night we asked about soda, it was 30+ minutes before he ever made it to our table. Ice cream was non-existent, entertainment was sub-par.

I think the thing that hurt the most, is that we had sailed on the Magic only a few months earlier, so are expectations were very high for RC and they did not come close to Disney.

 

[MarkRG]

Originally posted by crisi
We were just discussing DCL being a more expensive cruise. We decided that they don't make money off a casino (bingo just don't cut it compared to Blackjack tables and slot machines) and that the alcohol consumption per person is probably less than cruises not marketed as agressively to families.

I agree, this is the real deciding factor in a DCL cruise being higher priced in general than others. And I've been very happy paying that higher price.

Now about the soda, yes, it definitely is a 'because they can' kind of thing, because this is much more of a family cruise and drink revenue have always been a staple of every cruise line, in this case, soda winds up being on the luxury drink list. As others have said, bring a sixpack or something onboard if you really need the soda - but you'll find yourself not drinkng that much of it - and you can easily steer the kids to the freebie drinks, as the kids will have fun with the unlimited drink station on Deck 9.

 

[frozeninroch]

What I found REALLY interesting is that Disney gets the soda for free - from the Coca Cola Company. We met someone on board the Wonder in Feb, who works for Disney, and he told us that Disney gets all their soda free - for the parks, the cruises & the resorts!!!

So, charging for soda sure is a money-maker for Disney! I'd love to know how much it adds to their bottom line...

 

[Dreamer04]

Originally posted by RLAlden
Disney is far more reasonable on their beverages than most of the other cruise lines. We recently made the mistake of taking a Royal Carribbean cruise recently and were very disappointed in a number of things, including the feeling that you were being nickel and dimed everytime you wanted something. There was a charge for sodas a dinner and you'd have to wait for the wine steward, who was making much more selling wine, so the one night we asked about soda, it was 30+ minutes before he ever made it to our table. Ice cream was non-existent, entertainment was sub-par.

I think the thing that hurt the most, is that we had sailed on the Magic only a few months earlier, so are expectations were very high for RC and they did not come close to Disney.

I agree. Every night on the Magic, our servers had our drinks ready. Soda for Me, DH, DS, chocolate mild for DD, drink of the day for Dsis and water for Dmom.

The other lines I've sailed never did this. RCCL, NCL and Costa all dragged their feet when serving sodas and NEVER remebered what we ordered-even though it was always the same.

 

[markmyboy]

I agree with everyone else, they charge for it because they can. We were just on the Norwegian Dawn in November & the only free drinks were iced tea & tap water (sometimes apple & orange juice), even at dinner you were charged for sodas. We did not pay a lot for the cruise & knew going in what all the extras were. We were on Carnival 2 years ago & I think they also did not charge for soda with dinner, but I honestly cannot remember.

Disney is among the lines with the fewest "extra" charges. I don't think DCL would make as much charging everyone $20 extra as they do charging $5 per coke!! Lucky for us, we are not big soda drinkers & often the only time we would have them would be eating out at dinner...so we are set on DCL!!

Cruise lines are charging more & more for the "extras", that is just the way things are going. We are going on a Royal Carribean cruisein October & the current uproar on the cruise critics board is that they are now charging for Johnny Rockets, which used to be "free" (except for sodas & milkshakes..of course!!). I am worried that by the time I make it to the ship they will be charging for that, the rock wall, the mini golf, the skating, etc., etc., etc. The only reason the cruise lines do this is because people will pay for it!!

The charge for Palo recently went up on DCL, though it still remaines one of the cheapest alternative restaurants on the cruise ships.

Since the majority of our cruises are on DCL, we don't see the nickel & diming that may complain about on the other lines, but it is a frightening trend for those who enjoy cruising on all the other major lines.

 

[crazy4cruises]

What is the policy for soda refills at dinner? Our glasses would be empty for quite a long time, and we would finally have to ask for refills. It made me wonder if you only were supposed to have one soda with no refills. Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[ThreeCircles]

All fountain soft-drinks are free at dinner. Refills are free as well and there is no limit.

Sorry that you had trouble keeping your drinks full. I've always found that the servers were quite good at making sure you didn't run out of drinks. (That's actually a huge pet peeve of mine and what I usually base my "tip amount" on at regular restaurants.)

I hope you have a better experience on your upcoming cruise! And happy 10th Anniversary!

 

[crisi]

Cruise lines are charging more & more for the "extras", that is just the way things are going.

I wonder if that will be the way it continues. Cruise lines have to compete with land vacations for your vacation dollar. A lot of the "inclusives" in Mexico and the Carribean have moved to a "more inclusive" model. Used to be most places you needed to buy your alcohol....now a lot seem to have alcohol included (at least, the bar pours). If cruise lines start losing business to the Sandals and Club Meds of the world, they will start adopting their model - after all, booze and pop are cheap when bought in bulk (as someone pointed, out, Disney doesn't even pay for their pop).

 

[CACruiser]

Because it makes money.
Just like movie theatres charge high prices for popcorn and soda.
Simply because they can.

LisaCA