Carnival Cruise Line Glitch Impacts Drink Packages

Overnight from Friday, August 25 into the early hours of Saturday, August 26, 2023, Carnival Cruise Line’s website suffered a glitch that incorrectly calculated the prices of the Cheers! beverage package for guests, resulting in the appearance of steep discounts.

While booked guests were quick to try and snap up the amazing deal, the price will not be honored as originally displayed, but Carnival is offering a discount to guests who tried to make the most of the bargain.

Carnival Cheers! Drink Package Glitch

A temporary glitch on Carnival Cruise Line’s website caused what appeared to be amazing discounts on the Cheers! beverage package.

While the price per day was displayed accurately for guests attempting to make a purchase, the calculation of the full package price was incorrect and did not show properly for checkout.

As a result, guests appeared to be scoring the beverage package for as little as a one-day, one-person price for an entire sailing, no matter what the length of the cruise. Part of the glitch also appeared as though it was no longer required for every guest in a stateroom to purchase the package.

Carnival Cruise Line brand ambassador John Heald has clarified the error and announced that while the mistaken price will not be honored, guests will receive a discount should they wish to repurchase the package they attempted to get on such a great deal.

“All guests who booked with this glitch will get a refund of their purchase and a one-time discount code should they wish to repurchase,” Heald said.

Impacted guests will receive emails with their discount code within the next few days. The details of the discount have not been revealed, but could be a percentage off, a free day of the package, a two-for-one bargain, or any other type of discount.

It is highly unlikely, however, that a “buy-one-day-get-the-rest-of-the-cruise-free” package discount will be offered.

About Cheers!

Cheers! is Carnival Cruise Line’s all-inclusive beverage package that covers both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks for the duration of a cruise. The package is priced at a flat daily rate, which is currently $59.95 (USD) per day when purchased before setting sail, or $64.95 per day when purchased onboard.

An 18% service charge is also added to the package, and each adult in the same stateroom must buy the package (if one traveler buys it, their adult companions in the same stateroom must also buy it).

Accordingly, a 7-night cruise for two adults would have a total Cheers! price of $990 when purchased before sailing, or $1,073 when purchased onboard.

Read Also: 5 Ways Anyone Can Get Free Alcohol on a Cruise Ship

With the website glitch, the cost were ringing up at just about $70, showing for the entire sailing and with no need for all adults in the same stateroom to purchase the package. Quite an exceptional savings if the price was accurate!

Similar Error on Royal Caribbean

In July 2019, a similar online glitch happened for Royal Caribbean International’s drink package, permitting purchases of the Deluxe Beverage Package (Royal Caribbean’s equivalent to Carnival’s Cheers! package) for just $18 per person, per day, instead of the actual price at that time of $55 per person, per day.

Initially, Royal Caribbean International intended to negate the very steep discount and cancel and refund purchases at the mistaken rate, but later opted to honor the deeply discounted price with the message “this round’s on us.”

The difference in the errors is that Royal Caribbean International’s glitch still calculated a daily price, albeit at a steep discount. Carnival Cruise Line’s glitch, on the other hand, only calculated a single day’s price for guests.

Comparatively, for a 7-night sailing, Royal Caribbean’s discount was roughly 66%, whereas Carnival’s discount from this error amounts to an 86% discount on a 7-night sailing.