Freestyle Machines post Covid

[Baked Alaska]

Was considering purchasing the refreshment package for my son and his buddy for an upcoming cruise. I wonder if the Coca-Cola Freestyle machines will be a thing of the past.

[USFFrank]

Why would they?

[Baked Alaska]

23 minutes ago, USFFrank said:

Why would they?

Three words: Single. Use. Cups. 

The freestyle machines only work with the chip imbedded multi-use plastic cups.

[jaredhamburg]

My guess is that there will be a card to scan and an attendant to get a beverage.  This will also make sharing the cups with the non-beverage package person even harder....

[Pima1988]

Yes, but remember it is self serve which means it is limited interaction with staff.  

If you get rid of it, imagine how many more people will be lining up at the pool bars for sodas instead of hitting the free style machine in the WJ or Promenade/Esplanade before going to the pool

They are going to have to change, but I would think that will be on the bottom of the pile compared to the ice cream machines on the pool deck if you worry about spreading germs.

~ Never went to it, never will, because even before Co Vid, I saw how unsanitary it was.  Kids grabbing cones and putting them back.  Dads making multiple cones with ice cream on his hand as he makes the next.  Lines out the ying yang.  

 

[Pima1988]

Just now, jaredhamburg said:

My guess is that there will be a card to scan and an attendant to get a beverage.

Yes, but you can do that now.  My hubby takes his freestyle cup to the pool bc he likes Powerade or cherry coke zero.  I just take my sea pass card because I am fine with diet coke.  

The problem the attendant issue is financial.  It is all about $$$.  Replacing the free style machine will mean they will need more attendants to be roaming certain areas, WJ, and pool decks quickly come to mind.  2nd. It will mean reinvestment in things like more glasses and those favorite paper straws.  You are talking about ships, such as Anthem with 4K+ passengers.  If 1500 of them had the free style, that is a lot less glasses to be purchased and washed.  Hence, financially it is cheaper in the long run.

[Andrew72681]

22 minutes ago, Pima1988 said:

Yes, but you can do that now.  My hubby takes his freestyle cup to the pool bc he likes Powerade or cherry coke zero.  I just take my sea pass card because I am fine with diet coke.  

The problem the attendant issue is financial.  It is all about $$$.  Replacing the free style machine will mean they will need more attendants to be roaming certain areas, WJ, and pool decks quickly come to mind.  2nd. It will mean reinvestment in things like more glasses and those favorite paper straws.  You are talking about ships, such as Anthem with 4K+ passengers.  If 1500 of them had the free style, that is a lot less glasses to be purchased and washed.  Hence, financially it is cheaper in the long run.

The real clue that labor is the biggest problem is that they put freestyle machines in in the first place. Those machines take cartridges that are orders of magnitude more expensive that the traditional BIB (bag-in-box) package that you see under traditional soda fountains. 

[Momof4crazytocruise]

I would be more concerned about the touch pad and the drink selection. Put a washy-washy right next to it, good to go. 

[USFFrank]

5 hours ago, Baked Alaska said:

Three words: Single. Use. Cups. 

The freestyle machines only work with the chip imbedded multi-use plastic cups.

 If I missed it somewhere I'm sorry. Where did it say Royal was doing away with the freestyle cups?

3 hours ago, Momof4crazytocruise said:

I would be more concerned about the touch pad and the drink selection. Put a washy-washy right next to it, good to go. 

 That's all you need. Some kind of disinfectant wipe dispenser near the machine to wipe down the touchscreen if you like and/or a hand sanitizer dispenser you could use after you've made your selection. 

[SpeedNoodles]

5 hours ago, Pima1988 said:

 

They are going to have to change, but I would think that will be on the bottom of the pile compared to the ice cream machines on the pool deck if you worry about spreading germs.

~ Never went to it, never will, because even before Co Vid, I saw how unsanitary it was.  Kids grabbing cones and putting them back.  Dads making multiple cones with ice cream on his hand as he makes the next.  Lines out the ying yang.  

 

The ice cream machines had attendants on the last two cruises I was on (last June on Ovation and last Feb on Symphony).  You were not allowed to get your own. I imagine they'll change to this on all ships.

[CruzOnBye]

12 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

The ice cream machines had attendants on the last two cruises I was on (last June on Ovation and last Feb on Symphony).  You were not allowed to get your own. I imagine they'll change to this on all ships.

We were on Mariner in December and we had attendants as well for the icecream, which was fine with us! 

[Pima1988]

22 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

The ice cream machines had attendants on the last two cruises I was on (last June on Ovation and last Feb on Symphony).  You were not allowed to get your own

I think that is also a problem with RCL.  I am loyal to Royal, but every ship is different.

They did not do that on my Anthem or Adventure  that we took within 9 months of each other.  I sailed Adventure 2018.  

[SpeedNoodles]

 

55 minutes ago, Pima1988 said:

I think that is also a problem with RCL.  I am loyal to Royal, but every ship is different.

I don’t think they’ll make self serve an option on any ship going forward.  

[Pima1988]

I agree @SpeedNoodles.  I think self serve will be an issue on every ship.

That now begs the question will WJ have desserts in a cup?

[Pooch]

3 hours ago, CruzOnBye said:

We were on Mariner in December and we had attendants as well for the icecream, which was fine with us! 

We were on Mariner in February, no attendants. Ice cream was self serve.

[Andrew72681]

One thing I’d be careful with is making anything a “forever change” this world is cyclical as are diseases. During the Spanish flu crowds were often in masks

[danv3]

Wish they'd expand the Freestyle machines, not get rid of them or make them less convenient to use.  Love the options and the soft drinks from the bars have always tasted "off" to me on cruises.

[melmar02]

17 hours ago, USFFrank said:

 If I missed it somewhere I'm sorry. Where did it say Royal was doing away with the freestyle cups?

I don't think you are missing anything. I think the poster was just making a suggestion for one way to get around several hundred/thousand people re-using the cups they have been drinking from on a single machine. 

[Andrew72681]

2 minutes ago, melmar02 said:

I don't think you missing anything. I think the poster was just making a suggestion for one way to get around several hundred/thousand people re-using the cups they have been drinking from on a single machine. 

Would be an interesting comparison to test the bacteria counts between the cup only I’ve touched and the ones the bartender has. On more than one occasion I’ve gotten a cup from the bar that looks dirty. 
What would be interesting would be if Coca-Cola’s vending division could create a machine that in between uses closed a lid to run through a cleaning (with water or UV) picture those old coffee machines in the 80s with the sliding door. 

[Branderson610]

11 hours ago, Baked Alaska said:

Was considering purchasing the refreshment package for my son and his buddy for an upcoming cruise. I wonder if the Coca-Cola Freestyle machines will be a thing of the past.

I see what you are saying. A lot of fast food restaurants near me don't allow self serve refills anymore post covid. It will be interesting to see what happens.

[Va4fam]

Empress in late February had an attendant for the ice cream machine at all times.

 

 

[whenismynextcruise]

5 hours ago, Pima1988 said:

I think that is also a problem with RCL.  I am loyal to Royal, but every ship is different.

They did not do that on my Anthem or Adventure  that we took within 9 months of each other.  I sailed Adventure 2018.  

Been on anthem a lot. Most times there has been some sort of ice cream attendant. 

[ehw51]

Last 2 cruises on Anthem they have had attendants most of the time at the ice cream machines. They also had gloves on. It will be very interesting to see what they will Freestyle machines, 

[Chadster]

12 hours ago, Branderson610 said:

I see what you are saying. A lot of fast food restaurants near me don't allow self serve refills anymore post covid. It will be interesting to see what happens.

I've been seeing this here in Maryland, and there are press reports of it happening all across the country. As for Freestyle machines specifically, I'll let you know in the next couple of days, when I go get a burger from the place near me that has a Freestyle machine. Once more, doing the dirty work for you fine folks.  

As for the ice cream machines, I'd welcome the attendants. Years of work in fast-food establishments in my younger days have made me loathe those machines...plus, watching people get their own ice cream just puts me off getting it.

[Baked Alaska]

I think RCCL will ditch ALL self-service and any service ware that remains in possession of the customer past one use (e.g., re-usable cups like the chip embedded cups with the drink packages). 

This is kind of a fluffy article on RCCL, but I think it is the beginning:

https://cruiseradio.net/cruise-line-considers-ditching-traditional-buffet/

[Jolly Ogre]

14 hours ago, Andrew72681 said:

Would be an interesting comparison to test the bacteria counts between the cup only I’ve touched and the ones the bartender has. On more than one occasion I’ve gotten a cup from the bar that looks dirty. 
What would be interesting would be if Coca-Cola’s vending division could create a machine that in between uses closed a lid to run through a cleaning (with water or UV) picture those old coffee machines in the 80s with the sliding door. 

This is not the same as Covid-19. Covid is a virus not bacteria. Completely different.

[Andrew72681]

16 minutes ago, Jolly Ogre said:

This is not the same as Covid-19. Covid is a virus not bacteria. Completely different.

Did I mention COVID-19 at all in my statement? No, I specifically mentioned bacterial counts and potentially lackluster cleaning at bars. 

[Jolly Ogre]

17 minutes ago, Andrew72681 said:

Did I mention COVID-19 at all in my statement? No, I specifically mentioned bacterial counts and potentially lackluster cleaning at bars. 

Sorry about that.

I thought it was implied now that all this talk about how things will change will be due to covid-19.

The bacteria issue has always been there.

[Andrew72681]

3 hours ago, Jolly Ogre said:

Sorry about that.

I thought it was implied now that all this talk about how things will change will be due to covid-19.

The bacteria issue has always been there.

No problem. Yes, bacteria isn’t going anywhere. I just find it funny how some assume something done in a professional kitchen/bar makes it clean. They should check out some of those Gordon Ramsey shows. 
 

But we should still patent that auto-cleaning freestyle machine. 
stick you cup in, door closes in machine, UV between 200 and 400 NM kills any bacteria or virus. 
we just need to work on it being voice controlled rather than a touch screen. 
 

 

[WAAAYTOOO]

I already have an idea for an automated grocery cart sanitizing system...LOL. As with all of my ideas, it will be much too big and much too costly to be practical, but that never stopped me !

[CrznTxn]

Alexa, dispense me 16 ounces of Rum and Coke! Never mind make that just Rum. Will work for water out of the faucet in my home according to the commercials, why not there?

[jaredhamburg]

8 minutes ago, CrznTxn said:

Alexa, dispense me 16 ounces of Rum and Coke! Never mind make that just Rum. Will work for water out of the faucet in my home according to the commercials, why not there?

We just need a replicator like in Star Trek: The Next Generation.......

[RBRSKI]

On 5/13/2020 at 3:15 PM, SpeedNoodles said:

The ice cream machines had attendants on the last two cruises I was on (last June on Ovation and last Feb on Symphony).  You were not allowed to get your own. I imagine they'll change to this on all ships.

I think they also moved to this process because some children have NO manners and yes many adults as well would make a mess.  And most of these children should have had the parents helping them because they were to young.   

[Andrew72681]

44 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I already have an idea for an automated grocery cart sanitizing system...LOL. As with all of my ideas, it will be much too big and much too costly to be practical, but that never stopped me !

Is it to create a tunnel that they have to be pushed through? Because it would be the best way to kill any germs. 
My biggest concern is if we go around killing all the germs that normally touch us, we’ll eventually be screwed with no natural defenses. 

[Chadster]

40 minutes ago, CrznTxn said:

Alexa, dispense me 16 ounces of Rum and Coke! Never mind make that just Rum. Will work for water out of the faucet in my home according to the commercials, why not there?

Wait...is that 16 ounces of rum and 16 ounces of Coke, or 8 ounces of each for a total of 16 ounces?

Either way...if I could train my Google Home Mini to do that, it'd at least feel like I was on a cruise -- in part because of all the swaying.

---

Seriously, though, I'm not sure how much I'll use Freestyle machines on a cruise; I never had any issues getting a Coke Zero from a bartender while on my first cruise. A lot of times, I'd sit there for a bit and I'd tip extra; several of them recognized me by the end of the cruise and asked me if I wanted my standard Coke Zero.

[WAAAYTOOO]

1 hour ago, Andrew72681 said:

Is it to create a tunnel that they have to be pushed through? Because it would be the best way to kill any germs. 
My biggest concern is if we go around killing all the germs that normally touch us, we’ll eventually be screwed with no natural defenses. 

Yes, that’s the plan. I guess it wasn’t so creative, huh ?

[Andrew72681]

1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Yes, that’s the plan. I guess it wasn’t so creative, huh ?

Would be more fun if they would turn those escalators in the two story targets into sanitizers

[Andrew72681]

3 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Yes, that’s the plan. I guess it wasn’t so creative, huh ?

Having grown up in grocery stores (my dad was a store manager at GIant) I can just imagine the old folks at Leisure world accidentally walking through the tunnel. 

[RBRSKI]

We all are being silly,  What about the Bionic Bar!  Duh!  LOL

[Ampurp85]

@WAAAYTOOO I am all for contact-less grocery shopping where I can go online and a real camera/droid picks my fresh fruits and veggies....plus other items. Then they all get scanned and I pick up my items in a designated area. I don't want to risk the loss of immunity by developing immunity to certain cleaning products and procedures.

As far as freestyle goes they could put a reader on the machine to scan SeaPass cards. You can use a wipe after making your selections and get dispensed a recyclable paper cup. Doesn't cost as much as a machine to disinfect a reusable mug.