Guest Author - Lisa Shea

Drinks traditionally cost extra on cruise ships. With a soda sticker, you make sure there's a finite cost on what the drinks add up to.

Most ships have one card for little kids (up to 12) and another for large people (13 and up). The cards typically cost $20 to $40 for a 7 day cruise. Most kids drink at least 3 glasses of soda a day, and some studies show that teens average around 8 glasses a day! Adults can easily match this if they are non-alcohol drinkers.

It's not really a card. What they do is put a sticker on your room card, to identify which person has access to the unlimited soda. While you could be sneaky and serve several people on a soda card, I really don't recommend it - it's that sort of behavior that has been causing soda card prices to escalate, which isn't fair for people who just get one for themselves.

Yes, you could keep soda in your room. But the aim on most cruises is to NOT be in your room - to be up at the pool or on deck or in other public places. You want to stay *well* hydrated, drinking often. The more you can do to ensure that you are always drinking something, the better for your health. This is especially true for kids.

Next, if you pay for each soda, you worry about drinking the entire thing, meaning you put sodas down, try to figure which is yours to keep drinking it, and even leave it for a while before returning to it. Not to be overly paranoid, but it's really better to get a fresh small glass each time you want some, so you know it's safe and really yours.

There are always sugar-free and non-caffeine soda options so that your teeth don't rot and so you don't get jittery :)

I highly recommend soda cards as a great way to ensure your kids drink as much as they want without worrying about hundreds of dollars in bills. If you're not an alcoholic beverage drinker, get one for yourself as well!