First time cruiser. Pacific Pearl. On board drink prices.

Hi am looking forward to my first time ever cruising on Pacific Pearl out of Auckland in May. I dont seem to be able to find anything regarding the cost of drinks on board alcoholic & non alcoholic are they terribly expensive. Also what is the story about buying a bottle of wine when ashore & bringing it back on board.

Also is tipping automatically taken or has that stopped now, cant find out for sure. Any tips from anyone about anything at all would be very much appreciated. Cheers

Hi, & welcome to the boards.

We've just got back from our cruise on Pearl, we had a great time it's a lovely ship.

The drink prices aren't too bad, but being in AUD it will depend how bad the exchange rate is for you I guess. Cocktails range from 6.95 up to about $13, depending on the type. Spirits and specialty martinis in Mix bar were dearer, from $14 up.

Buying wine can be pricey if you buy a bottle, compared to the same wine on land. But other drinks are comparable to bar prices or cheaper.

Not too sure on the beer price, non-alcoholic is cheap. Coffee is 3.50.

The tipping has stopped, it's entirely up to you if you want to tip anybody. They don't take out the auto-tipping anymore.

You won't be allowed to take any alcohol on board at embarkation, any that you do take on board is taken off you and delivered at the end of the cruise - Nothing to stop you buying it ashore once your on the cruise, but again it will be kept and you'll have to wait till the end of the cruise to get it.

As for tips - If you want to try the specialty restaurant Salt Grill, they'll be open for bookings on embarkation day, the time will be in the newsletter in the cabin. Good to book early for that as it can fill up, it's really good - $40 AUD though, but worth it.

Otherwise if you're having dinner in the main dining room, and you get a table you like, you can book it again the next night as you leave the restaurant - can only book for the next night though.

You can check out my review if you like, might give you some ideas.

have a great cruise!

Hi cool cruiser, thanks for your reply, have only just found it as i`m such a dope couldn`t figure out where replys were. [ Not very computer litterate ]

Anyway only two more days & off we sail, sunday 15th from Auckland & looking forward to it very much.

May do a report on my return. Thanks for the tips

Wine per glass starts at $8.50

Beer starts $5.50 per stubby.

A bottlo of wine starts at $22.00

spirits eg scotch, rum.and the like and dry $8.50

Hi there!

We have just returned from an excellent 10 night cruise on the Pacific Pearl. You will love it! It was our first cruise and it totally exceeded our expectations, but we were prepared for the worst (if you know what I mean?).

Beer was $5.50AU, wine ranged from around $8AU upwards, but bottles started at $24. Spirits were $5.75 and I was able to buy a soda that would last two drinks. Most cocktails were $9.25 including Pina Coladas (which were far too sweet for me and yes, I am a sweet tooth! The barman in the Splash Bar said it was because they use a mix-up pineapple juice and not a fresh one. So, I avoided anything with pineapple and it was fine!). Try a Kiwi Apple Cooler... Mmmmmm...:p

You MUST go to Salt Grill. The food is divine! Right up there with some of the best silver service meals I have ever had. We justified the $40 surcharge (which is only $30 for lunch, with the exact same menu) by saying if we were have a land based holiday, we would easily spend $80 for an average meal out. It was delicious! We booked for 2 nights, including our last night. Enjoy!

We tipped some of the wait staff, when we felt it was warranted. We tipped our spectacular cabin steward, Arvin twice during the trip. He was amazing!

Enjoy your cruise. Once you have been, all the crazy-mad cruising fanatics on here will make more sense!! ~~~~ducking~~~~ Hehe! :D

Hi there!

 

We have just returned from an excellent 10 night cruise on the Pacific Pearl. You will love it! It was our first cruise and it totally exceeded our expectations, but we were prepared for the worst (if you know what I mean?).

 

Beer was $5.50AU, wine ranged from around $8AU upwards, but bottles started at $24. Spirits were $5.75 and I was able to buy a soda that would last two drinks. Most cocktails were $9.25 including Pina Coladas (which were far too sweet for me and yes, I am a sweet tooth! The barman in the Splash Bar said it was because they use a mix-up pineapple juice and not a fresh one. So, I avoided anything with pineapple and it was fine!). Try a Kiwi Apple Cooler... Mmmmmm...:p

 

You MUST go to Salt Grill. The food is divine! Right up there with some of the best silver service meals I have ever had. We justified the $40 surcharge (which is only $30 for lunch, with the exact same menu) by saying if we were have a land based holiday, we would easily spend $80 for an average meal out. It was delicious! We booked for 2 nights, including our last night. Enjoy!

 

We tipped some of the wait staff, when we felt it was warranted. We tipped our spectacular cabin steward, Arvin twice during the trip. He was amazing!

 

Enjoy your cruise. Once you have been, all the crazy-mad cruising fanatics on here will make more sense!! ~~~~ducking~~~~ Hehe! :D

Glad the Pacific Pearl cruise exceeded your expectations, Bizzygurl. Looks as though they've got over the teething problems. It sounds a great ship. :)

Have you booked your next cruise yet????? ;)

We were charged $9 for a glass of chardonnay in the Waterfront and $2.75 for a can of coke which incidentally seems to be on the smaller side than what you can buy on land. The waiter pointed out to us that it was actually cheaper to buy the bottle - 6 glasses per bottle.

At the Orient one night we were charged $23+ for a Marguerita and a Grasshopper and the following night $21+ for a Grasshopper and a Toblerone.

Don't even think about trying to bring alcohol on board as it will be taken away from you unless you can come up with a canny way of disguising it.

At the Waterfront, if you like your waiter you can book the same table everynight - see the person on the front desk and after a couple of nights they will do it automatically - that's what they did with us.

And I agree with others, SALT GRILL was definitely worth the cover charge. You may not be able to book directly with them - they may tell you to call them...we didn't have a problem fronting up and booking directly but others did (I heard them loudly complaining to Reception when they missed out entirely).

Charlie's Bar at the Atrium (and The Cafe on Deck 12) has coffees - $3.25 and specialty teas (we didn't order tea but I think it was the same price). Cup cakes and other snacks are available from Charlie's Bar too - cost is around $3-$4 - again, I didn't buy anything other than coffee or a glass of wine there.

Tea and Coffee is available free all day near the buffet areas of Plantation Restaurant with fake milk in those little sachets.