Cheap Alcohol

Hi All,

Travelling on Glory in June.

I'm sure this topic has been covered many times before but would any of you advocate purchase of liquor through the Fun Shops route pre voyage ?

Also any tips on "free" beverages , or "happy hours" ?

I'm partial to the odd tipple !! ;)

Many Thanks

Getting a bottle or two is fine to mix drinks in your room for about $175 or maybe a little less depending on the brands. Be sure to bring a tumbler or travel mug of some kind to take it around the ship with you. If you want that, order in advance because getting a bottle on the first day took about 5 hours for us to have it delivered with everything else going on that day.

We just get cheers now to avoid the hassle of having to go to the room to make drinks.

We've already purchased ours with mixers.:) We buy two drinks of the day as soon as we get onboard in the souvenier cup and just use those throughout the cruise.

Thanks for that jdemps

Once you mix the drink in your room can you take it to the bar ?

Also i presume by buying in advance you avoid the 15% gratuity ?

Thanks Sparks 1093

Do you only get one souvenir cup per person ?

Thanks Sparks 1093

 

Do you only get one souvenir cup per person ?

For this, yes. They are easy enough to wash out. (We bought all of the special souvenier cups last time out, the monkey head, funnel, etc. so we probably won't buy more of those.)

We didn't have any trouble carrying our tumblers around anywhere on the cruise. I have a new stainless steel one that keeps drinks very cold for a long time so no watery drinks.

I don't recall how it worked through bon voyage for gratuity now that I think about it. You can go into the fun shops and see if the bottles have gratuity on them i think.

seriously...free drinks/happy hours? only for the platinum/diamond party....we always order before boarding and do not spend as much on the "cheers" package as another cruise...its expensive compared to purchasing at home, but it is in the cabin when we get there and away we go!

You can also bring one bottle of wine in your carry one for each adult over 21.

I'm not sure if they still offer them and depending on the ship, they did have some really good $5 drink specials at the Taste Bar.

Thanks for that jdemps

 

Once you mix the drink in your room can you take it to the bar ?

 

Also i presume by buying in advance you avoid the 15% gratuity ?

There is no gratuity added when purchasing liquor in advance from Fun Shop; however, they will charge you sales tax based on your local tax rate.

We didn't have any trouble carrying our tumblers around anywhere on the cruise. I have a new stainless steel one that keeps drinks very cold for a long time so no watery drinks.

 

I don't recall how it worked through bon voyage for gratuity now that I think about it. You can go into the fun shops and see if the bottles have gratuity on them i think.

I just checked my invoice and sales tax was charged for my purchase, which was less than what the gratuity would be if bought onboard (and through Fun Shops you may also buy a bottle/mixer package that saves $5 versus buying the mixer separately, I am not sure if that deal is available onboard).

Ex-smuggler here. Not a tea-totaler, but not a sot either. But I do like top shelf stuff and craft beers. I'm just wondering the break even you get from poring your own in your cabin versus buying at a bar. I realize that Cheers breakeven is around 6-9 drinks depending on what your having. But I don't think you'll have enough booze out of a couple of Bon Voyage bottles to get you even 6 drinks a day every day over a 7 day cruise.

And frankly if the deciding factor is the 15% gratuity, you must never go out at home to even the middle tier bars and restaurants where gratuity plus tax could be 25-30% or more per drink, even at "happy hour".

I can understand using Bon Voyage if the ship doesn't stock your favorite brand and everything else tastes like swill to you. But come on folks, this is nickel and diming and effectively taking money out of the pockets of folks who make way less than you do.

Ex-smuggler here. Not a tea-totaler, but not a sot either. But I do like top shelf stuff and craft beers. I'm just wondering the break even you get from poring your own in your cabin versus buying at a bar. I realize that Cheers breakeven is around 6-9 drinks depending on what your having. But I don't think you'll have enough booze out of a couple of Bon Voyage bottles to get you even 6 drinks a day every day over a 7 day cruise.

 

And frankly if the deciding factor is the 15% gratuity, you must never go out at home to even the middle tier bars and restaurants where gratuity plus tax could be 25-30% or more per drink, even at "happy hour".

 

I can understand using Bon Voyage if the ship doesn't stock your favorite brand and everything else tastes like swill to you. But come on folks, this is nickel and diming and effectively taking money out of the pockets of folks who make way less than you do.

I calculated it out once and I save $100 or so versus buying the equivilent number of drinks at the bar. I'm not taking money out of anyone's pocket, they haven't provided a service to me in order to earn it. If anything CCL is preventing them from earning it by selling it to me before hand. I don't purchase a bottle to get me all the way through the cruise but to have it available to have a couple of drinks on our balcony and to lessen the overall tab a little (same thing with bringing two bottles of wine onboard). DW and I talked about a second bottle for our cabin but decided that with the port intensive itinerary that we have that we don't need it.

Is there a limit to pre- cruise orders and on cruise orders of liquor from fun shops? Lets say I order 2 bottles pre -cruise and run out . Can I order 2 more while on the cruise or do they limit you . By the way 3 drinking in cabin.

Is there a limit to pre- cruise orders and on cruise orders of liquor from fun shops? Lets say I order 2 bottles pre -cruise and run out . Can I order 2 more while on the cruise or do they limit you . By the way 3 drinking in cabin.

I believe the only thing they limit is 15 drinks per day on Cheers

Ex-smuggler here. Not a tea-totaler, but not a sot either. But I do like top shelf stuff and craft beers. I'm just wondering the break even you get from poring your own in your cabin versus buying at a bar. I realize that Cheers breakeven is around 6-9 drinks depending on what your having. But I don't think you'll have enough booze out of a couple of Bon Voyage bottles to get you even 6 drinks a day every day over a 7 day cruise.

 

At $90 a bottle, having 22 "regular" shots (of 45 ml each), it works out to $4.09 each drink so if a Carnival shot is $6.50 plus gratuity is $7.47 x 22 = $164.34 or a savings of $74.34 (approximately).

Of course, if your pour is off and you end up adding 60 mil shots (2 oz), then at $90 a bottle, you end up with 16 drinks costing $5.62 so your saving is less = savings $29.60.

This is assuming that you don't need to purchase mixers and you're from a state where there's no tax.

Thanks Sparks 1093 and Meatloafsfan. Appreciate the calculations and rationale. Was just curious. When I smuggled it was before Carnival started carrying craft beer and I always enjoyed a nice single malt or armagnac on the balcony as a nightcap. But I found I was coming back with 3-5 cans and 1/2 the whiskey/brandy.

Plus the crack downs seemed to be growing. But it does make some sense to use Bon Voyage over trying to smuggle, if you're drinking it all and more.

We didn't have any trouble carrying our tumblers around anywhere on the cruise. I have a new stainless steel one that keeps drinks very cold for a long time so no watery drinks.

Yep, I use a tervis tumbler water bottle. Easy to carry around without spilling anything, holds 24oz so you're good for a while. After finishing one of those full of bourbon & coke (emphasis on the bourbon) I'll refill it with water from Lido deck so I stay hydrated. Once that's gone I'll go to my cabin for a restroom break and a fresh drink. Repeat as needed through the day.

Thanks Sparks 1093 and Meatloafsfan. Appreciate the calculations and rationale. Was just curious. When I smuggled it was before Carnival started carrying craft beer and I always enjoyed a nice single malt or armagnac on the balcony as a nightcap. But I found I was coming back with 3-5 cans and 1/2 the whiskey/brandy.

Plus the crack downs seemed to be growing. But it does make some sense to use Bon Voyage over trying to smuggle, if you're drinking it all and more.

What crackdown? I was on the Pride last month and had no problem getting booze through.

I did get "free" drinks at the casino and trust me when I say it would have been cheaper for me just to get Cheers.

Hey Guys - really confused here.

How much will i have to pay for a bottle of pre ordered Southern Comfort from the Fun Shop ??

Its $75 but then there's port surcharge (to be determined) and taxes (to be determined)

I'm a simple soul - all i want is a final price before i commit !! :mad:

Hey Guys - really confused here.

 

How much will i have to pay for a bottle of pre ordered Southern Comfort from the Fun Shop ??

 

Its $75 but then there's port surcharge (to be determined) and taxes (to be determined)

 

I'm a simple soul - all i want is a final price before i commit !! :mad:

It all depends on what state you live in and where you sale from. If you fill everything out, it will give you the exact amount before you need to pay

Swan,

If you call the fun shop I'm sure they will give you the exact price.

Hey Guys - really confused here.

 

How much will i have to pay for a bottle of pre ordered Southern Comfort from the Fun Shop ??

 

Its $75 but then there's port surcharge (to be determined) and taxes (to be determined)

 

I'm a simple soul - all i want is a final price before i commit !! :mad:

They will give you the final price once you put it in your cart and click through to check out, they need your address and such in order to calculate everything.

I haven't seen this mentioned yet, if you order online for delivery the first night instead of on embarkation you don't pay tax.

When I've ordered for embarkation I pay the sales tax of whatever state the ship is sailing from. Maybe because my state doesn't have sales tax.

I haven't seen this mentioned yet, if you order online for delivery the first night instead of on embarkation you don't pay tax.

When I've ordered for embarkation I pay the sales tax of whatever state the ship is sailing from. Maybe because my state doesn't have sales tax.

I'll have to keep that in mind for next time.