Snowy69

If you have the Soda package, you can get Sprite Zero with the package at bars. They will give it to you if you tell them that you want something diet without caffeine.

 

You do not get the can as they put it into your cup, but you can get it.

Do you take your cup around or just order and they put it in a glass.....I'm not sure if I want to walk around all the time carrying my cup.

I will get you all the club soda you want. Even Virgin BM for breakfast.

How do you get the Virgin BM at breakfast with the Soda Card. Do you have one of the workers walking around the tables get it or is there a special waiter? Is it truly a Virgin BM or just tomato juice? Thanking you in advance.

Labadee

 

We rented a Nellie’s Beach Cabana ($200 – over the water) at Labadee. Money well spent if you just want a “beach day.” You walk down the pier past the excursion center to the Information Center. Show them your ticket and they get a golf cart right over to take you to your cabana. I tipped Mickey, our driver, $5 and he was at our service all day if needed. Nice guy. We also had a cabana attendant (Freetz) that was very attentive. But – his English wasn’t the best.

 

Me: Please bring us 2 labadoozies and 2 virgin strawberry daiquiris.

Freetz: 2 labadoozies with alcohol. 2 labadoozies none alcohol.

Me: No, 2 labadoozies with alcohol, 2 strawberry daiquiris – no alcohol.

Freetz, as he is turning away: OK. 4 labadoozies all alcohol.

Me: Uh, no . . .

Repeat.

We got 4 labadoozies – 2 with alcohol, 2 without.

 

His heart was in it! His English is a helluva lot better than my Creole/French! A very nice young man. I tipped him $20 at the end of the day and he seemed very happy.

 

I would get to your cabana as early as possible. The day goes very fast. You can always nap in the morning when you get there. It is very comfortable for four people. There were steps right by the cabana that led to the water. They will bring you as many floaties as you want (we had 4). The beach is sandy, so no water shoes were necessary. When you want to leave or explore, just tell the cabana attendant to call your driver.

 

Lunch was a short walk over to Barefoot Beach and with the Suite guests. The food was very good. No – really!! Steaks, shrimp kabobs, chicken, etc. We all found something we liked (did I mention my youngest is a pescetarian - eats seafood but no meat - and I do not eat beef or pork?) We went early and the line moved quickly and everything was fresh. There are a limited number of tables so you may have to move some chairs around. We found many, many of the Bickersons over there living the Suite life and were glad to make it out of the gated area and back to our we-be-junior-suite-and-inside-cabin-folks cabana.

 

Pics of Labadee will come tomorrow. Got to go sit on the couch!

 

More to come tomorrow . . .

Probably a silly question but how many Cabanas Over the Water are there? From photos I've seen it looks to be only 10 over the water and others on the beach and "hillside" but I'm wondering about Nelly's Beach Over the Water. I know you can book these ahead prior to the boarding day.

I'm confused....how much is the "soda package"?

Someone said it's only for the "freestyle soda machines"....true?

Does that mean you don't get free soda-tonic at a bar?

What about canned soda?

Thanks to some experienced cruiser who can answer these questions.

I booked at Nellies Beach today....over the water 250.00. I could have picked the Hillside Cabanas for 225.00. I haven't seen any pictures of it yet but I would like to see what the Hillside looks like.

We canceled our Beverage Package before sailing and never regretted the decision. We decided to just order whatever we wanted and see if we spent more or less than the package. We spent LOTS less.

What we observed.

You could get a good Merlot or Pino Noir in the dining room for 8.50 a glass.

We got a glass of wine at the Cova Cafe before dinner and took it with us into the dining room to finish with dinner. Then maybe ordered another glass in the dining room. We did buy 3 Captain Choice Wine Bottles for 130.00 or so. They would save the remaining wine if you didn't finish the bottle to be used at a later date. Didn't see much advantage to buying bottles. Not being a wine expert, we were satisfied with the wines offered.

The fresh orange juice was easily obtained the first several days in the Buffet area when you walked in.....then that display disappeared after several days and I don't knw how folks got their fresh juice..maybe it was available where the coffee etc. was but I didn't see it. Maybe you had to go down to the Aqua area and get it???????

Not many bars opened during the day. Cova Cafe, the Pool Bar. We didn't drink during the port intensified cruise days during the daytime. I saw the menu of drinks somewhere here on Cruise Critic and several of my chosen drinks were not available. The 11.50 Pino Noir wasn't available on the main dining room menu.

I'm sure the younger crowd stayed up much later than we did and had more drinking opportunities and then the card might be a good deal. I would have been very disappointed if we had the card and think we made a very profitable decision not to have it and just drink what we wanted....not that we had to drink to "get our money's worth".

We bought the Priority Package for our eleven day cruise next month. After trying to analyze just what we would be drinking we came to the conclusion that having 8 days at various islands and only two days of "sailing" we might have a hard time gettng our moneys worth. With the only down-side of not having the package being that we would have to sign our name on the receipt, we think we can drink as much as we want and not go over the total package cost of 1,200 dollars......that really does cover quite a bit of liquids. When we had the package we found we were looking at all the ways we could "drink"...being coffee, water, juice, wine, or martinis. So we canceled the package (which we can get later if we change our mind) and I've felt a big relief to stop trying to figure out how to drink my DAILY drink quota.

I'm sure there are lots of folks who can easily drink their money's worth, and to them I say, "Sounds like a blast, enjoy. You don't cruise every day."

Thanks for all your posts in regard to the drink packages. To summarize my feelings about the packages, I didn't want to be worrying about cost for every drink my wife and I order. This way, we can order as we like even if on any given day we do or do not reach the break even point and in the event we don't actually break even I will be satisfied that it was something that was worth the price. In fact, I actually pre-purchased our packages (premium) today. Only 65 days left to the cruise and I will post my after cruise feelings upon my return home.

Thank you for your very honest review. We thought seriously about the 2 liquor packages but just could not see drinking enough to make it worth our while...I guess we decided we don't drink enough liquor to equal the cost of the package. It was interesting to read your comment and thoughts about the quality of the wine. We had already pretty much felt that for us the method would be to just go ahead and individually order/buy all the drinks (water to boose) we wanted. I bet we won't spend the cost of the package. It might be different if we had more "sail days"...as it is, eleven days cruising and only 2 sail days cuts down on the expensive drinking.

:mad:So, does that mean Celebrity charges $100 dollars for a bottle of, let's say, Grey Goose and 6 cans of soda/pop for $100? Does that make sense to anyone?

You can't drink it in any of the bars, shows, restaurants...just your room.

Something seems wrong with that picture.

The stateroom bar setup is one bottle of liquor and 6 cans of soda/mix. The Classic is $80 and the Premium is $100. If you want another bottle you have to buy another setup.