Tonic water

Hi Richard,

It’s been a recurring topic on the Azamara board, is there any chance that the truly awful Royal Club tonic will be replaced with a decent one. Preferably Fever Tree but Schweppes would be an improvement.

I appreciate Gin is not that popular in the US but it’s a popular drink elsewhere and there’s no point in having a quality gin and adding Royal Club tonic.

If Coca Cola was replaced with Royal Club Cola there would be an outcry.

Hi Richard,

It’s been a recurring topic on the Azamara board, is there any chance that the truly awful Royal Club tonic will be replaced with a decent one. Preferably Fever Tree but Schweppes would be an improvement.

I appreciate Gin is not that popular in the US but it’s a popular drink elsewhere and there’s no point in having a quality gin and adding Royal Club tonic.

If Coca Cola was replaced with Royal Club Cola there would be an outcry.

Can I wholeheartedly second this request to supply a decent brand of tonic. For a luxury line the offering of Royal Club as substandard as it gets. In fact we now think twice about upgrading our drinks package because the available mixers ruin any decent premium spirits.

I know other lines in the same market offer Fever Tree This request is a frequent subject on these boards

Hi Richard,

Can I add my plea for a decent tonic please? Royal Club is simply awful. There just are no words. ☹️

Fever Tree tonic would be fabulous but even the mediocre Schweppes would be a huge improvement. I am sure Azamara's Gin profits would rise if the tonic mixer onboard was better.

Hi Richard

As per the previous posts, Azamara procurement has to address the issue of a bottom shelf tonic water.

Even the number of gins the ships carry is on the lightweight side. I think I'm in saying that P&O now carry in excess of 20 gins, so great is the demand.

One of the last things we do before boarding any Azamara cruise is to stock up good tonic water and take it on board with us, then, as and when we order a gin we present the bar staff with our own drinkable tonic

Hi Richard

Can I support all the previous posters and plea that changes are made so we also can stop our pre cruise detour to carry on some drinkable tonic - or our mid cruise attack on Morrisons should we be in Gibraltar.

Last summer a lovely gin was available onboard at a charge (Sipsmiths if I recall). I bought it only once in September because the tonic was so awful it killed the gin so Azamara lost out there. There are so many fantastic craft gins now available it is such a shame even if they were onboard (and I support the previous posters plea for a wider range) I currently would not buy any good gin given the current tonic served

We would also support the suggestion of a wider range of premium gins, provided premium tonics were available to accompany them.

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Hi Richard

Thank you for joining us and for giving us the opportunityof airing some of our concerns albeit probably insignificant given thecomplexities of managing such an involved operation. Concerning however thevexed question of Azamara’s insistence that their bar staff must use your stockbrand of tonic that too many of us find wholly unsuitable as a basic ingredientto make an acceptable tasting G&T, I too feel obliged to add my frustrationthat management has still to appreciate that it is most demeaning for us tohave to bring our own tonic on board to satisfy our simple request of enjoyinga satisfactory G&T in spite of numerous requests by your loyal supporters. It must also be frustrating and embarrassing foryour friendly and professional bar staff to prepare and make our choice ofdrink using inferior ingredients.

Julia finds it rather amusing (she who finds a chilled Rosewine more appropriate at midday) that I am prepared to pack a couple of cans oftonic in our luggage prior to leaving home as I am unsure when I will be ableto stock up at the commencement of the cruise. I must admit though Richard thatI was not best pleased that my sojourn at the port of Guernsey last October wasmarred by the fact that my main reason for my visit was to seek out a supermarket,queue to pay and then make the trek back to the ship via the tender lugging mycase of tonic water just because somebody in Head Office who by their reluctanceto add a decent tonic to their victualling on board list, indicates their lackof education in the basic art of ensuring that a good tonic is essential in thepreparation of a good G&T.

We have just returned from a most enjoyable cruise withSilversea and hopefully our C.C. Forum comparison between Azamara and Silverseawill be completed in order that we can post it shortly. I bet you can guesswhat item will be included in the pros and cons sectionJ

David

Hi everyone,

I receive more feedback about people’s personal taste on food andbeverage than any other item and it is impossible to keep everyone happy thewhole time. As a non gin drinker, I actually quite like our tonic waterselection onboard, but once again that's personal preference.

Sadly, the boutique tonic waters such as FeverTree are over 8 times moreexpensive, however I am pleased to share with you that Azamara will be changing to Schweppes tonic waterwhen the ships return to Europe this summer.

During July and August of 2017, I was personally responsible forplacing Silent Pool gin onboard Azamara Journey. As you may be aware, SilentPool is one of the most successful boutique gins in the country. Sadlyconsumption was so low that this was not viable moving forward, but it remainsunder review.

Many thanks,

Richard

Thank you Richard for your reply, it’s good to hear that things will be improving on the tonic front shortly.

Regarding boutique gins it’s probably chicken and egg, I can’t see anyone purchasing an expensive gin and adding Royal Club Tonic, we certainly wouldn’t.

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I agree that no one would consider buying a premium gin when the tonic is so poor. I still think that premium mixers should be included if someone upgrades to the top drinks package, also I think you would get more takers for the package if this was the case so overall it would be more profitable. At least Schweppes as standard is an improvement

Vicki

Hi Richard,

This tonic question is always a very hot topic on the Azamara boards. I noticed the excellent Silent Pool gin was onboard Journey in 2017....but didn't see it on Quest for some reason.

Like Riocca, I would never have purchased such a good gin and then have completely ruined it with the abysmal Royal Tonic. I take your point that Fever Tree is more expensive than standard Schweppes tonic....but if P&O can supply it then why can't Azamara? A premium cruise line should supply a premium tonic. The Gin and Tonic list on P&O is highly impressive.

I am glad that Schweppes will be served onboard in 2018 but I will still be bringing my Fever Tree tonic onboard!

At least we now know how bad Royal Tonic water really is. It is eight times cheaper than Fever Tree, and in all reality, it is eight times worse.

Based on the purchasing power of Tesco, they sell a 10 pack of Fever Tree for £4. Equalling forty pence per portion, at eight times cheaper Royal Club must be around five pence a serving, and it is not worth five pence.

Having said that, I'm glad Richard could confirm the stocking of Schweppes during the summer.

By the same calculation from Tesco, Schweppes is thirty-three pence per serving.

Hi everyone,

I'm afraid the simple economics of FeverTree being 8 times more expensive does not add up for this brand.

The reason Silent Pool was not on Quest was because we placed this product on cruises that touched the UK as we wanted to demonstrate how we were sourcing hyper local products.

I believe Schweppes is a great solution, however I will continue my discussions with head office to see if we're able to offer a wider selection.

Many thanks,

Richard

Thanks Richard, great news that Schweppes will replace the current offering. I look forwards to it in July

Azamara considers itself a luxury brand, Royal Club sodas are not a luxury product therefore do not deserve to be onboard especially with the high prices Azamara is now charging for its cruises. At least Schweppes is an improvement.

Richard - thank you for making yourself available to us all on this forum - much appreciated. Thank you and your team, also, for helping us, personally, in the past, to sort out, with little fuss, when things have been tricky or complicated. We have benefitted from your team's expertise, support and kindness with a couple of cruises recently, and we should like you to know just how much we appreciate this service. Please could you reinforce,once again, to them, our appreciation for such great work.

You cannot please all of the people all of the time - I drink lots of tonic (without gin) and personally have enjoyed many tonics on Quest over many cruises.

Thanks again. SO looking forward to Cuba soon and then Pursuit's maiden voyage.

David and Audrey, Scotland :cool::cool:

Richard - thank you for making yourself available to us all on this forum - much appreciated. Thank you and your team, also, for helping us, personally, in the past, to sort out, with little fuss, when things have been tricky or complicated. We have benefitted from your team's expertise, support and kindness with a couple of cruises recently, and we should like you to know just how much we appreciate this service. Please could you reinforce,once again, to them, our appreciation for such great work.

 

You cannot please all of the people all of the time - I drink lots of tonic (without gin) and personally have enjoyed many tonics on Quest over many cruises.

 

Thanks again. SO looking forward to Cuba soon and then Pursuit's maiden

David and Audrey, Scotland :cool::cool:

Although I am pleased you have enjoyed the tonic served onboard I would respectfully suggest this issue is one that resonates with a large number of Azamara clients

This can also be demonstrated by the long ongoing thread on this issue which to date has attracted over 8,000 views and 146 responses. Indeed there is far more traffic on this issue than the average topic which clearly highlights its importance

Vicki

Sorry?

This was a genuine thank you to a key member of Azamara staff......With a 'tongue in cheek' mention of tonic. (trying to be funny, actually.)

In the grand scale of things.... and all that.... sorry to have spoiled my thank you with the mention of tonic. (Richard / Bonnie, I hope this has not undermined what I was trying to say, and you can smile at and with me.)

Dearie me.

Don't think I will be posting again.

Although I am pleased you have enjoyed the tonic served onboard I would respectfully suggest this issue is one that resonates with a large number of Azamara clients

This can also be demonstrated by the long ongoing thread on this issue which to date has attracted over 8,000 views and 146 responses. Indeed there is far more traffic on this issue than the average topic which clearly highlights its importance

Vicki

My goodness, have you heard of freedom of speech? Everyone is entitled to have their say without being asked to “butt out” because it isn’t in line with a number of members’ views. You shouldn’t feel threatened by other people’s opinions, embrace them. Good luck

Of course everyone is entitled to their own opinion, the problem is one of taste. Drunk as a soft drink I’m sure Royal Club could be more pleasant than Schweppes due to the higher sugar content, Royal Club contains 8.6g per 100ml whilst Schweppes is 5.1g per 100ml.

Consequence of this is when drunk on it’s own Schweppes could have a more bitter taste, however when mixed with gin the higher sugar content of Royal Club can kill the botanical taste.

There’s also the question of quinine content that’s important to the taste of the tonic working with the gin but again it’s all a matter of taste and opinion.

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The low calorie one is the tastier of the two and has virtually no calories. ..but of course, the price for that is those additives.:cool::cool:

Interestingly I have just bought some small cans of both Schweppes (which my husband likes with Vodka) and Fever Tree (which I like with Gin). The Fever Tree cost 50p a can and the Schweppes 25p per can, so the Fever Tree was double the price of the Schweppes. I guess Schweppes discount their tonic for bulk buys/wholesale a lot more than Fever Tree do for the differential to be 8 times

Interestingly I have just bought some small cans of both Schweppes (which my husband likes with Vodka) and Fever Tree (which I like with Gin). The Fever Tree cost 50p a can and the Schweppes 25p per can, so the Fever Tree was double the price of the Schweppes. I guess Schweppes discount their tonic for bulk buys/wholesale a lot more than Fever Tree do for the differential to be 8 times

I think you’ve hit the nail on the head it’s all down to corporate deals, Royal Club is a brand of Heineken and I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if the price reflects the deal done regarding the beer brands and probably is peanuts. Schweppes is marketed in many areas by Coca Cola so can also be included in larger deals, whilst Fever Tree as an independent brand can only be a stand alone deal so will be considerably more expensive.

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My excitement spilled over Norniron you’ve made a Scottish gin wifey very happy [emoji38]

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