Drinks and Sapphire Princess

[Phillip Toddy]

Hello all

 

We are cruising on Sapphire Princess in April (Beijing to Osaka) and are wondering what drinks cost and what options exist. I mean alcohol.

 

Most posts that I have read are not very specific, but it would be great if anyone who has been aboard, especially recentlly, can tell me:

 

What does a standard drink cost (say a whisky or rum)?

What does a bottle (or glass of wine cost)?

What options (e.g. cards or other subscriptions) are on offer?

What does a bottle for drining in the cabin cost (e.g. Vodka, Brandy, Whiskey)?

Can we take wine and or spirits aboard for consumption on the cruise (we sailed on Aurora last March and they were very happy to let anyone take any drinks on board - cases of beer, bottels of wine)?

 

How have you found this aspect of a cruise holiday? any problems about which to be forewarned?

 

We are looking forward to this cruise tremendously.

 

Regards

 

Phillip

[mummsie]

Hi Phillip, We are just off the Sapphire. I bought one soda card between the two of us for $30 - you don't need two unless you are going to be doing a lot of stuff on your own. If you buy bottles of alcohol (spirits) on board they keep it until your last day in port. You can take a bottle on board though - wine or spirits. Drinks on board don't make sense price wise. a glass of house wine is $5.50 but you can buy a basic spirit for $3.50. Premium spirits are a little dearer but not excessive. Martinini's and coctails are the best value at around $5.00 each. You can buy a decent bottle of wine in the dining room for around $20-25. The gratuities are on top of this price. One of the people at our table brought his own wine on board and took it to the dinner table. They charged $10/bottle corkage - a little excessive I thought but he was happy to pay the price. Gayle

[Crowsie]

Hello all

 

We are cruising on Sapphire Princess in April (Beijing to Osaka) and are wondering what drinks cost and what options exist. I mean alcohol.

 

Most posts that I have read are not very specific, but it would be great if anyone who has been aboard, especially recentlly, can tell me:

 

What does a standard drink cost (say a whisky or rum)?

I found drink prices to be very reasonable $3 - $6

What does a bottle (or glass of wine cost)?

Bottles in the dining room start in the low $20's

What options (e.g. cards or other subscriptions) are on offer?

None..other than for fountain soda pop

What does a bottle for drining in the cabin cost (e.g. Vodka, Brandy, Whiskey)?

Go to the princess website..they have a listing of the brands you can buy and what the prices are...seems to me they were not so bad for gin and vodka..but the only bourbon they offer is Jack Daniels. You can buy a bottle from one of the bars when you get there.

Can we take wine and or spirits aboard for consumption on the cruise (we sailed on Aurora last March and they were very happy to let anyone take any drinks on board - cases of beer, bottels of wine)?

You can bring wine on board, not hard liquor, unless you pack it in your suitcase..which we always do..especially for the exotic cruises....it's almost impossible to find bourbon in Asia...they don't stock it..have never heard of it. It's also tough to get dry and sweet vermouth..so bring your own in your suitcase or plan on buying from the ship. Also..buy early as they can run short of stock on the longer trips

 

How have you found this aspect of a cruise holiday? any problems about which to be forewarned?

 

We are looking forward to this cruise tremendously.

 

Regards

 

Phillip

 

 

Read above Philip....I added comments to your original post.

Crowsie

[BJS]

Bottles of wine are from $18 for Sutter Home White Zinfandel to $148 for Opus I, Mondavi-Rothschild PLUS 15% gratuity. Much cheaper by the bottle than the glass. They will tag the bottle if you do not finish it and bring it the next time you want it.

 

There are Drink of the Day specials that start at $3.95 for a small and a dollar more for medium and another dollar for large. This is a dollar savings over the normal price. We find drink prices to be very reasonable. Othere daily specials are beer (5 for price of 4), martini and champagne for $3.50, and "shooters" for $3. From 9-noon Bloody Mary specials for $3.25. Mocktails of the Day are available for $2. The Wheelhouse Bar sometimes has a Happy Hours 2/1 on select drinks.

 

You can order a bottle of things like Vodka, Rum, Whiskey for cabin consumption from room service but don't remember the price only that it is considerably more than you will pay on land at home.

 

15% gratuity is added to anything to drink that you purchase including bottled water and sodas. Canned sodas are $1.50 plus 15%.

 

How have you found this aspect of a cruise holiday? any problems about which to be forewarned?

None for us but we don't have a large bar bill on our shipboard account.

[Phillip Toddy]

Hello All

 

Mrs Toddy wants to know about more healthy things aboard Sapphirre Princess.

 

Is there organised/social tennis?

What card games are played?

Are there lectures etc?

Is there something called "aquarobics"?!

Is it practical to go ashore without being in an organised tour? For example from Aurora that was really good to do in Hong Kong last year as the dock was at Star Ferry, but would not have been too good an idea in Thailand as the dock was miles from Bangkok.

Do ordinary mobile phones work aboard (SMS etc)?

 

The info that we are getting from this site is great, thanks again.

 

Phil

[SPI_Rick]

Phillp, we recently did a Star Princess Caribbean cruise (9 Jan 05). The official Princess Cruise site will tell you that alcohol cannot be brought aboard, so I did not try to bring any onboard for embarkation (but many others did with out any problems). I called room service the first night and had a bottle of Jack Daniels delivered to my room ($35). In the first port of call I bought a couple of bottles of liquor at the duty-free store. There was no problem bringing them back onboard the ship. In subsequent ports I also bought beer and wine and brought them onboard. Any purchases made in the onboard duty-free shop will be held until the last day of the cruise and then delivered to your cabin.

[BJS]

Hello All

Mrs Toddy wants to know about more healthy things aboard Sapphirre Princess.

Is there organised/social tennis?

What card games are played?

Are there lectures etc?

Is there something called "aquarobics"?!

Is it practical to go ashore without being in an organised tour? For example from Aurora that was really good to do in Hong Kong last year as the dock was at Star Ferry, but would not have been too good an idea in Thailand as the dock was miles from Bangkok.

Do ordinary mobile phones work aboard (SMS etc)?

The info that we are getting from this site is great, thanks again.

Phil

Have not been on the Sapphire Princess but have been on many of the other Princess ships including the Diamond (sister of the Sapphire) so will try to answer a few of your questions:

No tennis (no courts)

Bridge (organized and often lectures)

many cruises will have lectures on everything from ports to jewelry and topics related to where you are cruising.

No water excercises (gym type only)

Many go ashore without an organized tour but be aware the ship will not wait for you, should you be delayed in returning, it only waits for tours booked through the ship. Check out the ports of call board and you will be able to find all sorts of advice.

Can't answer the mobile phone - imagine it would depend on the type of service you have.