Are tea & coffee free on the Infinity?

[Miss UK]

Hi all, this is my very first post on Cruise Critic for my very first cruise next year and I just wanted to know if tea and coffee were free all day on board, including meal times. My husband and I aren't big drinkers and so didn't know if it was worth getting one of the soft drinks beverages, I think they are about £47 each? We are sailing on the Infinity.

 

Thank you.

[ozark74]

Welcome to cc. Coffee and tea hot and cold are at the buffet 24/7 and free. You can get orange and other juices at the same drink stations. There is always one station open. Specialty coffees are not free. In the MDR regular coffee and tea are also free.

[Miss UK]

Thank you for your welcome. So, it's all a bit confusing to me at the minute, is the 24/7 buffet a different restaurant to where you have your evening dinner i.e. early sitting at 6, later sitting at 8:30pm?

[dkjretired]

Thank you for your welcome. So, it's all a bit confusing to me at the minute, is the 24/7 buffet a different restaurant to where you have your evening dinner i.e. early sitting at 6, later sitting at 8:30pm?

 

The buffet is different than the main restaurant and it is really only open 24/7 for drinks such as coffee, tea, etc.

 

If you look on deck plans the Main restaurant is called the Trellis restaurant and the buffet is the Oceanview Cafe...

[CathyCruises]

Yes. You take your evening meal (and an occasional lunch) in what we refer to as the MDR--the Main Dining Room. This is an elegant restaurant, usually two stories high, located at the back of the ship. Coffee and tea (also iced) are available free of charge during meals. For other times, maybe mid-afternoon, you can go to the buffet area on an upper deck, usually the pool deck, and there are dispensers where you can serve yourself around the clock. Many people have breakfast and lunch at the buffet. This is where they also have dispensers for juice and type of fruit punch.

 

I would only invest in the drinks package if you feel you will drink a lot. Otherwise, you can buy individual sodas from any bar or waiter. Unless you drink a LOT, it probably won't pay to buy the package. I understand that you can also purchase it once on board for your remaining days if you change your mind once on the ship.

 

Good luck, happy cruising, and welcome to cruise critic!

[Miss UK]

Ahh, now I understand, thank you for your replies and for your welcome. I don't think I need to buy a package if I can get it from the Oceanview Cafe, we don't drink a lot anyway, just as long as I can get a cuppa (free)when I want then I shall be very happy. See, easily pleased !! Thank you once again.

[Lsimon]

If anyone is at all confused about the packages, if they are worth it, and what is available at no additional charge without the packages: I'd strongly suggest you wait until you've checked things out for yourself once on board. You can always buy the package on the ship and can even buy them a day or two after the cruise starts once you've had a chance to see what you're interested in purchasing (if anything) and how much you'd actually be spending.

 

There is no need to make this decision prior to seeing what is actually available on the ship that is included in the basic cruise cost and what is additional cost.

 

My own spin is that unless you are a pretty heavy consumer of the additional cost items, the packages are priced at either a premium or a small savings. So if you delay a day the worst that will happen is that it will cost you a small additional amount for the day's consumption, and the best is that you'll save a good part of the cost of the package.

[staygulf]

You can get a cuppa, but don't expect it to be like a British cuppa. The drinks station should have various types of tea bags and "hot" not boiling water. So provided you can accept that, you should have no problems with the tea. FYI P&O cruises have tea making facilities in the staterooms (they do things the British way), so if you'd like to plan your cruise around a decent cuppa choose P&O !!