$12 Drinks? No thanks!

[grandgeezer]

Royal most likely doesn't lose money on you, they just don't make as much as they would without the package price. If Royal charged you what their actual cost was for water, soda and booze it would be hard to consume more than $55 in a day. Not impossible but pretty hard especially for seven days in a row.

 

I would say it's impossible for the cruise line to lose money. We buy bottle water for traveling, $.20 for a 12 oz bottle. I get Bud on sale for about $.67 per can including tax. I don't know what they sell the water for but I do know the beer is $6.49 including tip. At the quantities the cruise line buys, they probably pay maybe half of that. For the $55 per day, they can buy 100 cans of beer. Even on a sea day, I couldn't do it. Booze and wine are probably pretty similar. Back in the day, we used to buy a bottle of wine, on formal nights. The same exact bottle of wine we paid $33 for on the ship was $6 at Sam's Club.

[mollyeilis]

On our Liberty cruise last week, the quality of the drinks really depended on the bar. Pool bars had pretty much all the pre-mixed syrup. Even for something as simple as a frozen mojito (They were overly sweet).

 

I've only ever heard of a frozen mojito in terms of cruising. A mojito is simple (though messing with the limes takes some time). Frozen would mean doing all that work then crushing it up with ice? Doesn't make much sense to me, thinking about it. Instead, they use a mix.

 

From what I've seen, Royal uses Island Oasis. Because of ingredient issues I've become quite familiar with their website. Frozen Mojito mix:

 

"Water, Sugar, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Lime Juice Concentrate, Natural Flavors, Citric Acid, Xanthan Gum, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Salt, Lemon Oil, Lime Oil."

 

Getting rid of the xantham gum would make me happier, but the rest of it isn't THAT awful. And it's faster than making it from scratch then tossing it in a blender with ice. :)

 

but for people like me, who drink MAYBE 2 alcoholic drinks on a 10-day cruise, I will save my money. To me, the drinks never taste particularly good, anyway - lots of mixes with fake flavors and dyes.

 

Most of the Island Oasis mixes don't have dyes from what I've seen. Maybe some have fake flavors but I can't remember exactly (and don't feel like going through the website again as thoroughly as I have in the past LOL).

 

But for me, if I'm getting a frozen drink from a bar where they serve umpteen people a day, I'm expecting a mix. Heck, I expect a mix if I go to a local party with frozen drinks! Very few places make a REAL drink.

 

Locally there's a rum place that makes REAL rum drinks. As in, 3 kinds of fancy rums with a splash of pineapple juice, sort of things. Holy moly those things are strong. You think you want a real drink, but when you have one, it's shocking!

[Ladysilver]

I'm glad I don't buy but one drink a day while on a cruise but my DH loves his beer. Sometimes that's our biggest expense. I hope those prices don't go up also! :eek:

[kruzerci]

If they even served something other than bottom shelf liquor or served them in nicer glasses it would be a different story.

 

When they're charging $12 a drink before tip for a splash of concentrated OJ with splash of the rubbing alcohol tasting Vodka college kids use in hunch punch.

[Paul65]

From what I've seen, Royal uses Island Oasis. Because of ingredient issues I've become quite familiar with their website.

 

Agreed. Island Oasis makes pretty high quality mixes with real fruit juices, real sugar (rather than HFCS) and such. I can't argue too much with people saying the drink prices seem high, but they're not really such low quality - even the ones made from pre-packaged mixes.

[Paul65]

If they even served something other than bottom shelf liquor or served them in nicer glasses it would be a different story.

 

When they're charging $12 a drink before tip for a splash of concentrated OJ with splash of the rubbing alcohol tasting Vodka college kids use in hunch punch.

 

That would be bad, if they really did that. But the drinks that are $12 tend to use premium brands like Belvedere or Grey Goose (if you're talking vodka), and the house brands like Stoli and Absolut are not really the swill that some people who want to pretend they have ultra-discriminating tastes want to pretend they are. Most of the ultra-premium brands are basically wasted on mixing them with a bunch of juice and other things in a cocktail.

[dpostman]

I've only ever heard of a frozen mojito in terms of cruising. A mojito is simple (though messing with the limes takes some time). Frozen would mean doing all that work then crushing it up with ice? Doesn't make much sense to me, thinking about it. Instead, they use a mix.

 

From what I've seen, Royal uses Island Oasis. Because of ingredient issues I've become quite familiar with their website. Frozen Mojito mix:

 

"Water, Sugar, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Lime Juice Concentrate, Natural Flavors, Citric Acid, Xanthan Gum, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Salt, Lemon Oil, Lime Oil."

 

Getting rid of the xantham gum would make me happier, but the rest of it isn't THAT awful. And it's faster than making it from scratch then tossing it in a blender with ice. :)

 

 

 

Most of the Island Oasis mixes don't have dyes from what I've seen. Maybe some have fake flavors but I can't remember exactly (and don't feel like going through the website again as thoroughly as I have in the past LOL).

 

But for me, if I'm getting a frozen drink from a bar where they serve umpteen people a day, I'm expecting a mix. Heck, I expect a mix if I go to a local party with frozen drinks! Very few places make a REAL drink.

 

Locally there's a rum place that makes REAL rum drinks. As in, 3 kinds of fancy rums with a splash of pineapple juice, sort of things. Holy moly those things are strong. You think you want a real drink, but when you have one, it's shocking!

 

We make Frozen Mojitos here at home many times. Simple Syrop (Water and Disolved Sugar) Fresh Lime, Rum and Mint leaves. Add ice to blender and voila.

 

dp

[squadron]

Hey, no shame there. My wife and I have been on 4 carnival cruises and really have nothing bad to say about them. I Understand they've had a few things changing recently that we didn't experience, and I know things don't last forever. Anyway we had a great time on our cruises there. None of them were too rowdy, maybe a little loud from time to time here and there but nothing that bothered us....The drink packages are, or were a little less, and only get you 15 drinks (some max price in there, can't remember) but 15 was a good amount. It's easier to reach on sea days, but port days not so much.

 

I could go on, and on, but I won't. We always had good fun, good food, good drinks, and sometimes, good friends.

 

I like the idea of a cheaper package with a limit such as you stated. A lot of threats of changing cruise lines but I wonder what are the prices on the other lines??? I find the drinks prices aren't much different than those in a family style chain restaurant or pizza place except for the 18% tip - most would tip about 15%.

[BecciBoo]

We make Frozen Mojitos here at home many times. Simple Syrop (Water and Disolved Sugar) Fresh Lime, Rum and Mint leaves. Add ice to blender and voila.

 

dp

 

My fave as well, but they have been using Monin's Mojito syrup for years for the on the rocks Mojitos I love from Bolero's or Viking Crown. I try them every place I go on land, and the ones on board RCCL ships are still my favorite. I got the recipe from the Bolero's tender many years ago and buy the Monin's from Spec's. Its just simple syrup steeped with mint. That's why I don't buy the frothy foo foo drinks, just tooo sweet and syrupy for me...but Island Oasis has been a standard feature since we started back in 2000.

 

We are not heavy drinkers, just a bottle of wine with dinner once or twice a week and grow our own mint at home and make our own Mojitos mostly in the summer but not too often. I'd be lying if I said I had 5 Mojitos during the breaks between cruises all year... . But, it's just $7 or so on ship and I only have maybe one or 2 a day plus wine with dinner and the DL drinks. As the cruise winds down, we almost stop drinking anything but water, just too boozed out to care. Don't need the expensive packages.

 

To each his/her own.:D

 

Actually went to Princess to check their situation out and their packages are exactly to the penny the same pricing as RCCL and the drink menus I found on Princess board here are almost the same as the ones dpostman posted earlier. I think there is a lot of exaggeration going on or at least some inaccuracy about prices here....but don't punch me out, that's JMHO.

[71Corvette]

We can only cruise once a year because it takes that long to save up for the cruise + air. I do envy those with deep pockets that think this issue of increased prices is no big deal. Or Diamonds with access to free drinks.

 

With the way their going something tells me the free drinks for diamonds isn't long for this world. I'll be surprised if it's still around this time next year. It's a huge hit to revenue on each sailing. For the sake of discussion let's assume there's 500 diamond and above passengers on a given sailing (which is probably low). On a 7 night cruise, 3 drinks per night at an average price of $10 per drink that's $105,000 in revenue (or about $100,000 in pure profit) the cruise line is loosing.

 

It's only a matter of time if you ask me...

[jd07]

The prices are still ok from the Australian perspective. But then we do have a lot of tax on alcohol here. And of course the currency conversion rate does not help :)

 

Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

[grandgeezer]

With the way their going something tells me the free drinks for diamonds isn't long for this world. I'll be surprised if it's still around this time next year. It's a huge hit to revenue on each sailing. For the sake of discussion let's assume there's 500 diamond and above passengers on a given sailing (which is probably low). On a 7 night cruise, 3 drinks per night at an average price of $10 per drink that's $105,000 in revenue (or about $100,000 in pure profit) the cruise line is loosing.

 

It's only a matter of time if you ask me...

 

The loyalty perks is a big factor in getting repeat customers. Eliminate that and there are a lot of people who will try other lines. The free drinks cost them very little. My three beers cost them about $1.50 a day. I don't buy their high priced drinks. If they want to risk losing a customer go 10.50 per week, they are making a big mistake.

[Paul65]

For the sake of discussion let's assume there's 500 diamond and above passengers on a given sailing (which is probably low).

 

Sounds high to me. It might be that many or more on the ships with 6,000 total passengers, but it wasn't even half that many on Serenade last week.

[TeresaJ]

Wow, these drink prices seem high. I expect to pay more for drinks on vacation versus in my hometown but not $12 for a mixed drink. That is ridiculous.

 

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[FOXTROT]

Sorry to say my favorite drink costs less on a ship than on land. At our favorite restaurant the drink is more evan without the tip. Evan at the Moose & Eagles clubs the drinks are all about the same price. The difference is the tip. Granted not a big drinker & decided to compare prices.

[wolfcathorse]

When you say the "simpler drinks", do you mean stuff like a rum and coke? That's all my husband drinks and he will definitely not pay $12 for a simple rum and coke. I believe it used to run around $6 or $7 but it's been a few years since I've cruised with RC.

 

I sailed on MJ 3-6-15 to 3-10-15 and my Jack 'n Cokes were $7.75.

Edited April 14, 2015 by wolfcathorse

[luvstocruzok]

I cruised Carnival last summer and I believe after tip, I paid about $12 for a frozen drink and martini. The drink of the day was a little less, but it was very weak and you could finish it in three sips. I don't mind paying $12, but it better be strong, big and not full of ice. I'm getting the package on Oasis in June.

 

 

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[71Corvette]

The loyalty perks is a big factor in getting repeat customers. Eliminate that and there are a lot of people who will try other lines. The free drinks cost them very little. My three beers cost them about $1.50 a day. I don't buy their high priced drinks. If they want to risk losing a customer go 10.50 per week, they are making a big mistake.

 

True, but something tells me they don't think about this in terms of what it costs them to make and serve the free drinks. They think about it in terms of lost revenue. There's a huge difference in the two schools of thought.

[Mar56]

Is the premium coffee the coffee from latitudes? Thanks in advance

[LMaxwell]

With the way their going something tells me the free drinks for diamonds isn't long for this world. I'll be surprised if it's still around this time next year.

 

Maybe. But if you ever wanted to see a mass exodus...

[Clarea]

Is the premium coffee the coffee from latitudes? Thanks in advance

What ship?

[Mar56]

Anthem and then Grandeur

[A2Mich]

Maybe. But if you ever wanted to see a mass exodus...

 

 

Or that the Diamond lounge was being replaced by more cabins.....

[mr walker]

The prices are still ok from the Australian perspective. But then we do have a lot of tax on alcohol here. And of course the currency conversion rate does not help :)

 

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100% correct. Sheesh, cruise whingers (ahem, sorry critics) sure do complain a lot:)

 

Yes, we downunder folk are used to high alcohol prices. Oh, and high cruise prices & high excursion prices... but we do need a holiday from time to time.

 

A few years back I was in a pub here in Sydney. I ordered a beer and the girl said "we don't have that on tap right now but we've got bottles". I said ok, she popped the top off and said "that's $4". I said "it's only $3.50 on tap & I could go next door (bottlo) & buy a cold carton for less than $2 per bottle, how can it be $4, you didn't have to pull it & you don't have to wash the glass". She looked at me and said "do you want it or not?". I gave her the money - a man's not a camel :D

[pspercy]

Or that the Diamond lounge was being replaced by more cabins.....

 

 

Except they spent lots of $$ putting DLs on the fleet only recently !

 

Still, they also are modifying brand new ships to send to China, so who knows:confused:

Edited April 14, 2015 by pspercy