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No more 'Cocktail of the Day' on Princess?

AngryKing

By AngryKing,
in Princess Cruises

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AngryKing

AngryKing

Posted
Posted

I'm not sure if this topic has been covered yet, but I just recently went on my 4th Princess cruise and I discovered something very disturbing on this last one. NO MORE COCKTAIL OF THE DAY..... or Mocktail, or Shooter of the Day.

 

According to a bartender aboard the Sapphire Princess on my cruise, she said that Princess did away with the Drinks of the Day. Who remembers when Princess had the Cocktail of the Day for $3.75? Well, this is now a thing of the past. You'll pay anywhere from $4.50 to $6.50 for a small cocktail on Princess ships. Back when Princess was still offereing the Cocktail of the Day, I was buying about 15 or so drinks every cruise! This past cruise, I only bought 1 drink!

 

Princess also got rid of their Hurricane Promotion. Where you'd purchase the Rum Punch in a plastic hurricane glass and you'd receive a sticker to put on your ship card, and with that sticker, you'd get the Cocktail of the Day for ONLY $3.25! This was a great deal that led to future cocktail purchases.

 

C'mon Princess! Why did you get rid of those promotions? I can easily say I won't be partying as hard on Princess Cruises anymore.... well only if I bring my own alcohol on board.

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Coral "Live from...." Rare

Coral

Posted
Posted

When we were on the Golden in October - the drink of the day, the mocktail of the day were also gone...... I don't drink but loved the price of the mocktails - very cheap. This has been briefly covered in September/early October because I was aware of it before my cruise.

 

The Daily Patters were also changed. For some reason - I assumed the 2 were tied together but not sure.

 

Cruising is definitely changing.

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Coral "Live from...." Rare

Coral

Posted
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I'm curious....how did they change the daily patters?

 

Janine

 

A new format, new style, new colors....

 

Ours looked pretty bare (lots of white space) - my guess is that they were still getting used to the new format. I believe I read that our CD was leaving soon - maybe he just didn't put much time into it but it does have a new look and feel.

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ar_annie

ar_annie

Posted
Posted

There is no longer a special drink of the day. The Patter calls out a daily drink from the regular bar menu, and there is no price break.

 

Also ... Princess stopped the "Bar Hopping" cards were you could go to all the different bars on the ship for a cocktail and get your card punched. When the card was filled you could redeem it for a real nice T shirt, or ball cap.

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Baxter

Baxter

Posted
Posted

We enjoyed the new look of the Patters...seemed nicer to us. But weren't impressed by the elimination of the drink specials. Seems they were replaced by the half-yard special. If I recall, it was any half-yard cocktail for $6.00.

 

As I saw people roaming around with those long glasses, it reminded me of the people going back to the ship in Cozumel with bags full of the half-yard glasses. I thought it was tacky, but that's just me.

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johnny cruise

johnny cruise

Posted
Posted
We were on the Star 2 weeks ago and the same was true- no drink of the day and no sticker specials. There is now a suggested drink for the day at no discount price. I was very disappointed!!

 

 

We where on the Star last week, I thought they had the drink and the Martini Of the day??

 

JC:D

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Coolmama_1

Coolmama_1

Posted
Posted
There is no longer a special drink of the day. The Patter calls out a daily drink from the regular bar menu, and there is no price break.

 

Also ... Princess stopped the "Bar Hopping" cards were you could go to all the different bars on the ship for a cocktail and get your card punched. When the card was filled you could redeem it for a real nice T shirt, or ball cap.

 

Thats a bummer about the bar hopping card! My 78 yr old mother was so looking forward to that!:(

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luckyking

luckyking

Posted
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We just returned from the Grand and although it was my first Princess cruise, I was disappointed with no drink of the day as I had heard that it was a great promotion from friends that had cruised before.

With drinks that expensive, it seems like they should do something to offer a discount.

I didn't know about the bar hopping program but would have loved to have done that. I mean, I'm on vacation and I like to enjoy a few drinks but on Princess it just felt "boring."

Don't get me wrong, I LOVED our cruise.

 

And to comment on the new patters and another poster that mentioned a lot of white space, ours were jam packed full of information and activies.

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AliceJ

AliceJ

Posted
Posted

So sad to hear about this! We enjoyed the drink of the day on our last (and at that point only) Princess cruise. It was nice to have the incentive to try something different each day - some of the drinks I never would have ordered off a menu, but were pretty good once I tried them.

 

DH and I will miss this on our upcoming Grand trip. We'll mention it to the bartenders (notice I did not say complain:D ) so they have some feedback about it!

 

Happy cruising to all!

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cruzzers

cruzzers

Posted
Posted

Bummer about the drink of the day! We recently sailed on RCCL and they don't have it either! Ask you TA's for a coupon book that contains the "buy one drink and get one free." We use those.

 

All I have to say is, there will be alot of acohol packed in bubble wrap for our future cruises!

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Dreamer333

Dreamer333

Posted
Posted

I was on the CB two months ago, and here is some info I posted regarding the cocktail of the day (and the new "signature collection" drink):

 

I've noticed a few changes since my last cruise aboard the CB... The Princess Patters have a slightly different look to them.

Also, there is no longer a "drink of the day"... Instead the have a "Signature Collection" drink, which is basically a highlight of one of the drinks (no discounted price tho)... and there no longer is a "shooter of the day".

 

***

 

In the past, on the back page of the Princess Patter, they had a section in which they would list a Drink of the Day, and a Shooter of the Day.

The drink was different each day, such as a Banana Daqueri, and the price was slightly lower for that particular drink, for that particular day.

 

On this new format, they list several specials going on thoughout the ship.

 

First they list their Signature Collection Drink (which they called a Premium Cocktail), which as far as I can tell, is NOT a discounted price. For example, they listed the Rasberry Fizz for $6.50 (On another day, they listed the Mojito for $6.50).

 

Under the Signature Collection drink, they than list a different "specials" going on that day... Most days it was a "1/2 Yard Special" in which you can buy a 1/2 yard of any blended drink for $6.

 

Under the 1/2 yard special, they list a sale of DosXX beer... buy four, get one free.

 

Then they listed if there was a special at a certain bar for a certain time (for example, you could get a Bloody Mary in 4 different bars for $3.25 between the hours of 9am-noon).

 

So they definitely have specials still... but they don't list a drink (or shooter) of the day for a discounted price.

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Frugalist

Frugalist

Posted
Posted

My favorite special is all the free booze available during the cruise:

 

Free champagne served at least twice during a 7-day cruise at the art auctions.

Free drinks served at the Captains Welcome Aboard parties the first formal night (you can ask for a mixed cocktail -- be politely assertive - most waiters don't know this fact) -- there are two of them. No invitation required so hit them both!

Free drinks served at the Captains Circle party the second formal night (you can ask for a mixed cocktail -- be politely assertive - most waiters don't know this fact).

Free champagne served at the champagne waterfall starting around 11:00pm the second formal night.

 

Believe me, there's a reason why after applying the automagic tipping charges and shipboard credits, our cruise bill generally averages around 37¢. They don't call me frugalist for nothin'. :)

 

P.S. - Don't even get me started on the free ice cream that's available 7½ hours a day, every day.

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chrysalis

chrysalis

Posted
Posted
Their bar staff will pay too in a reduction in tips.

 

Somehow, I just can't believe that people will drink less because there is no "drink of the day".....and if what I suggest is true, then bar staff will see the tips increase.

 

Are you going to stop cruising because your drinks are going to cost you an extra $5 per day? $35 for a week?

 

Would you rather be charged a "fuel surcharge" instead?

 

It really does amaze me what people get so worked up about.....

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snie

snie

Posted
Posted

Just returned from Sapphire last week.....

 

There was no drink or shooter of the day, just a highlight from the normal menu, as others have mentioned.

 

They did have the Bar Hop cards. We completed them, and are now the proud owners of 2 T-shirts that said "I completed the Princess Bar Hop". Only Medium T-shirts were available, so they may be clearing out stock.

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devinc

devinc

Posted
Posted
Somehow, I just can't believe that people will drink less because there is no "drink of the day".....and if what I suggest is true, then bar staff will see the tips increase.

 

Are you going to stop cruising because your drinks are going to cost you an extra $5 per day? $35 for a week?

 

Would you rather be charged a "fuel surcharge" instead?

 

It really does amaze me what people get so worked up about.....

 

1st, I am not worked up. Yes, I would rather be charged a fuel surcharge. If for no other reason it is paid prior to my sailing. Actually a fuel surcharge makes more sense. If fuel is the reason thing like this are happening than they should have a surcharge. Also, it is a mental thing for me. I dont want to step up and buy 2 drinks and sign for a $15-$20 tab. We will probably drink little less. Some people do cruise with a budget. I am just saying it is a bit greedy on their part IMO.

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senior lady

senior lady

Posted
Posted

Maybe everyone should write or e-mail princess about this. It's been known to change their minds.

I know i'm always saying how I like "Princess drink of the day" when i'm on other cruises.

I was looking forward to it on our next 19 day cruise on the Coral.

 

Maybe with some gentle persuasson (sp) they might change back to the drink of the day!!!:)

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