Afternoon Tea Will Be Returning

[Joebucks]

On 9/7/2022 at 6:18 PM, AHS123 said:

We have always brought our own preferred brand and variety of tea and none of the staff have ever said a word to us. 

 

Same here. I've been to enough restaurants where a bag of tea is $5. 

[SmoothFlying]

9 hours ago, Joebucks said:

On 9/7/2022 at 6:18 PM, AHS123 said:

We have always brought our own preferred brand and variety of tea and none of the staff have ever said a word to us. 

 

Same here. I've been to enough restaurants where a bag of tea is $5. 

I've thought about doing the very same thing BUT a minor change. I've noticed that the water the ship provides for HOT tea would be an excellent choice to use IF I brought my own instant coffee in packets. However I dread the headache of dealing with BIG brother (TSA) after having the same problem last month on our CCL Miracle cruise to Alaska out of SFO when I took powdered coffee creamer in my carry on. The TSA agent just could NOT understand why I'm bringing this on a cruise when they provided something similar for FREE? If/so/facto this powder must be DANGEROUS ! He as much said so, when he declared.' Well.. I have to check this out and see exactly what it IS !' I told him to go ahead , do whatever he needed to do. He opened the container, sniffed it, eyed it with suspicion, swabbed the bottle cap, running my dangerous white substance through his machine, only to find out it was harmless. But, the it almost made me miss my flight to SFO. Therefore, I've wonder iif it's all worth it, just to have HOTTER coffee ? 

 

Mac

[RD64]

I am confused. Going to tea and bringing your own tea bags? Just go to the buffet and pour yourself a cup of hot water.

[ShakyBeef]

28 minutes ago, RD64 said:

I am confused. Going to tea and bringing your own tea bags? Just go to the buffet and pour yourself a cup of hot water.

 

The teabags provided by Carnival for free are crap - Lipton.  Ick.  Lipton is only suitable for brewing iced tea, and even that is just basic, not good tea.  The teabags provided by Carnival for an upcharge, "Art of Tea" are also not up to my standards of strength and flavour.  Maybe I'm a tea snob, but I don't think so.  I bring my own Twinings Irish Breakfast or English Breakfast:

and occasionally, for a specific flavour, Bigelow:

 

It has nothing to do with money in my case.  I'm not being cheap.  If Carnival still offered the Bigelow teas that they used to in their teabox, I would gladly leave my tea at home and drink theirs, even for an upcharge.  But as far as I know, there is no longer a decent (IMO) tea available anywhere onboard.   

 

Tea time is more than just the hot water for my tea bag.  It is a small, pleasant interlude in the cruise day.

 

[LadyMac72]

On 9/9/2022 at 6:23 PM, sanmarcosman said:

I may be of help. The savory and sweet offerings at tea have remained unchanged for us on Carnival since 2011. Two types of finger sandwiches: cucumber and butter and salmon with cream cheese, caper and fennel. The sweets are scones with clotted cream, macaroons, a fruit crumble in a ramekin and two varieties of cake and a seasonal fruit torte.

I loved the apple cake on the Miracle last September.

 

Give me a cup of Lipton tea, a macaron, a piece of apple cake and a cucumber sandwich and I am a very happy lady!

[DrSea]

3 hours ago, ShakyBeef said:

 

The teabags provided by Carnival for free are crap - Lipton.  Ick.  Lipton is only suitable for brewing iced tea, and even that is just basic, not good tea.  The teabags provided by Carnival for an upcharge, "Art of Tea" are also not up to my standards of strength and flavour.  Maybe I'm a tea snob, but I don't think so.  I bring my own Twinings Irish Breakfast or English Breakfast:

and occasionally, for a specific flavour, Bigelow:

 

It has nothing to do with money in my case.  I'm not being cheap.  If Carnival still offered the Bigelow teas that they used to in their teabox, I would gladly leave my tea at home and drink theirs, even for an upcharge.  But as far as I know, there is no longer a decent (IMO) tea available anywhere onboard.   

 

Tea time is more than just the hot water for my tea bag.  It is a small, pleasant interlude in the cruise day.

 

Yea the tea selection is not great. I don't recall if green tea is an upcharge either. When I was there, they didn't have free green tea. IDK bc they ran out or etc. Does anyone remember or know? 

 

Does anyone remember how often tea time is? Is it only on sea days?

 

And for me, I am there for the sweets. lol. The banter isn't for me. I have such a bad sweet tooth, that I will substitute milk for vanilla ice cream in my tea. LOL! You can't do that at CCL, even for an upcharge. 

[redsox1584]

1 hour ago, DrSea said:

5 hours ago, ShakyBeef said:

Yea the tea selection is not great. I don't recall if green tea is an upcharge either. When I was there, they didn't have free green tea. IDK bc they ran out or etc. Does anyone remember or know? 

 

Does anyone remember how often tea time is? Is it only on sea days?

I am currently on the Panorama and actually went to tea time today!  They had Lipton black tea and Bigelow green tea free of charge. 
 

Tea time is only being offered on sea days according to the Hub app schedule. 

[DrSea]

1 hour ago, redsox1584 said:

I am currently on the Panorama and actually went to tea time today!  They had Lipton black tea and Bigelow green tea free of charge. 
 

Tea time is only being offered on sea days according to the Hub app schedule. 

Thanks! Did you enjoy the pastries? 

[ShakyBeef]

6 hours ago, DrSea said:

Yea the tea selection is not great. I don't recall if green tea is an upcharge either. When I was there, they didn't have free green tea. IDK bc they ran out or etc. Does anyone remember or know? 

 

Does anyone remember how often tea time is? Is it only on sea days?

 

And for me, I am there for the sweets. lol. The banter isn't for me. I have such a bad sweet tooth, that I will substitute milk for vanilla ice cream in my tea. LOL! You can't do that at CCL, even for an upcharge. 

 

4 hours ago, redsox1584 said:

I am currently on the Panorama and actually went to tea time today!  They had Lipton black tea and Bigelow green tea free of charge. 
 

Tea time is only being offered on sea days according to the Hub app schedule. 

 

I'm sorry, I failed to mention the Bigelow green tea available because I don't think green tea when I think tea time - I think strong black tea with milk (or cream) and sugar (or sweetener).  Green tea won't do it for me.  It's not anywhere near the same beverage or effect for me.  But I'm glad it is still available for others to enjoy.  They used to have a teabox full of Bigelow offerings, including black teas such as Earl Grey and English Breakfast, as well as flavoured green teas. 

[redsox1584]

7 hours ago, DrSea said:

Thanks! Did you enjoy the pastries? 

Yes we did. It was pretty much the same as the picture above.  They had a blueberry crumble thing in tiny ramekins that was very good. My boyfriend really liked the scones. 

[Fishwife2016]

On 9/6/2022 at 2:19 PM, sunonfire said:

https://www.cruisehive.com/carnival-cruise-line-brings-back-another-guest-favorite/80653
 

We always go to the Military Appreciation Tea.

Could you please tell me more about the Military Appreciation Tea?  We are 1st time Carnival cruisers and my hubby is a Navy vet.  Might be something we would like to attend.  Thank you in advance.

[sunonfire]

They do the Military Appreciation Tea at the same time as the regular afternoon tea. They are held on sea days at 3. They have tables reserved for the military and veterans and their families. They also have a little video presentation in the Comedy Club after one tea day. Carnival shows their appreciation for the military. It is very nice and everyone is welcome. They encourage people to share their stories.

[sanmarcosman]

10 minutes ago, Fishwife2016 said:

Could you please tell me more about the Military Appreciation Tea?  We are 1st time Carnival cruisers and my hubby is a Navy vet.  Might be something we would like to attend.  Thank you in advance.

There will be a table for 8-10 people set aside at the regularly scheduled tea for vets at the event we are discussing.

[DrSea]

4 minutes ago, sanmarcosman said:

There will be a table for 8-10 people set aside at the regularly scheduled tea for vets at the event we are discussing.

 

4 minutes ago, sunonfire said:

They do the Military Appreciation Tea at the same time as the regular afternoon tea. They are held on sea days at 3. They have tables reserved for the military and veterans and their families. They also have a little video presentation in the Comedy Club after one tea day. Carnival shows their appreciation for the military. It is very nice and everyone is welcome. They encourage people to share their stories.

Are there desserts? lol

[sunonfire]

4 minutes ago, DrSea said:

 

Are there desserts? lol

All guests at the tea  are offered exactly the same drinks, sandwiches, cookies, cakes, etc.

[DrSea]

5 minutes ago, sunonfire said:

All guests at the tea  are offered exactly the same drinks, sandwiches, cookies, cakes, etc.

awesome. I will check out both on my next cruise. 

[Fishwife2016]

On 9/12/2022 at 3:20 PM, sanmarcosman said:

There will be a table for 8-10 people set aside at the regularly scheduled tea for vets at the event we are discussing.

Thank you!  We will look for this.

[TexasBrit]

On 9/6/2022 at 5:49 PM, nybumpkin said:

Tea time was every sea day at 3 pm on Magic last month. We love tea time, but I think in the future I'll bring my own tea bags. I'm not a fan of Art of Tea - I tried both Earl Grey and English Breakfast, and they were too weak. The other alternative is plain Lipton. Aside from that, though, we loved it.

 

The problem is not the type of tea or the tea bags. It is the water. It is not hot enough at the table to make a good cup of tea.

 

[nybumpkin]

1 hour ago, TexasBrit said:

The problem is not the type of tea or the tea bags. It is the water. It is not hot enough at the table to make a good cup of tea.

Agree that the water is an issue. When I brew tea at home, I bring the teakettle to a boil and then pour the water over the tea bag or a tea ball if I'm using loose leaves. But I don't think that would have helped Art of Tea for me. I just didn't like the varieties I tried.

 

[TexasBrit]

1 hour ago, nybumpkin said:

Agree that the water is an issue. When I brew tea at home, I bring the teakettle to a boil and then pour the water over the tea bag or a tea ball if I'm using loose leaves. But I don't think that would have helped Art of Tea for me. I just didn't like the varieties I tried.

Yes exactly! But if you did that with Earl Grey or English Breakfast you can get a decent cup of tea! Don't know about the other varieties, I never bother with them.

[carohs]

We did this! It was such a nice surprise, and thanks to CC I had even packed some of my own tea bags expecting a sad selection. The upcharge ones were "two dollars point fifty." DD discovered a love for cucumber sandwiches, and it was nice to sit down and meet some fellow cruisers. Had I anticipated this, I may have opted for late dining tho. 

 

[ShakyBeef]

11 hours ago, TexasBrit said:

The problem is not the type of tea or the tea bags. It is the water. It is not hot enough at the table to make a good cup of tea.

 

 

I agree, the water temperature is definitely one of the problems.  But the quality of the tea in the teabags is, IMO, also a problem.

[ShakyBeef]

7 hours ago, TexasBrit said:

Yes exactly! But if you did that with Earl Grey or English Breakfast you can get a decent cup of tea! Don't know about the other varieties, I never bother with them.

 

IMO, the Art of Tea brand Earl Grey and English Breakfast offered onboard (the upcharge teabags) is not of a strong enough quality to produce a decent cup even with properly hot water.  My Carnival Afternoon Tea DIY solution to the lack of properly hot water and good quality tea is the same that I do at hotel breakfasts, for the same reason: two bags of my own Twinings tea (usually Irish Breakfast or English Breakfast) in one cup or in the individual-sized teapot, steeped for several minutes longer than usual.  It works.  Not the best results, but better than I can get with what Carnival provides.

[pmd98052]

Does P&O really have real clotted cream for afternoon tea? Many cruise lines suggest this but I've never seen clotted cream on any cruise line that we've been with so far (NCL, Holland, Carnival, Celebrity, MSC, Princess) - Our first P&O cruise is coming up!

[backbiter]

On 9/12/2022 at 2:09 AM, ShakyBeef said:

 

The teabags provided by Carnival for free are crap - Lipton.  Ick.  Lipton is only suitable for brewing iced tea, and even that is just basic, not good tea.  The teabags provided by Carnival for an upcharge, "Art of Tea" are also not up to my standards of strength and flavour.  Maybe I'm a tea snob, but I don't think so.  I bring my own Twinings Irish Breakfast or English Breakfast:

and occasionally, for a specific flavour, Bigelow:

 

It has nothing to do with money in my case.  I'm not being cheap.  If Carnival still offered the Bigelow teas that they used to in their teabox, I would gladly leave my tea at home and drink theirs, even for an upcharge.  But as far as I know, there is no longer a decent (IMO) tea available anywhere onboard.   

 

Tea time is more than just the hot water for my tea bag.  It is a small, pleasant interlude in the cruise day.

 

On The Pride last week, the free tea bags were Twinings Everyday tea. They had Lipton's Decaff tea bags (dreadful) but these ran out about half way through. Twinings is considered an upmarket tea brand but it's nothing special IMO.

My biggest gripe is that the water on board is never close to boiling and is not capable of making full-flavour tea. Some of the urns don't even produce steam, and I literally wander around the Lido until I find one that does. The midships drink stations were appalling all cruise for only having lukewarm water. 

Even at afternoon tea, the individual tea pots are filled in advance and have all cooled by the time they are brought to your table and you are given your tea bags to make your tea (Yes. Tea-making is still DIY).

 

After 20 years with Carnival I am used to onboard tea being deeply unsatisfying, and have had maybe a handful of cups when the water has been sufficiently hot to make tea properly.

As for afternoon tea, it was terrific in every other respect. The salmon and cucumber sandwiches were superb, as were the cakes. And the service was genuinely wonderful. We always enjoy going, even if the tea is consistently substandard.